Page:The thirty-six dramatic situations (1921).djvu/60

58 THIRTY-SIX DRAMATIC SITUATIONS C (1) — Curiosity the Cause of Death or Misfortune to Others: — Goethe's "Pandora" and also Voltaire's; "The Wild Duck" by Ibsen. Legendary example: Eve.

(2) — Imprudence the Cause of a Relative's Death: — "La Mere Meurtriere de son Enfant" (a fourteenth-century Miracle of Notre-Dame); "On ne Badine pas avec l'Amour" (de Musset); "Renee Mauperin," by the Goncourts. Familiar instances: blunders in the care of sick persons. "Louise Leclerq," by Verlaine. The cause of another's misfortune: "Damaged Goods" (Brieux, 1905).

(3) — Imprudence the Cause of a Lover's Death: — "Samson" by Voltaire; "La Belle aux Cheveux d'Or" (Arnould, 1882).

(4) — Credulity the Cause of Kinsmen's Deaths: — "Pelias" by Sophocles and "The Peliades" by Euripides. From fiction (credulity the cause of misfortune to fellow-citizens): "Port-Tarascon."

Establish in each of the preceding sub-classes equivalents to those cases which are presented in single instances in one class only, and we have the following subjects: — By Imprudence (meaning imprudence pure and simple, unconnected with curiosity or credulity) to cause misfortune to others; to lose possession of a loved one (lover, wife or husband, friend, benefactor, protege, etc.); to cause the death of a relative (any degree of kinship may be chosen); to cause the death of a loved one. By Curiosity (unmixed with imprudence or credulity) to cause the dishonor of a relative (the various kinds of dishonor are numerous enough, touching as they do upon probity, upon courage, upon modesty, upon loyalty); to cause the dishonor of a loved one; to cause ones own dishonor. To cause these dishonors by pure Credulity (unmixed with imprudence or curiosity). An examination of the Twelfth Situation will give us a primary idea of the way in which Ruse may be used to gain this credulity. By Credulity also to cause ones own misfortune, or lose possession of a loved one, or cause misfortune to others, or cause the death of a loved one.