I^gr. LITERARY INTELLIGENCER. 6l 



feldom found united in any high degree among man- 

 kind. 



The chara£ters which make a chief figure in the tra- 

 gedy of Othello, are the Moor himfelf, Defdemona, 

 and lago. The fubje£t is, the deftruftion of Defde- 

 mona ; and this cataftrophe the author never lofes fight 

 %f. It is indeed remarkable for unity of action, which 

 of , all the three unities is or principal confequence. Uni- 

 ty of time and place, peculiar to this fpecies of compo- 

 fition, arife from the nature of dramatic reprefentation, 

 the aftion being fuppofed to be in view of fpecElators 

 for a moderate fpace of time. But a ftricl attention to 

 the unities of time and place, has never been complete- 

 ly attained by any writer. When an aftion is to be 

 reprefen»^ed, of fuch importance as to awaken, keep alive, 

 and at iaft gratify curiofity, it muft neceiTarily give rife 

 to many incidents; and in thefe incident'--, if confiftent 

 with nature and probability, in different places and with 

 different intervals, juuch time is fpent, and much is 

 done behind the curtain, which cannot be brought in re- 

 view ; fuch liberties never offend the reader, and feldom 

 the fpeftetor : and when a certain degree of liberty is 

 thought proper, the writer may go confiderable length 

 witliout offending our fenfe of propriety ; and we part- 

 ly confider it as dramatic narration. To be fcrupu- 

 loufly attentive to the unities of time and place, con- 

 fines the genius of the writer, makes the work barren of 

 incidents, and confequenlly Itfs interefling: much mufl: 

 be forced and improbable ; and the internal merit, and 

 beauty of the ftory, mult be facrificed to the external 

 and artificial nature of reprefentation. Thofe who con- 

 tend for a flrift refemblance of the artificial action to 

 the ftory, require what can never take place : the 

 fcene is olten changed on the fame fpct, and it matters 

 very little whether from one room of the palace to 

 another, or from London to York, as both are equally 

 impoflible ; and the fame may be faid of fuppofing five 

 minutes, when we well know it is really five*hours ; 



