A History of English Literature | Page 4

test of an
author's skill than his knowledge and presentation of characters. We
should consider whether he makes them (1) merely caricatures, or (2)
type characters, standing for certain general traits of human nature but
not convincingly real or especially significant persons, or (3) genuine
individuals with all the inconsistencies and half-revealed tendencies
that in actual life belong to real personality. Of course in the case of
important characters, the greater the genuine individuality the greater
the success. But with secondary characters the principles of emphasis
and proportion generally forbid very distinct individualization; and
sometimes, especially in comedy (drama), truth of character is properly
sacrificed to other objects, such as the main effect. It may also be asked
whether the characters are simple, as some people are in actual life, or
complex, like most interesting persons; whether they develop, as all
real people must under the action of significant experience, or whether
the author merely presents them in brief situations or lacks the power to
make them anything but stationary. If there are several of them it is a
further question whether the author properly contrasts them in such a
way as to secure interest. And a main requisite is that he shall properly
motivate their actions, that is make their actions result naturally from
their characters, either their controlling traits or their temporary
impulses.
STRUCTURE. In any work of literature there should be definite
structure. This requires, (1) Unity, (2) Variety, (3) Order, (4) Proportion,
and (5) due Emphasis of parts. Unity means that everything included in
the work ought to contribute directly or indirectly to the main effect.
Very often a definite theme may be found about which the whole work

centers, as for instance in 'Macbeth,' The Ruin of a Man through
Yielding to Evil. Sometimes, however, as in a lyric poem, the effect
intended may be the rendering or creation of a mood, such as that of
happy content, and in that case the poem may not have an easily
expressible concrete theme.
Order implies a proper beginning, arrangement, progress, and a definite
ending. In narrative, including all stories whether in prose or verse and
also the drama, there should be traceable a Line of Action, comprising
generally: (1) an Introduction, stating the necessary preliminaries; (2)
the Initial Impulse, the event which really sets in motion this particular
story; (3) a Rising Action; (4) a Main Climax. Sometimes (generally, in
Comedy) the Main Climax is identical with the Outcome; sometimes
(regularly in Tragedy) the Main Climax is a turning point and comes
near the middle of the story. In that case it really marks the beginning
of the success of the side which is to be victorious at the end (in
Tragedy the side opposed to the hero) and it initiates (5) a Falling
Action, corresponding to the Rising Action, and sometimes of much the
same length, wherein the losing side struggles to maintain itself. After
(6) the Outcome, may come (7) a brief tranquilizing Conclusion. The
Antecedent Action is that part of the characters' experiences which
precedes the events of the story. If it has a bearing, information about it
must be given either in the Introduction or incidentally later on.
Sometimes, however, the structure just indicated may not be followed;
a story may begin in the middle, and the earlier part may be told later
on in retrospect, or incidentally indicated, like the Antecedent Action.
If in any narrative there is one or more Secondary Action, a story which
might be separated from the Main Action and viewed as complete in
itself, criticism should always ask whether the Main and Secondary
Actions are properly unified. In the strictest theory there should be an
essential connection between them; for instance, they may illustrate
different and perhaps contrasting aspects of the general theme. Often,
however, an author introduces a Secondary Action merely for the sake
of variety or to increase the breadth of his picture--in order to present a
whole section of society instead of one narrow stratum or group. In
such cases, he must generally be judged to have succeeded if he has

established an apparent unity, say by mingling the same characters in
the two actions, so that readers are not readily conscious of the lack of
real structural unity.
Other things to be considered in narrative are: Movement, which,
unless for special reasons, should be rapid, at least not slow and broken;
Suspense; general Interest; and the questions whether or not there are
good situations and good minor climaxes, contributing to the interest;
and whether or not motivation is good, apart from that which results
from character, that is whether events are properly represented as
happening in accordance with the law of cause and effect which
inexorably governs actual life. But it must always be