Page:The thirty-six dramatic situations (1921).djvu/16

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THIRTY-SIX DRAMATIC SITUATIONS

and "Chryses" of Sophocles; "The Eumenides" of Aeschylus. A partial example: Act II of Shakespeare's "King John." Familiar instances: scenes from colonial protectorates.

(2)—Assistance Implored for the Performance of a Pious Duty Which Has Been Forbidden.—Complete examples: "The Eleusinians" of Aeschylus and "The Suppliants" of Euripides. A historical example: the burial of Molière. A familiar instance: a family divided in its religious belief, wherein a child, in order to worship according to his conscience, appeals to the parent who is his co-religionist.

(3)—Appeals for a Refuge in Which to Die.—Complete example: "Œdipus at Colonus." Partial example: the death of Zineb, in Hugo's "Mangeront-ils?"

B (1)—Hospitality Besought by the Shipwrecked.Complete example: "Nausicaa" and "The Pheacians" of Sophocles. Partial example: Act I of Berlioz' "Trojans."

(2)—Charity Entreated by Those Cast off by Their Own People, Whom They Have Disgraced.—Examples: the "Danae" of Aeschylus and the "Danae" of Euripides; the "Alope," "Auge" and "The Cretans" of Euripides. Familiar instances: a large part of the fifteen or twenty thousand adventures which, each year, come to an end in the Bureau des Enfants-Assistés. Special instance of a child received into a home: the beginning of "Le Rêve," by Zola.

(3)—Expiation: The Seeking of Pardon, Healing or Deliverance.—Examples: Sophocles' "Philoctetes;" Aeschylus' "Mysians;" Euripides' "Telephus;" "Les Champairol" (Rraisse, 1884). Historical example: the penitence of Barbarossa. Familiar instances: petitions for pardon, confession of Catholics, etc.

(4)—The Surrender of a Corpse, or of a Relic, Solicited:—"The Phrygians" of Aeschylus. Historical examples: the Crusaders' embassies to the Moslems. Familiar instances: the reclaiming of the remains of a great man buried in a foreign land; of the body of an executed person, or of a relative dead in a hospital.