Imatges de pàgina
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of the human heart never fpeak, but with all the modefty of Chriftian humility, in the third perfon. There is befides a certain affected dignity in theatrical difcourfe and action, which never permits the paffions to be expreffed in their natural language, or fuffers the writer to diveft himself of the poet, and attend to the scene of action, but binds him conftantly down to the theatre and the audience. Hence the most critical fituations, the moft interefting circumtances of the piece, never make him forget the niceft arrangement of phrase or elegancies of attitude. Should even Despair plunge a dagger in the heart of his hero, not contented that like Polixenes he should observe a decency in falling, he would not let him fall at all: for the fake of decency, he is fupported bolt upright after he is dead; and continues as erect after he has expired as before.

VOL. III.

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The reafon of all this is, that a Frenchman requires on the ftage neither nature nor deception, but only wit and fentiments: he requires only to be diverted, and cares not whether what he fees be a true or falfe reprefentation of nature. Nobody goes here to the theatre. for the pleasure of feeing the play, but for the fake of feeing, and being feen by, the company, and to catch a fubject for converfation after the play is over. The actor with them is always the actor, never the character he reprefents. He who gives himself thofe important airs of an univerfal fovereign is not the emperor Auguftus, it is only Baron; the relict of Pompey is no other than Adrienne; Alzira is Mademoifelle Gauffin; and that formidable favage is no other than the civil Grandval. The comedians, on the

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other hand, give themselves no trouble to keep up an illufion which nobody expects. They place the venerable heroes

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of antiquity between fix rows of young fpruce Parifians. They have their Roman dreffes made up in the French fashion the weeping Cornelia is feen bathed in tears, with her rouge laid on two fingers thick: Cato has his hair drefs'd and powder'd, and Brutus ftruts along in a Roman hoop-petticoat; yet nobody is fhocked at all this abfurdity, nor doth it hinder the fuccefs of the piece; for as the actors only are seen in the characters, fo what refpects the author is the only thing confidered in the play; and though propriety should be entirely neglected, it is easily excused, for every one knows that Corneille was no taylor, nor Crebillion a peruke-maker." Eloifa, vol. ii. p. 64.

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Neither the unities of action, of time, or of place, ought to be regarded fo much as a fable which admits a variety of incidents; as character, or as paffion: We may have admirable tragedies without One of the unities; but without character and paffion we can have no tragedy. Let us but reflect on the multitude of tragedies we have which are wrote strictly to all the unities; yet one irregular piece of Shakespear is to be preferred to five hundred of them. The only objection Mr. Mafon* tells us to obferving the uni ties is, that a ftrict adherence to them reftrains the genius of the poet; and, by the fimplicity of its conduct, it diminishes the pathos of the fable. But furely this objection muft ceafe, when we confi. der how many excellent tragedies, in which our terror and compaffion are * Letters prefixed to Elfrida.

raised to the greatest degree, have been composed on this plan. Can it be faid that Sophocles, Corneille, or Racine, would have compofed better tragedies, had they neglected these necessary rules?

Yes; undoubtedly; one of the juft objections to the French tragedies of Corneille and Racine is their pepetual declamation and defcription, which is frequently occafioned by the poet's not being at liberty to reprefent thofe incidents which he is forced to make his characters defcribe. Had thefe poets not been fo tied down, we should have met with more ftrokes of genuine character in Corneille, whofe fire, had not criticifm damp'd it, would have blazed into action and pathos; and Racine, by admitting a greater variety of incidents into his pieces, would have

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