ACT 



ACT 



main quite unmoved in his outward appearance : ami to let 

 tlic words drop from liis mouth without any cxprofTion ut 

 meaning, or w.irmth in liis gcllurcs. There is a coldnefs of 

 di-!iverj' as well as of compofition, which fhould be lludi- 

 oiidy avoided. Atlion, properly conduced, gives to the 

 fpcaker in tlie fenate, at the bar, and in the pulpit, veiy 

 great advantage in enforcing hio argument and impreffing an 

 audience. See Gesture. 



Actios, in a theatrical fcnfe, is nearly the fame with 

 that among orators, vvitii this difRrence, that the attor 

 adapts his adion to an affumed character, whereas the orator 

 is fuppofed, in reality, to feel the patTion which his adion 

 cxpreffes, whether joy, or grief. Sec. vSee Declamation. 

 Action, in Paitiy, is an event, either real or imaginaiy, 

 which makes tlie fubjecl of an epic or dramatic poem. This, 

 fays Ariftotle (De Poet. cap. vi. p. 637,) is the foul of 

 tragedy. The aftion of a poem coincides nearly with the 

 fable thereof ; it being the ufual pradice not to take any 

 real tranfadion of hilloiy, but to feign or invent one ; 

 or at lead to alter the hiftorlcal fad, fo as to render it in 

 » good meafure iiditious. Critics coniidcr the principal 

 adion, commonly called the fable, and the incidental 

 adion or episode. 



F. Boffu has two chapters, Of real aa'wn, the recitals 

 whereof are fables: and Of feigned aB'ions , the recitals whereof 

 are hiftorlcal. 



The critics lay down four qualifications as necefTaiy to 

 the epic and tragic adion : the firil, unity; the fecond, 

 integrity; the third, importance; and the fourth, 

 DURATION ; to which fome add a fifth, viz. continuity. 

 Dr. Blair fpecifies three properties, which are efTential to 

 the adion or fubjed of an epic poem. It mull be one, great 

 and inlereftlng. 



Ariftotle infifts upon unity, as effential to epic poetry ; 

 and he obferves, that, in order to render this unity more 

 fenGble to the imagination, and thus to give it a better 

 effed, it is not fufficient for the poet to confine hiinfelf to 

 the adions of one man, or to thofe which Iiappened during a 

 certain period of time ; but the unity muft lie in the fub- 

 jed itfelf, and arife from all the parts combining into one 

 whole. This unity of adion is fufficiently apparent in all 

 the great epic poems. Thus, Virgil has chofcn for his fub- 

 jed the eliabhftiment of jEneas in Italy, which he keeps 

 conftantly in view, and which ferves to conned all the parts. 

 The unity of the Odyffey is of the fame nature ; the return 

 and re-eftablidiment of UlyfTes in his own countiy. The 

 fubjed of Tafib is the recovery of Jerufalem from the In- 

 fidels ; that of Milton, the expulfion of our firft parents 

 from paradife ; and both of them are unexceptionable in the 

 Tinity of the ftor)-. The anger of Achilles, with its con- 

 fequences, is the profcfted uibied of the Iliad , hut, as 

 Achilles is in many books of the poem kept out of fight, 

 and the fancy terminates on no other objed than the fuccefs 

 of the two armies that are feen contending in war, the 

 unity is not fo fenfible to the imagination as in the jEneid. 

 This unity of the epic adion does not exclude all episodes, 

 or fubordinate adions. Moreover, the unity of the epic 

 adion neceffarily fuppofes, that the adion be entire and 

 complete ; or, as Ariftotle expreffes it, that it fhould have a 

 beginning, middle, and end. — If the three parts of a whole 

 fecm to be generally denoted by the words, beginning, midtlle, 

 ^nd end, Boffu interprets them more exprefsly, thus : the 

 caufes and defigns of a man's doing an adion are the be- 

 ginning ; the eneds of thofe caufes, and the difficulties oc- 

 curring in the execution of thofe defigns, are the middle of 

 it ; and the unravelling and extricating of thofe difficulties, 

 are the end of the adion. 



The poet, fays BofTu, fliould fo begin his adion, that, on 

 one hand, nothing fliould be farther wanting for the under- 

 (landing of what he afterwards delivers ; and, on the other, 

 that what thus begins require after it a neced'ary confequcnce. 

 The end is to be conduded after the like manner, only with 

 the two conditions tranfpofed, fo that nothing be ex- 

 peded after it ; and that what ends the poem be a neceffary 

 confequcnce of fomethiag that went before it. Laftly, the 

 beginning is to be joined to the end by a middle, wiilcli is 

 tile efl'cd of fomething that went before it, and the caufe 

 of what follov.'s. 



In the caufes of an adion, one may obfervc two oppofitc 

 defigns ; the firft and principal is that of the hero ; the fe- 

 cond comprehends all the defigns of thofe who oppofe the 

 pretenfions of the hero. Thel'e oppofitc caufes do all pro- 

 duce oppofite effeds, viz. the endeavours of the hero to ac- 

 complilh his defign, and the endeavours of thofe who are 

 againft it. — As the caufes and defigns are the beginning of 

 the adion, fo thofe contrary endeavours are the middle of it, 

 and form a difficulty, plot, or intrigue, which makes the 

 greateft part of the poem ; and the folution or clearing up 

 of this difficulty makes the unravelling. 



The unravelling of the plot, or intrigue, may happen two 

 ways ; either with a difcoveiy or without. 



The feveral eff'tds which the uiiravelUng produces, and 

 the different ftates to which it reduces the perfiins, divide the 

 adion into fo many kinds. — If it change the fortune of tlie 

 principal peifon, it is faid to be with a peripetia ; and the 

 adion is denominated implex, or mixed ; if there be no peri- 

 petia, but the unravelling be a mere palling from trouble to 

 repofe, the adion is fimple. It has been debated among 

 critics, whether the clofe of the adion in an epic poem ftiould 

 be alw ays profperous or not ? The general opinion and the 

 general praclice are on the fide of a prolperous conclufion. But 

 there are fome exceptions. Luean and Milton, two authors 

 of great note, have purfued a contrary courfe : the one con- 

 cluding with the fubverfion of the Roman liberty ; the 

 other with the expulfion of man from paradife. 



Another property of the epic adion is, that it be great, 

 or fufficiently fplendid and important both to fix our atten- 

 tion, and to jullify the magnificent apparatus which the poet 

 bellows upon it. One eircumftance that contributes to the 

 grandeur )f the adion is, that it be not of a modern date. 

 Antiquity is favourable to thole high ideas, which epic 

 poetry is defigned to excite and cherilh. Lucan and Vol- 

 taire have, in the choice of their fubjeds, tranfgreffed this 

 rule. As the adion is rendered important, fays Boffu, by- 

 giving a higher idea of the perfonages that are introduced 

 than any the readers can conceive from comparing them 

 with thofe of the prefent time, and where heroifm, fays 

 Dr. Blair, is the ground-work, and where the objed in view 

 is to excite admiration, ancient or traditionary hiftoiy is cer- 

 tainly the fafeft region. The diftance of the period, or the 

 remotenefs of the fcene, affords fufficient licence for fidion 

 and invention. The importance of the adion much de- 

 pends on the dignity and importance of the perfons con- 

 cerned in it. Thus, the fame of Homer's heroes, and the 

 confequences of their diffenfion, furnifti a fubjed important 

 in itfelf, and particularly important to his countrymen, who 

 valued themfelres on their defcent from thefe heroes. The 

 importance of the adion itfelf fhould alfo be regarded. 

 In this refped, the fubjed of the jEneid is greater than that 

 of the Iliad, as it is the foundation of the moft powerful 

 empire that ever was ellablllhed on the globe : which is an 

 event of much greater moment than the deftrudion of a 

 city, or the anger of a wan-ior. But in comparifon of the 

 greatnefs difplayed in Faradife Loft, all other grcatncfs, 



fay* 



