Émile Augier and the Intrusion-Plot

Extract

Studies of the total work of a dramatic author are likely to be mainly in terms of his subject-matter, ideas, portrayal of character, and literary style. In analyzing and evaluating these, the critic seeks those elements of unity throughout the author's work which will best characterize his art. Less frequently is the same element of unity sought in his plots: sometimes, no doubt, the critic considers them a mere vehicle for the expression of ideas and the presentation of character, although they have certainly had more importance than this to most playwrights; more often the critic assumes that each play has its separate plot, and that while certain comparisons can be made and certain structural tendencies noted there is no reason to seek basic unity in the plots of most dramatists. If by plot we mean the total and frequently complex dramatic action, it is of course true that a competent playwright does not repeat it from one play to another. But if we seek the plot beneath the plot, the type of action on which the writer depends to give him the motivation, movement, and climax needed to hold the attention of the spectator, we shall find that he well can, and sometimes does, create an extensive series of plays on a single pattern of dramatic action and that this has revelatory significance for his personality and art.