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Show 146 THE CODE OF TERPSICHORE. CHAPTER III. ON THE CATASTROPHE OR DENOUMENT. " Que le trouble toujours croissant de scene en sc£ne, A son comble arrive se debrouille sans peine. L'esprit ne se sent point plus vivement frapp6 Que lorsqu 'en un sujet d' intrigue envelopp£ D'un secret tout a coup laverite connue Change tout donne a tout une face impr£vue." BoiLEAU. THESE verses of the celebrated imitator of Horace, who was the preserver of true taste 3, have already shown the signification of the word d6noti.ment (catastrophe). If it is difficult to succeed in the exposition, and in the plot when incidents increase and obstacles embarrass, it is still more so, to contrive a happy or unexpected catastrophe ; in this, even the greatest geniuses have sometimes failed; it is indeed a rock on which many have split, of which Moliere and Goldoni are a proof. Diderot, therefore, has sufficient reason for the accusation he brings against most dramatic authors. Shakspeare is often very defective in his catastrophes; the conclusion of Othello is void of all good sense, and produces nothing but horror4. The author should conduct the spectators gradually towards |
