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Article TO THE EDITOR. ON THE EFFECTS OF TRAGEDY. ← Page 2 of 3 →
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To The Editor. On The Effects Of Tragedy.
It appears much more natural , that the effects of tragedy should he by raising pity and terror to purge the contrary passions , that is ' to subdue that confidence in prosperity , to which all men are liable - ' to melt away hardness of heart , and , by giving us a quick sense of the calamities incident to our common nature , to chastise the vain to soften the cruel , and , in a word , to humanize the whole man , and make him by these means a wiser and better creature . This effect of tragedy is elegantly represented in the prologue to Cato .
Tyrants no more their savage nature kept , And foes to virtue wonder'd how they , wept . _ It is at once the most moral end , and seems the most agreeable to its original design . When I meet with any moving story , I am apt to consider how it would appear on the stage , if wrought up with the skill and address of artful and sometimes
an poet ; entertain myself with imao-inary scenes , characters , and sentiments which it mi ght furnish , and a ° t once draw from it the pleasure of history and poetry . I think the following story of such a nature , which I will therefore , relate as a tragedy in its first idea : In the reign of Henry the Third , King of France , about the year 1581 there it of thecit
, was Governor . y of Lectoure , in the province of Armanac / whose name was Baleine . In his younger years he had served in the wars against the Turks , was impetuous and of a haughty temper , but brave and virtuous . He had a sister , whom , in order to raise the diction a little , we will call Maria . She was a Lady of great beauty , frank , and debonnaire . Antonio , an Officer in the garrison , to whom the Governor had been particularly civil and
obliging , without his knowledge or consent , made his addresses to her , and at length so far insinuated himself into her good graces that she agreed to marry him privately . But some difficulties arisinoabottt fixing on a priest to perform the ceremony , in whose secrecy they might confide , he prevailed on the good nature and credulity of Maria to grant him the last favour , by his strong professions of an inviolable affectionand the most solemn promises that he would
, marry her the first opportunity . But , after this , he grew cold and indifferent , his visits were less frequent , and he still excused himself from marrying her on various idle pretences ; nay , not content with his cruel treatment , he soon after married secretly , as he thought , another lad y . But what can be hid from an injured mistress , or who is able to blind the eyes of jealousy ? Maria was informed b y her spies of every thinothat had
passed . Hereupon , in the agony of her soul , she immeili ^ ately ran to the Governor , and with dishevelled hair , and her face bedewed with tears , disclosing the whole affair , begged him on her knees to pity her wretched condition , and to revenge the wrongs she had received from the perjured Antonio . Baleine was naturall y hot and passionate , yet on this occasion dissembling his deep resentment , he advised his sister to be calm and patient , and endeavour to appear chearful , promising at the same time to take the matter into his own hands , and that she might depend oa
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Editor. On The Effects Of Tragedy.
It appears much more natural , that the effects of tragedy should he by raising pity and terror to purge the contrary passions , that is ' to subdue that confidence in prosperity , to which all men are liable - ' to melt away hardness of heart , and , by giving us a quick sense of the calamities incident to our common nature , to chastise the vain to soften the cruel , and , in a word , to humanize the whole man , and make him by these means a wiser and better creature . This effect of tragedy is elegantly represented in the prologue to Cato .
Tyrants no more their savage nature kept , And foes to virtue wonder'd how they , wept . _ It is at once the most moral end , and seems the most agreeable to its original design . When I meet with any moving story , I am apt to consider how it would appear on the stage , if wrought up with the skill and address of artful and sometimes
an poet ; entertain myself with imao-inary scenes , characters , and sentiments which it mi ght furnish , and a ° t once draw from it the pleasure of history and poetry . I think the following story of such a nature , which I will therefore , relate as a tragedy in its first idea : In the reign of Henry the Third , King of France , about the year 1581 there it of thecit
, was Governor . y of Lectoure , in the province of Armanac / whose name was Baleine . In his younger years he had served in the wars against the Turks , was impetuous and of a haughty temper , but brave and virtuous . He had a sister , whom , in order to raise the diction a little , we will call Maria . She was a Lady of great beauty , frank , and debonnaire . Antonio , an Officer in the garrison , to whom the Governor had been particularly civil and
obliging , without his knowledge or consent , made his addresses to her , and at length so far insinuated himself into her good graces that she agreed to marry him privately . But some difficulties arisinoabottt fixing on a priest to perform the ceremony , in whose secrecy they might confide , he prevailed on the good nature and credulity of Maria to grant him the last favour , by his strong professions of an inviolable affectionand the most solemn promises that he would
, marry her the first opportunity . But , after this , he grew cold and indifferent , his visits were less frequent , and he still excused himself from marrying her on various idle pretences ; nay , not content with his cruel treatment , he soon after married secretly , as he thought , another lad y . But what can be hid from an injured mistress , or who is able to blind the eyes of jealousy ? Maria was informed b y her spies of every thinothat had
passed . Hereupon , in the agony of her soul , she immeili ^ ately ran to the Governor , and with dishevelled hair , and her face bedewed with tears , disclosing the whole affair , begged him on her knees to pity her wretched condition , and to revenge the wrongs she had received from the perjured Antonio . Baleine was naturall y hot and passionate , yet on this occasion dissembling his deep resentment , he advised his sister to be calm and patient , and endeavour to appear chearful , promising at the same time to take the matter into his own hands , and that she might depend oa