,transcriber's ,note3 ,in this text1    
words or phrases that were printed  in  
italics are surrounded with underscore  
symbols like this and  words or phrases 
that were printed in bold type are set  
off with equal  signs like this4        
,a ,,manual ,,of ,,the ,,art ,,of       
,,fiction          ,other ,books by     
,clayton ,hamilton    ,,on ,,the ,,trail
 ,,of ,,stevenson 4 4 4 4 #c4ej net     
,published by ,doubleday1 ,page         
,company    ,,the ,,theory ,,of ,,the   
,,theatre 4 4 4 4 #a4fj net    ,,studies
 ,,in ,,stagecraft 4 4 4 4 4 4 #a4fj net
    ,,problems ,,of ,,the ,,playwright4 
4 4 4 #a4fj net    ,published by ,henry 
,holt  ,company          ,a ,manual of  
,,the ,,art ,,of ,,fiction    ,prepared 
for the ,use of ,schools and ,colleges  
,by    ,,clayton ,,hamilton    ,member  
of the ,national ,institute of ,arts and
 ,letters2  ,extension ,lecturer in     
,english1 ,columbia ,university    ,with
 an ,introduction by    ,,brander       
,,matthews    ,member of the ,american  

,academy of ,arts and ,letters2         
,professor of ,dramatic ,literature1    
,columbia ,university    ,,garden       
,,city--,,new ,,york    ,,doubleday1    
,,page  ,,company    #aiai              
,copyright1 #aiah1 by    ,doubleday1    
,page  ,company    ,all rights reserved1
 including that of translation into     
foreign  languages1 including the       
,scandinavian4          ,,to            
,,frederic ,,taber ,,cooper    ,,with   
,,admiration ,,for ,,the ,,critic       
,,with ,,affection ,,for ,,the ,,friend 
,,foreword        ,this ,,manual ,,of   
,,the ,,art ,,of ,,fiction is a revised 
and amplified    edition of ,materials  
and ,methods of ,fiction1 by ,clayton   
,hamilton1 which was first published in 
#aijh4 ,the earlier work was            
immediately recognized as an important  
piece of constructive    criticism and  
has held its position ever since as one 
of the    leading books in its field4   
,on the tenth anniversary of its        
appearance1 the publishers have asked   

the author to prepare this    annotated 
and enlarged edition1 particularly for  
the use of    students and teachers in  
schools and colleges4                   
,,doubleday1 ,,page  ,,company4         
,garden ,city1 ,new ,york1 #aiah4       
,,contents            ,,foreword        
vii            ,,introduction           
xiii         ,i4 ,,the ,,purpose ,,of   
,,fiction                               
#c              ,fiction a ,means of    
,telling ,truth--,fact and              
,fiction--,truth and ,fact--,the ,search
 for ,truth--,the                       
,necessary ,triple ,process--,different 
,degrees of              ,emphasis--,the
 ,art of ,fiction and the ,craft of     
,chemistry--,fiction and                
,reality--,fiction and                  
,history--,fiction and                  
,biography--,biography1                 
,history1 and ,fiction--,fiction ,which 
,is              ,true--,fiction ,which 
,is ,false--,casual ,sins against       
the ,truth in ,fiction--,more ,serious  

,sins against the                       
,truth--,the ,futility of the           
,adventitious--,the                     
,independence of ,created               
,characters--,fiction ,more             
,true ,than a ,casual ,report of        
,fact--,the ,exception              and 
the ,law--,truthfulness the only ,title 
to              ,immortality--,morality 
and ,immorality in ,fiction--,the       
,faculty of ,wisdom--,wisdom and        
,technic--,general              and     
,particular ,experience--,extensive and 
,intensive                              
,experience--,the ,experiencing         
,nature--,curiosity and                 
,sympathy4        ,,ii4 ,,realism ,,and 
,,romance                               
#be              ,two ,methods of       
,exhibiting the ,truth--,every ,mind    
,either              ,realistic or      
,romantic--,marion ,crawford's ,faulty  
,distinction--,a ,second ,unsatisfactory
 ,distinction--,a              ,third   
,unsatisfactory ,distinction--,bliss    

,perry's              ,negative         
,definition--,the ,true ,distinction    
,one of              ,method1 ,not of   
,material--,scientific ,discovery and   
,artistic ,expression--,the ,testimony  
of ,hawthorne--,a                       
,philosophic ,formula--,induction and   
,deduction--,the              ,inductive
 ,method of the ,realist--,the          
,deductive              ,method of the  
,romantic--,realism1 ,like ,inductive   
,science1 a ,strictly ,modern           
,product--,advantages of                
,realism--,advantages of ,romance--,the 
,confinement of                         
,realism--,the ,freedom of              
,romance--,neither ,method              
,better ,than the ,other--,abuses of    
,realism--,abuses of                    
,romance4       ,,iii4 ,,the ,,nature   
,,of ,,narrative                        
#dd              ,transition from       
,material to ,method--,the ,four        
,methods              of ,discourse--#a4
 ,argumentation2 #b4 ,exposition2       

#c4 ,description2 #d4 ,narration1 the   
,natural ,mood              of          
,fiction--,series and ,succession--,life
 ,is              ,chronological1 ,art  
,is ,logical--,the ,narrative           
,sense--,the ,joy of ,telling           
,tales--,the ,missing of                
,this ,joy--,developing the ,sense of   
,narrative--,the              ,meaning  
of the ,word ,event--,how to ,make      
,things              ,happen--,the      
,narrative of ,action--,the ,narrative  
of ,character--,recapitulation4         
,,iv4 ,,plot                            
#fj              ,narrative a           
,simplification of ,life--,unity in     
,narrative--,a ,definite ,objective     
,point--,construction1                  
,analytic and ,synthetic--,the          
,importance of                          
,structure--,elementary                 
,narrative--,positive and               
,negative ,events--,the ,picaresque     
,pattern--,definition              of   
,plot--,complication of the             

,network--,the ,major                   
,knot--,beginning1 ,middle1 and         
,end--,the                              
,sub-,plot--,discursive and ,compacted  
,narratives--,telling ,much or ,little  
of a ,story--,where              to     
,begin a ,story--,logical ,sequence and 
,chronological                          
,succession--,tying and                 
,untying--,transition to the            
,next ,chapter4         ,v4 ,,characters
                                        
#gg              ,characters ,should ,be
 ,worth ,knowing--,the ,personal        
,equation of the ,audience--,the        
,universal ,appeal              of      
,great ,fictitious ,characters--,typical
              ,traits--,individual      
,traits--,the ,defect of                
,allegory--,the ,defect of              
,caricature--,static and                
,kinetic ,characters--,direct and       
,indirect                               
,delineation--,subdivisions of ,both    
,methods--,i4              ,direct      

,delineation3 #a4 ,by ,exposition2 #b4  
,by              ,description2 ,gradual 
,portrayal2 #c4 ,by                     
,psychological ,analysis2 #d4 ,by       
,reports from other                     
,characters--,,ii4 ,indirect            
,delineation3 #a4 ,by ,speech2          
#b4 ,by ,action2 #c4 ,by ,effect on     
other ,characters2 #d4              ,by 
,environment4        ,,vi4 ,,setting    
#ii              ,evolution of          
,background in the ,history of          
,painting--,the ,first ,stage--,the     
,second ,stage--,the              ,third
 ,stage--,similar ,evolution of ,setting
 in the ,history              of        
,fiction3 ,the ,first ,stage--,the      
,second ,stage--,the              ,third
 ,stage3 #a4 ,setting as an ,aid to     
,action--#b4              ,setting as an
 ,aid to ,characterization--,emotional  
,harmony in ,setting--,the ,pathetic    
,fallacy--,emotional                    
,contrast in ,setting--,irony in        
,setting--,artistic and                 

,philosophical ,employment--#a4 ,setting
 as a ,motive              toward       
,action--#b4 ,setting as an ,influence  
on              ,character--,setting as 
the ,hero of the                        
,narrative--,uses of the                
,weather--,romantic and                 
,realistic ,settings--,a ,romantic      
,setting by ,edgar              ,allan  
,poe--,a ,realistic ,setting by ,george 
,eliot--,the ,quality of ,atmosphere1 or
 ,local                                 
,color--,recapitulation4       ,,vii4   
,,the ,,point ,,of ,,view ,,in          
,,narrative                             
#abj              ,the ,importance of   
the ,point of ,view--,two ,classes1 ,the
              ,internal and the         
,external--,i4 ,subdivisions of the     
,first ,class3 #a4 ,the ,point of ,view 
of the ,leading              ,actor2 #b4
 ,the ,point of ,view of ,some          
,subsidiary              ,actor2 #c4    
,the ,points of ,view of ,different     
,actors2 #d4              ,the          

,epistolary ,point of ,view4--,,ii4     
,subdivisions of              the       
,second ,class3--#a4 ,the ,omniscient   
,point of ,view2              #b4 ,the  
,limited ,point of ,view2 #c4 ,the      
,rigidly              ,restricted ,point
 of ,view--,two ,tones of ,narrative1   
,impersonal and ,personal3 #a4 ,the     
,impersonal ,tone2 #b4              ,the
 ,personal ,tone--,the ,point of ,view  
as a ,factor in                         
,construction--,the ,point of ,view as  
the ,hero of the                        
,narrative4      ,,viii4 ,,emphasis ,,in
 ,,narrative                            
#aci              ,essential and        
,contributory ,features--,art           
,distinguishes              ,between the
 ,two by ,emphasis--,many ,technical    
,devices3              #a4 ,emphasis by 
,terminal ,position2 #b4 ,emphasis by   
,initial ,position2 #c4 ,emphasis by    
,pause ,further              ,discussion
 of ,emphasis by ,position2 #d4         
,emphasis by              ,direct       

,proportion2 #e4 ,emphasis by ,inverse  
,proportion2 #f4 ,emphasis by           
,iteration2 #g4 ,emphasis by            
,antithesis2 #h4 ,emphasis by ,climax2  
#i4 ,emphasis by              ,surprise2
 #aj4 ,emphasis by ,suspense2 #aa4      
,emphasis by              ,imitative    
,movement4        ,,ix4 ,,the ,,epic1   
,,the ,,drama1 ,,and ,,the ,,novel      
#aeg              ,fiction a ,generic   
,term--,narrative in ,verse and         
,narrative              in              
,prose--,three ,moods of ,fiction3 ,i4  
,the ,epic              ,mood--,,ii4    
,the ,dramatic ,mood3 #a4 ,influence of 
the              ,actor2 #b4 ,influence 
of the ,theatre2 #c4 ,influence of      
the ,audience--,dramatized              
,novels--,,iii4 ,the                    
,novelistic ,mood4         ,x4 ,,the    
,,novel1 ,,the ,,novelette1 ,,and ,,the 
,,short-,,story              #agb       
,novel1 ,novelette1 and                 
,short-,story--,the ,novel and the      
,novelette--,the ,short-,story a        

,distinct ,type--,the                   
,dictum of ,poe--,the ,formula of       
,brander                                
,matthews--,definition of the           
,short-,story--,explanation             
of ,this ,definition3 #a4 ,single       
,narrative ,effect2 #b4                 
,greatest ,economy of ,means2 and #c4   
,utmost              ,emphasis--,brief  
,tales ,that ,are ,not                  
,short-,stories--,short-,stories ,that  
,are ,not              ,brief--,bliss   
,perry's ,annotations--,the ,novelist   
and              the ,writer of         
,short-,stories--,the ,short-,story     
,more              ,artistic ,than the  
,novel--,the ,short-,story ,almost      
,necessarily ,romantic4        ,,xi4    
,,the ,,structure ,,of ,,the            
,,short-,,story                         
#ahi              ,only ,one ,best ,way 
to ,construct a ,short-,story--,problems
              of ,short-,story          
,construction--,the ,initial            
,position--,the ,terminal               

,position--,poe's ,analysis of          
,the ,raven--,analysis of               
,ligeia--,analysis of ,the              
,prodigal ,son--,style ,essential to the
 ,short-,story4       ,,xii4 ,,the      
,,factor ,,of ,,style                   
#bjg              ,structure and        
,style--,style a ,matter of             
,feeling--,style              an        
,absolute ,quality--,the ,twofold       
,appeal of                              
,language--,concrete                    
,examples--,onomatopoetic               
,words--,memorable ,words--,the         
,patterning of                          
,syllables--,stevenson on ,style--,the  
,pattern of              ,rhythm--,the  
,pattern of ,literation--,style a ,fine 
,art--,style an ,important ,aid to      
,fiction--,the              ,heresy of  
the ,accidental--,style an ,intuitive   
,quality--,methods and                  
,materials--,content and                
,form--,the ,fusion of ,both            
,elements--,the ,author's               

,personality--,recapitulation4          
,,index                                 
#bbg          ,,introduction      ,in   
our time1 in these early years of the   
twentieth century1 the novel  is the    
prosperous parvenu of literature1 and   
only a few of those who  acknowledge its
 vogue and who laud its success take the
 trouble to  recall its humble          
beginnings and the miseries of its      
youth4 ,but like  other parvenus it is  
still a little uncertain of its position
 in the  society in which it moves4 ,it 
is a newcomer in the literary world2 and
  it has the self-assertiveness and the 
touchiness natural to the  situation4   
,it brags of its descent1 although its  
origins are obscure4  ,it has won its   
way to the front and it has forced its  
admission into  circles where it was    
formerly denied access4 ,it likes to    
forget that  it was once but little     
better than an outcast1 unworthy of     
recognition  from those in authority4   
,perhaps it is still uneasily conscious 

that  not a few of those who were born  
to good society may look at it with     
cold suspicion as though it was still on
 sufferance4    ,story-telling has      
always been popular1 of course2 and the 
desire is  deep-rooted in all of us to  
hear and to tell some new thing and to  
tell again something deserving          
remembrance4 ,but the novel itself1 and 
the short-story also1 must confess that 
they have only of late been  able to    
claim equality with the epic and the    
lyric1 and with comedy  and tragedy1    
literary forms consecrated by antiquity4
 ,there were nine  ,muses in ,greece of 
old1 and no one of these daughters of   
,apollo was  expected to inspire the    
writer of prose-fiction4 ,whoever had   
then a  story to tell1 which he wished  
to treat artistically1 never dreamed of 
expressing it except in the nobler      
medium of verse1 in the epic1 in  the   
idyl1 in the drama4 ,prose seemed to the
 ,greeks1 and even to the  ,latins who  
followed in their footsteps1 as fit only

 for pedestrian  purposes4 ,even oratory
 and history were almost rhythmic2 and  
mere  prose was too humble an instrument
 for those whom the ,muses cherished4   
,the ,alexandrian vignettes of the      
gentle ,theocritus may be regarded as   
anticipations of the modern short-story 
of urban local color2 but this  delicate
 idyllist used verse for the talk of his
 ,tanagra figurines4    ,even when the  
modern languages entered into the       
inheritance of ,latin  and ,greek1 verse
 held to its ancestral privileges1 and  
the brief tale  took the form of the    
ballad1 and the longer narrative called 
itself a  chanson de geste4 ,boccaccio  
and ,rabelais and ,cervantes might win  
immediate popularity and invite a host  
of imitators2 but it was long  after    
their time before a tale in prose1      
whether short or long1  achieved        
recognition as worthy of serious        
critical consideration4 ,in  his study  
of ,balzac1 ,brunetire recorded the     
significant fact that no  novelist1 who 

was purely and simply a novelist1 was   
elected to the  ,french ,academy in the 
first two centuries of its existence4   
,and the  same acute critic1 in his     
,history of ,classical ,french          
,literature1  pointed out that ,french  
novels were under a cloud of suspicion  
even so  far back as the days of        
,erasmus1 in #aebe4 ,it was many scores 
of years  thereafter before the         
self-appointed guardians of ,french     
literature  esteemed the novel highly   
enough to condescend to discuss it4     
,perhaps this was not altogether a      
disadvantage4 ,french tragedy was       
discussed only too abundantly2 and the  
theorists laid down rules for  it which 
were not a little cramping4 ,another    
,french critic1 ,m4 ,le  ,breton1 in his
 account of the growth of ,french       
prose-fiction in the  first half of the 
nineteenth century1 has asserted that   
this exemption  from criticism really   
redounded to the benefit of the novel1  
since the  despised form was allowed to 

develop naturally1 spontaneously1 free  
from all the many artificial            
restrictions which the dogmatists       
succeeded in imposing on tragedy and on 
comedy1 and which resulted at  last in  
the sterility of the ,french drama      
toward the end of the  eighteenth       
century and the beginning of the        
nineteenth4 ,while this  advantage is   
undeniable1 one may question whether it 
was not bought at  too great a price and
 whether there would not have been a    
certain  profit for prose-fiction if its
 practitioners had been kept up to the  
mark by a criticism which educated the  
public to demand greater care  in       
structure1 more logic in the conduct of 
events1 and stricter  veracity in the   
treatment of characters4    ,however    
much it might then be deemed unworthy of
 serious consideration1  the novel in   
the eighteenth century began to attract 
to itself more and  more authors of rich
 natural endowment4 ,in ,english        
literature especially1  prose-fiction   

tempted men as unlike as ,defoe and     
,swift1 ,richardson and  ,fielding1     
,smollett and ,sterne1 ,goldsmith and   
,johnson4 ,and a little  earlier the    
eighteenth century essayists1 with      
,steele and ,addison at the  head of    
them1 had developed the art of          
character-delineation1 a  development   
out of which the novelists were to make 
their profit4 ,the  influence of the    
,english eighteenth-century essay on the
 growth of  prose-fiction1 not only in  
the ,british ,isles1 but also on the    
continent  of ,europe1 is larger than is
 generally admitted4 ,indeed1 there is a
  sense in which the successive papers  
depicting the character and the  deeds  
of ,sir ,roger de ,coverley may be      
accepted as the earliest of serial      
stories4    ,but it was only in the     
nineteenth century that the novel       
reached its  full expansion and         
succeeded in winning recognition as the 
heir of the  epic and the rival of the  
drama4 ,this victory was the direct     

result of  the overwhelming success of  
the ,waverley novels and of the         
countless  stories written more or less 
in accordance with ,scott's formula1 by 
,cooper1 by ,victor ,hugo and ,dumas1 by
 ,manzoni1 and by all the others  who   
followed in their footsteps in every    
modern language4 ,not only  born        
story-tellers but writers who were by   
natural gift poets or  dramatists1      
seized upon the novel as a form in which
 they could  express themselves freely  
and by which they might hope to gain a  
proper reward in money as well as in    
fame4 ,the economic interpretation  of  
literary history has not received the   
attention it deserves2 and  the future  
investigator will find a rich field in  
his researches for  the causes of the   
expansion of the novel in the nineteenth
 century  simultaneous with the decline 
of the drama in the literature of almost
  every modern language except ,french4 
,as the nineteenth century drew toward  
its maturity1 the influence of  ,balzac 

reinforced the influence of ,scott2 and 
realism began to assert  its right to   
substitute itself for romance4 ,the     
adjustment of  character to its         
appropriate background1 the closer      
connection of  fiction with the actual  
facts of life1 the focussing of         
attention on  the normal and the usual  
rather than on the abnormal and the     
exceptional--all these steps in advance 
were more easily taken in the  freer    
form of the novel than they could be in 
the more restricted  formula of the     
drama2 and for the first time in its    
history  prose-fiction found itself a   
pioneer1 achieving a solidity of texture
  which the theatre had not yet been    
able to attain4    ,the novel revealed  
itself at last as a fit instrument for  
applied  psychology1 for the use of     
those delicate artists who are          
interested  rather in what character is 
than in what it may chance to do4 ,in   
the earliest fictions1 whether in prose 
or verse1 the hero had been  merely a   

type1 little more than a lay-figure     
capable of violent  attitudes1 a doer of
 deeds who1 as ,professor ,gummere has  
explained1  answered the desire for     
poetic expression at a time when an     
individual is merged in the clan4 ,and  
as the realistic writers  perfected     
their art1 the more acute readers began 
to perceive that  the hero who is a doer
 of deeds can represent only the earlier
 stages  of culture which we have long  
outgrown4 ,this hero came to be         
recognized as an anachronism1 out of    
place in a more modern social           
organization based on a full            
appreciation of individuality4 ,he was  
too much a type and too little an       
individual to satisfy the demands  of   
those who looked to literature as the   
mirror of life itself and who  had      
taught themselves to relish what ,lowell
 terms the punctilious  veracity which  
gives to a portrait its whole worth4    
,thus it was only in the middle years of
 the nineteenth century1 after          

,stendhal1 ,balzac1 and ,flaubert1 after
 ,thackeray and ,george ,eliot1 and     
,hawthorne1 that the novel found out its
 true field4 ,and yet it was in  the    
middle years of the seventeenth century 
that the ideal to which it  was aspiring
 had been proclaimed frankly by the     
forgotten ,furetire in  the preface to  
his ,roman ,bourgeois4 ,furetire lacked 
the skill and  the insight needful for  
the satisfactory attainment of the      
standard he  set up--indeed1 the        
attainment of that standard is beyond   
the power of  most novelists even now4  
,but ,furetire's declaration of the     
principles  which he proposed to follow 
is as significant now as it was in      
#afff1  when neither the writer himself 
nor the reader to whom he had to  appeal
 was ripe for the advance which he      
insisted upon4 ,i shall tell  you1 said 
,furetire1 sincerely and faithfully1    
several stories or  adventures which    
happened to persons who are neither     
heroes nor  heroines1 who will raise no 

armies and overthrow no kingdoms1 but   
who  will be honest folk of mediocre    
condition1 and who will quietly make    
their way4 ,some of them will be        
good-looking and others ugly4 ,some of  
them will be wise and others foolish2   
and these last1 in fact1 seem  likely to
 prove the larger number4          ,,ii 
,the novel had a long road to travel    
before it became possible for  novelists
 to approach the ideal that ,furetire   
proclaimed and before  they had acquired
 the skill needed to make their readers 
accept it4  ,and there had also to be a 
slow development of our own ideas       
concerning the relation of art to life4 
,for one thing1 art had  been expected  
to emphasize a moral2 there was even a  
demand on the  drama to be overtly      
didactic4 ,less than a score of years   
after  ,furetire's preface there was    
published an ,english translation of the
  ,abb d',aubignac's ,pratique du ,thtre
 which was entitled the  ,whole ,art of 
the ,stage and in which the theory of   

poetic justice  was set forth formally4 
,one of the chiefest1 and indeed the    
most  indispensable ,rule of ,drammatick
 ,poems is that in them ,virtues always 
ought to be rewarded1 or at least       
commended1 in spite of all the          
,injuries of ,fortune2 and that likewise
 ,vices be always punished or  at least 
detested with ,horrour1 though they     
triumph upon the ,stage for  that time4 
,doctor ,johnson was so completely a man
 of his own century that he  found fault
 with ,shakespeare because ,shakespeare 
did not preach1  because in the great   
tragedies virtue is not always rewarded 
and  vice is not always punished4       
,doctor ,johnson and the ,abb           
d',aubignac  wanted the dramatist to be 
false to life as we all know it4 ,beyond
 all  peradventure the wages of sin is  
death2 and yet we have all seen the     
evil-doer dying in the midst of his     
devoted family and surrounded  by all   
the external evidences of worldly       
success4 ,to insist that  virtue shall  

be outwardly triumphant at the end of a 
play or of a  novel is to require the   
dramatist or the novelist to falsify4   
,it  is to introduce an element of      
unreality into fiction4 ,it is to       
require the story-teller and the        
playmaker to prove a thesis that  common
 sense must reject4    ,any attempt to  
require the artist to prove anything is 
necessarily  cramping4 ,a true          
representation of life does not prove   
one thing only1  it proves many things4 
,life is large1 unlimited1 and          
incessant2 and  the lessons of the      
finest art are those of life itself2    
they are not  single but multiple4 ,who 
can declare what is the single moral    
contained in the ,o,edipus of           
,sophocles1 the ,hamlet of ,shakespeare1
  the ,tartufe of ,molire8 ,no two      
spectators of these masterpieces  would 
agree on the special morals to be       
isolated2 and yet none of them  would   
deny that the masterpieces are          
profoundly moral because of their       

essential truth4 ,morality1 a specific  
moral--this is what the artist  cannot  
deliberately put into his work without  
destroying its veracity4  ,but morality 
is also what he cannot leave out if he  
has striven only  to handle his subject 
sincerely4 ,hegel is right when he tells
 us that  art has its moral--but the    
moral depends on him who draws it4 ,the 
didactic drama and the                  
novel-with-a-purpose are necessarily    
unartistic  and unavoidably             
unsatisfactory4    ,this is what the    
greater artists have always felt2 this  
is what they  have often expressed      
unhesitatingly4 ,corneille1 for one1    
though he was  a man of his time1 a     
creature of the seventeenth century1 had
 the  courage to assert that the utility
 of a play is seen in the simple        
depicting of vices and virtues1 which   
never fails to be effective if  it is   
well done and if the traits are so      
recognizable that they cannot  be       
confounded or mistaken2 virtue always   

gets itself loved1 however  unfortunate1
 and vice gets itself hated1 even though
 triumphant4  ,dryden1 again1 a         
contemporary of d',aubignac and a       
predecessor of  ,johnson1 had a clearer 
vision than either of them2 and his     
views are  far in advance of theirs4    
,delight1 he said1 is the chief if not  
the  only end of poesy1 and by poesy he 
meant fiction in all its forms2         
instruction can be admitted but in the  
second place1 for poetry only  instructs
 as it delights4 ,and once more1 when we
 pass from the  seventeenth century of  
,corneille and ,dryden to the nineteenth
 century  when the novel has asserted   
its rivalry with the drama1 we find the 
wise ,goethe declaring to ,eckermann the
 doctrine which is now winning          
acceptance everywhere4 ,if there is a   
moral in the subject it will  appear1   
and the poet has nothing to consider but
 the effective and  artistic treatment  
of his subject2 if he has as high a soul
 as  ,sophocles1 his influence will     

always be moral1 let him do what he     
will4    ,a high soul is not given to   
all writers of fiction1 and yet there is
  an obligation on them all to aspire to
 the praise bestowed on  ,sophocles as  
one who saw life steadily and saw it    
whole4 ,even the  humblest of           
story-tellers ought to feel himself     
bound1 not to preach1  not to point a   
moral ostentatiously1 not to warp the   
march of events  for the sake of        
so-called poetic justice1 but to report 
life as he  knows it1 making it neither 
better nor worse1 to represent it       
honestly1 to tell the truth about it and
 nothing but the truth1 even  if he does
 not tell the whole truth--which is     
given to no man to know4  ,this is an   
obligation that not a few of the        
foremost writers of  fiction have failed
 to respect4 ,dickens1 for example1 is  
delighted to  reform a character in the 
twinkling of an eye1 transforming a bad 
man  into a good man over night1 and    
contradicting all that we know about    

the permanence of character4    ,other  
novelists have asked us to admire       
violent and unexpected acts of          
startling self-sacrifice1 when a        
character is made to take on himself    
the responsibility for the delinquency  
of some other character4 ,they  have    
invited our approbation for a moral     
suicide1 which is quite as  blameworthy 
as any physical suicide4 ,with his keen 
insight into ethics  and with his robust
 common sense1 ,huxley stated the       
principle which  these novelists have   
failed to grasp4 ,a man1 he tells us1   
may refuse  to commit another1 but he   
ought not to allow himself to be        
believed  worse than he actually is1    
since this results in a loss to the     
world  of moral force which cannot be   
afforded4 ,the final test of the        
fineness of fiction lies in its         
veracity4 ,romance is the poetry of     
circumstance1 as ,stevenson tells us1   
and drama is the poetry of  conduct2 we 
may be tolerant and easy-going in our   

acceptance of a  novelist's             
circumstances1 but we ought to be       
rigorous as regards  conduct4 ,as far as
 the successive happenings of his story 
are  concerned1 the mere incidents1 the 
author may on occasion ask our          
indulgence and tax our credulity a      
little2 but he must not expect us  to   
forgive him for any violation of the    
fundamental truths of human  nature4    
,it is this stern veracity1 unflinching 
and inexorable1 which makes  ,anna      
,karnina one of the noblest works of art
 that the nineteenth  century devised to
 the twentieth1 just as it is the       
absence of this  fidelity to the facts  
of life1 the twisting of character to   
prove a  thesis1 which vitiates the     
,kreutzer ,sonata1 and makes it unworthy
 of  the great artist in fiction who    
wrote the earlier work4 ,it is not too  
much to say that the development of     
,tolstoi as a militant moralist is      
coincident with his decline as an       
artist4 ,he is no longer content to     

picture life as he sees it2 he insists  
on preaching4 ,and when he uses  his    
art1 not as an end in itself1 but as an 
instrument to advocate his  own         
individual theories1 although his great 
gifts are not taken from  him1 the      
result is that his later novels lack the
 broad and deep moral  effect which gave
 his earlier studies of life and        
character their  abiding value4         
,stevenson had in him something of the  
shorter catechist2 and the  ,scotch     
artist in letters1 enamored of words as 
he was1 seized firmly  the indispensable
 law4 ,the most influential books1 and  
the truest in  their influence1 are     
works of fiction1 he declared4 ,they do 
not pin  their reader to a dogma1 which 
he must afterward discover to be        
inexact2 they do not teach a lesson1    
which he must afterward unlearn4  ,they 
repeat1 they rearrange1 they clarify the
 lessons of life2 they  disengage us    
from ourselves1 they constrain us to the
 acquaintances of  others1 and they show

 us the web of experience not as we can 
see it  for ourselves1 but with a       
singular change--that monstrous1        
consuming  ego of ours being1 for the   
nonce1 struck out4 ,to be so1 they must 
be  reasonably true to the human comedy2
 and any work that is so serves  the    
turn of instruction4 ,this is well      
thought and well put1 although  many of 
us might demand that novels should be   
more than reasonably  true4 ,but even if
 ,stevenson was here a little lax in the
 requirements  he imposed on others1 he 
was stricter with himself when he wrote 
,markheim and the ,strange ,case of ,dr4
 ,jekyll and ,mr4 ,hyde4    ,another    
story-teller1 also cut off before he had
 displayed the best  that was in him1   
set up the same standards for his       
fellow-craftsmen in  fiction4 ,in his   
striking discussion of the              
responsibility of the  novelist1 ,frank 
,norris asserted that the readers of    
fiction have a  right to the ,truth as  
they have a right to life1 liberty and  

the  pursuit of happiness4 ,it is not   
right that they be exploited and        
deceived with false views of life1 false
 characters1 false sentiment1  false    
morality1 false history1 false          
philosophy1 false emotions1  false      
heroism1 false notions of               
self-sacrifice1 false views of          
religion1 of duty1 of conduct1 and of   
manners4          ,,iii      ,even if   
there may have been a certain advantage 
to the novel1 as ,m4  ,le ,breton       
maintains1 because it was long left     
alone unfettered by any  critical code1 
to expand as best it could1 to find its 
own way  unaided and to work out its own
 salvation1 the time has now come when  
it may profit by a criticism which shall
 force it to consider its               
responsibilities and to appraise its    
technical resources1 if it is to  claim 
artistic equality with the drama and the
 epic4 ,it has won  its way to the      
front2 and there are few who now        
question its right to  the position it  

has attained4 ,there is no denying that 
in ,english  literature1 in the age of  
,victoria1 the novel established itself 
as the literary form most alluring to   
all men of letters and that it          
succeeded to the place held by the essay
 in the days of ,anne and by  the play  
in the days of ,elizabeth4    ,and like 
the play and the essay in those earlier 
times1 the novel now  attracts writers  
who have no great natural gift for the  
form4 ,just as  ,peele and ,greene wrote
 plays because play-writing was popular 
and  advantageous1 in spite of their    
inadequate dramaturgic equipment1 and   
just as ,johnson wrote essays because   
essay-writing was popular and           
advantageous in spite of his deficiency 
in the ease and lightness  which the    
essay demands1 so ,brougham and ,motley 
and ,froude adventured  themselves in   
fiction4 ,we may even doubt whether     
,george ,eliot was a  born story-teller 
and whether she would not have been more
 successful  in some other epoch when   

some other literary form than the novel 
had  happened to be in fashion4 ,in     
,france the novel tempted ,victor ,hugo1
  who was essentially a lyric poet1 and 
the elder ,dumas1 who was  essentially a
 playwright4 ,there are not lacking     
signs of late that the  drama is likely 
in the immediate future to assert a     
sharper rivalry  with prose-fiction2 and
 novelists like ,sir ,james ,barrie and 
the late  ,paul ,hervieu have           
relinquished the easier narrative for   
the more  difficult and more dangerous  
stage-play4 ,but there is no evidence   
that  the novel is soon to lose its     
vogue4 ,it has come to stay2 and as the 
nineteenth century left it to the       
twentieth so the twentieth will         
probably bequeath it to the twenty-first
 unimpaired in prosperity4    ,perhaps  
the best evidence of the solidity of its
 position is to be  found in the        
critical consideration which it is at   
last receiving4  ,histories of fiction  
in all literatures and biographies of   

the  novelists in all languages are     
multiplying abundantly4 ,we are         
beginning to take our fiction seriously 
and to inquire into its  principles4    
,long ago ,freytag's ,technic of the    
,drama was followed  by ,spielhagen's   
,technic of the ,novel1 rather          
,teutonically  philosophic1 both of     
them1 and already a little out of date4 
,studies of prose-fiction are getting   
themselves written1 none of  them more  
illuminative than ,professor ,bliss     
,perry's4 ,the novelists  themselves are
 writing about the art of fiction1 as   
,sir ,walter ,besant  did1 and they are 
asking what the novel is1 as the late   
,marion  ,crawford has done4 ,they are  
beginning to resent the assertion of    
the loyal adherents of the drama1 that  
the novel is too loose a form  to call  
forth the best efforts of the artist1   
and that a play  demands at least       
technical skill whereas a novel may be  
often the  product of unskilled labor4  
,questions of all kinds are presenting  

themselves for discussion4 ,has  the    
rise of realism made romance impossible8
 ,is there a valid  distinction between 
romance and romanticism8 ,is the        
short-story a  definite form1 differing 
from the novel in purpose as well as in 
length8 ,what is the best way to tell a 
story--in the third person1 as  in the  
epic--in the first person1 as in an     
autobiography--or in  letters8 ,which is
 of most importance1 character or       
incident or  atmosphere8 ,is the        
novel-with-a-purpose legitimate8 ,why is
 it that  dramatized novels often fail  
in the theatre8 ,ought a novelist to    
take  sides with his characters and     
against them1 or ought he to suppress   
his own opinions and remain impassive1  
as the dramatist must8 ,does a          
prodigality in the invention of         
incidents reveal a greater imagination  
in the novelist than is required for the
 sincere depicting of simple  characters
 in every-day life8 ,why has the old    
trick of inserting brief  tales inside a

 long novel--such as we find in ,don    
,quixote and ,tom  ,jones and the       
,pickwick ,papers--been abandoned of    
late years8 ,how  far is a novelist     
justified in taking his characters so   
closely from  actual life that they are 
recognizable by his readers8 ,what are  
the  advantages and disadvantages of    
local color8 ,how much dialect may a    
novelist venture to employ8 ,is the     
historical novel really a loftier  type 
of fiction than the novel of            
contemporary life8 ,is it really        
possible to write a veracious novel     
about any other than the  novelist's    
native land8 ,why is it that so many of 
the greater writers  of fiction have    
brought forth their first novel only    
after they had  attained to half the    
allotted three score years and ten8 ,is 
the  scientific spirit going to be      
helpful or harmful to the writer of     
fiction8 ,which is the finer form for   
fiction1 a swift and direct  telling of 
the story1 with the concentration of a  

,greek tragedy1 such  as we find in the 
,scarlet ,letter and in ,smoke1 or an   
ampler and  more leisurely movement more
 like that of the ,elizabethan plays1   
such  as we may see in ,vanity ,fair and
 in ,war and ,peace8    ,these          
questions1 and many another1 we may     
expect to hear discussed1  even if they 
cannot all of them be answered1 in any  
consideration of  the materials and the 
methods of fiction4 ,and the result of  
these  inquiries cannot fail to be      
beneficial1 both to the writer of       
fiction  and to the reader of fiction4  
,to the story-teller himself they will  
serve as a stimulus and a guide1 calling
 attention to the technic of  his craft 
and broadening his knowledge of the     
principles of his art4  ,to the idle    
reader even they ought to be helpful1   
because they will  force him to think   
about the novels he may read and because
 they will  lead him to be more         
exacting1 to insist more on veracity in 
the  portrayal of life1 and to demand   

more care in the method of              
presentation4 ,every art profits by a   
wider understanding of its  principles1 
of its possibilities and of its         
limitations1 as well as by  a more      
diffused knowledge of its technic4      
,,brander ,,matthews4                   
,,columbia ,,university3 #aijh4         
,,postscript3 ,it is a good sign for the
 future of the novel that in the  ten   
years which have elapsed since this     
introduction was written1 the           
professors of literature in our colleges
 and in our graduate schools  have been 
paying increased attention to the study 
of prose fiction4  ,they had1 first of  
all1 to inform themselves more          
abundantly as to its  past history1 and 
as to the relation it has borne to the  
epic on the  one hand and to the drama  
on the other4 ,then1 secondly1 they have
 been  encouraged to pass on to the     
students they were guiding the results  
of  their researches and of their       
reflections4 ,and as a result the       

significance of the novel is day by day 
made more manifest4                     
,,brander ,,matthews4                   
,,columbia ,,university3 #aiah4         
,a ,,manual ,,of ,,the ,,art ,,of       
,,fiction          ,,chapter ,i    ,,the
 ,,purpose ,,of ,,fiction      ,fiction 
a ,means of ,telling ,truth--,fact and  
,fiction--,truth and    ,fact--,the     
,search for ,truth--,the ,necessary     
,triple ,process--,different    ,degrees
 of ,emphasis--,the ,art of ,fiction and
 the ,craft of    ,chemistry--,fiction  
and ,reality--,fiction and              
,history--,fiction and                  
,biography--,biography1 ,history1 and   
,fiction--,fiction ,which ,is           
,true--,fiction ,which ,is              
,false--,casual ,sins against the ,truth
 in    ,fiction--,more ,serious ,sins   
against the ,truth--,the ,futility of   
the    ,adventitious--,the ,independence
 of ,created ,characters--,fiction ,more
    ,true ,than a ,casual ,report of    
,fact--,the ,exception and the          

,law--,truthfulness the only ,title to  
,immortality--,morality and             
,immorality in ,fiction--,the ,faculty  
of ,wisdom--,wisdom and                 
,technic--,general and ,particular      
,experience--,extensive and             
,intensive ,experience--,the            
,experiencing ,nature--,curiosity and   
,sympathy4      ,fiction a ,means of    
,telling ,truth4--,before we set out    
upon a study of  the materials and      
methods of fiction1 we must be certain  
that we  appreciate the purpose of the  
art and understand its relation to the  
other arts and sciences4 ,the purpose of
 fiction is to embody certain  truths of
 human life in a series of imagined     
facts4 ,the importance of  this purpose 
is scarcely ever appreciated by the     
casual careless  reader of the novels of
 a season4 ,although it is commonly     
believed  that such a reader            
overestimates the weight of works of    
fiction1 the  opposite is true--he      
underestimates it4 ,every novelist of   

genuine  importance seeks not merely to 
divert but also to instruct--to         
instruct1 not abstractly1 like the      
essayist1 but concretely1 by  presenting
 to the reader characters and actions   
which are true4 ,for  the best fiction1 
although it deals with the lives of     
imaginary  people1 is no less true than 
the best history and biography1 which   
record actual facts of human life2 and  
it is more true than such  careless     
reports of actual occurrences as are    
published in the daily  newspapers4 ,the
 truth of worthy fiction is evidenced by
 the honor in  which it has been held in
 all ages among all races4 ,you can't   
fool  all the people all the time2 and  
if the drama and the epic and the  novel
 were not true1 the human race would    
have rejected them many  centuries ago4 
,fiction has survived1 and flourishes   
to-day1 because it  is a means of       
telling truth4    ,fact and             
,fiction4--,it is only in the vocabulary
 of very careless  thinkers that the    

words truth and fiction are regarded as 
antithetic4 ,a genuine antithesis       
subsists between the words fact and     
fiction2 but fact and truth are not     
synonymous4 ,the novelist  forsakes the 
realm of fact in order that he may      
better tell the truth1  and lures the   
reader away from actualities in order to
 present him  with realities4 ,it is of 
prime importance1 in our present study1 
therefore1 that we should understand at 
the very outset the relation  between   
fact and truth1 the distinction between 
the actual and the  real4    ,truth and 
,fact4--,a fact is a specific           
manifestation of a general  law3 this   
general law is the truth because of     
which that fact has come  to be4 ,it is 
a fact that when an apple-tree is shaken
 by the wind1  such apples as may be    
loosened from their twigs fall to the   
ground3 it  is a truth that bodies in   
space attract each other with a force   
that  varies inversely as the square of 
the distance between them4 ,fact is     

concrete1 and is a matter of physical   
experience3 truth is abstract1  and is a
 matter of mental theory4 ,actuality is 
the realm of fact1  reality the realm of
 truth4 ,the universe as we apprehend it
 with our  senses is actual2 the laws of
 the universe as we comprehend them with
  our understanding are real4    ,the   
,search for ,truth4--,all human science 
is an endeavor to discover  the truths  
which underlie the facts that we        
perceive3 all human  philosophy is an   
endeavor to understand and to appraise  
those truths  when once they are        
discovered3 and all human art is an     
endeavor to  utter them clearly and     
effectively when once they are appraised
 and  understood4 ,the history of man is
 the history of a constant and          
continuous seeking for the truth4       
,amazed before a universe of facts1  he 
has striven earnestly to discover the   
truth which underlies  them--striven    
heroically to understand the large      
reality of which the  actual is but a   

sensuously perceptible embodiment4 ,in  
the earliest  centuries of recorded     
thought the search was unmethodical2    
truth was  apprehended1 if at all1 by   
intuition1 and announced as dogma3 but  
in  modern centuries certain regular    
methods have been devised to guide  the 
search4 ,the modern scientist begins his
 work by collecting a large  number of  
apparently related facts and arranging  
them in an orderly  manner4 ,he then    
proceeds to induce from the observation 
of these facts  an apprehension of the  
general law that explains their         
relation4 ,this  hypothesis is then     
tested in the light of further facts1   
until it  seems so incontestable that   
the minds of men accept it as the truth4
  ,the scientist then formulates it in  
an abstract theoretic statement1  and   
thus concludes his work4    ,but it is  
at just this point that the philosopher 
begins4 ,accepting  many truths from    
many scientists1 the philosopher        
compares1  reconciles1 and correlates   

them1 and thus builds out of them a     
structure of belief4 ,but this structure
 of belief remains abstract and         
theoretic in the mind of the            
philosopher4 ,it is now the artist's    
turn4  ,accepting the correlated        
theoretic truths which the scientist and
 the  philosopher have given him1 he    
endows them with an imaginative         
embodiment perceptible to the senses4   
,he translates them back into  concrete 
terms2 he clothes them in invented      
facts2 he makes them  imaginatively     
perceptible to a mind native and indued 
to actuality2  and thus he gives        
expression to the truth4    ,the        
,necessary ,triple ,process4--,this     
triple process of the  scientific       
discovery1 the philosophic              
understanding1 and the artistic         
expression of truth has been explained  
at length1 because every  great writer  
of fiction must pass through the entire 
mental  process4 ,the fiction-writer    
differs from other seekers for the      

truth1  not in the method of his        
thought1 but merely in its              
subject-matter4  ,his theme is human    
life4 ,it is some truth of human life   
that he  endeavors to discover1 to      
understand1 and to announce2 and in     
order to complete his work1 he must     
apply to human life an attention  of    
thought which is successively           
scientific1 philosophic1 and  artistic4 
,he must first observe carefully certain
 facts of actual  life1 study them in   
the light of extended experience1 and   
induce from  them the general laws which
 he deems to be the truths which        
underlie  them4 ,in doing this1 he is a 
scientist4 ,next1 if he be a great      
thinker1 he will correlate these truths 
and build out of them a  structure of   
belief4 ,in doing this1 he is a         
philosopher4 ,lastly1 he  must create   
imaginatively such scenes and characters
 as will  illustrate the truths he has  
discovered and considered1 and will     
convey them clearly and effectively to  

the minds of his readers4 ,in  doing    
this1 he is an artist4    ,different    
,degrees of ,emphasis4--,but although   
this triple mental  process 7of         
scientific discovery1 philosophic       
understanding1 and  artistic expression7
 is experienced in full by every master 
of  fiction1 we find that certain       
authors are interested most in the      
first1 or scientific phase of the       
process1 others in the second1 or       
philosophic phase1 and still others in  
the third1 or artistic  phase4          
,evidently ,emile ,zola is interested   
chiefly in a scientific  investigation  
of the actual facts of life1 ,george    
,eliot in a  philosophic contemplation  
of its underlying truths1 and ,gabriele 
,d',annunzio in an artistic presentation
 of the dream-world that he  imagines4  
,washington ,irving is mainly an artist1
 ,tolstoi mainly a  philosopher1 and    
,jane ,austen mainly a scientifically   
accurate  observer4 ,few are the        
writers1 even among the greatest masters

 of  the art1 of whom we feel1 as we    
feel of ,hawthorne1 that the scientist1 
the philosopher1 and the artist reign   
over equal precincts of their  minds4   
,hawthorne the scientist is so thorough1
 so accurate1 and so  precise in his    
investigations of provincial life that  
no less a  critic than ,james ,russell  
,lowell declared the ,house of the      
,seven  ,gables to be the most valuable 
contribution to ,new ,england history   
that has yet been made4 ,hawthorne the  
philosopher is so wise in his           
understanding of crime and retribution1 
so firm in his structure of  belief     
concerning moral truth1 that it seems   
that he1 if any one1  might give an     
answer to that poignant cry of a        
despairing murderer1--                  
,canst thou not minister to a mind      
diseased1             ,pluck from the   
memory a rooted sorrow1                 
,raze out the written troubles of the   
brain1             ,and with some sweet 
oblivious antidote             ,cleanse 

the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff
             ,which weighs upon the     
heart8#a    ,and ,hawthorne the artist  
is so delicate in his sensitive and     
loving  presentation of the beautiful1  
so masterly both in structure and in    
style1 that his work1 in artistry alone1
 is its own excuse for being4  ,were it 
not for the confinement of his          
fiction--its lack of range  and sweep1  
both in subject-matter and in attitude  
of mind--his work on  this account might
 be regarded as an illustration of all  
that may be  great in the threefold     
process of creation4    ,the ,art of    
,fiction and the ,craft of              
,chemistry4--,fiction1 to borrow  a     
figure from chemical science1 is life   
distilled4 ,in the author's  mind1 the  
actual is first evaporated to the real1 
and the real is then  condensed to the  
imagined4 ,the author first transmutes  
the concrete  actualities of life into  
abstract realities2 and then he         
transmutes  these abstract realities    

into concrete imaginings4 ,necessarily1 
if he  has pursued this mental process  
without a fallacy1 his imaginings will  
be true2 because they represent         
realities1 which in turn have been      
induced from actualities4    ,fiction   
and ,reality4--,in one of his criticisms
 of the greatest  modern dramatist1 ,mr4
 ,william ,archer has called attention  
to the fact  that habitually and        
instinctively men pay to ,ibsen the     
compliment 7so  often paid to           
,shakespeare7 of discussing certain of  
his female  characters as though they   
were real women1 living lives apart from
 the  poet's creative intelligence4 ,it 
is evident that ,mr4 ,archer1 in  saying
 real women1 means what is more         
precisely denoted by the words  actual  
women4 ,such a compliment is also paid  
instinctively to every  master of the   
art of fiction2 and the reason is not   
hard to  understand4 ,if the general    
laws of life which the novelist has     
thought  out be true laws1 and if his   

imaginative embodiment of them be at all
  points thoroughly consistent1 his     
characters will be true men and  women  
in the highest sense4 ,they will not be 
actual1 but they will be  real4 ,the    
great characters of fiction--,sir       
,willoughby ,patterne1 ,tito  ,melema1  
,d',artagnan1 ,pre ,grandet1 ,rosalind1 
,tartufe1 ,hamlet1  ,ulysses--embody    
truths of human life that have been     
arrived at only  after thorough         
observation of facts and patient        
induction from them4  ,cervantes must   
have observed a multitude of dreamers   
before he learned  the truth of the     
idealist's character which he has       
expressed in ,don  ,quixote4 ,the great 
people of fiction are typical of large  
classes of  mankind4 ,they live more    
truly than do you and ,i1 because they  
are made  of us and of many men besides4
 ,they have the large reality of general
  ideas1 which is a truer thing than the
 actuality of facts4 ,this is why  we   
know them and think of them as real     

people--old acquaintances whom  we knew 
7perhaps7 before we were born1 when 7as 
is conceivable7 we  lived with them in  
,plato's ,realm of ,ideas4 ,in ,france1 
instead of  calling a man a miser1 they 
call him an ,harpagon4 ,we know         
,rosalind as  we know our sweetest      
summer love2 ,hamlet is our elder       
brother1 and  understands our own       
wavering and faltering4    ,fiction and 
,history4--,instinctively also we regard
 the great people  of fiction as more   
real than many of the actual people of a
 bygone age  whose deeds are chronicled 
in dusty histories4 ,to a modern mind1  
if  you conjure with the name of ,marcus
 ,brutus1 you will start the spirit  of 
,shakespeare's fictitious patriot1 not  
of the actual ,brutus1 of a  very       
different nature1 whose doings are dimly
 reported by the  chroniclers of ,rome4 
,the ,richelieu of ,dumas pre may bear  
but slight  resemblance to the actual   
founder of the ,french ,academy2 but he 
lives  for us more really than the      

,richelieu of many histories4 ,we know  
,hamlet even better than we know        
,henri-,frdric ,amiel1 who in many ways 
was like him2 even though ,amiel has    
reported himself more thoroughly  than  
almost any other actual man4 ,we may go 
a step further and declare  that the    
actual people of any age can live in the
 memory of after ages  only when the    
facts of their characters and their     
careers have been  transmuted into a    
sort of fiction by the minds of creative
 historians4  ,actually1 in #ahae1 there
 was but one ,napoleon2 now there are as
 many  ,napoleons as there are          
biographies and histories of him4 ,he   
has been  recreated in one way by one   
author1 in another by another2 and you  
may  take your choice4 ,you may accept  
the ,julius ,csar of ,mr4 ,bernard      
,shaw1  or the ,julius ,csar of ,thomas 
,de ,quincey4 ,the first is frankly     
fiction2 and the second1 not so frankly1
 is fiction also--just as far  from     
actuality as ,shakespeare's adaptation  

of ,plutarch's portraiture4    ,fiction 
and ,biography4--,one of the most vivid 
illustrations of how a  great creative  
mind1 honestly seeking to discover1 to  
understand1 and  to express the truth   
concerning actual characters of the     
past1  necessarily makes fiction of     
those characters1 is given by ,thomas   
,carlyle in his ,heroes and             
,hero-,worship4 ,here1 in ,carlyle's    
method of  procedure1 it is easy to     
discern that threefold process of       
creation  which is undergone by the     
fiction-making mind4 ,an examination of 
recorded facts concerning ,mohammed1    
,dante1 ,luther1 or ,burns leads him  to
 a discovery and a formulation of       
certain abstract truths concerning  the 
,hero as ,prophet1 as ,poet1 as ,priest1
 or as ,man of ,letters2 and            
thereafter1 in composing his historical 
studies1 he sets forth only  such actual
 facts as conform with his philosophic  
understanding of the  truth and will    
therefore represent this understanding  

with the utmost  emphasis4 ,he makes    
fiction of his heroes1 in order most    
emphatically  to tell the truth about   
them4    ,biography1 ,history1 and      
,fiction4--,in this way biography and   
history  at their best are doomed to    
employ the methods of the art of        
fiction2  and we can therefore          
understand without surprise why the     
average  reader always says of the      
histories of ,francis ,parkman that they
 read  like novels1 even though the most
 ,german-minded scientists of history   
assure us that ,parkman is always       
faithful to his facts4 ,facts1 to the   
mind of this model of historians1 were  
indicative of truths2 and  those truths 
he endeavored to express with faultless 
art4 ,like the  best of novelists1 he   
was at once a scientist1 a philosopher1 
and an  artist2 and this is not the     
least of reasons why his histories will 
endure4 ,they are as true as fiction4   
,fiction ,which ,is ,true4--,not only do
 the great characters of fiction        

convince us of reality3 in the mere     
events themselves of worthy  fiction we 
feel a fitness that makes us know them  
real4 ,sentimental  ,tommy really did   
lose that literary competition because  
he wasted a  full hour searching vainly 
for the one right word2 ,hetty ,sorrel  
really  killed her child2 and ,mr4      
,henry must have won that midnight duel 
with  the ,master of ,ballantrae1 though
 the latter was the better swordsman4   
,these incidents conform to truths we   
recognize4 ,and not only in the  fiction
 that clings close to actuality do we   
feel a sense of truth4 ,we  feel it just
 as keenly in fairy tales like those of 
,hans ,christian  ,andersen1 or in the  
worthiest wonder-legends of an earlier  
age4 ,we are  told of ,the ,steadfast   
,tin ,soldier that1 after he was melted 
in the  fire1 the maid who took away the
 ashes next morning found him in the    
shape of a small tin heart2 and         
remembering the spangly little          
ballet-dancer who fluttered to him like 

a sylph and was burned up in  the fire  
with him1 we feel a fitness in this     
little fancy which opens  vistas upon   
human truth4 ,mr4 ,kipling's fable of   
,how the ,elephant ,got  ,his ,trunk is 
just as true as his reports of ,mrs4    
,hauksbee4 ,his theory  may not conform 
with the actual facts of zoological     
science2 but at  any rate it represents 
a truth which is perhaps more important 
for  those who have become again like   
little children4    ,fiction ,which ,is 
,false4--,just as we feel by instinct   
the reality of  fiction at its best1 so 
also with a kindred instinct equally    
keen we  feel the falsity of fiction    
when the author lapses from the truth4  
,unless his characters act and think at 
all points consistently with  the laws  
of their imagined existence1 and unless 
these laws are in  harmony with the laws
 of actual life1 no amount of           
sophistication on  the part of the      
author can make us finally believe his  
story2 and  unless we believe his story1

 his purpose in writing it will have    
failed4 ,the novelist1 who has so many  
means of telling truth1 has also  many  
means of telling lies4 ,he may be       
untruthful in his very theme1 if  he is 
lacking in sanity of outlook upon the   
things that are4 ,he may be  untruthful 
in his characterization1 if he          
interferes with his people  after they  
are once created and attempts to coerce 
them to his  purposes instead of        
allowing them to work out their own     
destinies4 ,he  may be untruthful in his
 plotting1 if he devises situations     
arbitrarily for the sake of mere        
immediate effect4 ,he may be  untruthful
 in his dialogue1 if he puts into the   
mouths of his people  sentences that    
their nature does not demand that they  
shall speak4 ,he  may be untruthful in  
his comments on his characters1 if the  
characters  belie the comments in their 
actions and their words4    ,casual     
,sins ,against the ,truth in            
,fiction4--,with the sort of fiction    

that is a tissue of lies1 the present   
study does not concern itself2  but even
 in the best fiction we come upon       
passages of falsity4 ,there  is little  
likelihood1 however1 of our being led   
astray by these3 we  revolt             
instinctively against them with a       
feeling that may best be  expressed in  
that famous sentence of ,ibsen's        
,assessor ,brack1 ,people  don't do such
 things4 ,when ,shakespeare tells us1   
toward the end of  ,as ,you ,like ,it1  
that the wicked ,oliver suddenly changed
 his nature  and won the love of ,celia1
 we know that he is lying4 ,the scene is
 not  true to the great laws of human   
life4 ,when ,george ,eliot1 at a loss   
for  a conclusion to ,the ,mill on the  
,floss1 tells us that ,tom and ,maggie  
,tulliver were drowned together in a    
flood1 we disbelieve her2 just as  we   
disbelieve ,sir ,james ,barrie when he  
invents that absurd accident of         
,tommy's death4 ,these three instances  
of falsity have been selected  from     

authors who know the truth and almost   
always tell it2 and all  three have a   
certain palliation4 ,they come at or    
near the very end of  lengthy stories4  
,in actual life1 of course1 there are no
 very ends3  life exhibits a continuous 
sequence of causation stretching on3 and
  since a story has to have an end1 its 
conclusion must in any case  belie a law
 of nature4 ,probably the truth is that 
,tommy didn't die at  all3 he is living 
still1 and always will be living4 ,and  
since ,sir  ,james ,barrie couldn't     
write forever1 he may be pardoned a     
makeshift  ending that he himself       
apparently did not believe in4 ,so also 
we may  forgive that lie of             
,shakespeare's1 since it contributes to 
a general  truthfulness of good-will at 
the conclusion of his story2 and as for 
,george ,eliot--well1 she had been      
telling the truth stolidly for many     
hundred pages4    ,more ,serious ,sins  
,against the ,truth4--,but when         
,charlotte ,bront1 in  ,jane ,eyre1     

tells us that ,mr4 ,rochester first said
 and then repeated  the following       
sentence1 ,i am disposed to be          
gregarious and  communicative to-night1 
we find it more difficult to pardon the 
apparent falsity4 ,in the same chapter1 
the author states that ,mr4  ,rochester 
emitted the following remark3--,then1 in
 the first place1 do  you agree with me 
that ,i have a right to be a little     
masterful1  abrupt1 perhaps exacting1   
sometimes1 on the grounds ,i stated1    
namely1  that ,i am old enough to be    
your father1 and that ,i have battled   
through a varied experience with many   
men of many nations1 and roamed  over   
half the globe1 while you have lived    
quietly with one set of  people in one  
house8    ,such writing is inexcusably  
untrue4 ,we cannot believe that any     
human  being ever asked a direct        
question so elaborately lengthy4 ,people
 do  not talk like that4 ,as a contrast1
 let us notice for a moment the         
poignant truthfulness of speech in ,mr4 

,rudyard ,kipling's story1 ,only  a     
,subaltern4 ,a fever-stricken private   
says to ,bobby ,wick1 ,beg y'  pardon1  
sir1 disturbin' of you now1 but would   
you min' 'oldin' my  'and1 sir8--and    
later1 when the private becomes         
convalescent and  ,bobby in his turn is 
stricken down1 the private suddenly     
stares in  horror at his bed1 and cries1
 ,oh1 my ,gawd6 ,it can't be 'im6       
,people  talk like that4    ,the        
,futility of the                        
,adventitious4--,arbitrary plotting1 as 
a rule1 is  of no avail in fiction3     
almost always1 we know when a story is  
true  and when it is not4 ,we seldom    
believe in the long-lost will that is   
discovered at last on the back of a     
decaying picture-canvas2 or in the      
chance meeting and mutual discovery of  
long-separated relatives2 or in  such   
accidental circumstances as the one1 for
 instance1 because of  which ,romeo     
fails to receive the message from ,friar
 ,laurence4 ,the  incidents of fiction  

at its best are not only probable but   
inevitable3  they happen because in the 
nature of things they have to happen1   
and  not because the author wants them  
to4 ,similarly1 the truest characters   
of fiction are so real that even their  
creator has no power to make  them do   
what they will not4 ,it has been told of
 ,thackeray that he grew  so to love    
,colonel ,newcome that he wished        
ardently that the good man  might live  
happily until the end4 ,yet1 knowing the
 circumstances in  which the ,colonel   
was enmeshed1 and knowing also the      
nature of the  people who formed the    
little circle round about him1          
,thackeray  realized that his last days 
would of necessity be miserable2 and    
realizing this1 the author told the     
bitter truth1 though it cost him  many  
tears4    ,the ,independence of ,created
 ,characters4--,the careless reader of  
fiction usually supposes that1 since the
 novelist invents his  characters and   
incidents1 he can order them always to  

suit his own  desires3 but any honest   
artist will tell you that his characters
 often  grow intractable and stubbornly 
refuse at certain points to accept the  
incidents which he has foreordained for 
them1 and that at other times  they take
 matters into their own hands and run   
away with the story4  ,stevenson has    
recorded this latter experience4 ,he    
said1 apropos of  ,kidnapped1 ,in one of
 my books1 and in one only1 the         
characters took  the bit in their teeth2
 all at once1 they became detached from 
the  flat paper1 they turned their backs
 on me and walked off bodily2 and  from 
that time my task was stenographic--it  
was they who spoke1 it was  they who    
wrote the remainder of the story4       
,the laws of life1 and not the author's 
will1 must finally decide the  destinies
 of heroes and of heroines4 ,on the     
evening of ,february #c1  #ahej1 just   
after he had written the last scene of  
,the ,scarlet  ,letter1 ,hawthorne read 
it to his wife--tried to read it1       

rather1 he  wrote the next day in a     
letter to his friend1 ,horatio ,bridge1 
for my  voice swelled and heaved1 as if 
,i were tossed up and down on an ocean  
as it subsides after a storm4 ,but ,i   
was in a very nervous state then1       
having gone through a great diversity of
 emotion while writing it for  many     
months4 ,is it not conceivable that1 in 
the great diversity of  emotion which   
the author experienced while bringing   
his story to a  close1 he was tempted   
more than once to state that ,hester and
  ,dimmesdale escaped upon the ,bristol 
ship and thereafter expiated their      
offense in holy and serviceable lives8  
,but if such a thought occurred  to him1
 he put it by1 knowing that the         
revelation of the scarlet  letter was   
inexorably demanded by the highest moral
 law4    ,fiction ,more ,true ,than a   
,casual ,report of ,fact4--,we are now  
ready to  understand the statement that 
fiction at its best is much more true   
than such careless reports of actual    

occurrences as are published in  the    
daily newspapers4 ,water that has been  
distilled is much more  really ,h#b,o   
than the muddied natural liquid in the  
bulb of the retort2  and life that has  
been clarified in the threefold alembic 
of the  fiction-writer's mind is much   
more really life than the clouded and   
unrealized events that are reported in  
daily chronicles of fact4 ,the          
newspaper may tell us that a man who    
left his office in an apparently  normal
 state of mind went home and shot his   
wife2 but people don't do  such things2 
and though the story states an actual   
occurrence1 it does  not tell the truth4
 ,the only way in which the reporter    
could make this  story true would be for
 him to trace out all the antecedent    
causes  which led inevitably to the     
culminating incident4 ,the incident     
itself  can become true for us only when
 we are made to understand it4          
,robert ,louis ,stevenson once remarked 
that whenever1 in a story by  a friend  

of his1 he came upon a passage that was 
notably untrue1 he  always suspected    
that it had been transcribed directly   
from actual  life4 ,the author had been 
too sure of the facts to ask himself in 
what  way they were representative of   
the general laws of life4 ,but facts    
are important to the careful thinker    
only as they are significant  of truth4 
,doubtless an omniscient mind would     
realize a reason for  every accidental  
and apparently insignificant occurrence 
of actual  life4 ,doubtless1 for        
example1 the ,universal ,mind must      
understand why  the great               
musical-director1 ,anton ,seidl1 died   
suddenly of ptomaine  poisoning4 ,but to
 a finite mind such occurrences seem    
unsignificant of  truth2 they do not    
seem to be indicative of a necessary    
law4 ,and  since the fiction-writer has 
a finite mind1 the laws of life which he
  can understand are more restrictedly  
logical than those undiscovered  laws of
 actual life which pass his             

understanding4 ,many a casual           
occurrence of the actual world would    
therefore be inadmissible in the        
intellectually-ordered world of fiction4
 ,a novelist has no right to  set forth 
a sequence of events which1 in its      
causes and effects1 he  cannot make the 
reader understand4    ,the ,exception   
and the ,law4--,we are now touching on a
 principle which  is seldom appreciated 
by beginners in the art of fiction4     
,every  college professor of literary   
composition who has accused a student of
  falsity in some passage of a story    
that the student has submitted has  been
 met with the triumphant but            
unreasonable answer1 ,oh1 no1 it's      
true6 ,it happened to a friend of mine6 
,and it has then become  necessary for  
the professor to explain as best he     
could that an actual  occurrence is not 
necessarily true for the purposes of    
fiction4 ,the  imagined facts of a      
genuinely worthy story are exhibited    
merely  because they are representative 

of some general law of life held        
securely in the writer's consciousness4 
,a transcription1 therefore1 of  actual 
facts fails of the purposes of fiction  
unless the facts in  themselves are     
evidently representative of such a law4 
,and many things  may happen to a friend
 of ours without evidencing to a        
considerate  mind any logical reason why
 they had to happen4    ,truthfulness   
the only ,title to ,immortality4--,it is
 necessary that  the student should     
appreciate the importance of this       
principle at the  very outset of his    
apprenticeship to the art4 ,for it is   
only by  adhering rigorously to the     
truth that fiction can survive4 ,in     
every  period of literature1 many clever
 authors have appeared who have         
diverted their contemporaries with      
ingenious invention1 brilliant          
incident1 unexpected novelty of         
character1 or alluring eloquence of     
style1 but who have been discarded and  
forgotten by succeeding  generations    

merely because they failed to tell the  
truth4 ,probably in  the whole range of 
,english fiction there is no more       
skilful weaver of  enthralling plots1 no
 more clever master of invention or     
manipulator  of suspense1 than ,wilkie  
,collins2 but ,collins is already       
discarded and  well-nigh forgotten1     
because the reading world has found that
 he  exhibited no truths of genuine     
importance1 but rather sacrificed the   
eternal realities of life for mere      
momentary plausibilities4 ,probably1    
also1 there is no artist in ,french     
prose more seductive in his  eloquence  
than ,ren de ,chateaubriand2 but his    
fiction is no longer  read1 because the 
world has found that his sentimentalism 
was to this  extent a sham--it was false
 to the nature of normal human beings4  
,alice in ,wonderland will survive the  
works of both these able  authors1      
because of the many and momentous human 
truths that look upon  us through its   
drift of dreams4    ,morality and       

,immorality in ,fiction4--,the whole    
question of the  morality or immorality 
of a work of fiction is a question      
merely of  its truth or falsity4 ,to    
appreciate this point1 we must first be 
careful to distinguish immorality from  
coarseness4 ,the morality of a          
fiction-writer is not dependent on the  
decency of his expression4 ,in  fact1   
the history of literature shows that    
authors frankly coarse1  like ,rabelais 
or ,swift for instance1 have rarely or  
never been  immoral2 and that the most  
immoral books have been written in the  
most  delicate language4 ,swift and     
,rabelais are moral1 because they tell  
the  truth with sanity and vigor2 we may
 object to certain passages in  their   
writings on esthetic1 but not on        
ethical1 grounds4 ,they may  offend our 
taste2 but they are not likely to lead  
astray our  judgment--far less likely   
than ,d',annunzio1 for instance1 who1   
although  he never offends the most     
delicate esthetic taste1 sicklies o'er  

with  the pale cast of his poetry a sad 
unsanity of outlook upon the  ultimate  
deep truths of human life4 ,in the      
second place1 we must  bravely realize  
that the morality of a work of fiction  
has little or  no dependence on the     
subject that it treats4 ,it is utterly  
unjust to  the novelist to decide1 as   
many unreasonable readers do1 that such 
a  book as ,daudet's ,sapho must be of  
necessity immoral because it  exhibits  
immoral characters in a series of       
immoral acts4 ,there is no  such thing  
as an immoral subject for a novel3 in   
the treatment of the  subject1 and only 
in the treatment1 lies the basis for    
ethical  judgment of the work4 ,the one 
thing needful in order that a novel may 
be moral is that the author shall       
maintain throughout his work a sane  and
 healthy insight into the soundness or  
unsoundness of the relations  between   
his characters4 ,he must know when they 
are right and know when  they are wrong1
 and must make clear to us the reasons  

for his  judgment4 ,he cannot be immoral
 unless he is untrue4 ,to make us pity  
his characters when they are vile1 or   
love them when they are noxious1  to    
invent excuses for them in situations   
where they cannot be excused1  to leave 
us satisfied when their baseness has    
been unbetrayed1 to make  us wonder if  
after all the exception is not greater  
than the rule--in  a single word1 to lie
 about his characters--this is1 for the 
fiction-writer1 the one unpardonable    
sin4    ,the ,faculty of ,wisdom4--,but 
it is not an easy thing to tell the     
truth of human life1 and nothing but the
 truth4 ,the best of  fiction-writers   
fall to falsehood now and then2 and it  
is only by  honest labor and sincere    
strife for the ideal that they contrive 
in  the main to fulfil the purpose of   
their art4 ,but the writer of fiction   
must be not only honest and sincere2 he 
must be wise as well4 ,wisdom  is the   
faculty of seeing through and all around
 an object of  contemplation1 and       

understanding totally and at once its   
relations to  all other objects4 ,this  
faculty cannot be acquired2 it has to be
  developed3 and it is developed by     
experience only4 ,experience  ordinarily
 requires time2 and though1 for special 
reasons which will  be noted later on1  
most of the great short-story writers   
have been  young1 we are not surprised  
to notice that most of the great        
novelists  have been men mature in      
years4 ,they have ripened slowly to a   
realization of those truths which later 
they have labored to impart4            
,richardson1 the father of the modern   
,english novel1 was fifty-one  years old
 when ,pamela was published2 ,scott was 
forty-three when  ,waverley appeared2   
,hawthorne was forty-six when he wrote  
,the  ,scarlet ,letter2 ,thackeray and  
,george ,eliot were well on their way to
  the forties when they completed       
,vanity ,fair and ,adam ,bede2 and      
these are the first novels of each      
writer4    ,wisdom and ,technic4--,the  

young author who aspires to write novels
  must not only labor to acquire the    
technic of his art3 it is even more     
important that he should so order his   
life as to grow cunning in the  basic   
truths of human nature4 ,his first      
problem--the problem of  acquiring      
technic--is comparatively easy4 ,technic
 may be learned from  books--the        
master-works of art in fiction4 ,it may 
be studied  empirically4 ,the student   
may observe what the masters have1 and  
have  not1 done2 and he may puzzle out  
the reasons why4 ,and he may perhaps  be
 helped by constructive critics of      
fiction in his endeavor to  understand  
these reasons4 ,but his second          
problem--the problem of  developing     
wisdom--is more difficult2 and he must  
grapple with it  without any aid from   
books4 ,what he learns of human life1 he
 must  learn in his own way1 without    
extraneous assistance4    ,it is easy   
enough for the student to learn1 for    
instance1 how the  great short-stories  

have been constructed4 ,it is easy      
enough for the  critic1 on the basis of 
such knowledge1 to formulate empirically
 the  principles of this special art of 
narrative4 ,but it is not easy for  the 
student to discover1 or for the critic  
to suggest1 how a man in  his early     
twenties may develop such a wise insight
 into human life as  is displayed1 for  
example1 in ,mr4 ,kipling's ,without    
,benefit of  ,clergy4 ,a few suggestions
 may1 perhaps1 be offered2 but they must
 be  considered merely as suggestions1  
and must not be overvalued4    ,general 
and ,particular ,experience4--,at the   
outset1 it may be  noted that the writer
 of fiction needs two different         
endowments of  experience3--first1 a    
broad and general experience of life at 
large2 and second1 a deep and specific  
experience of that particular  phase of 
life which he wishes to depict4 ,a      
general and broad  experience is common 
to all masters of the art of fiction3 it
 is in  the particular nature of their  

specific and deep experience that  they 
differ one from another4 ,although in   
range and sweep of general  knowledge   
,sir ,walter ,scott was far more vast   
than ,jane ,austen1 he  confessed       
amazement at the depth of her specific  
knowledge of every-day  ,english        
middle-class society4 ,most of the great
 novelists have  made1 like ,jane       
,austen1 a special study of some        
particular field4  ,hawthorne is an     
authority on ,puritan ,new ,england1    
,thackeray on  ,london high society1    
,henry ,james on cosmopolitan           
super-civilization4  ,it would seem1    
therefore1 that a young author1 while   
keeping his  observation fresh for all  
experience1 should devote especial      
notice  to experience of some particular
 phase of life4 ,but along comes ,mr4   
,rudyard ,kipling1 with his             
world-engirdling knowledge1 to jostle us
  out of faith in too narrow a focus of 
attention4    ,extensive and ,intensive 
,experience4--,experience is of two     

sorts1  extensive and intensive4 ,a mere
 glance at the range of ,mr4 ,kipling's 
subjects would show us the breadth of   
his extensive experience3  evidently he 
has lived in many lands and looked with 
sympathy upon the  lives of many sorts  
of people4 ,but in certain stories1 like
 his ,they  for instance1 we are        
arrested rather by the depth of his     
intensive  experience4 ,they reveals to 
us an author who not necessarily has    
roamed about the world1 but who         
necessarily has felt all phases of the  
mother-longing in a woman4 ,the things  
that ,mr4 ,kipling knows in ,they  could
 never have been learned except through 
sympathy4    ,intensive experience is   
immeasurably more valuable to the       
fiction-writer  than extensive          
experience3 but the difficulty is that1 
although the  latter may be gained      
through the obvious expedients of travel
 and  voluntary association with many   
and various types of people1 the  former
 can never be gained through any amount 

of deliberate and  conscious seeking4   
,the great intensive experiences of     
life1 like love  and friendship1 must   
come unsought if they are to come at    
all2 and no  man can gain a genuine     
experience of any joy or sorrow by      
experimenting  purposely with life4 ,the
 deep experiences must be watched and   
waited  for4 ,the author must be ever   
ready to realize them when they come3   
when  they knock upon his door1 he must 
not make the mistake of answering  that 
he is not at home4 ,but he must not make
 the contrary mistake of  going out into
 the highways and hedges to compel them 
to come within  his gates4    ,the      
,experiencing ,nature4--,undoubtedly1   
very few people are always at  home for 
every real experience that knocks upon  
their doors2 very few  people1 to say   
the thing more simply1 have an          
experiencing nature4 ,but  great fiction
 may be written only by men of an       
experiencing nature2  and here is a     
basis for confession that1 after all1   

fiction-writers  are born1 not made4    
,the experiencing nature is difficult to
 define2  but two of its most evident   
qualities1 at any rate1 are a lively    
curiosity and a ready sympathy4 ,a      
combination of these two qualities      
gives a man that intensity of interest  
in human life which is a  condition     
precedent to his ever growing to        
understand it4 ,curiosity1  for         
instance1 is the most obvious asset in  
,mr4 ,kipling's equipment4 ,we  did not 
need his playful confession in the ,just
 ,so ,stories--                    ,i   
keep six honest serving-men             
7,they taught me all ,i knew73--        
,their names are ,what and ,why and     
,when                  ,and ,how and    
,where and ,who--    to convince us that
 from his very early youth he has been  
an  indefatigable asker of questions4   
,it was only through a healthy          
curiosity that he could have acquired   
the enormous stores of specific         
knowledge concerning almost every walk  

of life that he has displayed  in his   
successive volumes4 ,on the other hand1 
it was obviously through  his vast      
endowment of sympathy that ,dickens was 
able to learn so  thoroughly all phases 
of the life of the lowly in ,london4    
,curiosity and ,sympathy4--,experience  
gravitates to the man who is  both      
curious and sympathetic4 ,the kingdom of
 adventure is within  us4 ,just as we   
create beauty in an object when we look 
upon it  beautifully1 so we create      
adventure all around us when we walk the
  world inwardly aglow with love of     
life4 ,things of interest happened  to  
,robert ,louis ,stevenson every day of  
his existence1 because he  incorporated 
the faculty of being interested in      
things4 ,in one of  his most glowing    
essays1 ,the ,lantern-,bearers1 he      
declared that  never an hour of his life
 had gone dully yet2 if it had been     
spent  waiting at a railway junction1 he
 had had some scattering thoughts1  he  
had counted some grains of memory1      

compared to which the whole  of many    
romances seemed but dross4 ,the author  
who aspires to write  fiction should    
cultivate the faculty of caring for all 
things that  come to pass2 he should    
train himself rigorously never to be    
bored2  he should look upon all life    
that swims into his ken with curious    
and sympathetic eyes1 remembering always
 that sympathy is a deeper  faculty than
 curiosity3 and because of the profound 
joy of his  interest in life1 he should 
endeavor humbly to earn that heritage of
  interest by developing a thorough     
understanding of its source4 ,in  this  
way1 perhaps1 he may grow aware of      
certain truths of life  which are       
materials for fiction4 ,if so1 he will  
have accomplished the  better half of   
his work3 he will have found something  
to say4       #a ,macbeth3 ,act ,v2     
,scene #c4    ,,review ,,questions      
#a4 ,what is the logical relation 7#a7  
between fact and truth1 7#b7    between 
fact and fiction1 and 7#c7 between truth

 and fiction8    #b4 ,define the spheres
 of the respective contributions of art1
    philosophy1 and science to the      
search for truth4    #c4 ,in what way is
 a well-imagined work of fiction more   
true to life    than a newspaper report 
of actual occurrences8    #d4 ,explain  
the logical basis for distinguishing    
between morality and    immorality in a 
work of art4      ,,suggested ,,reading 
,,frank ,,norris3--,a ,problem in       
,fiction1 in ,the ,responsibilities of  
the  ,novelist4    ,,clayton            
,,hamilton3--,on ,telling the ,truth1 in
 ,the ,art ,world for  ,september1      
#aiag4          ,,chapter ,,ii          
,,realism ,,and ,,romance      ,two     
,methods of ,exhibiting the             
,truth--,every ,mind ,either ,realistic 
or ,romantic--,marion ,crawford's       
,faulty ,distinction--,a ,second        
,unsatisfactory ,distinction--,a ,third 
,unsatisfactory ,distinction--,bliss    
,perry's ,negative ,definition--,the    
,true ,distinction ,one of ,method1 ,not

    of ,material--,scientific ,discovery
 and ,artistic ,expression--,the        
,testimony of ,hawthorne--,a            
,philosophic ,formula--,induction and   
,deduction--,the ,inductive ,method of  
the ,realist--,the ,deductive ,method   
of the ,romantic--,realism1 ,like       
,inductive ,science1 a ,strictly ,modern
    ,product--,advantages of            
,realism--,advantages of ,romance--,the 
,confinement    of ,realism--,the       
,freedom of ,romance--,neither ,method  
,better ,than the    ,other--,abuses of 
,realism--,abuses of ,romance4      ,two
 ,methods of ,exhibiting the            
,truth4--,although all writers of       
fiction who take their work seriously   
and do it honestly are at one in  their 
purpose--namely1 to embody certain      
truths of human life in a  series of    
imagined facts--they diverge into two   
contrasted groups  according to their   
manner of accomplishing this            
purpose1--their method  of exhibiting   
the truth4 ,consequently we find in     

practice two  contrasted schools of     
novelists1 which we distinguish by the  
titles  ,realistic and ,romantic4       
,every ,mind ,either ,realistic or      
,romantic4--,the distinction between    
realism and romance is fundamental and  
deep-seated2 for every man1  whether    
consciously or not1 is either a romantic
 or a realist in the  dominant habit of 
his thought4 ,the reader who is a       
realist by nature  will prefer ,george  
,eliot to ,scott2 the reader who is     
romantic will  rather read ,victor ,hugo
 than ,flaubert2 and neither taste is   
better  than the other4 ,each reader's  
preference is born with his brain1 and  
has its origin in his customary         
processes of thinking4 ,in view of this 
fact1 it seems strange that no adequate 
definition has ever yet been  made of   
the difference between realism and      
romance4#b ,various  superficial        
explanations have been offered1 it is   
true2 but none of  them has been        
scientific and satisfactory4    ,marion 

,crawford's ,faulty ,distinction4--,one 
of the most common of  these superficial
 explanations is the one which has been 
phrased by  the late ,f4 ,marion        
,crawford in his little book upon ,the  
,novel3 ,what  ,it ,is3--,the realist   
proposes to show men what they are2 the 
romantist 7sic7 tries to show men what  
they should be4 ,the trouble  with this 
distinction is that it utterly fails to 
distinguish4 ,surely  all novelists1    
whether realistic or romantic1 try to   
show men what  they are--what else can  
be their reason for embodying in        
imagined  facts the truths of human     
life8 ,victor ,hugo1 the romantic1 in   
,les  ,misrables1 endeavors just as     
honestly and earnestly to show men what 
they are as does ,flaubert1 the realist1
 in ,madame ,bovary4 ,and on the  other 
hand1 ,thackeray1 the realist1 in       
characters like ,henry ,esmond  and     
,colonel ,newcome1 shows men what they  
should be just as thoroughly  as the    
romantic ,scott4 ,indeed1 it is hardly  

possible to conceive how  any novelist1 
whether romantic or realistic1 could    
devise a means of  showing the one thing
 without at the same time showing the   
other also4  ,every important           
fiction-writer1 no matter to which of   
the two schools  he happens to belong1  
strives to accomplish1 in a single      
effort of  creation1 both of the        
purposes noted by ,marion ,crawford4 ,he
 may be  realistic or romantic in his   
way of showing men what they are2       
realistic or romantic in his way of     
showing them what they should be3  the  
difference lies1 not in which of the two
 he tries to show1 but in  the way he   
tries to show it4    ,a ,second         
,unsatisfactory ,distinction4--,again1  
we have been told that1  in their       
stories1 the romantics dwell mainly upon
 the element of  action1 while the      
realists are interested chiefly in the  
element of  character4 ,but this        
explanation fails many times to fit the 
facts3 for  the great romantic          

characters1 like ,leather-,stocking1    
,don ,quixote1  ,monte ,cristo1 ,claude 
,frollo1 are just as vividly drawn as   
the great  characters of realism2 and   
the great events of realistic novels1   
like  ,rawdon ,crawley's discovery of   
his wife with ,lord ,steyne1 or ,adam   
,bede's fight with ,arthur ,donnithorne1
 are just as thrilling as the           
resounding actions of romance4          
,furthermore1 if we should accept this  
explanation1 we should find ourselves   
unable to classify as either  realistic 
or romantic the very large body of      
novels in which neither  element--of    
action or of character--shows any marked
 preponderance  over the other4 ,henry  
,james1 in his genial essay on ,the ,art
 of  ,fiction1 has cast a vivid light on
 this objection4 ,there is an           
old-fashioned distinction1 he says1     
between the novel of character  and the 
novel of incident which must have cost  
many a smile to the  intending fabulist 
who was keen about his work4444 ,what is

 character  but the determination of    
incident8 ,what is incident but the     
illustration of character8444 ,it is an 
incident for a woman to stand  up with  
her hand resting on a table and look out
 at you in a certain  way2 or if it be  
not an incident ,i think it will be hard
 to say what  it is4 ,at the same time  
it is an expression of character4    ,a 
,third ,unsatisfactory                  
,distinction4--,we have been told also  
that the  realists paint the manners of 
their own place and time1 while the     
romantics deal with more remote         
materials4 ,but this distinction1       
likewise1 often fails to hold4 ,no      
stories were ever more essentially      
romantic than ,stevenson's ,new ,arabian
 ,nights1 which depict details  of      
,london and ,parisian life at the time  
when the author wrote them2  and no     
novel is more essentially realistic than
 ,romola1 which  carries us back through
 many centuries to a medieval city far  
away4  ,thackeray1 the realist1 in      

,henry ,esmond1 and its sequel ,the     
,virginians1 departed further from his  
own time and place than  ,hawthorne1 the
 romantic1 in ,the ,house of the ,seven 
,gables2 and while  the realistic       
,meredith frequently fares abroad in his
 stories1  especially to ,italy1 the    
romantic ,barrie looks upon life almost 
always  from his own little window in   
,thrums4    ,bliss ,perry's ,negative   
,definition4--,in his interesting and   
suggestive ,study of ,prose ,fiction1   
,professor ,bliss ,perry has devoted  a 
chapter to realism and another to       
romance2 but he has not succeeded  in   
defining either term4 ,he has1 to be    
sure1 essayed a negative  definition of 
realism3--,realistic fiction is that    
which does not  shrink from the         
commonplace or from the unpleasant in   
its effort to  depict things as they    
are1 life as it is4 ,but we have seen   
that the  effort of all fiction1 whether
 realistic or romantic1 is to depict    
life as it really 7though not           

necessarily as it actually7 is4 ,does   
not ,the ,brushwood ,boy1 although it   
suggests the super-actual1 set  forth a 
common truth of the most intimate human 
relationship1 which  every lover        
recognizes as real8 ,every great writer 
of fiction tries1  in his own romantic  
or realistic way1 to draw the ,thing as 
he sees ,it  for the ,god of ,things as 
,they ,are4 ,we must therefore focus our
  attention mainly on the earlier       
phrases of ,professor ,perry's          
definition4 ,he states that realistic   
fiction does not shrink from the        
commonplace4 ,that depends4 ,the realism
 of ,jules and ,edmond de ,goncourt     
does not1 to be sure2 but most assuredly
 the realism of ,george  ,meredith does4
 ,you will find far less shrinking from 
the commonplace  in many passages of the
 romantic ,fenimore ,cooper than in the 
pages of  ,george ,meredith4 ,whether or
 not realistic fiction shrinks from the 
unpleasant depends also on the          
particular nature of the realist4       

,zola's realism certainly does not2     
,jane ,austen's decidedly does4 ,you    
will find far less shrinking from the   
unpleasant1 of one sort1 in ,poe1  of   
another sort1 in ,catulle ,mends--both  
of them romantics--than in  the novels  
of ,jane ,austen4 ,what is the use1     
then1 of ,professor ,perry's  definition
 of realism1 since it remains open to so
 many exceptions8  ,and in his chapter  
on romance the critic does not even     
attempt to  formulate a definition4     
,the ,true ,distinction ,one of ,method1
 ,not of ,material4--,we have now       
examined several of the current         
explanations of the difference  between 
romance and realism and have found that 
each is wanting4 ,the  trouble with all 
of them seems to be that they attempt to
 find a  basis for distinguishing       
between the two schools of fiction in   
the  subject-matter1 or materials1 of   
the novelist4 ,does not the real        
distinction lie rather in the novelist's
 attitude of mind toward his  materials1

 whatever those materials may be8       
,surely there is no such  thing         
inherently as a realistic subject or a  
romantic subject4 ,the  very same       
subject may be treated realistically by 
one novelist and  romantically by       
another4 ,george ,eliot would have built
 a realistic  novel on the theme of ,the
 ,scarlet ,letter2 and ,hawthorne would 
have  made a romance out of the         
materials of ,silas ,marner4 ,the whole 
of human life1 or any part of it1 offers
 materials for romantic  and realist    
alike4 ,therefore no distinction between
 the schools is  possible upon the basis
 of subject-matter3 the real distinction
 must  be one of method in setting      
subject-matter forth4 ,the distinction  
is  not external1 but internal2 it      
dwells in the mind of the novelist2  it 
is a matter for philosophic1 not for    
literary1 investigation4    ,scientific 
,discovery and ,artistic                
,expression4--,if we seek within the    
mental habits of the novelist for a     

philosophic distinction between  realism
 and romance1 we shall have to return to
 a consideration of that  threefold     
process of the fiction-making mind which
 was expounded in the  preceding chapter
 of this book4 ,scientific discovery1   
philosophic  understanding1 and artistic
 expression of the truths of human life 
are phases of creation common to        
romantics and realists alike2 but       
though the writers of both schools meet 
equally upon the central  ground of     
philosophic understanding1 is it not    
evident that the  realists are most     
interested in looking backward over the 
antecedent  ground of scientific        
discovery1 and the romantics are most   
interested in  looking forward over the 
subsequent ground of artistic           
expression8  ,suppose1 for the purpose  
of illustration1 that two novelists of  
equal  ability--the one a realist1 the  
other a romantic--have observed and     
studied carefully the same events and   
characters of actual life2 and  suppose 

further that they agree in their        
conception of the truth behind  the     
facts4 ,suppose now that each of them   
writes a novel to embody this           
conception of the truth1 in which they  
are agreed4 ,will not the realist       
regard as most important the scientific 
process of discovery by means  of which 
he arrived at his conception2 and will  
he not therefore strive  to make that   
process clear to the reader by turning  
back to the point at  which he began his
 observations and then leading the      
reader forward  through a similar       
scientific study of imagined facts until
 the reader  joins him on the ground of 
philosophic understanding8 ,and1 on the 
other hand1 will not the romantic regard
 as most important the  artistic process
 of embodying his conception2 and will  
he not therefore  be satisfied with any 
means of embodying it clearly and       
effectively1  without caring whether or 
not the imagined facts which he selects 
for  this purpose are similar to the    

actual facts from which he first induced
  his philosophic understanding8    ,the
 ,testimony of ,hawthorne4--,this       
thought was apparently in  ,hawthorne's 
mind when1 in the preface to ,the ,house
 of the ,seven  ,gables1 he wrote his   
well-known distinction between the      
,romance and  the 7realistic7           
,novel3--,when a writer calls his work a
 ,romance1 it  need hardly be observed  
that he wishes to claim a certain       
latitude1  both as to its fashion and   
material1 which he would not have felt  
himself entitled to assume had he       
professed to be writing a ,novel4 ,the  
latter form of composition is presumed  
to aim at a very minute  fidelity1 not  
merely to the possible1 but to the      
probable and ordinary  course of man's  
experience4 ,the former--while1 as a    
work of art1 it  must rigidly subject   
itself to laws1 and while it sins       
unpardonably so  far as it may swerve   
aside from the truth of the human       
heart--has  fairly a right to present   

that truth under circumstances1 to a    
great  extent1 of the writer's own      
choosing or creation4    ,a ,philosophic
 ,formula4--,but ,hawthorne's statement1
 although it  covers the ground1 is not 
succinct and definitive2 and if we are  
to  examine the thesis thoroughly1 we   
had better first state it in            
philosophic terms and then elucidate the
 statement by explanation and  by       
illustration4 ,so stated1 the           
distinction is as follows3 ,in setting  
forth his view of life1 the realist     
follows the inductive method of         
presentment1 and the romantic follows   
the deductive method4    ,induction and 
,deduction4--,the distinction between   
inductive and  deductive processes of   
thinking is very simple and is known to 
all3 it  is based upon the direction of 
the train of thought4 ,when we think    
inductively1 we reason from the         
particular to the general2 and when we  
think deductively1 the process proceeds 
in the reverse direction and  we reason 

from the general to the particular4 ,in 
our ordinary  conversation1 we speak    
inductively when we first mention a     
number of  specific facts and then draw 
from them some general inference2 and we
  speak deductively when we first       
express a general opinion and then      
elucidate it by adducing specific       
illustrations4 ,that old dichotomy of   
the psychologists which divides all men1
 according to their habits of  thought1 
into ,platonists and ,aristotelians 7or1
 to substitute a modern  nomenclature1  
into ,cartesians and ,baconians7 is     
merely an assertion  that every man1 in 
the prevailing direction of his         
thinking1 is either  deductive or       
inductive4 ,most of the great ethical   
philosophers have  had inductive minds2 
from the basis of admitted facts of     
experience  they have reasoned out their
 laws of conduct4 ,most of the great    
religious teachers have had deductive   
minds3 from the basis of certain        
sublime assumptions they have asserted  

their commandments4 ,most of the  great 
scientists have thought inductively3    
they have reasoned from  specific facts 
to general truths1 as ,newton reasoned  
from the fall of  an apple to the law of
 gravitation4 ,most of the great poets  
have  thought deductively3 they have    
reasoned from general truths to         
specific facts1 as ,dante reasoned from 
a general moral conception of  cosmogony
 to the particular appropriate details  
of every circle in  hell and purgatory  
and paradise4 ,now is not the thesis    
tenable that it  is in just this way    
that realism differs from romance8 ,in  
their  endeavor to exhibit certain      
truths of human life1 do not the        
realists  work inductively and the      
romantics deductively8    ,the          
,inductive ,method of the ,realist4--,in
 order to bring to our  knowledge the   
law of life which he wishes to make     
clear1 the realist  first leads us      
through a series of imagined facts as   
similar as  possible to the details of  

actual life which he studied in order to
  arrive at his general conception4 ,he 
elaborately imitates the facts of       
actual life1 so that he may say to us   
finally1 ,this is the sort of  thing    
that ,i have seen in the world1 and from
 this ,i have learned the  truth ,i have
 to tell you4 ,he leads us step by step 
from the  particular to the general1    
until we gradually grow aware of the    
truths  he wishes to express4 ,and in   
the end1 we have not only grown         
acquainted with these truths1 but have  
also been made familiar with  every step
 in the process of thought by which the 
author himself  became aware of them4   
,adam ,bede tells us not only what      
,george ,eliot  knew of life1 but also  
how she came to learn it4    ,the       
,deductive ,method of the               
,romantic4--,but the romantic novelist  
leads us in the contrary                
direction--namely1 from the general to  
the  particular4 ,he does not attempt to
 show us how he arrived at his  general 

conception4 ,his only care is to convey 
his general idea  effectively by giving 
it a specific illustrative embodiment4  
,he  feels no obligation to make the    
imagined facts of his story resemble    
closely the details of actual life2 he  
is anxious only that they  shall        
represent his idea adequately and       
consistently4 ,stevenson  knew that man 
has a dual nature1 and that the evil in 
him1 when  pampered1 will gradually gain
 the upper hand over the good4 ,in his  
story of the ,strange ,case of ,dr4     
,jekyll and ,mr4 ,hyde1 he did not      
attempt to set forth this truth         
inductively1 showing us the kind of     
facts from the observation of which he  
had drawn this conclusion4 ,he  merely  
gave his thought an illustrative        
embodiment1 by conceiving  a dual       
character in which a man's uglier self  
should have a separate  incarnation4 ,he
 constructed his tale deductively3      
beginning with a  general conception1 he
 reduced it to particular terms4 ,dr4   

,jekyll  and ,mr4 ,hyde is1 of course1 a
 thoroughly true story1 even though its 
incidents are contrary to the actual    
facts of life4 ,it is just as real  as a
 realistic novel2 but in order to make  
it so1 its author1 because  he was      
working deductively1 was not obliged to 
imitate the details  of actual life     
which he had studied4 ,i have learned   
something in the  world1 he says to us3 
,here is a fable that will make it clear
 to  you4    ,realism1 ,like ,inductive 
,science1 a ,strictly ,modern           
,product4--,this  philosophic           
distinction between the methods of      
romance and realism  shows two manifest 
advantages over all the other attempts  
at a  distinction which have been       
examined in this chapter3 first1 it     
really does distinguish2 and secondly1  
it will be found in every  case to fit  
the facts4 ,furthermore1 it is supported
 in an overwhelming  manner by the      
history of human thought4 ,every student
 of philosophy  will tell you that the  

world's thought was prevailingly        
deductive  till the days of ,francis    
,bacon4 ,bacon was the first philosopher
 to  insist that induction1 rather than 
deduction1 was the most effective       
method of searching for the truth4      
,science1 which is based upon           
induction1 was in its infancy when      
,bacon taught2 since then it has        
matured1 largely because he and his     
successors in philosophy  pointed out   
the only method through which it might  
develop4  ,deduction has of course      
survived as a method of conducting      
thought2  but it has lost the undisputed
 empery which it held over the ancient  
and the medieval mind4 ,now1 if we turn 
to the history of fiction1 we  shall    
notice the significant fact that realism
 is a strictly modern  product4 ,all    
fiction was romantic till the days of   
,bacon4 ,realism is  contemporaneous    
with modern science and the other       
applications of  inductive thought4     
,romance survives1 of course2 but it has

 lost the  undisputed empery of fiction 
which it held in ancient and in         
medieval times4 ,if ,bacon had written  
fiction1 he would have been a           
realist--the first realist in the       
history of literature2 and this is  the 
only reply that is necessary to those   
who still maintain 7if  any do7 that he 
was capable of writing the romantic     
plays of  ,shakespeare4    ,if it be    
granted now that the realist1 by        
induction1 leads his reader  up from a  
consideration of imagined facts to a    
comprehension of truth1  and that the   
romantic1 by deduction1 leads his reader
 down from an  apprehension of truth to 
a consideration of imagined facts1 we   
may  next examine certain advantages and
 disadvantages of each method in        
comparison with the other4              
,advantages of ,realism4--,in the first 
place1 we notice1 that1 while  the      
imagined facts of the romantic are      
selected merely to illustrate  the truth
 he wishes to convey1 the imagined facts

 of the realist are  selected not only  
to illustrate1 but also to support1 the 
truth that  lies inherent in them4 ,the 
realist1 then1 has this advantage1 over 
the  romantic in his method of          
expressing truth3 he has the opportunity
 to  prove his case by presenting the   
evidence on which his truth is based4   
,it is therefore less difficult for him 
to conquer credence from a  skeptical   
and wary reader3 and we must remember   
always that even  though a story tells  
the truth1 it is still a failure unless 
it gets  that truth believed4 ,the      
romantic necessarily demands a deeper   
faith  in his wisdom than the realist   
need ask for2 and he can evoke deep     
faith only by absolute sincerity and    
utter clearness in the  presentation of 
his fable4 ,unless the reader of ,the   
,brushwood ,boy  and ,they has absolute 
faith that ,mr4 ,kipling knows the truth
 of his  themes1 the stories are reduced
 to nonsense2 for they present no       
evidence 7through running parallel to   

actuality7 which proves that the  author
 does know the truth4 ,unless the reader
 has faith that  ,stevenson deeply      
understands the nature of remorse1 the  
conversation  between ,markheim and his 
ghostly visitant becomes incredible and 
vain4  ,the author gives himself no     
opportunity to prove 7through analogy   
with  actual experience7 that such a    
colloquy consistently presents the      
inner truth of conscience4              
,advantages of ,romance4--,but this     
great advantage of the realist--that  he
 supports his theme with                
evidence--carries with it an attendant  
disadvantage4 ,since he lays his        
evidence bare before the reader1 he     
makes it simpler for the reader to      
detect him in a lie4 ,the romantic      
says1 ,these things are so1 because ,i  
know they are2 and unless we  reject him
 at once and in entirety as a colossal  
liar1 we are almost  doomed to take his 
word in the big moments of his story4   
,but the  realist says1 ,these things   

are so1 because they are supported by   
actual facts similar to the imagined    
facts in which ,i clothe them2 and  we  
may answer at any point in the story1   
,not at all6 ,on the very  basis of the 
facts you show us1 we know better than  
to take your  word4 ,in other words1    
when the reader disbelieves a romance1  
he does  so by instinct1 without        
necessarily knowing why2 but when he    
disbelieves a realistic novel1 he does  
so by logic1 with the evidence  before  
him4    ,a great romantic1 therefore1   
must have the wisdom that convinces by  
its very presence and conquers credence 
through the reader's  intuition4 ,who   
could disbelieve the author of ,the     
,scarlet ,letter8 ,we  do not need to   
see his evidence in order to know that  
he knows4 ,a  great realist1 on the     
other hand1 while he need not have the  
triumphant and engaging mental          
personality necessary to a great        
romantic1 must have a thorough and      
complete equipment of evidence          

discerned from observation of the       
actual4 ,he must have eyes and ears1    
though he need not have a soul4    ,the 
,confinement of ,realism4--,a novelist  
of realistic vent is1  therefore1 almost
 doomed to confine his fiction to his   
own place and  time4 ,in no other period
 or nation can he be so certain of his  
evidence4 ,we know the enormous labor   
with which ,george ,eliot amassed  the  
materials for ,romola1 a realistic study
 of ,florence during  the ,renaissance2 
but though we recognize the work as that
 of a  thorough student1 the details    
still fail to convince us as do the     
details of her studies of contemporary  
,warwickshire4 ,the young  aspirant to  
the art of fiction who knows himself to 
be an incipient  realist had therefore  
best confine his efforts to attempted   
reproduction of the life he sees about  
him4 ,he had better accept the          
common-sensible advice which the late   
,sir ,walter ,besant gave in his        
lecture on ,the ,art of ,fiction3 ,a    

young lady brought up in a quiet        
country village should avoid            
descriptions of garrison life2 a writer 
whose friends and personal experiences  
belong to what we call the  lower middle
 class should carefully avoid           
introducing his characters  into        
society2 a ,south-countryman would      
hesitate before attempting to  reproduce
 the ,north-country accent4 ,this is a  
very simple rule1 but  one to which     
there should be no exception--never to  
go beyond your own  experience4    ,the 
,freedom of ,romance4--,the incipient   
realist is almost obliged to  accept    
this advice2 but the incipient romantic 
need not necessarily do  so4 ,that final
 injunction of ,besant's--never to go   
beyond your own  experience--seems      
somewhat stultifying to the imagination2
 and there  is a great deal of very wise
 suggestion in ,henry ,james' reply to  
it3  ,what kind of experience is        
intended1 and where does it begin and   
end8444 ,the young lady living in a     

village has only to be a damsel  upon   
whom nothing is lost to make it quite   
unfair 7as it seems to me7  to declare  
to her that she shall have nothing to   
say about the  military4 ,greater       
miracles have been seen than that1      
imagination  assisting1 she should speak
 the truth about some of these          
gentlemen4  ,the romantic upon whom     
nothing is lost1 may1 imagination       
assisting1 project his truth into some  
other region of experience  than those  
which he has actually observed4 ,edgar  
,allan ,poe is  indubitably one of the  
great masters of the art of fiction2 but
 there  is nothing in any of his stories
 to indicate that he was born in        
,boston1 lived in ,richmond1            
,philadelphia1 and ,new ,york1 and died 
in  ,baltimore4 ,the ,assignation       
indicates that he had lived in          
,venice--where1 in fact1 he had never   
been2 others of his stories have  the   
atmosphere of other times and lands2 and
 most of them pass in a  dream-world of 

his own creation1 out of space1 out of  
time4    ,so long as the romantic is    
sure of his truth and certain of his    
power to convince the reader1 he need   
not support his truth by an             
accumulation of evidence imitated from  
the actual life he has  observed4 ,but  
on the other hand1 there is nothing to  
prevent his  doing so2 and unless he be 
very headstrong--so headstrong as to be 
almost unreliable--he will be extremely 
chary of his freedom4 ,he  will not     
subvert the actual unless there is no   
other equally  effective means of       
conveying the truth he has to tell4     
,many times  a close adherence to       
actuality is as advisable for the       
deductive  author as it is for the      
inductive2 many times the romantic      
writer  gains as much as the realist by 
confining his fiction to his own        
environment of time and place4 ,scott1  
after all1 was less successful  with his
 medieval kings and knights than with   
his homely and simple  ,scottish        

characters4 ,hawthorne1 in ,the ,marble 
,faun1 lost a  certain completeness of  
effect by stepping off his own ,new     
,england  shadow4 ,dr4 ,jekyll and ,mr4 
,hyde1 with its subversion of the       
actual1  is the sort of story that might
 be set out of space1 out of time2  but 
,stevenson enhanced the effect of its   
imaginative plausibility  by setting it 
in contemporary ,london4 ,more and more1
 in recent  years1 the romantics have   
followed the lead of the realists in    
embodying their truth in scenes and     
characters imitated from  actuality4    
,the early stories of the thoroughly    
romantic ,mr4 ,kipling  were set in his 
own country1 ,india1 and in his own     
time2 and it was  not until his actual  
experience had broadened to other lands1
 that1  to any great extent1 his        
subjects broadened geographically4 ,in  
his  stories of his own people1 ,mr4    
,kipling just as faithfully portrays the
  every-day existence he has actually   
observed as any realist4 ,his  method is

 romantic always3 he deduces his details
 from his theme1  instead of inducing   
his theme from his details4 ,he is      
entirely  romantic in the direction of  
his thought2 but it is very suggestive  
of the tenor of contemporary romance1 to
 notice that he has taken the  advice of
 the realists and seldom gone beyond his
 own experience4    ,the range of       
romance is therefore far wider than the 
range of  realism2 for all that may be  
treated realistically may be treated    
romantically also1 and much else that   
may be treated romantically is  hardly  
susceptible of realistic treatment4     
,granted that a romantic  have truths   
enough in his head1 there is scarcely   
any limit to the  stories he may deduce 
from them2 while1 on the other hand1 the
 work  of the inductive novelist is     
limited by the limits of his premises4  
,but the greater freedom of romance is  
attended by a more difficult            
responsibility4 ,if it be easier for the
 romantic to tell the truth1  because he

 has more ways of telling it1 it is     
surely harder for him  to tell nothing  
but the truth4 ,more often than the     
realist he is  tempted to assert        
uncertainties--tempted to say with      
vividness and  charm things of which he 
cannot quite be sure4    ,neither       
,method ,better ,than the ,other4--,but 
whatever may be the  comparative        
advantages and disadvantages of each    
method of exhibiting  the truth1 it is  
absolutely certain that either method of
 presentment  is natural and logical2   
and hence all criticism that aims to    
exalt  romance above realism1 or realism
 above romance1 must be forever  futile4
 ,guy de ,maupassant1 in his valuable   
preface to ,pierre et  ,jean1 has spoken
 very wisely on this point4 ,the ideal  
critic1 he  says1 should demand of the  
artist merely to create something       
beautiful1 in the form most convenient  
to him1 according to his  temperament4  
,and he states further3--,the critic    
should appraise the  result only        

according to the nature of the          
effort4444 ,he should admit  with an    
equal interest the contrasted theories  
of art1 and judge the  works resultant  
from them only from the standpoint of   
their artistic  worth1 accepting a      
priori the general ideas from which they
 owe  their origin4 ,to contest the     
right of an author to make a romantic or
  a realistic work is to wish to force  
him to modify his temperament1  refuse  
to recognize his originality1 and not   
permit him to employ the  eye and the   
intellect which nature has given him4   
,let us allow him the  liberty to       
understand1 to observe1 and to conceive 
in whatever way he  wishes1 provided    
that he be an artist4    ,surely this is
 the only sane view of the situation4   
,therefore1 when  ,mr4 ,w4 ,d4 ,howells1
 in his dexterous little book on        
,criticism and  ,fiction1 pleads        
engagingly for realism as the only valid
 method for  the modern novelist1 and   
when ,stevenson1 in many an alluring    

essay1  blows blasts upon the trumpet of
 romance1 and challenges the realists   
to show excuse for their existence1 each
 is fighting an unnecessary  battle1    
since each is at the same time right and
 wrong4 ,each is right  in asserting the
 value of his own method1 and wrong in  
denying the  value of the other's4 ,the 
minds of men have always moved in two   
directions1 and always will2 and as long
 as men shall write1 we shall  have1 and
 ought to have1 both inductive and      
deductive fiction4    ,abuses of        
,realism4--,neither of the two methods  
is truer than the  other2 and both are  
great when they are well employed4      
,each1 however1  lends itself to certain
 abuses which it will be well for us to 
notice  briefly4 ,the realist1 on the   
one hand1 in his careful imitation of   
actual life1 may grow near-sighted and  
come to value facts for their  own sake1
 forgetting that his primary purpose in 
setting them  forth should be to lead us
 to understand the truths which underlie

  them4 ,more and more1 as the realist  
advances in technic and gains in        
ability to represent the actual1 he is  
tempted to make photographs of  life    
instead of pictures4 ,a picture differs 
from a photograph  mainly in its        
artistic repression of the              
unsignificant2 it exhibits  life more   
truly because it focusses attention on  
essentials4 ,but any  novel that dwells 
sedulously upon non-essentials and      
exalts the  unsignificant obscures the  
truth4 ,this is the fallacy of the      
photographic method2 and from this      
fallacy arise the tedious  minuteness of
 ,george ,eliot in her more pedestrian  
moments1 the  interminable tea-cups of  
,anthony ,trollope1 and the mire of the 
imitators of ,zola4 ,realism latterly1  
especially in ,france1 has  shown a     
tendency to degenerate into so-called   
naturalism1 a  method of art which casts
 the unnatural emphasis of photographic 
reproduction upon phases of actual life 
which are base in themselves  and       

unsignificant of the eternal instinct   
which leads men more  naturally to look 
upward at the stars than downward at the
 mud4 ,the  naturalistic writers are    
deceived in thinking that they represent
  life as it really is4 ,if their thesis
 were true1 the human race  would have  
dwindled to extinction long ago4 ,surely
 a photograph of a  slattern in the     
gutter is no more natural than a picture
 of ,rosalind  in the ,forest of ,arden2
 and no accuracy of imitated actuality  
can make  it more significant of truth4 
,abuses of ,romance4--,the romantic1 on 
the other hand1 because he  works with  
greater freedom than the realist1 may   
overleap himself and  express in a loose
 fashion general conceptions which are  
hasty and  devoid of truth4 ,to this    
defect is owing the vast deal of rubbish
  which has been foisted on us recently 
by feeble imitators of ,scott and       
,dumas pre--imitators who have assumed  
the trappings and the suits of  the     
accredited masters of romance1 but have 

not inherited their  clarity of vision  
into the inner truth of things that are4
 ,to such  degenerate romance1          
,professor ,brander ,matthews has       
applied the term  romanticism2 and      
though his use of the term itself may be
 considered  a little too special for   
general currency1 no exception can be   
taken  to the distinction which he      
enforces in the following paragraph3    
,the  ,romantic calls up the idea of    
something primary1 spontaneous1 and     
perhaps medieval1 while the ,romanticist
 suggests something secondary1          
conscious1 and of recent fabrication4   
,romance1 like many another thing  of   
beauty1 is very rare2 but ,romanticism  
is common enough nowadays4  ,the truly  
,romantic is difficult to achieve2 but  
the artificial  ,romanticist is so easy 
as to be scarce worth the attempting4   
,the  ,romantic is ever young1 ever     
fresh1 ever delightful2 but the         
,romanticist is stale and second-hand   
and unendurable4 ,romance is never  in  

danger of growing old1 for it deals with
 the spirit of man without  regard to   
times and seasons2 but ,romanticism gets
 out of date with  every twist of the   
kaleidoscope of literary fashion4 ,the  
,romantic is  eternally and essentially 
true1 but the ,romanticist is inevitably
  false4 ,romance is sterling1 but      
,romanticism is shoddy4    ,but the     
,scylla and the ,charybdis of           
fiction-writing may both be  avoided4   
,the realists gain nothing by hooting at
 the abuses of  romance2 and the        
romantics gain as little by yawning over
 realism at  its worst4 ,the            
conditions--to use a phase of           
,emerson's--are hard  but equal3 and at 
their best1 the realist1 working        
inductively1 and  the romantic1 working 
deductively1 are equally able to present
 the  truth of fiction4       #b ,the   
theory which follows in this chapter was
 first announced by         the present 
writer in ,the ,dial for ,november #af1 
#aijd4    ,,review ,,questions    #a4   

,define the difference between realism  
and romance4    #b4 ,what are the       
advantages and disadvantages of the     
realistic method8    #c4 ,what are the  
advantages and disadvantages of the     
romantic method8    #d4 ,which method is
 more natural to your own mind8    #e4  
,upon what evidence have you based your 
answer to the foregoing    question8    
,,suggested ,,reading    ,,bliss        
,,perry3 ,a ,study of ,prose            
,fiction--,chapter ,,ix1 on ,realism1   
and  ,chapter ,x1 on ,romanticism4      
,f4 ,,marion ,,crawford3 ,the ,novel3   
,what ,it ,is4    ,,henry ,,james3 ,the 
,art of ,fiction4    ,,nathaniel        
,,hawthorne3 ,preface to ,the ,house of 
the ,seven ,gables4    ,,sir ,,walter   
,,besant3 ,the ,art of ,fiction4        
,,guy ,,de ,,maupassant3 ,preface to    
,pierre et ,jean4    ,,william ,,dean   
,,howells3 ,criticism and ,fiction4     
,,robert ,,louis ,,stevenson3 ,the      
,lantern-,bearers4    ,,brander         
,,matthews3 ,romance ,against           

,romanticism1 in ,the ,historical       
,novel4          ,,chapter ,,iii        
,,the ,,nature ,,of ,,narrative         
,transition from ,material to           
,method--,the ,four ,methods of         
,discourse--#a4    ,argumentation2 #b4  
,exposition2 #c4 ,description2 #d4      
,narration1 the    ,natural ,mood of    
,fiction--,series and ,succession--,life
 ,is ,chronological1    ,art ,is        
,logical--,the ,narrative ,sense--,the  
,joy of ,telling ,tales--,the           
,missing of ,this ,joy--,developing the 
,sense of ,narrative--,the    ,meaning  
of the ,word ,event--,how to ,make      
,things ,happen--,the    ,narrative of  
,action--,the ,narrative of             
,character--,recapitulation4            
,transition from ,material to           
,method4--,we have now considered the   
subject-matter of fiction and also the  
contrasted attitudes of mind of  the two
 great schools of fiction-writers toward
 setting forth that  subject-matter4 ,we
 must next turn our attention to the    

technical  methods of presenting the    
materials of fiction1 and notice in     
detail  the most important devices      
employed by all fiction-writers in order
 to  fulfil the purpose of their art4   
,the ,four ,methods of ,discourse--#a4  
,argumentation4--,rhetoricians1 as      
everybody knows1 arbitrarily but        
conveniently distinguish four forms1  or
 moods1 or methods1 of discourse3       
namely1 narration1 description1         
exposition1 and argumentation4 ,it may  
be stated without fear of  well-founded 
contradiction that the natural mood1 or 
method1 of  fiction is the first of     
these1--narration4 ,argumentation1 for  
its own  sake1 has no place in a work of
 fiction4 ,there is1 to be sure1 a type 
of novel1 which is generally called in  
,english the novel with a  purpose1 the 
aim of which is to persuade the reader  
to accept some  special thesis that the 
author holds concerning politics1       
religion1  social ethics1 or some other 
of the phases of life that are readily  

open to discussion4 ,but such a novel   
usually fails of its purpose if  it     
attempts to accomplish it by employing  
the technical devices of  argument4 ,it 
can best fulfil its purpose by          
exhibiting indisputable  truths of life1
 without persuasive comment1 ex         
cathedra1 on the part  of the novelist4 
,in vain he argues1 denounces1 or       
defends1 appeals to  us or coaxes us1   
unless his story in the first place     
convinces by its  very truthfulness4 ,if
 his thesis be as incontestable as the  
author  thinks it is1 it can prove      
itself by narrative alone4    #b4       
,exposition4--,exposition1 for its own  
sake1 is also out of place  in fiction4 
,the aim of exposition is to            
explain1--an aim necessarily  abstract2 
but the purpose of fiction is to        
represent life1--a purpose  necessarily 
concrete4 ,to discourse of life in      
abstract terms is to  subvert the       
natural mood of art2 and the novelist   
may make his meaning  just as clear by  

representing life concretely1 without a 
running  commentary of analysis and     
explanation4 ,life truly represented    
will  explain itself4 ,there are1 to be 
sure1 a number of great novelists1 of   
whom ,george ,eliot may be taken as the 
type1 who frequently halt their  story  
to write an essay about it4 ,these      
essays are often instructive  in        
themselves1 but they are not fiction1   
because they do not embody  their truths
 in imagined facts of human life4       
,george ,eliot is at one  moment        
properly a novelist1 and at the next    
moment a discursive  expositor4 ,she    
would be still greater as a novelist1   
and a novelist  merely1 if she could    
make her meaning clear without          
digressing to  another art4    #c4      
,description4--,description also1 in the
 most artistic fiction1 is  used only as
 subsidiary and contributive to         
narration4 ,the aim of                  
description--which is to suggest the    
look of things at a certain             

characteristic moment--is an aim        
necessarily static4 ,but life--which    
the novelist purposes to represent--is  
not static but dynamic4 ,the  aim of    
description is pictorial3 but life does 
not hold its pictures2  it melts and    
merges them one into another with       
headlong hurrying  progression4 ,a      
novelist who devotes two successive     
pages to the  description of a landscape
 or a person1 necessarily makes his     
story  stand still while he is doing it1
 and thereby belies an obvious law of   
life4 ,therefore1 as writers of fiction 
have progressed in art1 they  have more 
and more eliminated description for its 
own sake4    #d4 ,narration1 the        
,natural ,mood of ,fiction4--,since1    
then1 the natural  mood1 or method1 of  
fiction is narration1 it is necessary   
that we  should devote especial study to
 the nature of narrative4 ,and in a     
study frankly technical we may be aided 
at the outset by a definition1  which   
may subsequently be explained in all its

 bearings4    ,a narrative is a         
representation of a series of events4   
,this is a  very simple definition2 and 
only two words of it can possibly demand
  elucidation4 ,these words are series  
and event4 ,the word event  will be     
explained fully in a later section of   
this chapter3 meanwhile  it may be      
understood loosely as synonymous with   
happening4 ,let us  first examine the   
exact meaning of the word series4       
,series and ,succession4--,the word     
series implies much more than the  word 
succession3 it implies a relation not   
merely chronological but  also logical2 
and the logical relation it implies is  
that of cause and  effect4 ,in any      
section of actual life which we examine1
 the events are  likely to appear merely
 in succession and not in series4 ,one  
event  follows another immediately in   
time1 but does not seem linked to it    
immediately by the law of causation4    
,what you do this morning does not      
often necessitate as a logical          

consequence what you do this afternoon2 
and what you do this evening is not     
often a logical result of what you  have
 done during the day4 ,any transcript   
from actual life that is not            
deliberately arranged and logically     
patterned is therefore likely not  to be
 a narrative4 ,a passage from a diary1  
for instance1 which states  events in   
the order of their happening but makes  
no attempt to present  them as links in 
a chain of causation1 is not1           
technically speaking1  narrative in     
method4 ,to illustrate this point1 let  
us open at random  the diary of ,samuel 
,pepys4 ,here is his entry for ,april   
#bi1 #afff3--    ,to ,church1 where ,mr4
 ,mills1 a lazy sermon upon the ,devil's
 having no  right to anything in this   
world4 ,to ,mr4 ,evelyn's1 where ,i     
walked in  his garden till he come from 
,church1 with great pleasure reading    
,ridley's discourse1 all my way going   
and coming1 upon the ,civil and         
,ecclesiastical ,law4 ,he being come    

home1 he and ,i walked together in  the 
garden with mighty pleasure1 he being a 
very ingenious man2 and1  the more ,i   
know him1 the the more ,i love him4     
,weary to bed1 after  having my hair of 
my head cut shorter1 even close to my   
skull1 for  coolness1 it being mighty   
hot weather4    ,there is no logical    
continuity in the worthy diarist's      
faithful  chronicle of actuality4 ,what 
occasioned the weariness with which he  
went to bed8 ,it could not have been the
 company of ,mr4 ,evelyn1 whom he       
loved2 it could hardly have been the    
volume on the civil and  ecclesiastical 
law1 though its title does suggest the  
soporific4 ,was  his strength1 like     
,samson's1 shorn away with the hair of  
his head2 or  can it be that that lazy  
sermon of ,mr4 ,mills' got in its       
deadening  effects at bedtime8 ,we      
notice1 at any rate1 that the diarist's 
remarks  need considerable              
re-arrangement to make them really      
narrative4    ,life ,is ,chronological1 

,art ,is ,logical4--,yet it is just in  
this way  that commonly event succeeds  
event in the daily life of every one4   
,it  is only in the great passionate    
crises of existence that event treads   
upon event in uninterrupted sequence of 
causation4 ,and here is the  main formal
 difference between life as it actually 
happens and life as  it is artistically 
represented in history1 biography1 and  
fiction4 ,in  every art there are two   
steps2 first1 the selection of          
essentials1 and  secondly1 the          
arrangement of these essentials         
according to a pattern4  ,in the art of 
narration1 events are first selected    
because they  suggest an essential      
logical relation to each other2 and they
 are then  arranged along the lines of a
 pattern of causation4 ,let us compare  
with the haphazard passage from ,pepys a
 bit of narrative that is  artistically 
patterned4 ,here is the conclusion to   
,stevenson's story of  ,markheim4 ,the  
hero1 having slain a dealer in his shop 

on ,christmas  day1 spends a long time  
alone1 ransacking the dealer's effects  
and  listening to the voice of          
conscience4 ,he is interrupted by a     
ringing  of the door-bell4 ,the dealer's
 maid has returned from holidaying4--   
,he opened the door and went downstairs 
very slowly1 thinking to  himself4 ,his 
past went soberly before him2 he beheld 
it as it was1  ugly and strenuous like a
 dream1 random as a chance-medley--a    
scene of  defeat4 ,life1 as he thus     
reviewed it1 tempted him no longer2 but 
on  the further side he perceived a     
quiet haven for his bark4 ,he paused in 
the passage1 and looked into the shop1  
where the candle still burned  by the   
dead body4 ,it was strangely silent4    
,thoughts of the dealer  swarmed into   
his mind as he stood gazing4 ,and then  
the bell once more  broke out into      
impatient clamor4    ,he confronted the 
maid upon the threshold with something  
like a  smile4    ',you had better go   
for the police1' said he3 ',i have      

killed your  master4'    ,the last      
sentence of this passage is an effect   
which is logically led  up to by many   
causes that are rapidly reviewed in the 
preceding  sentences4 ,stevenson has    
here patterned a passage of life along  
lines  of causation2 he has employed the
 logical method of narration3 but       
,pepys1 in the selection quoted1 looked 
upon events with no narrative  sense    
whatever4    ,the ,narrative            
,sense4--,the narrative sense is1       
primarily1 an ability  to trace an event
 back to its logical causes and to look 
forward to  its logical effects4 ,it is 
the sense through which we realize1 for 
instance1 that what happened at two     
o'clock to-day1 although it may  not    
have resulted necessarily from what     
happened an hour before1 was  the       
logical outcome of something else that  
happened at noon on the  preceding      
,thursday1 let us say1 and that this in 
turn was the result  of causes          
stretching back through many months4 ,a 

well-developed  narrative sense in      
looking on at life is very rare4 ,every 
one1 of  course1 is able to refer the   
headache of the morning after to the    
hilarity if the night before2 and even1 
after some experience1 to  foresee the  
headache at the time of the hilarity3   
but life1 to the  casual eye of the     
average man1 hides in the main the      
secrets of its  series1 and betrays only
 an illogical succession of events4     
,minds  cruder than the average see only
 a jumble of happenings in the life     
they look upon1 and group them1 if at   
all1 by propinquity in time1  rather    
than by any deeper law of relation4     
,such a mind had ,dame  ,quickly1 the   
loquacious ,hostess in ,shakespeare's   
,henry ,,iv4 ,consider  the famous      
speech in which she accuses ,falstaff of
 breach of promise  to marry her3--     
,thou didst swear to me upon a          
parcel-gilt goblet1 sitting in my       
,dolphin-chamber1 at the round table1 by
 a sea-coal fire1 upon  ,wednesday in   

,wheeson week1 when the prince broke thy
 head for liking  his father to a       
singing man of ,windsor1 thou didst     
swear to me then1  as ,i was washing thy
 wound1 to marry me and make me my lady 
thy wife4  ,canst thou deny it8 ,did not
 goodwife ,keech1 the butcher's wife1   
come  in then and call me gossip        
,quickly8 coming in to borrow a mess of 
vinegar2 telling us she had a good dish 
of prawns2 whereby thou didst  desire to
 eat some2 whereby ,i told thee they    
were ill for a green  wound8 ,and didst 
thou not1 when she was gone down stairs1
 desire me to  be no more so familiarity
 with such poor people2 saying that ere 
long  they should call me madam8 ,and   
didst thou not kiss me and bid me fetch 
thee thirty shillings8 ,i put thee now  
to thy book-oath3 deny it1 if  thou     
canst4    ,there are1 of course1 many   
deficiencies in ,dame ,quickly's mental 
make-up2 but the one for us to notice   
here is her utter lack of the  narrative
 sense4 ,she would never be able to tell

 a story3 because1 in  the first place1 
she could not select from a muddle of   
events those  which bore an intelligible
 relation to one another1 and in the    
second place1 she could not arrange them
 logically instead of  chronologically4 
,she has no sense of series4 ,and       
although ,dame  ,quickly's mind is an   
exaggeration of the type it represents1 
the  type1 in less exaggerated form1 is 
very common2 and everybody will  agree  
that the average man1 who has never     
taken pains to train  himself in        
narrative1 is not able in his ordinary  
conversation to  tell with ease a       
logically connected story4    ,the ,joy 
of ,telling ,tales4--,the better sort of
 narrative sense is  not merely an      
abstract intellectual understanding of  
the relation  of cause and effect       
subsisting between events often         
disparate in  time2 it is1 rather1 a    
concrete feeling of the relation4 ,it is
 an  intuitive feeling2 and1 being such1
 it is possessed instinctively  by      

certain minds4 ,there are people in the 
world who are natural  born             
story-tellers2 all of us have met with  
them in actual life3  and to this class 
belong the story-telling giants1 like   
,sir ,walter  ,scott1 ,victor ,hugo1    
,dumas pre1 ,stevenson1 and ,mr4        
,kipling4  ,narrative is natural to     
their minds4 ,they sense events in      
series2  and a series once started in   
their imagination propels itself with   
hurrying progression4 ,some novelists1  
like ,wilkie ,collins1 have  nothing    
else to recommend them but this native  
sense of narrative2  but it is a gift   
that is not to be despised4 ,authors    
with something  important to say about  
life have need of it1 in order that the 
process of reading their fiction may be1
 in ,stevenson's phrase1  absorbing and 
voluptuous4 ,in the great story-tellers1
 there is a  sort of self-enjoyment in  
the exercise of the sense of narrative2 
and this1 by sheer contagion1           
communicates enjoyment to the reader4   

,perhaps it may be called 7by analogy   
with the familiar phrase1 the  joy of   
living7 the joy of telling tales4 ,the  
joy of telling tales  which shines      
through ,treasure ,island is perhaps the
 main reason for  the continued         
popularity of the story4 ,the author is 
having such a  good time in telling his 
tale that he gives us necessarily a good
  time in reading it4    ,the ,missing  
of ,this ,joy4--,but many of the        
novelists who have had  great things to 
say about human life have been          
singularly deficient in  this native    
sense of narrative4 ,george ,eliot and  
,anthony ,trollope1 for  example1 almost
 never evidence the joy of telling      
tales4 ,george  ,eliot's natural habit  
of mind was abstract rather than        
concrete2 she  was born an essayist4    
,but1 largely through the influence of  
,george  ,henry ,lewes1 she deliberately
 decided that fiction was the most      
effective medium for expressing her     
philosophy of life4 ,thereafter she     

strove earnestly to develop that sense  
of narrative which1 at the  outset1 was 
largely lacking in her mind4 ,to many   
readers who are not  without            
appreciation of the importance and      
profundity of her  understanding of     
human nature1 her stories are wearisome 
and  unalluring1 because she told them  
with labor1 not with ease4 ,she does    
not seem to have had a good time with   
them1 as ,stevenson had with  ,treasure 
,island1 a story in other ways of       
comparative unimportance4  ,and surely  
it is not frivolous to state that the   
most profound and  serious of thoughts  
are communicated best when they are     
communicated  with the greatest         
interest4    ,developing the ,sense of  
,narrative4--,it could hardly be hoped  
that a  person entirely devoid of the   
narrative sense should acquire it by any
  amount of labor2 but nearly every one 
possesses it in at least a  rudimentary 
degree1 and any one possessing it at all
 may develop it by  exercise4 ,a simple 

and common-sensible exercise is to seize
 hold of  some event that happens in our
 daily lives1 and then think back over  
all the antecedent events we can        
remember1 until we discern which ones   
among them stand in a causal relation to
 the event we are considering4  ,next1  
it will be well to look forward and     
imagine the sort of events  which will  
logically carry on the series4 ,the     
great generals of  history have won     
their most signal victories by an       
exercise of the  narrative sense4       
,holding at the moment of planning a    
campaign the past  and present terms of 
a logical series of events1 they have   
imagined  forward and foreseen the      
probable progression of the series4     
,this may  perhaps explain why the great
 commanders1 like ,csar and ,grant1 have
  written such able narrative when they 
have turned to literature4    ,the young
 author who is trying to develop his    
narrative sense may find  unending      
exercise in the endeavor to ferret out  

the various series of  events which lie 
entangled in the confused and apparently
 unrelated  successions of incidents    
which pass before his observation4 ,when
 he  sees something happen in the       
street1 he will not be satisfied1 like  
the casual looker-on1 merely with that  
solitary happening2 he will try  to find
 out what other happenings led up to it1
 and again what other  happenings must  
logically follow from it4 ,when he sees 
an interesting  person in a street-car1 
he will wonder where that person has    
come from  and whither he is going1 what
 he has just done and what he is about  
to  do2 he will look before and after1  
and pine for what is not4 ,this         
exercise is in itself interesting2 and  
if the result of it be written  down1   
the young author will gain experience in
 expression at the same  time that he is
 developing his sense of narrative4     
,the ,meaning of the ,word ,event4--,it 
remains for us now to consider          
philosophically the significance of the 

word event4 ,every event has  three     
elements3 the thing that is done1 the   
agents that do it1 and the              
circumstances of time and place under   
which it is done2 or1 to say the  matter
 in three words1--action1 actors1 and   
setting4 ,only when all  three elements 
conspire can something happen4 ,life    
suggests to the  mind of a contemplative
 observer many possible events which    
remain  unrealized because only one or  
two of the necessary three elements are 
present1--events that are waiting1 like 
unborn children on the other  side of   
,lethe1 until the necessary conditions  
shall call them into  being4 ,we observe
 a man who could do a great thing of a  
certain sort  if only that sort of thing
 were demanded to be done at the time   
and in  the place in which he loiters   
wasted4 ,we grow aware of a great thing 
longing to be done1 when there is no one
 present who is capable of  doing it4   
,we behold conditions of place and time 
entirely fitted for a  certain sort of  

happening2 but nothing happens1 because 
the necessary  people are away4 ,never  
the time and the place and the loved one
 all  together6 sang ,robert ,browning2 
and then he dreamed upon an event  which
 was waiting to be born1--waiting for   
the imagined meeting and  marriage of   
its elements4    ,how to ,make ,things  
,happen4--,it is the function of the    
master of  creative narrative to call   
events into being4 ,he does this by     
assembling and marrying the elements    
without which events cannot  occur4     
,granted the conception of a character  
who is capable of doing  certain things1
 he finds things of that sort for the   
character to do2  granted a sense of    
certain things longing to be done1 he   
finds people  who will do them2 or      
granted the time and the place that seem
  expectant of a certain sort of        
happening1 he finds the agents proper   
to the setting4 ,there is a conversation
 of ,stevenson's1 covering this  point1 
which has been often quoted4 ,his       

biographer1 ,mr4 ,graham  ,balfour1     
tells us3 ,either on that day or about  
that time ,i remember  very distinctly  
his saying to me3 ',there are1 so far as
 ,i know1 three  ways1 and three ways   
only1 of writing a story4 ,you may take 
a plot and  fit characters to it1 or you
 may take a character and choose        
incidents  and situations to develop it1
 or lastly--you must bear with me while 
,i  try to make this clear'--7here he   
made a gesture with his hand as if  he  
were trying to shape something and give 
it outline and form7--'you  may take a  
certain atmosphere and get action and   
persons to express it  and realize it4  
,i'll give you an example--,the ,merry  
,men4 ,there ,i  began with the feeling 
of one of those islands on the west     
coast of  ,scotland1 and ,i gradually   
developed the story to express the      
sentiment  with which the coast affected
 me4'    ,in other words1 starting with 
any one of the three elements--action1  
actors1 or setting--the writer of       

narrative may create events by          
imagining the other two4 ,comparatively 
speaking1 there have been very  few     
stories1 like ,the ,merry ,men1 in which
 the author has started out  from a     
sense of setting2 and nearly all of them
 have been written  recently4 ,the      
feeling for setting as the initial      
element in narrative  hardly dates back 
further than the nineteenth century4 ,we
 may  therefore best consider it in a   
later and more special chapter1 and     
devote our attention for the present to 
the two methods of creating  narrative  
that have been most often used--that in 
which the author has  started with the  
element of action1 and that in which he 
has started  with the element of        
character4    ,very few of the great    
masters of narrative have1 like ,honor  
de  ,balzac1 employed both one and the  
other method with equal success3  nearly
 all of them have shown an habitual     
mental predilection for the  one or for 
the other4 ,the elder ,dumas1 for       

example1 habitually devised  a scheme of
 action and then selected characters to 
fit into his plot2  and ,george         
,meredith habitually created characters 
and then devised the  elements of action
 necessary to exhibit and develop them4 
,readers1  like the novelists           
themselves1 usually feel a predilection 
for one  method rather than the other2  
but surely each method is natural and   
reasonable1 and it would be injudicious 
for the critic to exalt either  of them 
at the expense of the other4 ,there is  
plenty of material in  life to allure a 
mind of either habit4 ,certain things   
that are done  are in themselves so     
interesting that it matters             
comparatively little  who is doing them2
 and certain characters are in          
themselves so  interesting that it      
matters comparatively little what they  
do4 ,to  conceive a potent train of     
action and thereby foreordain the nature
 of  such characters as will accomplish 
it1 or to conceive characters  pregnant 

with potentiality for certain sorts of  
deeds and thereby  foreordain a train of
 action1--either is a legitimate method 
for  planning out a narrative4 ,that    
method is best for any author which is  
most natural for him2 he will succeed   
best working in his own way2 and  that  
critic is not catholic who states that  
either the narrative of  action or the  
narrative of character is a better type 
of work than the  other4 ,the truth of  
human life may be told equally well by  
those who  sense primarily its element  
of action and by those who sense        
primarily its element of character2 for 
both elements must finally  appear      
commingled in any story that is real4   
,the critic may1 however1 make a        
philosophical distinction between the   
two methods1 in order to lead to a      
better understanding of them both4      
,those writers who sense life primarily 
as action may be said to work  from the 
outside in2 and those who sense it      
primarily as character may  be said to  

work from the inside out4 ,the first    
method requires the  more objective1 and
 the second the more subjective1        
consciousness of  life4 ,of the two1 the
 objective consciousness of life is 7at 
its  weakest7 more elementary and 7at   
its strongest7 more elemental than  the 
subjective4    ,the ,narrative of       
,action4--,stevenson1 in his ,gossip on 
,romance1 has  eloquently voiced the    
potency of an objective sense of action 
as the  initial factor in the           
development of a narrative4 ,he is      
speaking of  the spell cast over him by 
certain books he read in boyhood4 ,for  
my  part1 he says1 ,i liked a story to  
begin with an old wayside inn  where1   
'towards the close of the year #ag--1'  
several gentlemen in  three-cocked hats 
were playing bowls4 ,a friend of mine   
preferred the  ,malabar coast in a      
storm1 with a ship beating to windward1 
and a  scowling fellow of ,herculean    
proportions striding along the beach2   
he1  to be sure1 was a pirate4 ,this was

 further afield than my home-keeping    
fancy loved to travel1 and designed     
altogether for a larger canvas  than the
 tales that ,i affected4 ,give me a     
highwayman and ,i was full to  the brim2
 a ,jacobite would do1 but the          
highwayman was my favourite  dish4 ,i   
can still hear that merry clatter of the
 hoofs along the  moonlit lane2 night   
and the coming of day are still related 
in my mind  with the doings of ,john    
,rann or ,jerry ,abershaw2 and the words
  'post-chaise1' the 'great north road1'
 'ostler1' and 'nag' still sound  in my 
ears like poetry4 ,one and all1 at      
least1 and each with his  particular    
fancy1 we read story-books in childhood1
 not for eloquence  or character or     
thought1 but for some quality of the    
brute incident4  ,for the writer who    
works from the outside in1 it is        
entirely possible  to develop from some 
quality of the brute incident a         
narrative that  shall be not only       
stirring in its propulsion of events but

 also  profound in its significance of  
elemental truth4    ,the ,narrative of  
,character4--,the method of working from
 the inside  out--of using a subjective 
sense of character as the initial factor
 in  the development of a narrative--is 
wonderfully exemplified in the work  of 
,ivan ,turgnieff2 and the method is very
 clearly explained in ,henry  ,james'   
intimate essay on the great ,russian    
master4 ,henry ,james  remarks3 ,the    
germ of a story1 with him1 was never an 
affair of  plot--that was the last thing
 he thought of3 it was the              
representation  of certain persons4 ,the
 first form in which a tale appeared to 
him was  as the figure of an individual1
 or a combination of individuals1 whom  
he wished to see in action1 being sure  
that such people must do  something very
 special and interesting4 ,they stood   
before him  definite1 vivid1 and he     
wished to know1 and to show1 as much as 
possible of their nature4 ,the first    
thing was to make clear to himself  what

 he did know1 to begin with2 and to this
 end he wrote out a sort  of biography  
of each of his characters1 and          
everything that they had  done and that 
had happened to them up to the opening  
of the story4 ,he  had their dossier1 as
 the ,french say1 and as the police has 
of that  of every conspicuous criminal4 
,with this material in his hand he was  
able to proceed2 the story all lay in   
the question1 ,what shall ,i make  them 
do8 ,he always made them do things that 
showed them completely2  but1 as he     
said1 the defect of his manner and the  
reproach that was  made him was his want
 of 'architecture'--in other words1 of  
composition4 ,the great thing1 of       
course1 is to have architecture as  well
 as precious material1 as ,walter ,scott
 had them1 as ,balzac had  them4 ,if one
 reads ,turgnieff's stories with the    
knowledge that they  were composed--or  
rather that they came into being--in    
this way1 one  can trace the process in 
every line4 ,story1 in the conventional 

sense  of the word--a fable constructed1
 like ,wordsworth's phantom1 'to        
startle and waylay'--there is as little 
as possible4 ,the thing  consists of the
 motions of a group of selected         
creatures1 which are  not the result of 
a preconceived action1 but a consequence
 of the  qualities of the actors4--,and 
yet1 for the writer who1 like           
,turgnieff1 works from the inside out1  
it is entirely possible to  develop from
 the qualities of the actors a train of 
action that  shall be as stirring as it 
is significant4                         
,recapitulation4--,the main principle of
 narrative to bear in mind  is that     
action alone1 or character alone1 is not
 its proper  subject-matter4 ,the       
purpose of narrative is to represent    
events2 and  an event occurs only when  
both character and action1 with         
contributory  setting1 are assembled and
 commingled4 ,indeed1 in the greatest   
and  most significant events1 it is     
impossible to decide whether the actor  

or the action has the upper hand2 it is 
impossible1 in regarding  such events1  
for the imagination to conceive what is 
done and who  is doing it as elements   
divorced4 ,a novelist who has started   
out  with either element and has        
afterward evoked the other may arrive   
by imagination at this final complete   
sense of an event4 ,the best  narratives
 of action and of character are         
indistinguishable1 one from  another1 in
 their ultimate result3 they differ only
 in their origin3  and the author who   
aspires to a mastery of narrative should
  remember that1 in narrative at its    
best1 character and action and  even    
setting are one and inseparable4    ,for
 the conveniences of study1 however1 it 
is well to examine the  elements of     
narrative one by one2 and we shall      
therefore devote three  separate        
chapters to a technical consideration of
 plot1 and  characters1 and setting4    
,,review ,,questions    #a4 ,what is a  
narrative8    #b4 ,distinguish between a

 succession and a series of events4     
#c4 ,what are the two steps in any art8 
#d4 ,what are the three component       
elements of every event8    #e4 ,is life
 itself narrative in pattern8    #f4    
,can the foregoing question be answered 
without qualification8    #g4 ,discuss  
the comparative advantages of the       
narrative of action and    the narrative
 of character4      ,,suggested         
,,reading    ,,william ,,tenney         
,,brewster3 ,introduction to ,specimens 
of ,prose  ,narration4    ,,robert      
,,louis ,,stevenson3 ,a ,gossip on      
,romance4    ,,henry ,,james3 ,essay on 
,turgnieff1 in ,partial ,portraits4     
,,chapter ,,iv    ,,plot      ,narrative
 a ,simplification of ,life--,unity in  
,narrative--,a ,definite    ,objective  
,point--,construction1 ,analytic and    
,synthetic--,the    ,importance of      
,structure--,elementary                 
,narrative--,positive and ,negative     
,events--,the ,picaresque               
,pattern--,definition of                

,plot--,complication    of the          
,network--,the ,major ,knot--,beginning1
 ,middle1 and ,end--,the                
,sub-,plot--,discursive and ,compacted  
,narratives--,telling ,much or          
,little of a ,story--,where to ,begin a 
,story--,logical ,sequence and          
,chronological ,succession--,tying and  
,untying--,transition to the    ,next   
,chapter4      ,narrative a             
,simplification of ,life4--,robert      
,louis ,stevenson1 in his  spirited     
essay entitled ,a ,humble ,remonstrance1
 has given very  valuable advice to the 
writer of narrative4 ,in concluding his 
remarks  he says1 ,and as the root of   
the whole matter1 let him bear in mind  
that his novel is not a transcript of   
life1 to be judged by its  exactitude2  
but a simplification of some side or    
point of life1 to  stand or fall by its 
significant simplicity4 ,for although1  
in great  men1 working upon great       
motives1 what we observe and admire is  
often  their complexity1 yet underneath 

appearances the truth remains           
unchanged3 that simplification was their
 method1 and that simplicity  is their  
excellence4 ,indeed1 as we have already 
noted in passing1  simplification is the
 method of every art4 ,every artist1 in 
his own  way1 simplifies life3 first by 
selecting essentials from the           
helter-skelter of details that life     
presents to him1 and then by  arranging 
these essentials in accordance with a   
pattern4 ,and we have  noted also that  
the method of the artist in narrative is
 to select  events which bear an        
essential logical relation to each other
 and  then to arrange them along the    
lines of a pattern of causation4        
,unity in ,narrative4--,of course the   
prime structural necessity in           
narrative1 as indeed in every method of 
discourse1 is unity4 ,unity in  any work
 of art can be attained only by a       
definite decision of the  artist as to  
what he is trying to accomplish1 and by 
a rigorous focus  of attention on his   

purpose to accomplish it1--a focus of   
attention so  rigorous as to exclude    
consideration of any matter which does  
not  contribute1 directly or indirectly1
 to the furtherance of his aim4 ,the    
purpose of the artist in narrative is to
 represent a series of  events1--wherein
 each event stands in a causal relation1
 direct or  indirect1 to its logical    
predecessor and its logical successor in
 the  series4 ,obviously the only way to
 attain unity of narrative is to        
exclude consideration of any event which
 does not1 directly or  indirectly1     
contribute to the progress of the       
series4 ,for this reason1  ,stevenson   
states in his advice to the young       
writer1 from which we have  already     
quoted3 ,let him choose a motive1       
whether of character or  passion3       
carefully construct his plot so that    
every incident is an  illustration of   
the motive1 and every property employed 
shall bear to  it a near relation of    
congruity or contrast2 444 and allow    

neither  himself in the narrative1 nor  
any character in the course of the      
dialogue1 to utter one sentence that is 
not part and parcel of the  business of 
the story or the discussion of the      
problem involved4 ,let  him not regret  
if this shortens his book2 it will be   
better so2 for to  add irrelevant matter
 is not to lengthen but to bury4 ,let   
him not mind  if he miss a thousand     
qualities1 so that he keeps unflaggingly
 in  pursuit of the one he has chosen4  
,and earlier in the same essay1 he  says
 of the novel3 ,for the welter of       
impressions1 all forcible but  all      
discreet1 which life presents1 it       
substitutes a certain artificial  series
 of impressions1 all indeed most feebly 
represented1 but all  aiming at the same
 effect1 all eloquent of the same idea1 
all chiming  together like consonant    
notes in music or like the graduated    
tints in  a good picture4 ,from all its 
chapters1 from all its pages1 from all  
its sentences1 the well-written novel   

echoes and re-echoes its one  creative  
and controlling thought2 to this must   
every incident and  character           
contribute2 the style must have been    
pitched in unison with  this2 and if    
there is anywhere a word that looks     
another way1 the book  would be         
stronger1 clearer1 and 7,i had almost   
said7 fuller without  it4    ,a         
,definite ,objective ,point4--,the only 
way in which the writer of  narrative   
may attain the unity that ,stevenson has
 so eloquently  pleaded for is to decide
 upon a definite objective point1 to    
bear in  mind constantly the culmination
 of his series of events1 and to value  
the successive details of his material  
only in so far as they  contribute1     
directly or indirectly1 to the progress 
of the series  toward that culmination4 
,to say the thing more simply1 he must  
see the  end of his story from the      
beginning and must give the reader      
always a  sense of rigorous movement    
toward that end4 ,his narrative1 as a   

matter  of construction1 must be        
finished1 before1 as a matter of        
writing1 it  is begun4 ,he must know as 
definitely as possible all that is to   
happen  and all that is not to happen in
 his story before he ventures to        
represent in words the very first of his
 events4 ,he must not1 as some          
beginners try to do1 attempt to make his
 story up as he goes along2  for unless 
he holds the culmination of his series  
constantly in mind1  he will not be able
 to decide whether any event that       
suggests itself  during the progress of 
his composition does or does not form a 
logical  factor in the series4          
,construction1 ,analytic and            
,synthetic4--,the preliminary process of
  construction may be accomplished in   
either of two ways4 ,authors with       
synthetic minds will more naturally     
reason from causes to effects2  and     
authors with analytic minds will more   
naturally reason from  effects to       
causes4 ,the former will construct      

forward through time1 the  latter       
backward4 ,standing at the outset of a  
narrative1 it is possible  to imagine   
forward along a series of events until  
the logical  culmination is divined2 or 
standing at the culmination1 it is      
possible  to imagine backward along the 
series to its far-away beginnings4      
,thackeray apparently constructed in the
 former manner2 ,guy de  ,maupassant    
apparently constructed in the latter4   
,the latter  method--the method of      
building backward from the              
culmination--is  perhaps more           
efficacious toward the conservation of  
the strictest  unity4 ,it seems on the  
whole a little easier to exclude the    
extraneous  in thinking from effects to 
causes than in thinking from causes to  
effects1 because analysis is a stricter 
and more focussed mood of mind  than    
synthesis4    ,the ,importance of       
,structure4--,but in whichever way the  
process of  construction be             
accomplished1 the best stories are      

always built before  they are written2  
and that is the reason why1 in reading  
them1 we feel  at every point that we   
are getting somewhere1 and that the     
author is  leading us step by step      
toward a definite culmination4          
,although1 as is  usually the case1 we  
cannot1 even midway through the story1  
foresee  what the culmination is to be1 
we feel a certain reassurance in the    
knowledge that the author has foreseen  
it from the start4 ,this feeling  is one
 of the main sources of interest in     
reading narrative4 ,in  looking on at   
life itself1 we are baffled by a muddle 
of events  leading every whither2 their 
succession is chaotic and lacking in    
design2 they are not marshaled and      
processional2 and we have an            
uncomfortable feeling that no mind but  
that of ,god can foresee their  veiled  
and hidden culminations4 ,but in reading
 a narrative arrangement  of life1 we   
have a comfortable sense of order1 which
 comes of our  knowledge that the author

 knows beforehand whither the events are
  tending and can make us understand the
 sequence of causation through  which   
they are moving to their ultimate       
result4 ,he makes life more  interesting
 by making it more intelligible2 and he 
does this mainly by  his power of       
construction4    ,elementary            
,narrative4--,the simplest of all       
structures for a  narrative is a        
straightway arrangement of events along 
a single strand  of causation4 ,in such 
a narrative1 the first event is the     
direct cause  of the second1 the second 
of the third1 the third of the fourth1  
and  so on to the culmination of the    
series4 ,this very simple structure is  
exhibited in many of the tales which    
have come down to us from early         
centuries4 ,it is frequently employed in
 the ,gesta ,romanorum1 and  scarcely   
less frequently in the ,decameron of    
,boccaccio4 ,it has the  advantage of   
being completely logical and entirely   
direct4 ,but we  feel1 in reading       

stories so constructed1 that the method 
of  simplification has been carried too 
far1 and that simplicity has  therefore 
ceased to be an excellence4 ,such a     
story is in this way  misrepresentative 
of life3--it fails utterly to suggest   
the welter of  impressions which life   
presents1 the sudden kaleidoscopic      
shifts of  actual life from one series  
of events to another1 and the consequent
  intricacy and apparent chaos of life's
 successive happenings4 ,the  structure 
is too straightforward1 too direct1 too 
unwavering and  unhesitant4    ,positive
 and ,negative ,events4--,the simplest  
way to introduce the  element of        
hesitance and wavering1 and thereby make
 the story more  truly suggestive of the
 intricate variety of life1 is to       
interrupt the  series by the            
introduction of events whose apparent   
tendency is to  hinder its progress1 and
 in this way emphasize the ultimate     
triumph of  the series in attaining its 
predestined culmination4 ,such events   

are  not extraneous2 because1 although  
they tend directly to dispute the       
progress of the series1 they tend also  
indirectly to further it  through their 
failure to arrest it4 ,the events in any
 skilfully  selected narrative may1     
therefore1 be divided into two classes3 
events  direct or positive1 and events  
indirect or negative4 ,by a direct1 or  
positive1 event is meant one whose      
immediate tendency is to aid the        
progress of the series toward its       
predetermined objective point2 and  by  
an indirect1 or negative1 event is meant
 one whose immediate  tendency is to    
thwart this predetermined outcome4 ,it  
would be an easy  matter1 for example1  
in examining ,pilgrim's ,progress1 to   
class as  positive those events which   
directly further the advance of         
,christian  toward the ,celestial ,city1
 and to class as negative those events  
whose  immediate tendency is to turn him
 aside from the straight and narrow     
path4 ,and yet both classes of events1  

positive and negative1 make up  really  
only a single series2 because the       
negative events are conquered  one by   
one by the preponderant power of the    
positive events1 and  contribute        
therefore indirectly1 through their     
failure1 to the  ultimate attainment of 
the culmination4    ,when a straightway 
arrangement of positive events along a  
single  strand of causation is varied   
and emphasized in this way by the       
admission of negative events1 whose     
tendency is to thwart the progress  of  
the series1 the structure may be made   
very suggestive of that  conflict of    
forces which we feel to be ever present 
in actual life4  ,this structure is     
exhibited1 for example1 in ,hawthorne's 
little tale  of ,david ,swan4 ,the point
 of the story is that nothing happens to
  ,david2 the interest of the story lies
 in the events that almost happen  to   
him4 ,the young man falls asleep at     
noon-time under the shade of a  clump of
 maples which cluster around a spring   

beside the highroad4  ,three people1 or 
sets of people1 observe him in his      
sleep4 ,the first  would confer upon him
 ,wealth1 the second ,love1 the third   
,death1 if he  should waken at the      
moment4 ,but ,david ,swan sleeps deeply2
 the people  pass on2 and all that      
almost happened to him subsides forever 
to the  region of the might-have-been4  
,the ,picaresque ,pattern4--,a simple   
series of this sort1 wherein the  events
 proceed1 now directly1 now indirectly1 
along a single logical  line1 may be    
succeeded by another simple series of   
the same sort1  which in turn may be    
succeeded by a third1 and so on         
indefinitely4 ,in  this way is          
constructed the type of story known as  
picaresque1 because  in ,spain1 where   
the type was first developed1 the hero  
was usually a  picaro1 or rogue4 ,the   
narrative expedient in such stories is  
merely  to select a hero capable of     
adventure1 to fling him loose into the  
roaring and tremendous world1 and to let

 things happen to him one  after        
another4 ,the most widely known example 
of the type is not a  ,spanish story1   
but a ,french1--the ,gil ,blas of ,alain
 ,ren ,le ,sage4 ,as  soon as ,gil ,blas
 arrives at the culmination of one      
series of  adventures1 the author starts
 him on another4 ,each series is        
complete  in itself and distinct from   
all the rest2 and the structure of the  
whole book may be likened1 in a homely  
figure1 to a string of  sausages4 ,the  
relation between the different sections 
of the story is  not organic2 they are  
merely tied together by the continuance 
of the  same central character from one 
to another4 ,any one of the sections    
might be discarded without detriment to 
the others2 and the order of  them might
 be rearranged4 ,plays1 as well as      
novels1 have been  constructed in this  
inorganic way1--for example1 ,molire's  
,l',etourdi  and ,les ,facheux4 ,if the 
actors1 in performing either of these   
plays1  should omit one or two units of 

the sausage-string of incidents1 the    
audience would not become aware of any  
gap in structure4 ,yet a story  built in
 this straightforward and successive way
 may give a vast  impression of the     
shifting maze of life4 ,mr4 ,kipling's  
,kim1 which is  picaresque in structure1
 shows us nearly every aspect of the    
labyrinthine life of ,india4 ,he selects
 a healthy and normal1 but not a        
clever1 boy1 and allows all ,india to   
happen to him4 ,the book is  without    
beginning and without end2 but its very 
lack of neatness and  compactness of    
plan contributes to the general         
impression it gives of  ,india's        
immensity4    ,definition of            
,plot4--,but a simple series of events  
arranged along a  single strand of      
causation1 or a succession of several   
series of this  kind strung along one   
after the other1 may not properly be    
called a  plot4 ,the word plot signifies
 a weaving together2 and a weaving      
together presupposes the coexistence of 

more than one strand4 ,the  simplest    
form of plot1 properly so called1 is a  
weaving together of  two distinct series
 of events2 and the simplest way of     
weaving them  together is by so devising
 them that1 though they may be widely   
separate at their beginnings1 they      
progress1 each in its own way1  toward a
 common culmination1--a single momentous
 event which stands  therefore at the   
apex of each series4 ,this event is the 
knot which  ties together the two       
strands of causation4 ,thus1 in ,silas  
,marner1  the culminating event1 which  
is the redemption of ,marner from a     
misanthropic aloofness from life1       
through the influence of ,eppie1 a      
child in need of love1 is led up to by  
two distinct series of events1  of which
 it forms the knot4 ,the one series1    
which concerns itself with  ,marner1 may
 be traced back to the unmerited wrong  
which he suffered in  his youth2 and the
 other series1 which concerns itself    
with ,eppie1 may  be traced back to the 

clandestine marriage of ,eppie's father1
 ,godfrey  ,cass4 ,the initial event of 
one series has no immediate logical     
relation to the initial event of the    
other2 but each series1 as it           
progresses1 approaches nearer and nearer
 to the other1 until they meet  and     
blend4    ,complication of the          
,network4--,a type of plot more         
elaborate than  this may be devised by  
leading up to the culmination along     
three or  more distinct lines of        
causation1 instead of merely two4 ,in   
the ,tale  of ,two ,cities1 ,sydney     
,carton's voluntary death upon the      
scaffold  stands at the apex of several 
series of events4 ,and a plot may be    
still further complicated by tying the  
strands together at other  points beside
 the culmination4 ,in ,the ,merchant of 
,venice1 the two  chief series of events
 are firmly knotted in the trial scene1 
when  ,shylock is circumvented by       
,portia2 but they are also tied         
together1  though less firmly1 at the   

very outset of the play1 when ,antonio  
borrows from ,shylock the money which   
makes it possible for ,bassanio to  woo 
and win the ,lady of ,belmont4          
,furthermore1 any event in one of the   
main strands of causation may stand at  
the culmination of a minor  strand1 and 
thus may form a little knot in the      
general network of the  plot4 ,in the   
same play1 the minor strand of the      
elopement of ,lorenzo  and ,jessica     
attains its culmination in a scene which
 stands only  midway along the progress 
of the two main strands1 that of the    
bond  and that of the caskets1 toward   
their common result in the defeat of    
,shylock4    ,the ,major ,knot4--,but   
however intricately woven a plot may be1
 and  however many minor knots may tie  
together the various strands which      
enter into it1 there is almost always   
one point of greatest  complication1 one
 big knot which ties together all the   
strands at  once1 and stands as the     
common culmination of all the series1   

major  and minor4 ,the story concerns   
itself chiefly with telling the reader  
how the major knot came to be tied2 but 
in a plot of any complexity1  the reader
 naturally desires to be told how the   
knot became untied  again4 ,therefore   
this point of greatest complication1    
this culmination  of all the strands of 
causation which are woven in the plot1  
this  objective point of the entire     
narrative1 is seldom set at the very end
  of a story1 but usually at a point    
about three quarters of the way  from   
the beginning to the end4 ,the first    
three quarters of the story1  speaking  
roughly1 exhibit the antecedent causes  
of the major knot2 and  the last quarter
 of the story exhibits its subsequent   
effects4 ,a plot1  therefore1 in its    
general aspects1 may be figured as a    
complication  followed by an            
explication1 a tying followed by an     
untying1 or 7to say  the same thing in  
,french words which are perhaps more    
connotative7 a  nouement followed by a  

dnouement4 ,the events in the dnouement 
bear a closer logical relation to each  
other than the events in the  nouement1 
because all of them have a common cause 
in the major knot1  whereas the major   
knot is the ultimate effect of several  
distinct  series of causes which were   
quite separate one from another at the  
time when the nouement was begun4 ,for  
this reason the dnouement  shows usually
 a more hurried movement than the       
nouement--one event  treading on        
another's heels4    ,beginning1 ,middle1
 and ,end4--,undoubtedly it was this    
threefold  aspect of a plot--#a4 ,the   
,complication2 #b4 ,the ,major ,knot2   
#c4 ,the  ,explication--which ,aristotle
 had in mind when he stated that every  
story must have a beginning1 a middle1  
and an end4 ,these words were  not      
intended to connote a quantitative      
equality4 ,what ,aristotle called  the  
middle may1 in a modern novel1 be stated
 in a single page1 and  is much more    
likely to stand near the close of the   

book than at the  centre4 ,but          
everything that comes after it1 in what 
,aristotle called  the end1 should be an
 effect of which it is the cause2 and   
everything that comes before it1 in what
 ,aristotle called the  beginning1      
should be1 directly or indirectly1 a    
cause of which it is  the effect4 ,only 
under these conditions will the plot be1
 as ,aristotle  said it should be1 an   
organic whole4 ,only in this way can it 
conform  to the principle of unity1     
which is the first principle of all     
artistic endeavor4    ,the              
,sub-,plot4--,bearing the principle of  
unity ever in his mind1  ,stevenson1 in 
a phrase omitted for the moment in one  
of the quotations  from ,a ,humble      
,remonstrance set forth at the beginning
 of this  chapter1 advised the          
fiction-writer to avoid a sub-plot1     
unless1 as  sometimes in ,shakespeare1  
the sub-plot be a reversion or          
complement of  the main intrigue4 ,it   
seems safe to state that a sub-plot is  

of use  in a novel only for the purpose 
of tying minor knots in the leading     
strands of causation1 and should be     
discarded unless it serves that         
purpose4 ,there is no reason1 however1  
why a novel should not tell at  once    
several stories of equal importance1    
provided that these stories  be deftly  
interlinked1 as in that masterpiece of  
plotting1 ,our ,mutual  ,friend4 ,in    
this novel1 the chief expedient which   
,dickens has employed  to bind his      
different stories together is to make   
the same person an  actor in more than  
one of them1 so that a particular event 
that  happens to him may be at the same 
time a factor in both one and the  other
 series of events4 ,through the skilful 
use of this expedient1  ,dickens has    
contrived to give his novel unity of    
plot1 in spite of the  diversity of its 
narrative elements4 ,but on the other   
hand1 in  ,middlemarch1 ,george ,eliot  
has told three stories instead of one4  
,she  has failed to make her plot an    

organic whole by deftly interweaving    
the three strands which she has spun4   
,and therefore this monumental  novel1  
so great in other ways1 is faulty in    
structure1 because it  violates the     
principle of unity4    ,discursive and  
,compacted ,narratives4--,according to  
the extent of  complication in the plot1
 novels may be grouped into two         
classes1--the  discursive and the       
compacted4 ,thackeray wrote novels of   
the former  type1 ,hawthorne of the     
latter4 ,in ,vanity ,fair there are over
 half a  hundred characters2 in ,the    
,scarlet ,letter there are three1 or    
possibly four4 ,the discursive novel    
gives a more extensive1 and the         
compacted novel a more intensive1 view  
of life4 ,english authors for  the most 
part have tended toward the discursive  
type1 and ,continental  authors toward  
the compacted4 ,the latter type demands 
a finer and a  firmer art1 the former a 
broader and more catholic outlook on the
  world4    ,telling ,much or ,little of

 a ,story4--,the distinction between the
 two  types depends chiefly upon how    
much or how little of his entire story  
the author chooses to tell4 ,in actual  
life1 as was stated in a former         
chapter1 there are no very ends2 and it 
may now be added that also  there are no
 absolute beginnings4 ,any event that   
happens is1 in  ,whitman's words1 an    
acme of things accomplished and an      
encloser of  things to be2 and in       
thinking back along its causes or       
forward along  its effects1 we may      
continue the series until our thought   
loses itself  in an eternity4 ,in any   
narrative1 therefore1 we are doomed to  
begin  and end in mid-career2 and the   
question is merely how extended a       
section of the entire imaginable and    
unimaginable series we shall  choose to 
represent to the reader4 ,for instance1 
it would be a very  simple matter to    
trace the composition of ,rossetti's    
,house of ,life  back along a causal    
series to the birth of a boy in ,arezzo 

in #acjd2  for it is hardly likely that 
,rossetti would have written a cycle of 
love sonnets if many other poets1 such  
as ,shakespeare and ,ronsard1 had  not  
done so before him2 and ,shakespeare and
 ,ronsard1 as ,sir ,sidney ,lee  has    
proved1 were literary legatees of       
,petrarch1 the aforesaid native  of     
,arezzo4 ,and yet1 if we were to tell   
the story of how ,rossetti's  sonnets   
came to be composed1 it is doubtful if  
we should go further  back in time than 
the occasion when his friend ,deverell  
introduced him  to the beautiful        
daughter of a ,sheffield cutler who     
became the  immediate inspiration of his
 poetry of love4    ,dickens1 in many   
novels1 of which ,david ,copperfield may
 be taken  as an example1 has chosen to 
tell the entire life-story of his hero  
from birth up to maturity4 ,but other   
novelists1 like ,george  ,meredith in   
,the ,egoist1 have chosen to represent  
events that  pass1 for the most part1 in
 one place1 and in an exceedingly short 

stretch of time4 ,it is by no means     
certain that ,meredith does not know  as
 much about the boyhood and youth of    
,sir ,willoughby ,patterne as  ,dickens 
knew about the early years of ,david    
,copperfield2 but he has  chosen to     
compact his novel by presenting only a  
brief series of  events which exhibit   
his hero at maturity4 ,surely           
,turgnieff1 after  writing out that     
dossier of each of his characters to    
which ,henry  ,james referred1 must have
 known a great many events in their     
lives  which he chose to omit from his  
finished novel4 ,it is interesting to   
imagine the sort of plot that ,george   
,eliot would have built out of  the     
materials of ,the ,scarlet ,letter4     
,probably she would have begun  the     
narrative in ,england at the time when  
,hester was a young girl4  ,she would   
have set forth the meeting of ,hester   
and ,chillingworth  and would have      
analyzed the causes culminating in their
 marriage4  ,then she would have taken  

the couple overseas to the colony of    
,massachusetts4 ,here ,hester would have
 met ,arthur ,dimmesdale2 and  ,george  
,eliot would have expended all her      
powers as an analyst of  life in tracing
 the sweet thoughts and imperious       
desires that led the  lovers to the     
dolorous pass4 ,the fall of ,hester     
would have been the  major knot in      
,george ,eliot's entire narrative4 ,it  
would have stood at  the culmination of 
the nouement of her plot3 the subsequent
  events would have been merely steps in
 the dnouement4 ,yet the  fall of       
,hester was already a thing of the past 
at the outset of  the story that        
,hawthorne chose to represent4 ,he was  
interested only in  the after-effects of
 ,hester's sin upon herself and her     
lover and  her husband4 ,the major knot1
 or culmination1 of his plot was        
therefore  the revelation of the scarlet
 letter1--a scene which would have been 
only an incident in ,george ,eliot's    
dnouement4 ,it will be seen from  this  

that any story which is extended in its 
implications may offer a  novelist      
materials for any one of several        
plot-structures1 according  to whichever
 section of the entire story happens    
most to interest his  mind4    ,it will 
be seen1 also1 that much of the entire  
story must1 in any  case1 remain        
unwritten4 ,a plot is not only1 as      
,stevenson stated1 a  simplification of 
life2 it is also a further              
simplification of the  train of events  
which1 in simplifying life1 the novelist
 has first  imagined4 ,the entire story1
 with all its implications1 is selected 
from life2 and the plot is then selected
 from the entire story4 ,often  a       
novelist may suggest as much through    
deliberately omitting from his  plot    
certain events in his imagined story as 
he could suggest by  representing them4 
,perhaps the most powerful character in 
,george  ,meredith's ,evan ,harrington  
is the great ,mel1 whose death is       
announced in the very first sentence of 

the novel4 ,hawthorne1 in ,the  ,marble 
,faun1 never clears away the mystery of 
,miriam's shadowy  pursuer1 nor tells us
 what became of ,hilda when she         
disappeared for a  time from the sight  
and knowledge of her friends4    ,where 
to ,begin a ,story4--,after the novelist
 has selected from his  entire story the
 materials he means to represent1 and   
has patterned  these materials into a   
plot1 he enjoys considerable liberty in 
regard  to the point at which he may    
commence his narrative4 ,he may begin at
  the beginning of one or another of his
 main strands of causation1 as  ,scott  
usually does2 or he may adopt the       
,homeric device1 commended by  ,horace1 
of plunging into the midst of his plot  
and working his way  back only afterward
 to its beginning4 ,in the first chapter
 of  ,pendennis1 the hero is seventeen  
years old2 the second chapter  narrates 
the marriage of his father and mother1  
and his own birth and  boyhood2 and at  
the outset of the third chapter he is   

only sixteen  years of age4    ,logical 
,sequence and ,chronological            
,succession4--,it is obvious that1  so  
long as the novelist represents his     
events in logical sequence1 it  is not  
at all necessary that he should present 
them in chronological  succession4      
,stories may be told backward through   
time as well as  forward4 ,thackeray    
often begins a chapter with an event    
that happened  one day1 and ends it with
 an event that happened several days    
before2  he works his way backward from 
effects to causes1 instead of forward   
from causes to effects4 ,in carrying on 
a plot which is woven out of  several   
strands1 it is hardly ever possible to  
represent events in  uninterrupted      
chronological succession1 even when the 
author  consistently works forward from 
causes to effects2 for after he has     
pursued one strand of his plot to a     
certain point in time1 he is  obliged to
 turn backward several days or weeks1 or
 possibly a longer  period1 to pick up  

another strand and carry it forward to  
the same  point in time at which he left
 the first4 ,retrogression in time1     
therefore1 is frequently not only       
permissible but necessary4 ,but it is   
only common-sensible to state that      
chronological sequence should be        
sacrificed merely for the sake of making
 clear the logical relation of  events2 
and whenever juggling with chronology   
tends to obscure instead  of clarify    
that logical relation1 it is evidence of
 an error of  judgment on the part of   
the narrator4 ,turgnieff is often guilty
 of  this error of judgment4 ,he has a  
disconcerting habit of bringing a new   
character into the scene which stands   
for the moment before the eye of  the   
reader1 and then turning the narrative  
backward several years in  order to     
recount the past life of the newcomer4  
,frequently1 before  this parenthetic   
recital is completed1 the reader has    
forgotten the  scene from which the     
author turned to the digression4        

,tying and ,untying4--,in most plots1 as
 has been stated1 the  nouement is more 
significant than the dnouement1 and the 
causes  leading to the tying of the     
major knot are more interesting than the
  effects traced during the process of  
untying it4 ,this is the reason  why the
 culmination is usually set well along  
toward the conclusion of  the story4    
,sometimes even1 when the major knot has
 been tied with a  ,gordian intricacy1  
the author sets it at the very end of   
his  narrative1 and suddenly cuts it    
instead of carefully untying it4 ,but   
there is no absolutely necessary reason 
why it should stand at the  end1 or1 as 
is more frequently the case1 at a point 
about three  quarters through the story4
 ,it may even be set at the very        
beginning2  and the narrative may       
concern itself entirely with an         
elaborate  dnouement4 ,this is the case1
 for example1 in the detective story1   
where a very intricate knot is assumed  
at the outset1 and the  narrative       

proceeds to exhibit the prowess of the  
detective-hero in  untying it4          
,transition to the ,next ,chapter4--,a  
well-constructed plot1 like any  other  
sort of well-articulated pattern1 is    
interesting in itself2 and  certain     
novels and short-stories1 like ,wilkie  
,collins' ,moonstone and  ,poe's        
,murders in the ,rue ,morgue1 maintain  
their interest almost  through the      
element of plot alone4 ,but since the   
purpose of fiction is  to represent     
reality1 a story will fail of the       
highest effect unless  the people acting
 in its pattern of events produce upon  
the reader the  illusion of living human
 beings4 ,we must therefore turn our    
attention  next to a study of the       
element of character4      ,,review     
,,questions    #a4 ,how may unity be    
best attained in narrative8    #b4      
,distinguish between the analytic and   
synthetic methods of    construction4   
#c4 ,distinguish between positive and   
negative events4    #d4 ,explain the    

pattern of picaresque romance4    #e4   
,what are the essential phases of a     
plot8    #f4 ,explain the meaning of    
nouement and dnouement4    #g4 ,must a  
story always follow the order of        
chronology8    #h4 ,at what point in the
 exposition of a plot is the major knot 
most    usually found8 ,what is the     
logical reason for this usual position8 
,,suggested ,,reading    ,,robert       
,,louis ,,stevenson3 ,a ,humble         
,remonstrance4    ,,bliss ,,perry3 ,a   
,study of ,prose ,fiction--,chapter     
,,vi1 on ,the ,plot4    ,o4 ,,henry3    
,roads of ,destiny4--,the plotting of   
this story illustrates  in practice most
 of the important points expounded in   
this chapter4          ,,chapter ,v     
,,characters      ,characters ,should   
,be ,worth ,knowing--,the ,personal     
,equation of the    ,audience--,the     
,universal ,appeal of ,great ,fictitious
 ,characters--,typical                  
,traits--,individual ,traits--,the      
,defect of ,allegory--,the ,defect of   

,caricature--,static and ,kinetic       
,characters--,direct and ,indirect      
,delineation--,subdivisions of ,both    
,methods--,i4 ,direct ,delineation3 #a4 
,by ,exposition2 #b4 ,by ,description2  
,gradual ,portrayal2 #c4 ,by            
,psychological ,analysis2 #d4 ,by       
,reports from other ,characters--,,ii4  
,indirect ,delineation3 #a4 ,by ,speech2
 #b4 ,by ,action2 #c4 ,by ,effect on    
other ,characters2 #d4 ,by ,environment4
      ,characters ,should ,be ,worth    
,knowing4--,before we proceed to study  
the  technical methods of delineating   
characters1 we must ask ourselves  what 
constitutes a character worth           
delineating4 ,a novelist is1 to  speak  
figuratively1 the social sponsor for his
 own fictitious  characters2 and he is  
guilty of a social indiscretion1 as it  
were1 if  he asks his readers to meet   
fictitious people whom it is neither of 
value nor of interest to know4 ,since he
 aims to make his readers  intimate with
 his characters1 he must first of all be

 careful that his  characters are worth 
knowing intimately4 ,most of us1 in     
actual life1  are accustomed to         
distinguish people who are worth our    
while from  people who are not2 and     
those of us who live advisedly are      
accustomed  to shield ourselves from    
people who cannot1 by the mere fact of  
what  they are1 repay us for the        
expenditure of time and energy we should
  have to make to get to know them4 ,and
 whenever a friend of ours asks  us     
deliberately to meet another friend of  
his1 we take it for granted  that our   
friend has reasons for believing that   
the acquaintanceship  will be of benefit
 or of interest to both4 ,now the       
novelist stands in  the position of a   
friend who asks us to meet certain      
people whom he  knows2 and he runs the  
risk of our losing faith in his judgment
 unless  we find his people worth our   
while4 ,by the mere fact that we bother 
to  read a novel1 thus expending time   
which might otherwise be passed in      

company with actual people1 we are going
 out of our way to meet the  characters 
to whom the novelist wishes to introduce
 us4 ,he therefore  owes us an assurance
 that they shall be even more worth our 
while than  the average actual person4  
,this is not to say that they should    
necessarily be better2 they may1 of     
course1 be worse3 but they should  be   
more clearly significant of certain     
interesting elements of human  nature1  
more thoroughly representative of       
certain phases of human life  which it  
is well for us to learn and know4       
,the ,personal ,equation of the         
,audience4--,in deciding on the sort of 
characters that will be worth his       
readers' while1 the novelist must  of   
course be influenced by the nature of   
the audience he is writing  for4 ,the   
characters of ,little ,women may be     
worth the while of  children2 and it is 
not an adverse criticism of ,louisa ,m4 
,alcott to  say that they are not worth 
the while of mature men and women4      

,similarly1 it is not an adverse        
criticism of certain ,continental       
novelists to say that their characters  
are decidedly unfit companions  for     
adolescent girls4 ,our judgment of the  
characters in a novel  should be        
conditioned always by our sense of the  
sort of readers to  whom the novel is   
addressed4 ,henry ,james1 in his later  
years1 wrote  usually for the           
super-civilized2 and his characters     
should be judged  by different standards
 than the pirates of ,treasure          
,island1--a story  which was written for
 boys1 both young and old4 ,one reader  
may be  bored by pirates1 another by    
super-subtle cosmopolitans2 and each    
reader has the privilege of avoiding the
 society of the characters  that weary  
him4    ,the ,universal ,appeal of      
,great ,fictitious ,characters4--,but   
the very  greatest characters of fiction
 are worth everybody's while2 and surely
  the masters need have felt no         
hesitancy in asking any one to meet     

,sancho ,panza1 ,robinson ,crusoe1      
,henry ,esmond1 ,jean ,valjean1 or      
,terence  ,mulvaney4 ,in fact1 the most 
amazing thing about a great fictitious  
figure is the multitude of very         
different people that the character is  
capable of interesting4 ,many times we  
willingly absent ourselves from  actual 
society to pass an evening in the       
company of a fictitious  personage of a 
class with which we never associate in  
actual life4  ,perhaps in the actual    
world we would never bother to converse 
with  illiterate provincial people2 and 
yet we may not feel it a waste of  time 
and energy to meet them in the pages of 
,middlemarch4 ,for my own  part1 ,i have
 always1 in actual life1 avoided meeting
 the sort of  people that appear in     
,thackeray's ,vanity ,fair2 and yet ,i  
find it not  only interesting but       
profitable to associate with them       
through the  entire extent of a rather  
lengthy novel4 ,why is it that a reader1
 who1  although he has crossed the ocean

 many times1 has never cared to enter   
the engine-room of a liner1 is yet      
willing enough to meet on intimate      
terms ,mr4 ,kipling's engineer1 ,mac    
,andrew8 ,and why is it that ladies     
who1 in actual society1 are fastidious  
of their acquaintanceship1  should yet  
associate throughout a novel with the   
,sapho of ,daudet8 ,what  is the reason 
why these fictitious characters should  
seem1 for nearly  every reader1 more    
worth while than the very same sort of  
people in  actual life8    ,typical     
,traits4--,the reason is that great     
fictitious characters are  typical of   
their class1 to an extent rarely to be  
noticed in any  actual member of the    
class they typify4 ,they contain        
multitudes1 to  borrow ,whitman's       
phrase4 ,all idealistic visionaries are 
typified in  ,don ,quixote1 all misers  
in ,harpagon1 all hypocrites in         
,tartufe1 all  egoists in ,sir          
,willoughby ,patterne1 all clever1      
tricksy women in ,becky  ,sharp1 all    

sentimentalists in ,barrie's ,tommy4    
,but the average actual  man is not of  
sufficient magnitude to contain a       
multitude of others2  he is             
comparatively lacking in typical traits2
 he is not1 to such a  great extent1    
illustrative of life1 because only in a 
small measure is  he representative of  
his class4 ,there are1 of course1 in    
actual life1  certain people of unusual 
magnitude who justify ,emerson's title  
of  ,representative ,men4 ,benjamin     
,franklin1 for example1 is such a man4  
,he is the only actual person entirely  
typical of eighteenth-century  ,america2
 and that is the main reason why1 as an 
exhibition of  character1 his           
autobiography is just as profitable a   
book as the  master-works of fiction4   
,but men so representative are rare in  
actual  life2 and the chief business of 
fiction is therefore to supply them4    
,individual ,traits4--,it is mainly by  
supplying this need for  representative 
men and women that the novelist can make

 his characters  worth the while of     
every reader4 ,but after he has made    
them  quintessential of a class1 he must
 be careful also to individualize  them4
 ,unless he endows them with certain    
personal traits that  distinguish them  
from all other representatives or       
members of their  class1 whether actual 
or fictitious1 he will fail to invest   
them with  the illusion of reality4     
,every great character of fiction must  
exhibit1 therefore1 an intimate         
combination of typical and individual   
traits4 ,it is through being typical    
that the character is true2 it is       
through being individual that the       
character is convincing4    ,the ,defect
 of ,allegory4--,the reason why most    
allegorical figures  are ineffective is 
that1 although they are typical1 they   
are not at  the same time individual4   
,they are abstractly representative of a
  class2 but they are not concretely    
distinguishable from other              
representatives or members of the class4

 ,we know them1 therefore1  not as      
persons but merely as ideas4 ,we feel   
very little human  interest nowadays in 
reading over the old morality plays1    
whose  characters are merely allegorical
 abstractions4 ,but in criticising  them
 we must remember that they were        
designed not so much to be read  as to  
be performed upon the stage2 and that   
the actors who represented  their       
abstract and merely typical characters  
must necessarily have  endowed them with
 concreteness and with individuality4   
,though a  character in one of these    
allegorical plays might be called       
,everyman1 it was one particular man who
 walked and talked upon the  boards2 and
 he evoked sympathy not so much for the 
type as for the  individual4 ,but       
allegory written to be read is less     
likely to  produce the illusion of      
reality2 and it is only when allegorical
  characters are virtually conceived as 
individuals1 instead of mere            
abstractions1 that they touch the heart4

 ,christian1 in ,bunyan's  ,pilgrim's   
,progress1 is so conceived4 ,he is      
entirely representative  of             
seventeenth-century ,christianity2 in a 
sense he is all men of  ,bunyan's time  
and ,bunyan's religion2 but he is also  
one man and one  only1 and we could     
never in our thought confuse him with   
any other  character in or out of       
fiction4    ,the ,defect of             
,caricature4--,but just as a character  
may be  ineffective through being merely
 typical1 so also a character may be    
unsignificant through being merely      
individual4 ,the minor figures in  ,ben 
,jonson's ,comedies of ,humours are mere
 personifications of  exaggerated       
individual traits4 ,they are caricatures
 rather than  characters4 ,dickens      
frequently commits the error of         
exhibiting  figures devoid of           
representative traits4 ,tommy ,traddles 
is sharply  individualized by the fact  
that his hair is always standing on end2
  but he exhibits no essential truth of 

human nature4 ,barkis1 who is  always   
willin'1 and ,micawber1 who is always   
waiting for something to  turn up1 are  
emphatically distinguished from         
everybody else in or out  of fiction2   
but they lack the large reality of      
representative  characters4 ,they are   
individualities instead of individuals4 
,they  do not exhibit an agglomeration  
of many different but consistent  traits
 rendered unified and single by a       
dominant and informing  characteristic1 
such as ambition in ,macbeth1 senility  
in ,lear1 or  irresoluteness in ,hamlet4
 ,a great fictitious character must be  
at  once generic and specific2 it must  
give concrete expression to an  abstract
 idea2 it must be an individualized     
representation of the  typical qualities
 of a class4 ,it is only figures of this
 sort that  are finally worth while in  
fiction1--more worth the reader's while 
than the average actual man4    ,static 
and ,kinetic ,characters4--,but there is
 yet another reason why  it is often    

more valuable for the reader to meet    
fictitious characters  than to meet     
people of the same class in actual life2
 and this reason  is that during the day
 or two it takes to read a novel he may 
review  the most significant events of  
many years1 and thus get to know a      
fictitious character more completely in 
a brief space of time than he  could get
 to know him1 if the character were     
actual1 in several years  of continuous 
acquaintanceship4 ,we meet two sorts of 
characters in the  pages of the         
novelists1--characters which may be     
called static1 and  characters which may
 be called kinetic4 ,the first remain   
unchanged  throughout the course of the 
story3 the second grow up or down1 as   
the  case may be1 through the influence 
of circumstances1 of their own  wills1  
or of the wills of other people4 ,the   
recurrent characters of  ,mr4 ,kipling's
 early tales1 such as ,mrs4 ,hauksbee1  
,strickland1  ,mulvaney1 ,ortheris1 and 
,learoyd1 are static figures4 ,although 

they do  different things in different  
stories1 their characters remain always 
the same4 ,but ,don ,quixote and ,sancho
 ,panza are kinetic figures2 they  grow 
and change throughout the novel2 they   
are1 each in his own way1  bigger and   
wiser people when we leave them than    
they were when first  we met them4 ,to  
show a character developing under stress
 or ripening  easily beneath beneficent 
influences is one of the greatest       
possibilities of fiction4 ,and to       
exhibit the gradual disintegration of  a
 character1 as ,george ,eliot does in   
the case of ,tito ,melema1 is to  teach 
us more of the tragedy of life than we  
might learn in many years  of actual    
experience4    ,direct and ,indirect    
,delineation4--,only after the process  
of creation  is completed1 and a        
character stands living in the mind of  
the  novelist1 need he consider the     
various technical expedients which may  
be employed to make the reader conscious
 of the character as a  personal        

presence4 ,these technical expedients   
are many2 but they may  all be grouped  
as phases of one or the other of two    
contrasted methods  of delineating      
character1 which may be called1 for     
convenience1 direct  and indirect4      
,according to the first method1 traits  
of character are  conveyed directly to  
the reader through some sort of         
statement by the  writer of the story3  
according to the second method1         
characteristics  are conveyed indirectly
 to the reader through a necessary      
inference1  on his part1 from the       
narrative itself4 ,in employing the     
first1 or  direct1 method1 the author   
7either in his own person or in that of 
some character which he assumes7 stands 
between the reader and the  character he
 is portraying1 in the attitude1 more or
 less frankly  confessed1 of showman or 
expositor4 ,in employing the second1 or 
indirect1 method1 the author seeks to   
obliterate himself as much as  possible 
from the reader's consciousness2 and    

having brought the  reader face to face 
with the character he desires to        
portray1 leaves  the reader to make his 
own acquaintance with the character4    
,the  indirect method is of course more 
difficult1 and1 when successfully       
employed1 is more artistic1 than the    
direct method4 ,but seldom is  either   
used to the exclusion of the other2 and 
it would be possible to  illustrate by  
successive quotations from any          
first-rate novel1 like  ,the ,egoist for
 example1 how the same characteristics  
are portrayed  first by the one and then
 by the other method4    ,subdivisions  
of ,both ,methods4--,each of the two    
methods shows itself  in many different 
phases4 ,there are several distinct ways
 of  delineating character directly1 and
 also several distinct means of         
indirect delineation4 ,it is perhaps    
serviceable for the purposes of  study  
to distinguish them somewhat sharply one
 from another2 but it  must always be   
remembered that the masters of fiction  

usually employ a  commingling of them   
all1 without conscious awareness of any 
critical  distinction between them4     
,bearing this ever in mind1 let us      
venture on  a critical examination of   
some of the most frequently recurrent   
phases1 first1 of the direct1 and       
secondly1 of the indirect1 method4      
,i4 ,direct ,delineation3 #a4 ,by       
,exposition4--,the most obvious1 and at 
the same time the most elementary1 means
 of direct portrayal is by a  deliberate
 expository statement of the leading    
traits of the character  to be          
portrayed4 ,thus1 at the outset of ,the 
,vicar of ,wakefield1 the  author1      
writing in the person of the ,vicar1    
thus expounds the traits  of ,mrs4      
,primrose3--    ,i was ever of opinion1 
that the honest man who married and     
brought up  a large family1 did more    
service than he who continued single1   
and  only talked of population4 ,from   
this motive1 ,i had scarce taken orders 
a year before ,i began to think         

seriously of matrimony1 and chose my    
wife as she did her wedding-gown1 not   
for a fine glossy surface1 but  such    
qualities as would wear well4 ,to do her
 justice1 she was a  good-natured       
notable woman2 and as for breeding1     
there were few  country ladies who could
 show more4 ,she could read any ,english
 book  without much spelling2 but for   
pickling1 preserving1 and cookery1 none 
could excel her4 ,she prided herself    
also upon being an excellent  contriver 
in housekeeping2 though ,i could never  
find that we grew  richer with all her  
contrivances4    ,this elementary means 
of portrayal has the obvious advantage  
of  succinctness4 ,the reader is told at
 once1 and with a fair measure of       
completeness1 what he is to think about 
the character in question4 ,for  this   
reason the expedient is highly          
serviceable at the outset of a  story4  
,so excellent an artist as ,stevenson1  
in the ,new ,arabian  ,nights1 began    
each tale in the collection with a      

paragraph in which  he expounded the    
main traits of the leading character4   
,but the  expedient has also several    
disadvantages4 ,in the first place1     
being  expository1 it is not narrative  
in mood2 it savors of the essay rather  
than the story2 and if it be used not at
 the outset but during the  course of a 
narrative1 it halts the progress of the 
action4 ,in the  second place1 it is    
abstract rather than concrete2 it does  
not bring  the reader into the presence 
of a character1 but merely into the     
presence of an explanation2 and it      
leaves the reader in an attitude        
exactly like that which he holds toward 
certain actual people1  concerning whom 
he has been told a great deal by their  
friends1 but  whom he has never met     
himself4 ,the whole first chapter of    
,the ,vicar  of ,wakefield is a series  
of little essays on the various members 
of  the ,primrose family4 ,nothing      
happens in the chapter2 the characters  
never step bodily into view2 and we feel

 at the end that we have heard  a great 
deal of talk about people whom we should
 like to meet but whom  as yet we have  
not seen4    #b4 ,by ,description4--,it 
is therefore in certain ways more       
satisfactory to portray character       
directly through a descriptive1  rather 
than an expository1 statement4 ,thus1 in
 the second chapter of  ,martin         
,chuzzlewit1 we are told of ,mr4        
,pecksniff3--    ,his very throat was   
moral4 ,you saw a good deal of it4 ,you 
looked over  a very low fence of white  
cravat 7whereof no man had ever beheld  
the  tie1 for he fastened it behind71   
and there it lay1 a valley between  two 
jutting heights of collar1 serene and   
whiskerless before you4 ,it  seemed to  
say1 on the part of ,mr4 ,pecksniff1    
',there is no deception1  ladies and    
gentlemen1 all is peace1 a holy calm    
pervades me4' ,so did  his hair1 just   
grizzled with an iron-gray1 which was   
all brushed off  his forehead1 and stood
 bolt upright1 or slightly drooped in   

kindred  action with his heavy eyelids4 
,so did his person1 which was sleek     
though free from corpulency4 ,so did his
 manner1 which was soft and  oily4 ,in a
 word1 even his plain black suit1 and   
state of widower1 and  dangling double  
eye-glass1 all tended to the same       
purpose1 and cried  aloud1 ',behold the 
moral ,pecksniff6'    ,this statement1  
being in the main concretely descriptive
 rather than  abstractly expository1    
brings us face to face with the         
character at  the same time that it     
tells us what to think of him4 ,and     
whereas we  feel that we have merely    
heard about ,mrs4 ,primrose1 we feel    
that we  have really seen ,mr4          
,pecksniff4    ,gradual ,portrayal4--,it
 was the custom of ,sir ,walter ,scott1 
at the  introduction of a character1 to 
furnish the reader with an elaborate    
set portrayal1 partly expository and    
partly descriptive1 of the traits  and  
features of the character2 and to allow 
this initial direct  statement to do    

duty through the remainder of the novel4
 ,the trouble  with this off-hand       
expedient is that the reader inevitably 
forgets the  set statement of the author
 before the narrative has very far      
progressed4 ,it is therefore more       
effective to make a direct portrayal  of
 character1 whether expository or       
descriptive1 little by little  rather   
than all in a lump2 and to present at   
any one time to the  reader only such   
traits or features as he needs to be    
reminded of in  order to appreciate the 
scene before him4 ,thus1 in ,mr4        
,kipling's  masterpiece1 called ,they1  
we catch this initial glimpse of ,miss  
,florence3--    ,the garden door--heavy 
oak sunk deep in the thickness of the   
wall--opened further3 a woman in a big  
garden hat set her foot slowly  on the  
time-hollowed stone step and as slowly  
walked across the turf4  ,i was forming 
some apology when she lifted up her head
 and ,i saw that  she was blind4    ',i 
heard you1' she said4 ',isn't that a    

motor car8'    ,and it is only after    
five pages of narrative that the writer 
deems it  the proper time to add3--     
,she stood looking at me with open blue 
eyes in which no sight lay1  and ,i saw 
for the first time that she was         
beautiful4    #c4 ,by ,psychological    
,analysis4--,the point that a direct    
statement of  characteristics should    
preferably be delivered to the reader   
little by  little rather than all in a  
lump is particularly patent when the    
statement is not external and objective 
like those already quoted1 but  internal
 and subjective4 ,in a certain type of  
fiction1 which is  commonly called the  
psychological novel1 the usual expedient
 for  delineating character is a        
statement partly narrative and partly   
expository of what is taking place      
within the mind of the fictitious       
person1 based upon an analysis of his   
thoughts and his emotions1 at  important
 moments of the story4 ,this expedient  
of portraying character  by mental      

analysis is ,george ,eliot's favorite   
technical device4 ,here  is a typical   
passage1 from ,the ,mill on the ,floss1 
,chapter ,v3--    ,maggie soon thought  
she had been hours in the attic1 and it 
must be  tea-time1 and they were all    
having their tea1 and not thinking of   
her4  ,well1 then1 she would stay up    
there and starve herself--hide herself  
behind the tub1 and stay there all      
night2 and then they would all be       
frightened1 and ,tom would be sorry4    
,thus ,maggie thought in the pride  of  
her heart1 as she crept behind the tub2 
but presently she began to  cry again at
 the idea that they didn't mind her     
being there4 ,if she  went down again to
 ,tom now--would he forgive             
her8--perhaps her father  would be      
there1 and he would take her part4 ,but 
then she wanted ,tom to  forgive her    
because he loved her1 not because his   
father told him4 ,no1  she would never  
go down if ,tom didn't come to fetch    
her4 ,this  resolution lasted in great  

intensity for five dark minutes behind  
the  tub2 but then the need of being    
loved1 the strongest need in poor       
,maggie's nature1 began to wrestle with 
her pride1 and soon threw it4  ,she     
crept from behind her tub into the      
twilight of the long attic1 but  just   
then she heard a quick footstep on the  
stairs4    ,tom had been too much       
interested in his talk with ,luke1 in   
going the  round of the premises1       
walking in and out where he pleased1 and
  whittling sticks without any          
particular reason1 except that he didn't
  whittle sticks at school1 to think of 
,maggie1 and the effect his anger  had  
produced on her4 ,he meant to punish    
her1 and that business having  been     
performed1 he occupied himself with     
other matters1 like a  practical        
person4--    ,and so on4 ,it is only    
after four hundred words more of this   
sort of  analysis that the author tells 
us3 ,it was ,tom's step1 then1 that     
,maggie heard on the stairs4 ,this is   

,george ,eliot's way of portraying  the 
characters of two children who have     
quarreled4    ,much is to be said in    
favor of this expedient of depicting    
character  by analysis4 ,it is the only 
means by which the reader may be        
informed  directly of those thoughts and
 emotions of a character which are the  
mainsprings of his acts4 ,and since we  
cannot feel that we know a  person      
intimately unless we understand the     
workings of his mind at  characteristic 
moments1 we derive a great advantage    
from this  immediate presentation of his
 mental processes4 ,on the other hand1  
the  use of the expedient destroys the  
very desirable illusion that the  reader
 is an observer actually looking at the 
action1 since the  details depicted do  
not happen to the eye but rather to the 
analytic  understanding4 ,the expedient 
has the disadvantages of being          
exceedingly abstract1 and of halting    
happenings while the author tells  us   
why they happened4 ,it is certainly     

unfortunate1 for instance1 that  it     
should take ,tom a whole long page to   
get to ,maggie after she has  heard his 
quick footstep on the stairs4           
,furthermore1 this  expedient tends to  
destroy the illusion of reality by      
forcing the  reader into a mental       
attitude which he seldom assumes in     
looking on at  actual life4 ,during     
actual occurrences people almost never  
pause to  analyze each other and seldom 
even analyze themselves4 ,they act1 and 
watch other people act1 without a       
microscopic insight into motives4  ,and 
surely the purpose of narrative should  
be to represent events as  they seem to 
occur in actuality1 rather than to      
present a dissertation  on their causes 
in the manner of an essay4    ,an       
important point1 however1 remains to be 
considered4 ,events are of  two kinds1  
external and internal2 things happen    
subjectively as well  as objectively3   
and in representing the sort of         
occurrence which takes  place only      

inside a person's mind1 the expedient of
 analysis is by far  the most           
serviceable means of making clear the   
elements of character  that contribute  
to it4 ,but if the same expedient be    
employed  habitually in the depiction of
 external events as well1 it is likely  
to give the impression of unwarrantable 
vivisection4 ,there is a  certain       
falsity of mood in giving an objective  
event a subjective  rendering4    #d4   
,by ,reports from ,other                
,characters4--,when1 therefore1 it is   
desired  to depict a character by direct
 comment on his actions or his          
personality1 there is a great advantage 
in allowing the comment to be  made by  
one of the other characters in the      
story1 instead of by the  author himself
 in an attitude of assumed omniscience4 
,jane ,austen  deftly exhibits this     
subtler phase of the expedient in many  
admirable  passages4 ,for instance1 in  
,chapter ,,xxxiii of ,emma1 ,mrs4 ,elton
 thus  chatters to ,emma ,woodhouse3--  

',jane ,fairfax is absolutely charming1 
,miss ,woodhouse4 ,i quite rave  about  
,jane ,fairfax--a sweet1 interesting    
creature4 ,so mild and  lady-like--and  
with such talents6 ,i assure you ,i     
think she has very  extraordinary       
talents4 ,i do not scruple to say that  
she plays  extremely well4 ,i know      
enough of music to speak decidedly on   
that  point4 ,oh6 she is absolutely     
charming6 ,you will laugh at my         
warmth--but upon my word1 ,i talk of    
nothing but ,jane ,fairfax4'    ,in     
,chapter ,,xxi the same character has   
been thus commented on by ,emma         
,woodhouse and ,mr4 ,knightley4 ,emma   
speaks first3--    ',miss ,fairfax is   
reserved4'    ',i always told you she   
was--a little2 but you will soon        
overcome all  that part of her reserve  
which ought to be overcome1 all that has
 its  foundation in diffidence4 ,what   
arises from discretion must be          
honored4'    ',you think her diffident4 
,i do not see it4'    ,these passages   

not only serve to portray1 more or less 
directly1 the  personality of ,jane     
,fairfax1 but serve also at the same    
time to  portray indirectly the         
personalities of the people who are     
talking  about her4 ,mrs4 ,elton1 in    
particular1 is very clearly exhibited4  
,and  this point leads us to an         
examination of one of the most effective
  means of indirect delineation4        
,,ii4 ,indirect ,delineation3 #a4 ,by   
,speech4--,if the mere speech of a      
fictitious figure be reported with      
sufficient fidelity to truth1 it is     
possible to convey through this         
expedient alone a very vivid sense of   
character4 ,consider the following bits 
of talk3--    ',you're not a gun-sharp8 
,i am sorry4 ,i could have surprised    
you4  ,apart from my gun1 my tale don't 
amount to much of anything4 ,i thank    
you1 but ,i don't use any tobacco you'd 
be likely to carry4444 ,bull  ,durham8  
,bull ,durham6 ,i take it all           
back--every last word4 ,bull            

,durham--here6 ,if ever you strike      
,akron1 ,ohio1 when this fool-war's     
over1 remember you've ,laughton ,o4     
,zigler in your vest pocket4  ,including
 the city of ,akron4 ,we've a little    
club there4444 ,hell6  ,what's the sense
 of talking ,akron with no pants8'      
',did ,i talk8 ,i despise               
exaggeration--tain't ,american or       
scientific--but  as true as ,i'm sitting
 here like a blue-ended baboon in a     
kloof1 ,teddy  ,roosevelt's ,western    
tour was a maiden's sigh compared to my 
advertising work4'    ',but the general 
was the peach4 ,i presume you're        
acquainted with the  average run of     
,british generals1 but this was my      
first4 ,i sat on his  left hand1 and he 
talked like--like the ,ladies' ,home    
,journal4 ,j'ever  read that paper8     
,it's refined1 ,sir--and innocuous1 and 
full of  nickel-plated sentiments       
guaranteed to improve the mind4 ,he was 
it4 ,he  began by a ,lydia ,pinkham     
heart-to-heart talk about my health1 and

  hoped the boys had done me well1 and  
that ,i was enjoying my stay in  their  
midst4'    ,these passages are taken    
from ,mr4 ,kipling's story called ,the  
,captive4 ,the action is laid during the
 ,south-,african war4 ,is it  necessary 
to add that the speaker is an ,american 
gun-inventor who has  fought upon the   
,boer side and has been captured by the 
,british8    ,one point must be         
considered carefully4 ,the art of these 
passages lies  mainly in the fact that  
we learn more about ,zigler indirectly1 
from  his manner of talking1 than       
directly1 from the things which he tells
  us of himself4 ,his statement that he 
comes from ,akron1 ,ohio1 is less       
suggestive than his fondness for ,bull  
,durham4 ,any direct statement  made by 
a character concerning himself is of no 
more artistic value  than if it were    
made about him by the author1 unless his
 manner of  making it gives at the same 
time an indirect evidence of his nature4
    ,the subtlest phase of indirect     

delineation through speech is a         
conveyance to the reader1 through a     
character's remarks about himself1  of a
 sense of him different from that which 
his statement literally  expresses4 ,sir
 ,willoughby ,patterne1 in ,the ,egoist1
 talks about  himself frequently and in 
detail2 but the reader soon learns from 
the  tone and manner of his utterance to
 discount the high esteem in which  he  
holds himself4 ,by saying one thing     
directly1 the egoist conveys  another   
and a different thing indirectly to the 
reader4    #b4 ,by ,action4--,but in    
fiction1 as in life1 actions speak      
louder than  words3 and the most        
convincing way of delineating character 
indirectly  is by exhibiting a person in
 the performance of a characteristic    
action4 ,if the action be visualized    
with sufficient clearness and if  its   
dominant details be presented to the    
reader with adequate  emphasis1 a more  
vivid impression of character will be   
conveyed than  through any sort of      

direct statement by the author4 ,as an  
instance of  characterization through   
action only1 without comment or direct  
portrayal1 let us consider the following
 passage from the duel scene  of ,the   
,master of ,ballantrae4 ,two brothers1  
,mr4 ,henry and the ,master1  hate each 
other2 they fall to altercation over a  
game of cards2 and  the scene is        
narrated by ,mackellar1 a servant of    
,mr4 ,henry's3--    ,mr4 ,henry laid    
down his cards4 ,he rose to his feet    
very softly1 and  seemed all the while  
like a person in deep thought4 ',you    
coward6' he  said gently1 as if to      
himself4 ,and then1 with neither hurry  
nor any  particular violence1 he struck 
the ,master in the mouth4    ,the       
,master sprang to his feet like one     
transfigured2 ,i had never seen  the man
 so beautiful4 ',a blow6' he cried4 ',i 
would not take a blow  from ,god        
,almighty4'    ',lower your voice1' said
 ,mr4 ,henry4 ',do you wish my father to
  interfere for you again8'             

',gentlemen1 gentlemen4' ,i cried1 and  
sought to come between them4    ,the    
,master caught me by the shoulder1 held 
me at arm's length1 and  still          
addressing his brother3 ',do you know   
what this means8' said he4    ',it was  
the most deliberate act of my life1'    
says ,mr4 ,henry4    ',i must have      
blood1 ,i must have blood for this1'    
says the ,master4    ',please ,god it   
shall be yours1' said ,mr4 ,henry2 and  
he went to the  wall and took down a    
pair of swords that hung there with     
others1  naked4 ,these he presented to  
the ,master by the points4 ',mackellar  
shall see us play fair1' said ,mr4      
,henry4 ',i think it very needful4'     
',you need insult me no more1' said the 
,master1 taking one of the  swords at   
random4 ',i have hated you all my life4'
    ',my father is but newly gone to    
bed1' said ,mr4 ,henry4 ',we must go    
somewhere forth of the house4'          
',there is an excellent place in the    
long shrubbery1' said the  ,master4     

',gentlemen1' said ,i1 'shame upon you  
both6 ,sons of the same mother1  would  
you turn against the life she gave you8'
    ',even so1 ,mackellar1' said ,mr4   
,henry1 with the same perfect quietude  
of manner he had shown throughout4      
,it is not necessary for ,mackellar to  
tell us that1 whereas ,mr4 ,henry  is   
phlegmatic and deliberate1 the ,master  
is impulsive and mercurial4  ,it is not 
necessary for him to attempt analysis of
 the emotions and  thoughts of the      
leading characters1 since these are     
sufficiently  evident from what they do 
and say4 ,the action happens to the eye 
and  ear1 without the interpretation of 
an analytic intellect2 but the  reader  
is made actually present at the scene1  
and can see and judge it  for himself4  
,the method is absolutely narrative and 
not at all  expository1--entirely       
objective and concrete4 ,surely this is 
the most  artistic means of portraying  
those elements of character which       
contribute to external1 or objective1   

events3 and even what happens  inside   
the mind of a character may often be    
more poignantly suggested  by a concrete
 account of how he looks and what he    
does than by an  abstract analytic      
statement of the movements of his mind4 
,when  ,hepzibah ,pyncheon opens her    
shop in the ,house of the ,seven        
,gables1 her  state of feeling is       
indicated indirectly1 by what she does  
and how she  does it4    #c4 ,by ,effect
 on ,other ,characters4--,perhaps the   
most delicate means  of indirect        
delineation is to suggest the           
personality of one character  by        
exhibiting his effect upon certain other
 people in the story4 ,in  the third    
book of the ,iliad1 there is a temporary
 truce upon the  plains of ,troy2 and   
certain elders of the city look forth   
from the  tower of the ,scan gates and  
meditate upon the ten long years of     
conflict and of carnage during which so 
many of their sons have died4  ,toward  
them walks the white-armed ,helen1 robed

 and veiled in white2  and when they    
mark her approach1 they say to each     
other 7old and wise  and weary with     
sorrows though they be73--              
',small blame is theirs1 if both the    
,trojan knights           ,and          
brazen-mailed ,achaians have endured    
,so long so many evils for the sake     
,of that one woman4'                    
--7,bryant's ,version47    ,perhaps the 
most remarkable instance in modern      
literature of the use  of this expedient
 is ,mr4 ,kipling's tale of ,mrs4       
,bathurst4 ,the story  is all about the 
woman from whom it takes its title2 but 
she never for  a moment appears upon the
 scene of action1 and is portrayed      
entirely  through her effect upon       
several different men4 ,here is a bit of
  conversation concerning her4 ,note her
 effect upon the humorous and not       
especially sensitive ,pyecroft4--       
,said ,pyecroft suddenly3--    ',how    
many women have you been intimate with  
all over the world1  ,pritch8'          

,pritchard blushed plum color to the    
short hairs of his seventeen-inch  neck4
    '',undreds1' said ,pyecroft4 ',so've
 ,i4 ,how many of 'em can you remember  
in your own mind1 settin' aside the     
first--an' per'aps the last--and  one   
more8'    ',few1 wonderful few1 now ,i  
tax myself1' said ,sergeant ,pritchard1 
relievedly4    ',an' how many times     
might you 'ave been at ,aukland8'       
',one--two1' he began4 ',why1 ,i can't  
make it more than three times in  ten   
years4 ,but ,i can remember every time  
that ,i ever saw ,mrs4 ,b4'    ',so can 
,i--an' ,i've only been to ,aukland     
twice--how she stood an'  what she was  
sayin' an' what she looked like4 ,that's
 the secret4  ',tisn't beauty1 so to    
speak1 nor good talk necessarily4 ,it's 
just ,it4  ,some women'll stay in a     
man's memory if they once walked down a 
street1 but most of 'em you can live    
with a month on end1 an' next           
commission you'd be put to it to certify
 whether they talked in their  sleep or 

not1 as one might say4'    #d4 ,by      
,environment4--,another very delicate   
expedient is to suggest a  character    
through a careful presentation of his   
habitual environment4  ,we learn a great
 deal about ,roderick ,usher from the   
melancholy aspect  of his ,house4 ,it is
 possible to describe a living-room in  
such a way  as to convey a very definite
 sense of its occupant before he enters 
it4 ,notice1 for example1 how much we   
learn about ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,boffin      
7especially the latter7 from this       
descriptive passage of ,chapter ,v of   
,our ,mutual ,friend4 ,silas ,wegg has  
come to fulfill his engagement to  read 
aloud to them the ,decline and ,fall of 
the ,roman ,empire3--    ,it was the    
queerest of rooms1 fitted and furnished 
more like a  luxurious amateur tap-room 
than anything else within the ken of    
,silas  ,wegg4 ,there were two wooden   
settles by the fire1 one on either side 
of  it1 with a corresponding table      
before each4 ,on one of these tables the

  eight volumes were ranged flat1 in a  
row like a galvanic battery2 on  the    
other1 certain squat case-bottles of    
inviting appearance seemed to  stand on 
tiptoe to exchange glances with ,mr4    
,wegg over a front row of  tumblers and 
a basin of white sugar4 ,on the hob1 a  
kettle steamed2 on1  the hearth1 a cat  
reposed4 ,facing the fire between the   
settles1 a  sofa1 a footstool1 and a    
little table formed a centrepiece       
devoted to  ,mrs4 ,boffin4 ,they were   
garish in taste and color1 but were     
expensive  articles of drawing-room     
furniture that had a very odd look      
beside the  settles and the flaring     
gaslight pendant from the ceiling4      
,there was a  flowery carpet on the     
floor2 but1 instead of reaching to the  
fireside1 its glowing vegetation stopped
 short at ,mrs4 ,boffin's  footstool1   
and gave place to a region of sand and  
sawdust4 ,mr4 ,wegg  also noticed1 with 
admiring eyes1 that1 while the flowery  
land  displayed such hollow             

ornamentation as stuffed birds1 and     
waxen fruits  under glass shades1 there 
were1 in the territory where vegetation 
ceased1 compensatory shelves on which   
the best part of a large pie and        
likewise of a cold joint were plainly   
discernible among other solids4  ,the   
room itself was large1 though low2 and  
the heavy frames of its  old-fashioned  
windows1 and the heavy beams in its     
crooked ceiling1  seemed to indicate    
that it had once been a house of some   
mark standing  alone in the country4    
,neither ,boffin nor ,mrs4 ,boffin      
appears in this descriptive paragraph2  
yet many of the idiosyncrasies of each  
are suggested by the  conglomeration of 
queer belongings that they have gathered
 round  them4    ,the student of the art
 of fiction may find profitable exercise
 in  practising separately the various  
means of portraying character which     
have been illustrated in this chapter2  
but1 as was stated at the  outset1 he   
should always remember that these means 

are seldom used by  the great artists   
singly1 but are generally employed to   
complement  each other in contributing  
to a central impression4 ,the character 
of  ,becky ,sharp1 for instance1 is     
delineated indirectly through her       
speech1 her actions1 her environment1   
and her effect on other people1  and at 
the same time is delineated directly    
through comments made upon  her by the  
author and by other figures in the      
story1 through analysis  of her thoughts
 and her emotions1 through expository   
statements of her  traits1 and through  
occasional descriptions of her4 ,in all 
of these  ways does ,thackeray exert    
himself to give the world assurance of a
  woman4    ,it would1 however1 be      
extremely difficult to imagine ,becky   
,sharp  divorced from her environment of
 ,london high society4 ,she is a part of
  her setting1 and her setting is a part
 of her4 ,we have just noticed1  in the 
case of that queer room of the          
,boffins'1 how the mere  representation 

of setting may contribute to the        
delineation of  character4 ,but setting 
is important in many other ways2 and it 
is to a  special consideration of that  
element of narrative that we must next  
turn our attention4      ,,review       
,,questions    #a4 ,what combination of 
traits makes a character worth knowing8 
#b4 ,distinguish between the method of  
allegory and the method of              
caricature4    #c4 ,imagine a fictitious
 person2 and1 after you have become     
sufficiently acquainted with this       
imaginary character1 write eight        
distinct themes1 in each of which the   
selfsame figure is projected    in      
accordance with a different method of   
delineation3--#a4 ,by    ,exposition1   
#b4 ,by ,description1 #c4 ,by           
,psychological ,analysis1 #d4 ,by       
,reports from ,other ,characters1 #e4   
,by ,speech1 #f4 ,by ,action1 #g4 ,by   
,effect on ,other ,characters1 and #h4  
,by ,environment4      ,,suggested      
,,reading    ,,bliss ,,perry3 ,a ,study 

of ,prose ,fiction--,chapter ,v1 on ,the
  ,characters4    ,read at greater      
length those passages of famous fiction 
from which  have been selected the      
illustrative quotations cited in this   
chapter4          ,,chapter ,,vi        
,,setting      ,evolution of ,background
 in the ,history of ,painting--,the     
,first    ,stage--,the ,second          
,stage--,the ,third ,stage--,similar    
,evolution of    ,setting in the        
,history of ,fiction3 ,the ,first       
,stage--,the ,second    ,stage--,the    
,third ,stage3 #a4 ,setting as an ,aid  
to ,action--#b4 ,setting as    an ,aid  
to ,characterization--,emotional        
,harmony in ,setting--,the    ,pathetic 
,fallacy--,emotional ,contrast in       
,setting--,irony in                     
,setting--,artistic and ,philosophical  
,employment--#a4 ,setting as a ,motive  
toward ,action--#b4 ,setting as an      
,influence on ,character--,setting as   
the ,hero of the ,narrative--,uses of   
the ,weather--,romantic and             

,realistic ,settings--,a ,romantic      
,setting by ,edgar ,allan ,poe--,a      
,realistic ,setting by ,george          
,eliot--,the ,quality of ,atmosphere1 or
    ,local ,color--,recapitulation4     
,evolution of ,background in the        
,history of ,painting3 ,the ,first      
,stage4--,in the history of figure      
painting it is interesting to study  the
 evolution of the element of background4
 ,this element is  non-existent in the  
earliest examples of pictorial art4 ,the
 figures in  ,pompeiian frescoes are    
limned upon a blank bright wall1 most   
frequently deep red in color4 ,the      
father of ,italian painting1 ,cimabue1  
following the custom of the ,byzantine  
mosacists1 whose work he had  doubtless 
studied at ,ravenna1 drew his figures   
against a background  devoid of distance
 and perspective and detail2 and even in
 the work of  his greater and more      
natural pupil1 ,giotto1 the element of  
background  remains comparatively       
insignificant4 ,what interests us in    

,giotto's  work at ,padua and ,assisi is
 first of all the story that he has to  
tell1 and secondly the human quality of 
the characters that he  exhibits4 ,his  
sense of setting is extremely slight2   
and the homely  details that he presents
 for the purpose of suggesting the time 
and  place and circumstances of his     
action are very crudely depicted4 ,his  
frescoes are all foreground4 ,it is the 
figures in the forefront of his         
pictures that arrest our eye4 ,his      
buildings and his landscapes are        
conventionalized out of any real        
reference to his people4 ,these are     
examples of the first stage of          
evolution--the stage in which the       
element of background bears no          
significant relation to the main        
business of the picture4    ,the ,second
 ,stage4--,in the second stage1 the     
background is brought  into an artistic1
 or decorative1 relation with the       
figures in the  foreground4 ,this phase 
is exhibited by ,italian painting at its

 period  of maturity4 ,the great        
,florentines drew their figures against 
a  background of decorative line1 the   
great ,venetians against a  background  
of decorative color4 ,but even in the   
work of the greatest  of them the       
background exists usually to fulfil a   
purpose merely  decorative1 a purpose   
with immediate reference to art but     
without  immediate reference to life4   
,there is no real reason1 with reference
  to life itself1 why the ,mona ,lisa of
 ,leonardo should smile  inscrutably    
upon us before a background of jagged   
rocks and cloudy  sky2 and the curtains 
in ,raphael's ,sistine ,madonna are     
introduced  merely as a detail of       
composition1 and are not intended as a  
literal  statement that curtains hung   
upon a rod exist in heaven4    ,the     
,third ,stage4--,in the third stage1    
which is exhibited by later  painting1  
the background is brought into living   
relation with the  figures of the       
foreground1--a relation suggested not   

merely by the  exigencies of art but    
rather by the conditions of life itself4
 ,thus  the great ,dutch genre painters1
 like the younger ,teniers1 show their  
characters in immediate human relation  
to a carefully detailed  interior2 or   
if1 like ,adrian van ,ostade1 they take 
them out of doors1  it is to show them  
entirely at home in an accustomed       
landscape4    ,this stage1 in its modern
 development1 exhibits an absolutely    
essential relation between the          
foreground and the background--the      
figures and the setting--so that neither
 could be imagined exactly as  it is    
without the presence of the other4 ,such
 an essential harmony is  shown in the  
,angelus of ,jean-,franois ,millet4 ,the
 people exist for  the sake of giving   
meaning to the landscape2 and the       
landscape exists  for the sake of giving
 meaning to the people4 ,the ,angelus is
 neither  figure painting nor landscape 
painting merely2 it is both4    ,similar
 ,evolution of ,setting in the ,history 

of ,fiction3 ,the ,first  ,stage4--,in  
the history of fiction we may note a    
similar evolution in  the element of    
setting4 ,the earliest folk-tales of    
every nation happen  once upon a time1  
and without any definite localization4  
,in the  ,gesta ,romanorum1 that        
medieval repository of accumulated      
narratives1  the element of setting is  
nearly as non-existent as the element of
  background in the frescoes of         
,pompeii4 ,even in the ,decameron of    
,boccaccio the stories are seldom       
localized3 they happen almost  anywhere 
at almost any time4 ,the interest in    
,boccaccio's narrative1  like the       
interest in ,giotto's painting1 is      
centred first of all in the  element of 
action1 and secondly in the element of  
character4 ,but his  stories are all    
foreground4 ,when the scene is out of   
doors1 it is set  vaguely in a          
conventional landscape3 when it is      
indoors1 it is set  vaguely in a        
conventional palace4 ,because of this1  

his narrative is  lacking in visual     
appeal4 ,most of his novelle read like  
summaries of  novels1--setting forth an 
abstract synopsis of the action rather  
than  a concrete representation of it4  
,he tells you what happens1 instead  of 
making it happen before the eye of your 
imagination4 ,his  characters are drawn 
in outline merely1 instead of being     
livingly  projected in relation to a    
definite environment4 ,the defect of his
  narrative1 like the defect of         
,giotto's painting1 is mainly lack of   
background4    ,the ,second             
,stage4--,somewhat later in the history 
of fiction1 as in  the history of figure
 painting1 we find instances in which   
the element  of setting is used for a   
decorative purpose1 and is brought into 
an  artistic relation with the elements 
of action and character4 ,such a  use is
 made of landscape1 for example1 in the 
,orlando ,furioso of  ,ariosto and the  
,faerie ,queene of ,spenser4 ,the       
settings depicted by  these narrative   

poets are essentially pictorial1 and are
 used as a  decorative background to the
 action rather than as part and parcel  
of  it4 ,if we seek an example in prose 
rather than in poetry1 we need only     
turn to the ,arcadia of ,sir ,philip    
,sidney4 ,in this again the setting  is 
beautifully fashioned1 but is employed  
merely for a decorative  purpose4 ,the  
background of pastoral landscape bears  
no necessary  relation to the figures in
 the foreground4 ,it exists for the sake
 of  art rather than for the sake of    
life4 ,this employment of the element   
of setting for a purpose essentially    
pictorial subsists in many later  works 
of fiction1 like the ,paul and ,virginia
 of ,bernardin de  ,saint-,pierre4 ,in  
this the setting is composed and painted
 for the sake  of its own sentimental   
beauty1 and is obtruded even at the     
expense of  the more vital elements of  
character and action4 ,the story is1 as 
it  were1 merely a motive for decorative
 composition4    ,the ,third ,stage3 #a4

 ,setting as an ,aid to ,action4--,it is
 only in  fiction of a more modern      
spirit that the element of setting has  
been  brought into living relation with 
the action and the characters2 and  it  
is only in the last century that the    
most intimate possibilities  of such a  
relation have been appreciated and      
applied4 ,of course the  most elementary
 means of making the setting part and   
parcel of the  business of the story is 
to employ it as a utilitarian adjunct to
  the action4 ,granted certain incidents
 that are to happen1 certain  scenery   
and properties are useful1 in the novel 
just as in the  theatre2 and if these   
are supplied advisedly1 the setting     
will1 as  it were1 become a part of what
 is happening instead of remaining      
merely a decorative background to the   
incidents4 ,the first ,english  author  
to establish firmly this utilitarian    
relation between the  setting and the   
action was ,daniel ,defoe4 ,defoe was by
 profession a  journalist2 and the most 

characteristic quality of his mind was  
an  habitual matter-of-factness4        
,plausibility was what he most desired  
in his fictions2 and he discerned       
instinctively that the readiest  means  
of making a story plausible was by      
representing with entire  concreteness  
and great wealth of specific detail the 
physical  adjuncts to the action4 ,the  
multitudinous particulars of ,crusoe's  
island are therefore exhibited          
concretely to the reader one by one1  as
 ,crusoe makes use of them successively 
in what he does4    #b4 ,setting as an  
,aid to ,characterization4--,but though 
in ,defoe the  element of setting is    
merged with the element of action1 it is
 not  brought into intimate relation    
with the element of character4 ,the     
island is a part of what ,crusoe does1  
rather than a part of what he  is4 ,but 
the dwelling-room of the ,boffins1 which
 was described in the  paragraph from   
,our ,mutual ,friend quoted toward the  
end of the  preceding chapter1 is a part

 of what the ,boffins are1 rather than  
of  what they do4 ,the setting in the   
latter case is used as an adjunct to    
the element of character instead of to  
the element of action4 ,fielding  and   
his contemporaries were the first       
,english novelists to make the  setting 
in this way representative of           
personality as well as useful to  the   
plot2 but the finer possibilities of the
 relation between setting  and character
 were not fully realized until the      
nineteenth century4  ,the               
eighteenth-century authors1 in so far as
 they elaborated the  element of        
setting1 seem to have done so mainly for
 the sake of  greater vividness4 ,the   
appeal of setting being visual1 the     
element was  employed to illustrate the 
action and to make the characters       
clearly  evident to the eye4 ,by        
rendering a story more concrete1 a      
definite  setting rendered it more      
credible4 ,this the eighteenth-century  
novelists discerned2 but only with the  

rise of the romantic movement  was the  
element applied to subtler uses4        
,emotional ,harmony in ,setting4--,a new
 and very interesting  attitude toward  
landscape setting was disclosed by      
,rousseau in the  ,nouvelle ,hloise and 
developed by his numerous followers in  
early  nineteenth-century romance4 ,the 
writers who advocated a return to       
nature spelled nature with a capital ,n 
and considered it usually  as an        
anthropomorphic presence4 ,as a result  
of this1 when they  developed a natural 
background for their stories1 they      
established a  sympathetic interchange  
of mood between the characters and the  
landscape1 and imagined 7to use the     
famous phrase of ,leibnitz7 a           
pre-established harmony between the     
shifting moods of nature and  of man4   
,thus the setting was employed no longer
 merely to subserve  the needs of action
 or to give a greater vividness of      
visual appeal1  but was used rather to  
symbolize and represent the human       

emotions  evoked in the characters at   
significant moments of the plot4 ,when  
the hero was suffering with sadness1 the
 sky was hung with heavy  clouds2 and   
when his mind grew illumined with a     
glimmering of hope1  the sun broke      
through a cloud-rift1 casting light over
 the land4    ,dickens is especially    
fond of imagining an emotional harmony  
between  his settings and his incidents4
 ,consider for a moment the following   
well-known passage from the funeral of  
,little ,nell 7,the ,old ,curiosity     
,shop1 ,chapter ,,lxxii73--    ,along   
the crowded path they bore her now2 pure
 as the newly-fallen  snow that covered 
it2 whose day on earth had been as      
fleeting4 ,under  the porch1 where she  
had sat when ,heaven in its mercy       
brought her to  that peaceful spot1 she 
passed again2 and the old church        
received her  in its quiet shade4       
,they carried her to one old nook1 where
 she had many and many a time  sat      
musing1 and laid their burden softly on 

the pavement4 ,the light  streamed on it
 through the coloured window--a window  
where the boughs  of trees were ever    
rustling in the summer1 and where the   
birds sang  sweetly all day long4 ,with 
every breath of air that stirred among  
those branches in the sunshine1 some    
trembling1 changing light would  fall   
upon her grave4444    ,they saw the     
vault covered1 and the stone fixed down4
 ,then1 when the  dusk of evening had   
come on1 and not a sound disturbed the  
sacred  stillness of the place--when the
 bright moon poured in her light on     
tomb and monument1 on pillar1 wall1 and 
arch1 and most of all 7it  seemed to    
them7 upon her quiet grave--in that calm
 time1 when outward  things and inward  
thoughts teem with assurances of        
immortality1 and  worldly hopes and     
fears are humbled in the dust before    
them--then1  with tranquil and          
submissive hearts1 they turned away1 and
 left the  child to ,god4    ,here the  
mood of the scene is expressed almost   

entirely through the  element of        
setting2 and the human emotion of the   
mourners is realized  and represented by
 the aspect of the churchyard4    ,the  
,pathetic ,fallacy4--,the excessive use 
of this expedient is  deplored by ,john 
,ruskin in a chapter of ,modern         
,painters entitled  ,the ,pathetic      
,fallacy4 ,his point is that1 since     
concrete objects do  not actually       
experience human emotions1 it is a      
violation of  artistic truth to ascribe 
such emotions to them4 ,but1 on the     
other  hand1 it is indubitably true that
 human beings habitually translate      
their own abstract feelings into the    
concrete terms of their  surroundings2  
and therefore1 in a subjective sense at 
least1 an  emotional harmony frequently 
does exist between the mood of a man    
and the aspect of his environment4 ,the 
same place may at the same  time look   
gloomy to a melancholy man and cheerful 
to a merry one2  and there is therefore 
a certain human fitness in describing it

 as  gloomy or as cheerful1 according to
 the feeling of the character  observing
 it4 ,doubtless to a man tremendously   
bereaved the very rain  may seem a      
weeping of high heaven2 and surely there
 are times when  it is deeply true1     
subjectively1 to say that the morning   
stars all  sing together4 ,what we may  
call emotional similarity of setting is 
therefore not necessarily a fallacy4    
,even when it subverts the  actual1 as  
in the fable of the morning stars1 it   
may yet be  representative of reality4  
,in its commoner and less exaggerative  
phases it is very useful for purposes of
 suggestion2 and only when  it becomes  
blatant through abuse may it be said to 
belie the laws of  life4    ,emotional  
,contrast in ,setting4--,frequently1    
however1 emotional  similarity between  
the setting and the characters is less  
serviceable1  for the sake of emphasis1 
than emotional contrast4 ,in the        
following  passage from ,mr4 ,kipling's 
,without ,benefit of ,clergy1 the serene

 and  perfect happiness of ,holden and  
,ameera is emphasized by contrast with  
the night-aspect of the plague-infested 
city3--    ',my lord and my love1 let   
there be no more foolish talk of going  
away4 ,where thou art1 ,i am4 ,it is    
enough4' ,she put an arm round his  neck
 and a hand on his mouth4    ,there are 
not many happinesses so complete as     
those that are snatched  under the      
shadow of the sword4 ,they sat together 
and laughed1 calling  each other openly 
by every pet name that could move the   
wrath of the  gods4 ,the city below them
 was locked up in its own torments4     
,sulphur  fires blazed in the streets2  
the conches in the ,hindu temples       
screamed  and bellowed1 for the gods    
were inattentive in those days4 ,there  
was a  service in the great ,mahomedan  
shrine1 and the call to prayer from the 
minarets was almost unceasing4 ,they    
heard the wailing in the houses of  the 
dead1 and once the shriek of a mother   
who had lost a child and was  calling   

for its return4 ,in the gray dawn they  
saw the dead borne out  through the city
 gates1 each litter with its own little 
knot of  mourners4 ,wherefore they      
kissed each other and shivered4         
,irony in ,setting4--,an emotional      
contrast of this nature between the     
mood of the characters and the mood of  
the setting may be pushed to  the point 
of irony4 ,in a story by ,alphonse      
,daudet1 entitled ,the  ,elixir of the  
,reverend ,father ,gaucher1 a certain   
monastery is saved  from financial ruin 
by the sale of a cordial which ,father  
,gaucher has  invented and distilled4   
,but the necessity of sampling the      
cordial  frequently during the process  
of manufacturing it leads the reverend  
father eventually to become an habitual 
drunkard4 ,and toward the end  of the   
story an ironic contrast is drawn       
between the solemn monastery1  murmurous
 with chants and prayers1 and ,father   
,gaucher in his  distillery hilariously 
singing a ribald drinking-song4         

,artistic and ,philosophical            
,employment4--,the uses of setting that 
have been thus far considered have been 
artistic rather than  philosophical in  
nature2 but very recent writers have    
grown to use the  element not only for  
the sake of illustrating character and  
action but  also for the sake of        
determining them4 ,the sociologists of  
the  nineteenth century have come to    
regard circumstance as a prime motive   
for action1 and environment as a prime  
influence on character2 and  recent     
writers have applied this philosophic   
thesis in their  employment of the      
element of setting4    #a4 ,setting as a
 ,motive ,toward ,action4--,the way in  
which the setting  may suggest the      
action is thus discoursed upon by       
,stevenson in his  ,gossip on           
,romance3--    ,drama is the poetry of  
conduct1 romance the poetry of          
circumstance4  ,the pleasure that we    
take in life is of two sorts--the active
 and the  passive4 ,now we are conscious

 of a great command over our destiny2   
anon we are lifted up by circumstance1  
as by a breaking wave1 and  dashed we   
know not how into the future4 ,now we   
are pleased by our  conduct1 anon merely
 pleased by our surroundings4 ,it would 
be hard to  say which of these modes of 
satisfaction is the more effective1 but 
the latter is surely the more           
constant4444    ,one thing in life calls
 for another2 there is a fitness in     
events and  places4 ,the sight of a     
pleasant arbour puts it in our mind to  
sit  there4 ,one place suggests work1   
another idleness1 a third early rising  
and long rambles in the dew4 ,the effect
 of night1 of any flowing  water1 of    
lighted cities1 of the peep of day1 of  
ships1 of the open  ocean1 calls up in  
the mind an army of anonymous desires   
and  pleasures4 ,something1 we feel1    
should happen2 we know not what1 yet we 
proceed in quest of it4 ,and many of the
 happiest hours of life fleet  by us in 
this vain attendance on the genius of   

the place and moment4  ,it is thus that 
tracts of young fir1 and low rocks that 
reach into  deep soundings1 particularly
 torture and delight me4 ,something must
  have happened in such places1 and     
perhaps ages back1 to members of my     
race2 and when ,i was a child ,i tried  
in vain to invent appropriate  games for
 them1 as ,i still try1 just as vainly1 
to fit them with the  proper story4     
,some places speak distinctly4 ,certain 
dank gardens cry  aloud for a murder2   
certain old houses demand to be haunted2
 certain  coasts are set apart for      
shipwreck4 ,other spots again seem to   
abide  their destiny1 suggestive and    
impenetrable1 'miching mallecho4' ,the  
inn at ,burford ,bridge1 with its       
arbours and green garden and silent1    
eddying river--though it is known       
already as the place where ,keats  wrote
 some of his ,endymion and ,nelson      
parted from his ,emma--still  seems to  
wait the coming of the appropriate      
legend4 ,within these ivied  walls1     

behind these old green shutters1 some   
further business  smoulders1 waiting for
 its hour4 ,the old ,hawes ,inn at the  
,queen's  ,ferry makes a similar call   
upon my fancy4 ,there it stands1 apart  
from  the town1 beside the pier1 in a   
climate of its own1 half inland1 half   
marine--in front1 the ferry bubbling    
with the tide and the guardship         
swinging to her anchor2 behind1 the old 
garden with the trees4  ,americans seek 
it already for the sake of ,lovel and   
,oldbuck1 who dined  there at the       
beginning of the ,antiquary4 ,but you   
need not tell  me--that is not all2     
there is some story1 unrecorded or not  
yet  complete1 which must express the   
meaning of that inn more fully4444 ,i   
have lived both at the ,hawes and       
,burford in a perpetual flutter1 on  the
 heels1 as it seemed1 of some adventure 
that should justify the  place2 but     
though the feeling had me to bed at     
night and called me  again at morning in
 one unbroken round of pleasure and     

suspense1  nothing befell me in either  
worth remark4 ,the man or the hour had  
not  yet come2 but some day1 ,i think1 a
 boat shall put off from the ,queen's   
,ferry1 fraught with a dear cargo1 and  
some frosty night a horseman1 on  a     
tragic errand1 rattle with his whip upon
 the green shutters of the  inn at      
,burford4    ,in this way1 the setting  
may1 in many cases1 exist as the initial
  element of the narrative1 and suggest 
an action appropriate to itself4  ,but  
it may do more than that4 ,in certain   
special instances the setting  may not  
only suggest1 but may even cause1 the   
action1 and remain the  deciding factor 
in determining its course4 ,this is the 
case1 for  example1 in ,mr4 ,kipling's  
story1 ,at the ,end of the ,passage1    
which  opens thus3--    ,four men1 each 
entitled to 'life1 liberty1 and the     
pursuit of  happiness1' sat at a table  
playing whist4 ,the thermometer         
marked--for  them--one hundred and one  
degrees of heat4 ,the room was darkened 

till  it was only just possible to      
distinguish the pips of the cards and   
the  very white faces of the players4 ,a
 tattered1 rotten punkah of  whitewashed
 calico was puddling the hot air and    
whining dolefully at  each stroke4      
,outside lay gloom of a ,november day in
 ,london4 ,there was  neither sky1 sun1 
nor horizon--nothing but a brown purple 
haze of  heat4 ,it was as though the    
earth were dying of apoplexy4    ,from  
time to time clouds of tawny dust rose  
from the ground without  wind or        
warning1 flung themselves               
tablecloth-wise among the tops of  the  
parched trees1 and came down again4     
,then a whirling dust-devil  would      
scutter across the plain for a couple of
 miles1 break1 and fall  outward1 though
 there was nothing to check its flight  
save a long low  line of piled          
railway-sleepers white with the dust1 a 
cluster of huts  made of mud1 condemned 
rails1 and canvas1 and the one squat    
four-roomed bungalow that belonged to   

the assistant engineer in charge  of a  
section of the ,gaudhari ,state ,line   
then under construction4    ,the        
terrible tale that follows could happen 
only as a result of the  fearful        
loneliness and1 more especially1 the    
maddening heat of such a  place as is   
described in these opening paragraphs4  
,the setting in this  story causes and  
determines the action4    #b4 ,setting  
as an ,influence on ,character4--,but in
 many other tales by  recent writers the
 setting is used not so much to         
determine the action  as to influence   
and mold the characters2 and when       
employed for this  purpose1 it becomes  
expressive of one of the most momentous 
truths of  human life4 ,for what a man  
is at any period of his existence is    
largely the result of the interaction of
 two forces1--namely1 the  innate       
tendencies of his nature and the shaping
 power of his  environment4 ,george     
,meredith1 and more especially ,mr4     
,thomas ,hardy1  therefore devote a     

great deal of attention to setting as an
 influence  on character4 ,consider1 for
 example1 the following brief passage   
from  ,mr4 ,hardy's ,tess of the        
,d',ubervilles3--    ,amid the oozing   
fatness and warm ferments of ,froom     
,vale1 at a season  when the rush of    
juices could almost be heard below the  
hiss of  fertilization1 it was          
impossible that the most fanciful love  
should  not grow passionate4 ,the ready 
hearts existing there were impregnated  
by their surroundings4    ,zola1 in his 
essay on ,the ,experimental ,novel1     
states that the proper  function of     
setting is to exhibit the environment   
which determines  and completes the man2
 and the philosophic study of           
environment  reacting upon character is 
one of the main features of his own     
monumental series of novels devoted to  
the ,rougon-,macquart family4 ,his      
example has been followed by a host of  
recent writers2 and a new  school of    
fiction has grown up1 the main purpose  

of which is to  exhibit the influence of
 certain carefully studied social1      
natural1  business1 or professional     
conditions on the sort of people who    
live  and work among them4    ,this     
incentive has been developed to manifest
 advantage in ,america by  such         
novelists as ,mrs4 ,mary ,e4 ,wilkins   
,freeman1 ,mr4 ,george ,w4 ,cable1  ,mr4
 ,hamlin ,garland1 ,mrs4 ,edith         
,wharton1 ,frank ,norris1 ,jack ,london1
 ,mr4  ,booth ,tarkington1 and ,mr4     
,stewart ,edward ,white4 ,each of these 
authors--and many others might be       
mentioned--has attained a special  sort 
of eminence by studying minutely the    
effect upon impressionable  characters  
of a particular environment4 ,the       
manifold diversity of life  in the many 
different districts of the ,united      
,states affords our  fiction-writers a  
predestined opportunity to endeavor to  
make the  nation acquainted with itself4
    ,setting as the ,hero of the        
,narrative4--,if the setting be used    

both  to determine the action and to    
mold the characters1 it may stand forth 
as the most important of the three      
elements of narrative4 ,in ,victor      
,hugo's ,notre ,dame de ,paris1 the     
cathedral is the leading factor of  the 
story4 ,claude ,frollo would be a very  
different person if it were  not for the
 church2 and many of the main events1   
such as the ultimate  tragic scene when 
,quasimodo hurls ,frollo from the       
tower-top1 could not  happen in any     
other place4 ,in ,mr4 ,kipling's very   
subtle story entitled  ,an ,habitation  
,enforced1 which is included in his     
,actions and  ,reactions1 the setting is
 really the hero of the narrative4 ,an  
,american millionaire and his wife1     
whose ancestors were ,english1  settle  
for a brief vacation in the county of   
,england from which the  wife's family  
originally came4 ,gradually the old     
house and the ,english  landscape take  
hold of them2 ancestral feelings rise to
 dominate them2  and they remain forever

 after in enforced habitation on the    
ancient  soil4    ,uses of the          
,weather4--,all that has been said thus 
far of setting in  general applies of   
course to one of the most interesting of
 its  elements1--the weather4 ,in simple
 stories like the usual nursery tale1   
the weather may be non-existent4 ,or it 
may exist mainly for a  decorative      
purpose1 like the frequent golden       
oriental dawns of  ,spenser's poem or   
the superb and colorful symphonies of   
sky and sea in  ,pierre ,loti's ,iceland
 ,fisherman4 ,it may be used as a       
utilitarian  adjunct to the action3 at  
the end of ,the ,mill on the ,floss1 as 
we  have already noted1 the rains       
descend and the flood comes merely for  
the purpose of drowning ,tom and        
,maggie4 ,or it may be employed to      
illustrate a character3 we are told of  
,clara ,middleton1 in ,the  ,egoist1    
that she possesses the art of dressing  
to suit the season  and the sky2 and    
therefore the look of the atmosphere at 

any hour  helps to convey to us a sense 
of her appearance4 ,somewhat more       
artistically1 the weather may be planned
 in pre-established harmony  with the   
mood of the characters3 this expedient  
is wonderfully used in  the wild and    
wind-swept tales of ,fiona ,mac,leod4   
,on the other hand1 the  weather may    
stand in emotional contrast with the    
characters3 the  ,master of ,ballantrae 
and ,mr4 ,henry fight their duel on a   
night of  absolute stillness and        
stifling cold4 ,again1 the weather may  
be used  to determine the action3 in    
,mr4 ,kipling's early story called      
,false  ,dawn1 the blinding sandstorm   
causes ,saumarez to propose to the wrong
  girl4 ,or it may be employed as a     
controlling influence over character3   
the tremendous storm toward the end of  
,richard ,feverel1 in the  chapter      
entitled ,nature ,speaks1 determines the
 return of the hero to  his wife4 ,in   
some cases1 even1 the weather itself may
 be the real hero  of the narrative3 the

 great eruption of ,vesuvius in ,the    
,last ,days of  ,pompeii dominates the  
termination of the story4    ,although  
the weather is a subject upon           
everybody's tongue1 there are  very few 
people who are capable of talking about 
it with intelligence  and art4 ,very few
 writers of fiction--and nearly all of  
them are  recent--have exhibited a      
mastery of the weather1--a mastery based
 at  once upon a detailed and accurate  
observation of natural phenomena and  a 
philosophic sense of the relation       
between these phenomena and the         
concerns of human beings4 ,perhaps in no
 other detail of craftsmanship  does    
,robert ,louis ,stevenson so clearly    
prove his mastery as in his  marshalling
 of the weather1 always vividly and     
truthfully described1  to serve a       
purpose always fitting to his fictions4 
,romantic and ,realistic                
,settings4--,let us next consider the   
main  difference between the merits of a
 good romantic and a good realistic     

setting4 ,since the realist leads us to 
a comprehension of his truth  through a 
careful imitation of the actual1 the    
thing most to be  desired in a realistic
 setting is fidelity to fact2 and this  
can be  attained only by accurate       
observation4 ,but since the romantic is 
not  bound to imitate the actual1 and   
fabricates his investiture merely for   
the sake of embodying his truth clearly 
and consistently1 the thing  most to be 
desired in a romantic setting is        
imaginative fitness to the  action and  
the characters2 and this can sometimes  
be attained by  artistic inventiveness  
alone1 without display of observation of
 the  actual4 ,verisimilitude is of     
course the highest merit of either sort 
of setting2 but whereas verisimilitude  
with the realist lies in  resemblance to
 actuality1 verisimilitude with the     
romantic lies rather  in artistic       
fitness4 ,the distinction may perhaps be
 best observed in  the historical novels
 produced by the one and by the other   

school4 ,in  the setting of realistic   
historical novels1 like ,george ,eliot's
  ,romola and ,flaubert's ,salammb1 what
 the authors have mainly  striven for   
has been accuracy of detail2 but in     
romantic historical  novels1 like those 
of ,scott and ,dumas pre1 the authors   
have sought  rather for imaginative     
fitness of setting4 ,the realists have  
followed  the letter1 and the romantics 
the spirit1 of other times and lands4   
,a ,romantic ,setting by ,edgar ,allan  
,poe4--,as an example of a pure         
romantic setting1 far removed from      
actuality and yet thoroughly  truthful  
in artistic fitness to the action and   
the characters1 we can  do no better    
than examine the often-quoted opening of
 ,poe's ,fall of  the ,house of         
,usher3--    ,during the whole of a     
dull1 dark1 and soundless day in the    
autumn of  the year1 when the clouds    
hung oppressively low in the heavens1 ,i
 had  been passing alone1 on horseback1 
through a singularly dreary tract of    

country2 and at length found myself1 as 
the shades of the evening drew  on1     
within view of the melancholy ,house of 
,usher4 ,i know not how it  was--but1   
with the first glimpse of the building1 
a sense of  insufferable gloom pervaded 
my spirit4 ,i say insufferable2 for the 
feeling was unrelieved by any of that   
half-pleasurable1 because  poetic1      
sentiment with which the mind usually   
receives even the  sternest natural     
images of the desolate or terrible4 ,i  
looked upon the  scene before me--upon  
the mere house1 and the simple landscape
  features of the domain1 upon the bleak
 walls1 upon the vacant eye-like        
windows1 upon a few rank sedges1 and    
upon a few white trunks of  decayed     
trees--with an utter depression of soul 
which ,i can compare to  no earthly     
sensation more properly than to the     
after-dream of the  reveler upon opium3 
the bitter lapse into every-day life1   
the hideous  dropping off of the veil4  
,there was an iciness1 a sinking1 a     

sickening  of the heart1 an unredeemed  
dreariness of thought which no goading  
of  the imagination could torture into  
aught of the sublime4444 ,it was        
possible1 ,i reflected1 that a mere     
different arrangement of the            
particulars of the scene1 of the details
 of the picture1 would be  sufficient to
 modify1 or perhaps to annihilate1 its  
capacity for  sorrowful impression2 and 
acting upon this idea1 ,i reined my     
horse to  the precipitous brink of a    
black and lurid tarn that lay in        
unruffled  lustre by the dwelling1 and  
gazed down--but with a shudder even more
  thrilling than before--upon the       
remodelled and inverted images of the   
gray sedge1 and the ghastly tree-stems1 
and the vacant and eye-like  windows4   
,certainly this setting bears very      
little resemblance to the actual2  but  
just as certainly its artistic fitness  
to the tale of terror  which it preludes
 gives it an imaginative verisimilitude4
    ,a ,realistic ,setting by ,george   

,eliot4--,as an example of a realistic  
setting1 closely copying the actual1 let
 us examine the following  passage from 
,adam ,bede 7,chapter ,,xviii73--       
,you might have known it was ,sunday if 
you had only waked up in the  farmyard4 
,the cocks and hens seemed to know it1  
and made only crooning  subdued noises2 
the very bull-dog looked less savage1 as
 if he would  have been satisfied with a
 smaller bite than usual4 ,the sunshine 
seemed to call all things to rest and   
not to labor2 it was asleep  itself on  
the moss-grown cow-shed2 on the group of
 white ducks  nestling together with    
their bills tucked under their wings2 on
 the  old black sow stretched languidly 
on the straw1 while her largest  young  
one found an excellent spring-bed on his
 mother's fat ribs2 on  ,alick1 the     
shepherd1 in his new smock-frock1 taking
 an uneasy siesta1  half-sitting1       
half-standing on the granary steps4     
,there is no obvious imaginative fitness
 in this passage1 since in the  chapter 

where it occurs the chief characters are
 going to a funeral2  but it has an     
extraordinary verisimilitude1 owing to  
the author's  accurate observation of   
the details of life in rural ,england4  
,the ,quality of ,atmosphere1 or ,local 
,color4--,these two passages  differ    
very widely from each other4 ,in one    
thing1 and one only1 are  they alike4   
,each of them exhibits the subtle       
quality called  atmosphere4 ,this       
quality is very difficult to define1    
though its  presence may be recognized  
instinctively in any work of graphic    
art1  like a painting or a description4 
,without attempting to define it1 we    
may discover the technical basis for its
 presence if we seek out the  sole      
deliberate device in which these two    
passages1 different as they  are in     
every other feature1 are at one4 ,it    
will be noticed that in  each of them   
the details selected for presentation   
have been chosen  solely for the sake of
 a common quality inherent in them--the 

quality  of sombreness and gloom in the 
one case1 and the quality of ,sabbath   
quietude in the other--and that they    
have been marshalled to convey a        
complete sense of this central and      
pervading quality4 ,it is commonly      
supposed that what is called atmosphere 
in a description is  dependent upon the 
setting forth of a multiplicity of      
details2 but  this popular conception is
 a fallacy4 ,atmosphere is dependent    
rather  upon a strict selection of      
details pervaded by a common quality1 a 
rigorous rejection of all others that   
are dissonant in mood1 and an           
arrangement of those selected with a    
view to exhibiting their common  quality
 as the pervading spirit of the scene4  
,this is obviously the technical basis  
for the atmosphere of a purely          
imaginary setting like that of the      
melancholy ,house of ,usher4 ,the       
effect is undeniably produced by the    
suppression of all details that  do not 
contribute to the central sense of      

gloom4 ,but the same device  underlies  
7less obviously1 to be sure7 all such   
descriptions of actual  places as are   
rich in atmosphere4 ,what is called     
local color--the  very look and tone of 
a definite locality--is produced not by 
photographic multiplicity of details1   
but by a marshalling of  materials      
carefully selected to suggest the       
central spirit of the  place to be      
depicted4 ,the camera frequently defeats
 itself by flinging  into emphasis      
details that are dissonant with the     
informing spirit of  the scene it seeks 
to reproduce3 so also does the author   
who  overcrowds his picture with        
multifarious details1 however faithful  
they may be to fact4 ,the true triumphs 
of local coloring have been  made by men
 who have struck at the heart and spirit
 of a place--have  caught its tone and  
timbre as ,george ,du ,maurier did with 
the  ,quartier ,latin--and have set     
forth only such details as tingled with 
this spiritual tone4                    

,recapitulation4--,we have studied the  
many uses of the element of  setting1   
and have seen that in the best-developed
 fiction it has grown  to be entirely   
cordinate with the elements of character
 and action4  ,novelists have come to   
consider that any given story can happen
 only  in a given set of circumstances1 
and that if the setting be changed  the 
action must be altered and the          
characters be differently drawn4 ,it  is
 therefore impossible1 in the best      
fiction of the present day1 to  consider
 the setting as divorced from the other 
elements of the  narrative4 ,there was a
 time1 to be sure1 when description for 
its own  sake existed in the novel1 and 
the action was halted to permit the     
introduction of pictorial passages      
bearing no necessary relation to  the   
business of the story1--blocks of       
setting1 as it were1 which  might be    
removed without detriment to the        
progression of the  narrative4 ,but the 
practice of the best contemporary       

novelists is  summed up and expressed by
 ,henry ,james in this emphatic sentence
 from  his essay on ,the ,art of        
,fiction3--,i cannot imagine composition
  existing in a series of blocks1 nor   
conceive1 in any novel worth  discussing
 at all1 of a passage of description    
that is not in its  intention narrative4
      ,,review ,,questions    #a4       
,explain and illustrate the three       
historic stages in the evolution    of  
the element of setting4    #b4 ,what did
 ,ruskin mean by the pathetic fallacy8  
#c4 ,what are the modern uses of the    
element of setting8    #d4 ,explain the 
process of attaining atmosphere1 or     
local color4    #e4 ,adduce original    
instances of emotional harmony1         
emotional contrast1    and irony in     
setting4      ,,suggested ,,reading     
,,robert ,,louis ,,stevenson3 ,a ,gossip
 on ,romance4    ,,bliss ,,perry3 ,a    
,study of ,prose ,fiction--,chapter     
,,vii1 on ,the  ,setting4    ,read at   
greater length those passages of famous 

fiction from which  have been selected  
the illustrative quotations cited in    
this chapter4          ,,chapter ,,vii  
,,the ,,point ,,of ,,view ,,in          
,,narrative      ,the ,importance of the
 ,point of ,view--,two ,classes1 ,the   
,internal and    the ,external--,i4     
,subdivisions of the ,first ,class3 #a4 
,the ,point of    ,view of the ,leading 
,actor2 #b4 ,the ,point of ,view of     
,some ,subsidiary    ,actor2 #c4 ,the   
,points of ,view of ,different ,actors2 
#d4 ,the    ,epistolary ,point of       
,view4--,,ii4 ,subdivisions of the      
,second    ,class3--#a4 ,the ,omniscient
 ,point of ,view2 #b4 ,the ,limited     
,point of    ,view2 #c4 ,the ,rigidly   
,restricted ,point of ,view--,two ,tones
 of    ,narrative1 ,impersonal and      
,personal3 #a4 ,the ,impersonal ,tone2  
#b4 ,the    ,personal ,tone--,the ,point
 of ,view as a ,factor in               
,construction--,the    ,point of ,view  
as the ,hero of the ,narrative4         
,the ,importance of the ,point of       

,view4--,we have now examined in detail 
the elements of narrative1 and must next
 consider the various points  of view   
from which they may be seen and1 in     
consequence1 be  represented4 ,granted a
 given series of events to be set forth1
 the  structure of the plot1 the means  
of character delineation1 the use of    
setting1 the entire tone and tenor of   
the narrative1 are all dependent        
directly on the answer to the question1 
,who shall tell the story8    ,for a    
given train of incidents is differently 
seen and judged1  according to the      
standpoint from which it is observed4   
,the evidence in  most important murder 
trials consists mainly of successive    
narratives  told by different witnesses2
 and it is very interesting to notice1  
in  comparing them1 how very different a
 tone and tenor is given to the  same   
event by each of the observers who      
recounts it4 ,it remains for  the jury  
to determine1 if possible1 from a       
comparison of the various  views of the 

various witnesses1 what it was that     
actually happened4  ,but this1 in many  
cases1 is extremely difficult4 ,one     
witness saw  the action in one way1     
another in another2 one formed a certain
  judgment of the character of the      
accused1 another formed a judgment      
diametrically different2 each has his   
separate sense of the train of          
causation that culminated in the act2   
the accused himself would  disagree with
 all the witnesses1 if indeed he were   
capable of looking  on the facts without
 conscious or unconscious               
self-deception2 and we  may be certain  
that an infallible omniscient mind1     
cognizant of  all the hidden motives1   
would see the matter differently still4 
,the  task of the jury is1 in the main1 
to induce from all these tragic         
inconsistencies an absolute outlook upon
 the real truth that  underlies the     
facts so differently seen and so        
variously judged4    ,such an absolute  
outlook is hardly possible to the finite

 mind of man2  and though it is often   
assumed by the writer of fiction in the 
telling  of his tale1 it can seldom be  
consistently maintained4 ,it is         
therefore  safer to acknowledge that the
 absolute truth of a story1 whether     
actual or fictitious1 can never be      
entirely told2 that the same train  of  
incidents looks different from different
 points of view2 and that  therefore the
 various points of view from which any  
story may be  looked upon should be     
studied carefully for the purpose of    
determining  from which of them it is   
possible1 in a given case1 to approach  
most  nearly a clear vision of the      
truth4    ,two ,classes1 ,the ,internal 
and the ,external4--,the points of view 
from  which a story may be seen and told
 are many and various2 but they may  all
 be grouped into two classes1 the       
internal and the external4 ,a  story    
seen internally is narrated in the first
 person by one of its  participants2 a  
story seen externally is narrated in the

 third person  by a mind aloof from the 
events depicted4 ,there are1 of course1 
many  variations1 both of the internal  
and of the external point of view4      
,these in turn must be examined1 for the
 purpose of determining the  special    
advantages and disadvantages of each4   
,i4 ,subdivisions of the ,first ,class3 
#a4 ,the ,point of ,view of the         
,leading ,actor4--,first of all1 a story
 may be told by the leading  actor in   
its series of events1--the hero1 as in  
,henry ,esmond1 or the  heroine1 as in  
,jane ,eyre4 ,this point of view is of  
especial value in  narratives in which  
the element of action is predominant4   
,the  multifarious adventures of ,gil   
,blas sound at once more vivid and more 
plausible narrated in the first person  
than they would sound narrated  in the  
third4 ,when what is done is either     
strange or striking1 we  prefer to be   
told about it by the very man who did   
it4 ,treasure  ,island is narrated by   
,jim ,hawkins1 ,kidnapped by ,david     

,balfour2 and  much of the vividness of 
these exciting tales depends upon the   
fact  that they are told in each case by
 a boy who stood ever in the  forefront 
of the action4 ,the plausibility of     
,robinson ,crusoe is  increased by the  
convention that the hero is narrating   
his own  personal experience3 in fact   
,defoe1 in all his fictions1 preferred  
to  write in the first person1 because  
what he sought primarily was            
plausibility of tone4    ,this point of 
view is also of supreme advantage in    
recounting personal  emotion4 ,consider 
for a moment the following paragraph    
from  ,kidnapped 7,chapter ,x73--    ,i 
do not know if ,i was what you call     
afraid2 but my heart beat like a        
bird's1 both quick and little2 and there
 was a dimness came before my  eyes     
which ,i continually rubbed away1 and   
which continually returned4  ,as for    
hope1 ,i had none2 but only a darkness  
of despair and a sort of  anger against 
all the world that made me long to sell 

my life as dear  as ,i was able4 ,i     
tried to pray1 ,i remember1 but that    
same hurry of my  mind1 like a man      
running1 would not suffer me to think   
upon the  words2 and my chief wish was  
to have the thing begin and be done with
  it4    ,now1 for the sake of          
experiment1 let us go through the       
passage1  substituting the pronoun he   
for the pronoun ,i4 ,thus3--    ,he was 
hardly what is called afraid2 but his   
heart beat like a  bird's1 both quick   
and little2 and there was a dimness came
 before his  eyes which he continually  
rubbed away1 and which continually      
returned4  ,as for hope1 he had none4444
 and so forth4 ,notice how much         
vividness  is lost1--how much immediacy 
of emotion4 ,the zest and tang of the   
experience is sacrificed1 because the   
reader is forced to stand aloof  and    
observe it from afar4    ,the point of  
view of the leading actor makes for     
vividness in still  another way4 ,it    
necessitates an absolute concreteness   

and objectivity  in the delineation of  
the subsidiary characters4 ,on the other
 hand1 it  precludes analysis of their  
emotions and their thoughts4 ,the hero  
can  tell us only what they said and    
did1 how they looked in action and in   
speech1 and what they seemed to him to  
think and feel4 ,but he cannot  enter   
their minds and delve among their       
motives4 ,furthermore1 he  cannot1      
without sacrificing naturalness of mood1
 analyze to any great  extent his own   
mental processes4 ,consequently it is   
almost impossible  to tell from the     
hero's point of view a story in which   
the main events  are mental or          
subjective4 ,we can hardly imagine      
,george ,eliot writing  in the first    
person3 the psychological novel demands 
the third4    ,but the chief difficulty 
in telling a story from the leading     
actor's  point of view is the difficulty
 of characterizing the narrator4 ,all   
means of direct delineation are taken   
from him4 ,he cannot write essays  on   

his merits or his faults2 he can neither
 describe nor analyze  himself2 he      
cannot see himself as others see him4   
,we must derive our  sense of who and   
what he is1 solely from the things he   
does and says1  and from his manner of  
telling us about them4 ,and although it 
is not  especially difficult1 within a  
brief compass1 to delineate a character 
through his way of telling things       
,notice ,laughton ,o4 ,zigler1 in ,mr4  
,kipling's ,the ,captive1 whose speech  
has been examined in a former  chapter1 
it is extremely difficult to maintain   
this expedient  consistently throughout 
a lengthy novel4    ,furthermore1 an    
extended story can be told only by a    
person with a  well-trained sense of    
narrative2 and it is often hard to      
concede to  the hero the narrative      
ability that he displays4 ,how is it1 we
 may  ask1 that ,jim ,hawkins is capable
 of such masterly description as that   
of the brown old seaman1 with the sabre 
cut1 in the second paragraph  of        

,treasure ,island8 ,how is it that      
,david ,balfour1 an untutored boy1  is  
capable of writing the rhythmic prose of
 ,robert ,louis ,stevenson1  master of  
style8 ,and in many cases it is also    
difficult to concede to  the hero an    
adequate motive for telling his own     
story4 ,why is it that1  in the sequel  
to ,kidnapped1 ,david ,balfour should   
write out all the  intimate details of  
his love for ,catriona8 ,and how is it  
conceivable  that ,jane ,eyre should    
tell to any one1 and least of all to the
 general  public1 the profound privacies
 of emotion evoked by her relation with 
,mr4 ,rochester8    ,the answer is1 of  
course1 that such violations of the hard
 terms of  actuality are justified by   
literary convention2 and that if the    
gain  in vividness be great enough1 the 
reader will be willing to concede1      
first1 that the story shall be told by  
the leading actor1 regardless  of       
motive1 and second1 that he shall be    
granted the requisite mastery  of       

narrative4 ,but the fact remains that it
 is very hard for the hero  to draw his 
own character except in outline2 and    
therefore if the  emphasis is to lie    
less on what he does than on the sort of
 person  that he is1 the expedient will 
be ineffectual4    ,the main structural 
advantage of telling the story through  
the person  of the hero is that his     
presence as the central figure in every 
event  narrated makes for coherence and 
gives the story unity4 ,but attendant   
disadvantages are that it is often      
difficult to account for the hero's     
presence in every scene1 that he cannot 
be an eye-witness to events  happening  
at the same time in different places1   
and that it is hard to  account for his 
possession of knowledge regarding those 
details of the  plot which have no      
immediate bearing on himself4 ,it seems 
always  somewhat lame to state1 as      
heroes telling their own stories are    
frequently obliged to do1 ,these things 
,i did not know at the time1  and found 

out only afterward2 but ,i insert them  
here1 because it is at  this point in   
the plot that they belong4    #b4 ,the  
,point of ,view of ,some ,subsidiary    
,actor4--,many of these  disadvantages  
may be overcome by telling the tale from
 the point of  view1 not of the leading 
actor1 but of some minor personage in   
the  story4 ,in this case again1        
analysis of character is precluded2 but 
the  narrator may delineate the leading 
actor directly1 through descriptive  and
 expository comment4 ,in stories where  
the hero is an extraordinary  person1   
and could not without immodesty descant 
upon his own unusual  capabilities1 it  
is of obvious advantage to represent him
 from the  point of view of an admiring 
friend4 ,thus when ,poe invented the    
detective story1 he wisely decided to   
exhibit the extraordinary  analytic     
power of ,dupin through a narrative told
 not by the detective  himself but by a 
man who knew him well2 and ,sir ,arthur 
,conan ,doyle1  following in his        

footsteps1 has invented ,dr4 ,watson to 
tell the tales  of ,sherlock ,holmes4   
,the actual instance of ,boswell and    
,johnson substantiates the  possibility 
of a minor actor's knowing intimately   
all phases of a  hero's life and        
character4 ,and since the point of view 
of the  secondary personage is just as  
internal to the events themselves as    
that of the leading actor1 the story may
 be told with an immediacy1 a           
vividness1 and a plausibility           
approximating closely the effect derived
  from a narrative told by the hero4    
,and there is now less difficulty in    
accounting for the narrator's knowledge 
of all the details of the  plot4 ,he can
 witness minor necessary scenes at which
 the hero is not  present2 he can know  
things 7and tell them to the reader7    
which at the  time the hero did not     
know2 and if his presence be withheld   
from an  important incident1 the hero   
can narrate it to him afterward4        
,nevertheless1 it is often very         

difficult to maintain throughout a long 
story the point of view of a minor actor
 in the plot4 ,thackeray breaks  down   
completely in his attempt to tell ,the  
,newcomes from the point  of view of    
,arthur ,pendennis1 the hero of a former
 novel4 ,stevenson  assigns to          
,mackellar the task of narrating ,the   
,master of ,ballantrae3  but when the   
,master disappears and ,mackellar       
remains at home with ,mr4  ,henry1 it is
 necessary for the author to invent a   
second personage1  the ,chevalier de    
,burke1 to tell the story of the        
,master's wanderings4    #c4 ,the       
,points of ,view of ,different          
,actors4--,this last instance leads  us 
to consider the possibility of telling  
different sections of the  story from   
the points of view of different         
characters1 assigning to  each the      
particular phase of the narrative that  
he is especially  fitted to recount4    
,three quarters of the ,strange ,case of
 ,doctor  ,jekyll and ,mr4 ,hyde is     

narrated in the third person1           
externally2 but  the final intimate     
vividness of horror is gained by        
shifting to an  internal point of view  
for the two concluding chapters1--the   
first  written by ,dr4 ,lanyon1 and the 
last by ,jekyll himself4 ,mr4 ,kipling  
has developed to very subtle uses the   
expedient of opening a story  from the  
point of view of a narrator who is named
 simply ,i and who  is not characterized
 in any way at all1 and then letting the
 story  proper be told to this          
impersonal narrator by several          
characters who  are clearly delineated  
through their speech and through the    
parts that  they have played in the tale
 that they are telling4 ,this device is 
used in nearly all the stories of the   
,soldiers ,three4 ,the narrator  meets  
,mulvaney1 ,ortheris1 and ,learoyd under
 certain circumstances1 and  gathers    
from them bit by bit the various        
features of the story1--one  detail     
being contributed by one of the actors1 

another by another1  until out of the   
successive fragments the story is built 
up4 ,it is in  this way also1 as we have
 already noted1 that the tale of ,mrs4  
,bathurst is set before the reader4     
#d4 ,the ,epistolary ,point of          
,view4--,a convenient means of shifting 
the  burden of the narrative at any     
point to a certain special character is 
to introduce a letter written by that   
character to one of the other  people in
 the plot4 ,this expedient is employed  
with extraordinary  cleverness by       
,george ,meredith in ,evan ,harrington4 
,most of the tale  is told externally2  
but every now and then the clever and   
witty  ,countess de ,saldar writes a    
letter in which a leading incident is   
illuminated from her personal point of  
view4    ,ever since the days of        
,richardson the device has frequently   
been used  of telling an entire story   
through a series of letters exchanged   
among  the characters4 ,the main        
advantage of this method is the constant

  shifting of the point of view1 which  
makes it possible for the reader  to see
 every important incident through the   
eyes of each of the  characters in turn4
 ,furthermore1 it is comparatively easy 
to  characterize in the first person    
when the thing that is written is so    
intimate and personal as a letter4 ,but 
the disadvantage of the device  lies in 
the fact that it tends toward           
incoherence in the structure of  the    
narrative4 ,it is hard for the author to
 stick to the point at  every moment    
without violating the casual and        
discursive tone that the  epistolary    
style demands4    ,of course a certain  
unity may be gained if the letters used 
are all  written by a single character4 
,the chief advantage of this method over
  a direct narrative written by one of  
the actors is the added motive  for the 
revelation of intimate matters which is 
furnished by the fact  that the narrator
 is writing1 not for the public at      
large1 but only  for the friend1 or     

friends1 to whom the letters are        
addressed4 ,but a  series of letters    
written by one person only is very      
likely to become  monotonous2 and more  
is usually gained than lost by assigning
 the  epistolary rle successively to    
different characters4    ,,ii4          
,subdivisions of the ,second            
,class4--,we have seen that1 although   
the employment of an internal point of  
view gives a narrative  vividness of    
action1 objectivity of observation1     
immediacy of emotion1  and plausibility 
of tone1 it is attended by several      
difficulties in  the delineation of the 
characters and the construction of the  
plot4 ,it  is therefore in many cases   
more advisable for the author to look   
upon  the narrative externally and to   
write it in the third person4 ,but      
there are several different ways of     
doing this2 for though a story  viewed  
externally is told in every case by a   
mind distinct from that  of any of the  
characters1 there are many different    

stations in which  that mind may set    
itself1 and many different moods in     
which it may  recount the story4    #a4 
,the ,omniscient ,point of              
,view4--,first of all 7to start with a  
phase that contrasts most widely with   
the internal point of view7 the         
external mind may set itself equidistant
 from all the characters and  may assume
 toward them an attitude of absolute    
omniscience4 ,the  story1 in such a     
case1 is told by a sort of god1 who is  
cognizant of  the past and future of the
 action while he is looking at the      
present1  and who sees into the minds   
and hearts of all the characters at once
  and understands them better than they 
do themselves4    ,the main practical   
advantage in assuming the god-like point
 of view is  that the narrator is never 
obliged to account for his possession of
  intimate information4 ,he can observe 
events which happen at the same  time in
 places widely separated4 ,darkness     
cannot dim his eyes2 locked  doors      

cannot shut him out4 ,he can be with a  
character when that  character is most  
alone4 ,he can make clear to us the     
thoughts that do  not tremble into      
speech1 the emotions that falter and    
subside into  inaction4 ,he can know1   
and can convey to us1 how much of a     
person's  real thought is expressed1 and
 how much is concealed1 by the language 
that he uses4 ,and the reader seeks no  
motive to account for the  narrator's   
revelation of the personal secrets of   
the characters4    ,the omniscient point
 of view is the only one that permits   
upon a large  scale the depiction of    
character through mental analysis4 ,it  
is  therefore usually used in the       
psychological novel4 ,it was employed   
always by ,george ,eliot1 and was       
selected almost always by ,george       
,meredith4 ,it is1 of course1 invaluable
 for telling the sort of story  whose   
main events are mental1 or subjective4  
,a spiritual experience  which does not 
translate itself into concrete action   

can be viewed  adequately only from the 
god-like point of view4 ,but when it is 
employed in the narration of objective  
events1 the writer runs the  danger of  
undue abstractness4 ,a certain          
vividness--a certain immediacy  of      
observation--are likely to be lost1     
because of the aloofness from  the      
characters of the mind that sees them4  
,this point of view is at once the most 
easy and the most difficult  that the   
author may assume4 ,technically it is   
the easiest1 because the  writer is     
absolutely free in the selection and the
 patterning of his  narrative materials2
 but humanly it is the most difficult1  
because it  is hard for any man         
consistently to play the god1 even      
toward his own  fictitious creatures4   
,although ,george ,eliot assumes        
omniscience of  ,daniel ,deronda1 the   
consensus of opinion among men of sound 
judgment  is that she does not really   
know her hero4 ,deronda is in truth a   
lesser person than she thinks him2 and  

her assumption of omniscience  breaks   
down4 ,in fact1 unless an author is     
gifted with the god-like  wisdom of     
,george ,meredith1 he is almost sure to 
break down in the  effort to sustain the
 omniscient attitude consistently       
throughout a  complicated novel4    #b4 
,the ,limited ,point of                 
,view4--,therefore1 in assuming a point 
of  view external to the characters1 it 
is usually wiser for the author to      
accept a compromise and to impose       
certain definite limits upon his own    
omniscience4 ,thus1 while maintaining   
the prerogative to enter at any  moment 
the minds of one or more of his         
characters1 he may limit his            
observation of the others to what was   
actually seen and heard of them  by     
those of whose minds he is omniscient4  
,in such a case1 although the  author   
tells the story in the third person1 he 
virtually sees the  story from the point
 of view of a certain actor1 or of      
certain actors1  in it4 ,the only phase 

of this device which we need to examine 
is that  wherein the novelist's         
omniscience is limited to a single      
character4    ,this special point of    
view is employed with consummate art by 
,jane  ,austen4 ,in ,emma1 for example1 
she portrays every intimate detail of   
the heroine's thoughts and feelings1    
entering ,emma's mind at will1 or       
looking at her from the outside with    
omniscient eyes4 ,but in dealing  with  
the other characters1 the author limits 
her own knowledge to what  ,emma knew   
about them1 and sees them consistently  
through the eyes of  the heroine4 ,hence
 the story1 although written by ,jane   
,austen in the  third person1 is really 
seen by ,emma ,woodhouse and thought of 
in the  first4 ,similarly1 in ,pride and
 ,prejudice1 ,elizabeth ,bennet is the  
only character that the author permits  
herself to analyze at any  length3 the  
others are seen objectively1 merely as  
,elizabeth saw them4  ,the reader is    
made acquainted with every step in the  

heroine's gradual  change of feeling    
toward ,mr4 ,darcy2 but of the change in
 ,darcy's  thoughts and feelings toward 
,elizabeth the reader is told nothing   
until she herself discovers it4    ,of  
course1 in applying this device1 it is  
possible for the author1 at  certain    
points in the narrative1 to shift his   
limited omniscience from  one of the    
characters to another4 ,in such a case1 
although the story  is told throughout  
consistently in the third person1 one   
scene may be  viewed from the standpoint
 of one of the characters1 another from 
that  of another character1 and so on4  
,imagine for a moment two adjacent rooms
 with a single door between  them which 
is locked2 and suppose a character alone
 in each of the  rooms1--each person    
thinking of the other4 ,now an author   
assuming  absolute omniscience could    
tell us what each of them was thinking  
at  the selfsame moment3 the locked door
 would not be a bar to him4 ,but an     
author telling the story from the       

attitude of limited omniscience  could  
tell us only what one of them was       
thinking1 and would not be  able to see 
beyond the door4 ,whether or not he     
would find himself at  liberty to choose
 which room he should be cognizant of1  
would depend  of course on whether he   
was maintaining the same point of view  
throughout his story or was selecting it
 anew for every scene4 ,in the  first   
case1 the one character whom he could   
see would be determined in  advance3 in 
the other1 he should have to decide from
 the point of view  of which of them    
that special scene could be the more    
effectively set  forth4    ,the attitude
 of limited omniscience is more easy to 
maintain than that  of a god-like mind  
intimately cognizant of all the         
characters at once2  and furthermore1   
the employment of the more restricted   
point of view  is more likely to produce
 the illusion of life4 ,in actual       
experience1  we see only one mind       
internally1--our own2 all other people  

we look  upon externally3 and a story1  
therefore1 which lays bare to us one    
mind and only one is more in tune with  
life itself than a story in  which many 
minds are searched by an all-seeing eye4
 ,also1 a story told  in the third      
person from the point of view which has 
been illustrated  from ,jane ,austen's  
novels enjoys nearly every advantage of 
a narrative  told in the first person by
 the leading actor1 without being       
encumbered by certain of the most       
noticeable disadvantages4    #c4 ,the   
,rigidly ,restricted ,point of          
,view4--,for the sake of  concreteness1 
however1 it is often advisable for the  
author writing in  the third person to  
restrict his point of view still        
further1 and1  foregoing absolutely the 
prerogative of omniscience1 to limit    
himself  to an attitude merely observant
 and entirely external to all the       
characters4 ,in such a case the author  
wears1 as it were1 an invisible  cap    
like that of ,fortunatus1 which permits 

him to move unnoticed among  his        
characters2 and he reports to us        
externally their looks1 their  actions1 
and their speech1 without ever assuming 
an ability to delve  into their minds4  
,this rigidly external point of view is 
employed  frequently by ,guy de         
,maupassant in his briefer fictions2 but
 although  it is especially valuable in 
the short-story1 it is extremely        
difficult to maintain through the       
extensive compass of a novel4 ,the  main
 advantage of this point of view is that
 it necessitates upon the  part of the  
author an attitude toward his story     
which is at all  moments visual rather  
than intellectual4 ,he does not give a  
ready-made  interpretation of his       
incidents1 but merely projects them     
before the  eyes of his readers and     
allows to each the privilege of         
interpreting  them for himself4 ,but1 on
 the other hand1 the reader loses the   
advantage of the novelist's superior    
knowledge of his creatures3 and1  except

 in dramatic moments when the motives   
are self-evident from the  action1 may  
miss the human purport of the scene4    
,two ,tones of ,narrative1 ,impersonal  
and ,personal3 #a4 ,the ,impersonal     
,tone4--,in employing every phase of the
 external point of view except  the one 
which has been last discussed1 the      
author is free to choose  between two   
very different tones of narrative1--the 
impersonal and the  personal4 ,he may   
either obliterate or emphasize his own  
personality as  a factor in the story4  
,the great epics and folk-tales have all
 been  told impersonally4 ,whatever sort
 of person ,homer may have been1 he     
never obtrudes himself into his         
narrative2 and we may read both the     
,iliad and the ,odyssey without deriving
 any more definite sense of  his        
personality than may be drawn from the  
hints which are given us by  the things 
he knows about4 ,no one knows the author
 of ,beowulf or of  the ,nibelungen     
,lied4 ,these stories seem to tell      

themselves4 ,they are  seen from        
nobody's point of view1 or from         
anybody's--whichever way we  choose to  
say it4 ,many modern authors1 like ,sir 
,walter ,scott1  instinctively assume   
the epic attitude toward their          
characters and  incidents3 they look    
upon them with a large unconsciousness  
of self  and depict them just as any one
 would see them4 ,other authors1 like   
,mr4 ,william ,dean ,howells1 strive    
deliberately to keep the personal  note 
out of their stories3 self-consciously  
they triumph over self in  the endeavor 
to leave their characters alone4    #b4 
,the ,personal ,tone4--,but novelists of
 another class prefer to  admit frankly 
to the reader that the narrator who     
stands apart from  all the characters   
and writes about them in the third      
person is the  author himself4 ,they    
give a personal tone to the narrative2  
they  assert their own peculiarities of 
taste and judgment1 and never let  you  
forget that they1 and they alone1 are   

telling the story4 ,the  reader has to  
see it through their eyes4 ,it is in    
this way1 for  example1 that ,thackeray 
displays his stories1--pitying his      
characters1  admiring them1 making fun  
of them1 or loving them1 and never      
letting  slip an opportunity to chat    
about the matter with his readers4      
,mr4 ,howells1 in ,section ,,xv of his  
,criticism and ,fiction1 comments       
adversely on ,thackeray's tendency to   
stand about in his scene1  talking it   
over with his hands in his pockets1     
interrupting the  action1 and spoiling  
the illusion in which alone the truth of
 art  resides2 and in a further sentence
 he condemns him as a writer who  had so
 little artistic sensibility1 that he   
never hesitated on any  occasion1 great 
or small1 to make a foray among his     
characters1 and  catch them up to show  
them to the reader and tell him how     
beautiful or  ugly they were2 and cry   
out over their amazing properties4 ,this
  sweeping condemnation of the narrative

 attitude of one of the  best-beloved of
 the great masters sounds just a little 
bigoted4 ,it is  true1 of course1 that  
the strictest artists in fiction1 like  
,guy de  ,maupassant1 prefer to tell    
their tales impersonally3 they leave    
their  characters rigidly alone1 and    
allow the reader to see them without    
looking through the author's            
personality4 ,but there is a type of    
literature wherein the chief charm for  
the reader lies in the fact  that he is 
permitted to see things through the     
author's mind4 ,when we  read ,charles  
,lamb's essay on ,the ,south ,sea       
,house1 we read it not so  much to look 
at the deserted and memorable building  
as to look at ,elia  looking at it4     
,similarly many readers return again and
 again to ,the  ,newcomes not so much   
for the pleasure of seeing ,london high 
society  as for the pleasure of seeing  
,thackeray see it4 ,the merit1 or the   
defect1 of the method in any case is a  
question not of rules and  regulations  

but of the tone and quality of the      
author's mind4 ,whether  or not he may  
safely obtrude himself into his fictions
 depends  entirely on who he is4 ,this  
is a matter more of personality than of 
art3 and what might be insufferable with
 one author may stand as the  main merit
 of another4 ,for instance1 the greatest
 charm of ,sir ,james  ,barrie's novels 
emanates from the author's habit of     
emphasizing the  personal relation      
between himself and his characters4 ,the
 author's  many-mooded attitude toward  
,sentimental ,tommy is a matter of human
  interest just as much as anything that
 ,tommy feels himself4    ,let us admit1
 then1 in spite of ,mr4 ,howells1 that  
the author of  fiction has a right to   
assert himself as the narrator1 provided
 that  he be a person of interest and   
charm4 ,it remains for us to consider   
the various moods in which1 in such a   
case1 the writer may look upon  his     
story4 ,the self-obliterating author    
endeavors to hide his own  opinion of   

the characters1 in order not to         
interfere with the reader's             
independence of judgment concerning     
them2 but the author who writes         
personally does not hesitate to reveal1 
nor even to express directly1  his      
admiration of a character's merits or   
his deprecation of a  character's       
defects4 ,you will seek in vain1 in     
studying the  fictitious people of ,guy 
de ,maupassant1 for any indication of   
the  author's approval or disapproval of
 them2 and there is something very      
admirable in this absolute impassiveness
 of art4 ,but on the other  hand1 there 
is a certain salutary humanness about an
 author who loves  or hates his         
characters just as he would love or hate
 the same sort of  people in actual     
life1 and writes about them with the    
glow of personal  emotion4 ,sir ,james  
,barrie often disapproves of ,tommy2    
sometimes he  feels forced to scold him2
 but he loves him for a' that3 and we   
feel  instinctively that the hero is the

 more truthfully delineated for  being  
represented by a friend4    ,the ,point 
of ,view as a ,factor in                
,construction4--,it will be gathered    
from the foregoing discussion of the    
various points of view in  narrative    
that no one of them may be pronounced   
absolutely better than  the others4 ,but
 this much may be said dogmatically3    
there is always  one best point of view 
from which to tell any given            
short-story2 and  although in planning a
 novel the author works with far less   
technical  restriction1 there is almost 
always one best point of view from which
  to tell a given novel4 ,therefore1 it 
is advisable for the author to          
determine as early as possible1 from a  
studious consideration of his           
materials1 what is the best point of    
view from which to tell the story  he is
 planning1 and thereafter to contemplate
 his narrative from that  standpoint and
 that only4 ,furthermore1 the interest  
of art demands  that the point of view  

selected shall1 if possible1 be         
maintained  consistently throughout the 
telling of the story4 ,this1 however1 is
 a  very difficult matter2 and only in  
very recent years have even the  best   
writers grown to master it4 ,the novels 
which have been told  without a single  
violation of this principle are very few
 in number4  ,but the fact remains that 
any unwarrantable breakdown in the point
 of  view selected diseconomizes the    
attention of the reader4 ,it is         
unfortunate1 for instance1 that ,thomas 
,bailey ,aldrich1 in ,marjorie  ,daw1   
should have found it necessary1 after   
telling almost the entire  tale in      
letters1 to shift suddenly to the       
external point of view and  end the     
story with a few pages of direct        
narrative4 ,such an unexpected          
variation of method startles and to some
 extent disrupts the attention  of the  
reader1 and thereby detracts from the   
effect of the thing to be  conveyed4    
,henry ,james and ,mr4 ,kipling exhibit1

 in their several ways1  extraordinary  
mastery of point of view2 and their     
works may very  profitably be studied   
for examples of this special phase of   
artistry  in narrative4 ,the very title 
of ,what ,maisie ,knew1 by ,henry       
,james1  proclaims the rigidly          
restricted standpoint from which the    
narrative  material is seen4 ,in ,mr4   
,kipling's tale1 ,a ,deal in ,cotton1   
which is  included in ,actions and      
,reactions1 the interest is derived     
chiefly  from the trick of telling the  
story twice1--first from the point of   
view of ,adam ,strickland1 and the      
second time from the point of view of   
,adam's native body-servant1 who knew   
many matters that were hidden  from his 
master4    ,the ,point of ,view as the  
,hero of the ,narrative4--,in certain   
special  cases the point of view has    
been made1 so to speak1 the real hero of
  the story4 ,some years ago ,mr4       
,brander ,matthews1 in collaboration    
with  the late ,h4 ,c4 ,bunner1 devised 

a very clever narrative entitled ,the   
,documents in the ,case4 ,it consisted  
merely of a series of numbered          
documents1 widely different in nature1  
presented with neither  introduction nor
 comment by the authors4 ,the series    
contained  clippings from various       
newspapers1 personal letters1 ,i4 ,o4   
,u's1  race-track reports1 pawn-tickets1
 letter-heads1 telegrams1 theatre       
programmes1 advertisements1 receipted   
bills1 envelopes1 etc4 ,in spite  of the
 diversity of these materials1 the      
authors succeeded in  fabricating a     
narrative which was entirely coherent   
and at all points  clear4 ,the main     
interest1 however1 lay in the novelty   
and cleverness  of the point of view2   
and though such an exaggerated technical
  expedient may be serviceable now and  
then for a special sort of story1  it is
 not of any general value4 ,a point of  
view that attracts  attention to itself 
necessarily distracts attention from the
 story  that is being represented2 and  

in a narrative of serious import1 the   
main emphasis should be thrown upon the 
thing that is told rather than  upon the
 way of telling it4      ,,review       
,,questions    #a4 ,in what ways is the 
impression of a narrative dependent on  
the    point of view selected by the    
author8    #b4 ,imagine a fictitious    
event2 and after you have become        
sufficiently    acquainted with this    
imaginary incident1 write seven distinct
    themes1 in each of which this       
incident is projected from a different  
point of view3--#a4 ,as seen by the     
leading actor2 #b4 ,as seen by a        
minor actor2 #c4 ,as seen by different  
actors2 #d4 ,as told in letters2    #e4 
,from an omniscient point of view2 #f4  
,from a limited point of    view2 and   
#g4 ,from a rigidly restricted point of 
view4    #c4 ,imagine a fictitious      
event2 and write two distinct themes1 in
 one    of which this event is recounted
 personally1 and in the other           
impersonally4      ,,suggested ,,reading

    ,read the most important works of   
fiction that have been mentioned in     
this chapter4          ,,chapter ,,viii 
,,emphasis ,,in ,,narrative             
,essential and ,contributory            
,features--,art ,distinguishes ,between 
the    ,two by ,emphasis--,many         
,technical ,devices3 #a4 ,emphasis by   
,terminal    ,position2 #b4 ,emphasis by
 ,initial ,position2 #c4 ,emphasis by   
,pause    ,further ,discussion of       
,emphasis by ,position2 #d4 ,emphasis by
    ,direct ,proportion2 #e4 ,emphasis  
by ,inverse ,proportion2 #f4 ,emphasis  
by ,iteration2 #g4 ,emphasis by         
,antithesis2 #h4 ,emphasis by ,climax2  
#i4    ,emphasis by ,surprise2 #aj4     
,emphasis by ,suspense2 #aa4 ,emphasis  
by    ,imitative ,movement4             
,essential and ,contributory            
,features4--,the features of any object 
that we contemplate may with intelligent
 judgment be divided into two  classes1 
according as they are inherently        
essential1 or else merely  contributory1

 to the existence of that object as an  
individual entity4  ,if any one of its  
inherently essential features should be 
altered1  that object would cease to be 
itself and would become another object2 
but if any or all of its merely         
contributory features should be         
changed1 the object would still retain  
its individuality1 however much  its    
aspect might be altered4 ,and in general
 it may be said that we do  not         
understand an object until we are able  
to set intelligently in one  group or   
the other every feature it presents to  
our attention4    ,art ,distinguishes   
,between the ,two by ,emphasis4--,in    
contemplating  natural objects1 it is   
often difficult to distinguish those    
features  which are merely contributory 
from those which are inherently         
essential2 but it ought not to be       
difficult to do so in contemplating  a  
work of art4 ,for it is possible for the
 artist--in fact it is  incumbent upon  
him--to help the observer to distinguish

 clearly  between the essential and the 
contributory details of the object he   
has fabricated4 ,by employing certain   
technical expedients in  exhibiting his 
work1 the artist is able to communicate 
to the observer  his own intelligent    
distinction between its more important1 
and its  less important1 features4 ,he  
does this by casting emphasis upon the  
necessary details and gathering out of  
emphasis the subsidiary ones4    ,the   
importance of the principle of emphasis 
is recognized in all the  arts2 for it  
is only by an application of this       
principle that the  artist can gather   
and group in the background the         
subsidiary elements  of his work1 while 
he flings into vivid relief those       
elements that  embody the essence of the
 thing he has to say4 ,the halo with    
which the  ,byzantine mosacists         
surrounded the faces of their saints1   
the glory  of golden light that gleams  
about the figure of ,christ in heaven in
  ,tintoretto's decorations1 the blank  

bright walls of the ,doge's palace      
undermined by darkling and shadowy      
arcades1 the refrain of a ,provenal     
song1 the sharp shadow under the visor  
of ,verrocchio's equestrian  statue1 the
 thought-provoking chiaroscuro of       
,rembrandt's figure  paintings--these   
expedients are all designed to attract  
attention to  the essential elements of 
a whole of many parts4 ,by technical    
devices  such as these1 emphasis must be
 given to the central truth of a work   
of art in order that the observer may   
not look instead at the mere  accidents 
of its investiture4 ,where many elements
 are gathered  together for the purpose 
of representing an idea1 some of them   
must be  more important than the others 
because they are to a greater extent    
imbued with it inherently2 and the      
artist will fail of his purpose  unless 
he indicates clearly which elements are 
essential and which are  merely         
subsidiary4    ,many ,technical         
,devices4--,scarcely any other work of  

art1 excepting  a ,gothic cathedral or a
 theatrical performance1 is made of     
elements  more multifarious than those  
of a fictitious narrative4 ,the details 
of  a novel are so many and so various  
that the author needs at all times  a   
nice understanding and a careful        
application of the principle of         
emphasis4 ,it is therefore advisable    
that the present chapter should be      
devoted to the enumeration and          
illustration of the different technical 
devices which are employed by artists in
 narrative to cast the needed  emphasis 
on the essential features of their      
stories4    #a4 ,emphasis by ,terminal  
,position4--,first of all1 it is        
obviously  easy to emphasize by         
position4 ,in any narrative1 or section 
of a  narrative1 that is designed to be 
read in a single sitting1 the last      
moments are of necessity emphatic       
because they are the last4 ,when the    
reader lays the narrative aside1 he     
remembers most vividly the last  thing  

that has been presented to his          
attention2 and if he thinks back  to the
 earlier portions of the story1 he must 
do so by thinking  through the          
concluding passage4 ,therefore1 it is   
necessary in the  short-story1 and      
advisable in the chapters of a novel1 to
 reserve for  the ultimate position one 
of the most inherently important        
features of  the narrative2 for surely  
it is bad art to waste the natural      
emphasis  of position by casting it upon
 a subsidiary feature4    ,the          
importance of this simple expedient will
 readily be recognized if  the student  
will gather together a hundred          
short-stories written by  acknowledged  
masters and examine the last paragraph  
of each4 ,consider  for a moment the    
final sentences of ,markheim1 which we  
have already  quoted in another         
connection3--    ,he confronted the maid
 upon the threshold with something like 
a  smile4    ',you had better go for the
 police1' said he3 ',i have killed your 

master4'    ,the entire story is summed 
up in the concluding phrase2 and the    
final  sentence rings ever after in the 
reader's memory4    ,here1 to cite a new
 example1 is the conclusion of ,poe's   
,the ,masque of  the ,red ,death3--     
,and now was acknowledged the presence  
of the ,red ,death4 ,he had come  like a
 thief in the night4 ,and one by one    
dropped the revellers in the            
blood-bedewed halls of their revel1 and 
died each in the despairing  posture of 
his fall4 ,and the life of the ebony    
clock went out with  that of the last of
 the gay4 ,and the flames of the tripods
 expired4  ,and ,darkness and ,decay and
 the ,red ,death held illimitable       
dominion  over all4    ,the sense of    
absolute ruin which we derive from this 
impressive  paragraph is1 to a          
considerable extent1 due to the emphasis
 it gains  from its finality4 ,the      
effect would unquestionably be          
subtracted from1  if another paragraph  
should be appended and should steal away

 its  importance of position4    ,in    
order to derive the utmost emphasis from
 the terminal position1 the  great      
artist ,guy de ,maupassant1 in his      
short-stories1 developed a  periodicity 
of structure by means of which he       
reserved the solution of  the narrative1
 whenever possible1 until the final     
sentences4 ,this  periodic structure is 
employed1 for example1 in his well-known
 story  of ,the ,necklace 7,la ,parure74
 ,it deals with a poor woman who  loses 
a diamond necklace that she has borrowed
 from a rich friend in  order to wear at
 a ball4 ,she buys another exactly like 
it and returns  this in its place4 ,for 
ten years she and her husband labor day 
and  night to pay off the debts they    
have incurred to purchase the           
substituted jewels4 ,after the debts are
 all paid1 the woman tells her  friend  
of what had happened4 ,then follows this
 last sentence of the  story3--    ',oh1
 my poor ,mathilde4 ,but mine were      
false4 ,at most they were worth  five   

hundred francs6'    ,the periodic       
pattern of ,guy de ,maupassant was      
sedulously copied by ,o4  ,henry2 but   
this popular contributor to the         
,american magazines went  even further  
than his master and developed a double  
surprise to be  delivered suddenly at   
the conclusion of the narrative4 ,a     
typical  example of his work is ,the    
,gift of the ,magi1 wherein an          
unexpected  outcome is immediately      
capped by a second outcome still more   
unexpected4 ,the success of ,o4 ,henry  
with the reading public may be          
attributed mainly to his cleverness in  
taking full advantage of the  powerful  
expedient of emphasis by terminal       
position4 ,his technical  adroitness may
 be studied best by reading rapidly the 
final paragraphs  of any hundred of his 
stories4 ,he had the happy faculty of   
saying last  the best and brightest     
thing he had to say4    #b4 ,emphasis by
 ,initial ,position4--,next to the last 
position1 the  most emphatic place in a 

brief narrative1 or section of a        
narrative1  is of course the first4 ,the
 mind of the reader receives with an    
especial vividness whatever is presented
 to it at the outset4 ,for this  reason 
it is necessary in the short-story1 and 
advisable in the  chapters of a novel1  
to begin with material that not only is 
inherently essential1 but also strikes  
the key-note of the narrative  that is  
to follow4 ,edgar ,allan ,poe is        
especially artistic in applying  this   
principle of emphasis by initial        
position4 ,we have already  quoted1 in  
another connection1 the solemn opening  
of ,the ,fall of the  ,house of ,usher1 
with its suggestion of immitigable gloom
 of setting  as the dominant note of the
 narrative4 ,in ,the ,cask of           
,amontillado1  wherein the thing to be  
emphasized is the element of action1    
,poe  begins with this sentence3 ,the   
thousand injuries of ,fortunato ,i had  
borne as ,i best could2 but when he     
ventured upon insult1 ,i vowed  revenge3

 and we know already that the story is  
to set forth a signal  act of vengeance4
 ,in ,the ,tell-,tale ,heart1 which is a
 study of  murderous madness1 and deals 
primarily with the element of character1
  the author opens thus3--              
,true6--nervous--very1 very dreadfully  
nervous ,i had been and am2 but  why    
will you say that ,i am mad8 ,the       
disease had sharpened my  senses--not   
destroyed--not dulled them4 ,above all  
was the sense of  hearing acute4 ,i     
heard all things in the heaven and in   
the earth4 ,i  heard many things in     
hell4 ,how1 then1 am ,i mad8 ,hearken6  
and observe  how healthily--how calmly  
,i can tell you the whole story4    #c4 
,emphasis by ,pause4--,in general it may
 be said that any pause in a  narrative 
emphasizes by position whatever         
immediately precedes it1 and  also      
7though to a considerably less extent7  
whatever immediately  follows it4 ,for  
this reason many masters of the         
short-story1 like  ,daudet and de       

,maupassant1 construct their narratives 
in sections1 in  order to multiply the  
number of terminal and initial          
positions4  ,asterisks strung across the
 page not only make the reader aware of 
the  completion of an integral portion  
of the story1 but also focus his        
attention emphatically on the last thing
 that has been said before the          
interruption4 ,the employment of points 
de suspension--a mark of  punctuation   
consisting of a series of successive    
dots 444--which is so  frequent with    
,french authors1 is a device which is   
used to interrupt a  sentence solely for
 the sake of emphasis by pause4         
,further ,discussion of ,emphasis by    
,position4--,the instances which we     
have selected to illustrate the         
expedient of emphasizing by position    
have been chosen for convenience from   
short-stories2 but the same  principle  
may be applied with similar success in  
constructing the  chapters of a novel4  
,certain great but inartistic novelists1

 like ,sir  ,walter ,scott1 show        
themselves to be singularly obtuse to   
the advantage  of placing emphatic      
material in an emphatic position4 ,scott
 is almost  always careless of his      
chapter endings3 he allows the sections 
of his  narrative to drift and straggle1
 instead of rounding them to an         
emphatic close4 ,but more artistic      
novelists1 like ,victor ,hugo for       
example1 never fail to take advantage of
 the terminal position4  ,consider the  
close of ,book ,,xi1 ,chapter ,,ii1 of  
,notre ,dame de ,paris4  ,the           
gypsy-girl1 ,esmeralda1 has been hanged 
in the ,place de ,grve4 ,the  hunchback1
 ,quasimodo1 has flung the archdeacon1  
,claude ,frollo1 from  the tower-top of 
,notre ,dame4 ,this paragraph then      
brings the chapter to  an end3--        
,quasimodo then raised his eye to the   
gypsy1 whose body he saw1  depending    
from the gibbet1 shudder afar under her 
white robe with the  last tremblings of 
death-agony2 then he lowered it to the  

archdeacon1  stretched out at the foot  
of the tower and no longer having human 
form2 and he said with a sob that made  
his deep chest heave3 ',oh6 all  that ,i
 have loved6'    ,a chapter ending may  
be artistically planned either 7as in   
the  foregoing instance7 to sum up with 
absolute finality the narrative         
accomplishment of the chapter1 or else1 
by vaguely foreshadowing the  subsequent
 progress of the story1 to lure the     
reader to proceed4 ,the  elder ,dumas   
possessed in a remarkable degree the    
faculty of so  terminating one chapter  
as to allure the reader to an immediate 
commencement of the next4 ,he did this  
most frequently by introducing a  new   
thread of narrative in a phrase of the  
concluding sentence1 and  thereby       
exciting the reader's curiosity to      
follow up the thread4    ,the expedient 
of emphasis by terminal and by initial  
position cannot1  of course1 be applied 
without reservation to an entire novel4 
,the last  chapter of a novel with a    

complicated plot is often of necessity  
devoted to tying or untying minor knots 
in the straggling threads of  the       
general network4 ,therefore1 the most   
emphatic place in an extended  narrative
 is not at the very end1 but rather at  
the close of the  chapter which sets    
forth the culmination4 ,also1 although  
many great  novels1 like ,the ,scarlet  
,letter1 have begun at an emphatic      
moment in  the plot1 many others have   
opened slowly and have presented no     
important material until the narrative  
was well under way4 ,the  ,talisman of  
,scott1 ,the ,spy of ,fenimore ,cooper1 
and many another  early                 
nineteenth-century romance1 began with a
 solitary horseman whom  the reader was 
forced to follow for several pages      
before anything  whatever happened4     
,latterly1 however1 novelists have      
learned from  writers of short-stories  
the art of opening emphatically with    
material  important to the plot4    #d4 
,emphasis by ,direct                    

,proportion4--,another means of emphasis
 in  narrative is by proportion4 ,more  
time and more attention should be  given
 to essential scenes than to matters of 
subsidiary interest4 ,the  most         
important characters should be given    
most to say and do2 and the  amount of  
attention devoted to the others should  
be proportioned to  their importance in 
the action4 ,becky ,sharp stands out    
sharply from  the half a hundred other  
characters in ,vanity ,fair1 because    
more  time is devoted to her than to any
 of the others4 ,similarly1 in ,emma    
and in ,pride and ,prejudice1 as we have
 noted in the preceding  chapter1 the   
heroine is in each case emphasized by   
the fact that she  is set forth from a  
more intimate point of view than the    
minor people  in the story4 ,it is wise1
 for the sake of emphasis by proportion1
 to  draw the major characters more     
completely and more carefully than the  
minor2 and much may therefore be said1  
on this ground1 in defence of           

,dickens's habit of drawing humanly only
 the leading characters in his  novels  
and merely sketching in caricature the  
subsidiary actors4    #e4 ,emphasis by  
,inverse ,proportion4--,it is sometimes 
possible1 in  special cases1 to         
emphasize ironically by inverse         
proportion4 ,an  author may deliberately
 devote several successive pages to     
dwelling on  subsidiary matters1 only to
 emphasize sharply a sudden paragraph or
  sentence in which he turns to the one 
thing that really counts4 ,but  this    
ironical expedient is1 of course1 less  
frequently serviceable  than that of    
emphasis by direct proportion4    #f4   
,emphasis by ,iteration4--,undoubtedly  
the easiest means of  inculcating a     
detail of narrative is to repeat it     
again and again4  ,emphasis by iteration
 is a favorite device of ,dickens4 ,the 
reader is  never allowed to forget the  
catch-phrase of ,micawber or the moral  
look  of ,pecksniff4 ,in many cases1 to 
be sure1 the reader wishes that he      

might escape the constantly recurrent   
repetition2 but ,dickens  occasionally  
applies the expedient with subtle       
emotional effect4 ,in ,a  ,tale of ,two 
,cities1 for example1 the repeated      
references to echoing  footsteps and to 
the knitting of ,madame ,defarge        
contribute a great  deal to the sense of
 imminent catastrophe4    ,certain      
modern authors have developed a phase of
 emphasis by iteration  which is similar
 to the employment of the leit-motiv in 
the  music-dramas of ,richard ,wagner4  
,in the ,wagnerian operas a certain     
musical theme is devoted to each of the 
characters1 and is woven into  the score
 whenever the character appears4        
,similarly1 in the later  plays of      
,henrik ,ibsen1 certain phrases are     
repeated frequently1 to  indicate the   
recurrence of certain dramatic moods4   
,thus1 in  ,rosmersholm1 reference is   
made to the weird symbol of white       
horses1 whenever the mood of the        
momentary scene foreshadows the  double 

suicide which is to terminate the play4 
,students of ,hedda  ,gabler need not be
 reminded of the emphasis flung by      
iteration on the  phrases1 ,vine-leaves 
in his hair1 ,fancy that1 ,hedda61      
,wavy-haired  ,thea1 ,the one cock on   
the fowl-roost1 and ,people don't do    
such  things6 ,the same device may be   
employed just as effectively in the     
short-story and the novel4 ,a single    
instance will suffice for  illustration4
 ,notice1 in examining the impressive   
talk of the old lama  in ,mr4 ,kipling's
 ,kim1 how much emphasis is derived from
 the  continual recurrence of certain   
phrases1 like the ,search for the       
,river1 the justice of the ,wheel1 to   
acquire merit1 and so forth4    ,a      
narrative expedient scarcely            
distinguishable in effect from simple   
iteration is the device of parallelism  
of structure4 ,for example1 in          
,hawthorne's story of ,the ,white ,old  
,maid1 the first scene and the  last1   
although they are separated in time by  

many1 many years1 take  place in the    
same spacious chamber1 with the         
moonbeams falling in the  same way      
through two deep and narrow windows1    
while waving curtains  produce the same 
ghostly semblance of expression on a    
face that is  dead4    #g4 ,emphasis by 
,antithesis4--,emphasis in narrative is 
also  attained by antithesis1--an       
expedient employed in every art4 ,in    
most  stories it is well so to select   
the characters that they will set  each 
other off by contrast4 ,in the great    
duel scene of the ,master  of           
,ballantrae1 from which a selection has 
been quoted in a previous  chapter1 the 
phlegmatic calm of ,mr4 ,henry is       
contrasted sharply  with the mercurial  
hot-headedness of the ,master2 and each 
character  stands forth more vividly    
because of its opposition to the other4 
,of the two women who are loved by ,tito
 ,melema1 the one1 ,tessa1 is  simple   
and childish1 the other1 ,romola1       
complex and intellectual4  ,the most    

interesting stories present a constant  
contrast of  mutually foiling           
personalities2 and whenever characters  
of varied  views and opposing aims come 
nobly to the grapple in a struggle that 
vitally concerns them1 the tensity of   
the situation will be augmented  if the 
difference between the characters is    
marked4 ,this expedient  is therefore of
 especial importance in the drama4      
,othello seems more  poignantly         
emotional in the presence of the coldly 
intellectual  ,iago4 ,in ,the ,school   
for ,scandal1 ,charles and ,joseph      
,surface are  much more effective       
together than either of them would be   
alone4 ,the  wholehearted and           
happy-go-lucky recklessness of the one  
sets off  the smooth and smug           
dissimulation of the other2 the first   
gives light  to the play1 and the second
 shade4 ,hamlet's wit is sharpened by   
the  garrulous obtuseness of ,polonius2 
the sad world-wisdom of ,paula          
,tanqueray is accentuated by the        

innocence of ,ellean4 ,similarly1 to    
return to the novel for examples1 we    
need only instance the contrast  in mind
 between ,sherlock ,holmes and ,dr4     
,watson1 the contrast in mood  between  
,claude ,frollo and ,phoebus de         
,chteaupers1 the contrast in  ideals    
between ,daniel ,deronda and ,gwendolen 
,grandcourt4    ,the expedient of       
antithesis is also employed effectively 
in the  balance of scene against scene4 
,the absolute desolation which          
terminates ,the ,masque of the ,red     
,death is preceded by a masked ball  of 
the most unusual magnificence4 ,in      
,scott's ,kenilworth1 we pass  from the 
superb festivities which ,leicester     
institutes in honor of  ,queen          
,elizabeth1 to the lonely prison where  
,amy ,robsart1 his discarded  wife1 is  
languishing4 ,victor ,hugo is1 in modern
 fiction1 the greatest  master of       
antithesis of mood between scene and    
scene4 ,his most  emphatic effects are  
attained1 like those of ,gothic         

architecture1 by a  juxtaposition of the
 grotesque and the sublime4 ,often1 to  
be sure1 he  overworks the antithetic2  
and entire sections of his narrative    
move  like the walking-beam of a        
ferry-boat1 tilting now to this side1   
now  to that4 ,but in spite of his      
excess in employing this device1 his    
practice should be studied carefully2   
for at his best he illustrates  more    
convincingly than any other author the  
effectiveness of emphasis  by contrast4 
,the subtlest way of employing this     
expedient is to present an  antithesis  
of mood within a single scene4 ,dame    
,quickly's account of  ,falstaff's death
 touches at once the heights of humor   
and the depths  of pathos4 ,at the close
 of ,mrs4 ,bathurst1 the tragic         
narrative is  interrupted by the passage
 of a picnic-party singing a light      
love-song4 ,shylock1 in his great       
dialogue with ,tubal1 is at the same    
moment plunged in melancholy over the   
defection of his daughter and  flushed  

with triumph because he has ,antonio at 
last within his  clutches4 ,each emotion
 seems more potent because it is        
contrasted with  the other4 ,in ,mr4    
,kipling's ,love-o'-,women1 the tragic  
effect is  enhanced by the fact that the
 tale is told by the humorous ,mulvaney4
  ,thus3--    ',an' now8' she sez1      
lookin' at him2 an' the red paint stud  
lone on  the white av her face like a   
bull's-eye on a target4    ,he lifted up
 his eyes1 slow an' very slow1 an' he   
looked at her long  an' very long1 an'  
he tuk his spache betune his teeth wid a
 wrench  that shuk him4    ',i'm dyin'1 
,aigypt--dyin'1' he says2 ay1 those were
 his words1 for ,i  remimber the name he
 called her4 ,he was turnin' the        
death-color1 but  his eyes niver rowled4
 ,they were set--set on her4 ,widout    
word or  warnin' she opened her arms    
full stretch1 an' ',here6' she sez4     
7,oh1  fwhat a golden mericle av a voice
 ut was47 ',die here1' she sez2 an'     
,love-o'-,women dhropped forward1 an'   

she hild him up1 for she was a  fine big
 woman4    #h4 ,emphasis by             
,climax4--,another rhetorical expedient 
from  which emphasis may be derived is1 
of course1 the use of climax4  ,the     
materials of a short-story1 or of a     
chapter of narrative1  should in nearly 
every case be assembled in an ascending 
order of  importance1--each incident    
carrying the interest to a higher  level
 than that of the preceding4 ,the same  
is true of the structure  of a novel    
from the outset to the moment of the    
culmination2 but  of course it is rarely
 possible in the dnouement to carry the 
interest any higher than the level it   
attained at the point of  greatest      
complication4 ,climacteric              
progressiveness of structure  is        
effectively exhibited in ,henry ,james' 
tale of mystery and  terror1 ,the ,turn 
of the ,screw4 ,the author on horror's  
head  horrors accumulates1 in a steadily
 ascending scale4 ,but1 on the  other   
hand1 many stories have been marred by  

the introduction of  a very striking    
scene too early in the structure1 after 
which  there has succeeded of necessity 
an appreciable diminution in the        
interest4 ,the reason why sequels to    
great novels have rarely been           
successful is that it has been          
impossible for the author in the  second
 volume to sustain a climacteric rise of
 interest from the  level where he left 
off in the first4    #i4 ,emphasis by   
,surprise4--,a means of emphasis less   
technical and  more psychological than  
those which have been hitherto discussed
 is  that which owes its origin to      
surprise4 ,whatever hits the reader     
unexpectedly will hit him hard4 ,he will
 be most impressed by that for  which he
 has been least prepared4 ,chapter      
,,xxxii of ,vanity ,fair  passes in     
,brussels during the battle of          
,waterloo4 ,the reader is kept  in the  
city with the women of the story while  
the men are fighting on  the field a    
dozen miles away4 ,all day a distant    

cannonading rumbles on  the ear4 ,at    
nightfall the noise stops suddenly4     
,then1 at the end of  the chapter1 the  
reader is told3--    ,no more firing was
 heard at ,brussels--the pursuit rolled 
miles away4  ,darkness came down on the 
field and city3 and ,amelia was praying 
for  ,george1 who was lying on his face1
 dead1 with a bullet through his  heart4
    ,this statement of ,george          
,osborne's death is emphasized in       
several ways  at once4 ,it is made      
emphatic by position1 since it is placed
 at the  very end of a long chapter2 by 
inverse proportion1 since it is set     
forth in a single phrase after many     
pages that have been devoted to  less   
important matters2 but most of all by   
the startle of surprise  with which it  
strikes the reader4 ,likewise1 the last 
sentence of de  ,maupassant's ,the      
,necklace1 quoted earlier in this       
chapter1 is  emphatic by surprise as    
well as by position2 and the same is    
true of  the clever and unexpected close

 of ,h4 ,c4 ,bunner's ,a ,sisterly      
,scheme1  in many ways a little         
masterpiece of art4    ,in tales of     
mystery1 the interest is maintained     
chiefly by the deft  manipulation of    
surprise2 but even in novels wherein the
 aim to  mystify is very far from being 
the primary purpose of the author1 it   
is often wise to keep a secret from the 
reader for the sake of the  emphasis by 
surprise which may be derived at the    
moment of revelation4  ,in ,our ,mutual 
,friend the reader is led for a long    
time to suppose  that the character of  
,mr4 ,boffin is changing for the worse2 
and his  interest is stimulated keenly  
when he discovers ultimately that the   
apparent degeneration has been only a   
pretense4    ,in the drama this         
expedient must be used with great       
delicacy1 because  a sudden and         
startling shock of surprise is likely to
 scatter the  attention of the          
spectators and flurry them out of a true
 conception  of the scene4 ,the reader  

of a novel1 when he discovers with      
surprise  that he has been skilfully    
deceived through several pages1 may     
pause  to reconstruct his conception of 
the narrative1 and may even re-read  the
 entire passage through which the secret
 has been withheld from  him4 ,but in   
the theatre1 the spectators cannot stop 
the play while  they reconstruct in     
retrospect their judgment of a          
situation2 and  therefore1 in the drama1
 a moment of surprise should be         
carefully led  up to by anticipatory    
suggestion4 ,before ,lady ,macbeth is   
disclosed  walking in her sleep1 her    
doctor and her waiting-gentlewoman are  
sent  on to tell the audience of her    
slumbery agitation4 ,this is excellent  
art in the theatre2 but it would be bad 
art in the pages of a novel4  ,in a     
story written to be read1 surprise is   
most effective when it is  complete4    
#aj4 ,emphasis by ,suspense4--,an even  
more interesting form of emphasis  in   
narrative is emphasis by suspense4      

,wilkie ,collins is accredited  with    
having said that the secret of holding  
the attention of one's  readers lay in  
the ability to do three things3 ,make   
'em laugh2 make  'em weep2 make 'em     
wait4 ,still abide these three2 and the 
greatest is  the last4 ,the ability to  
make the reader wait1 through many pages
 and  at times through many chapters1 is
 a very valuable asset of the writer  of
 fiction2 but this ability is applied to
 best advantage when it is  exercised   
within certain limitations4 ,in the     
first place1 there is no  use in making 
the reader wait unless he is first given
 an inkling of  what he is to wait for4 
,the reader should be tantalized2 he    
should be  made to long for the fruit   
that is just beyond his grasp2 and he   
should not be left in ignorance as to   
the nature of the fruit1 lest he  should
 long for it half-heartedly4 ,a vague   
sense of something  evermore about to be
 is not so interesting to the reader as 
a vivid  sense of the imminence of some 

particular occurrence that he wishes    
ardently to witness4 ,the expedient of  
suspense is most effective when  either 
of two things and only two1 both of     
which the reader has  imagined in       
advance1 is just about to happen1 and   
the reader1 desirous  of the one and    
apprehensive of the other1 is kept      
waiting while the  balance trembles4 ,in
 the second place1 there is seldom any  
use in  making the reader wait unless he
 is given in the end the thing he has   
been waiting for4 ,a short-story may    
occasionally set forth a suspense  which
 is never to be satisfied4 ,frank ,r4   
,stockton's famous tale1 ,the  ,lady or 
the ,tiger81 ends with a question which 
neither the reader nor  the author is   
able to answer2 and ,bayard ,taylor's   
fascinating  short-story1 ,who ,was     
,she81 never reveals the alluring secret
 of the  heroine's identity4 ,but in an 
extended story an unsatisfied suspense  
is often less emphatic than no suspense 
at all1 because the reader in  the end  

feels cheated by the author who has made
 him wait for nothing4  ,there are1 of  
course1 exceptions to this statement4   
,in ,the ,marble  ,faun1 ,hawthorne is  
undoubtedly right in never revealing the
 shape of  ,donatello's ears1 even      
though the reader continually expects   
the  revelation2 but1 in the same novel1
 it is difficult to see what1 if        
anything1 is gained by making the reader
 wait in vain for the truth  about the  
shadowy past of ,miriam4    #aa4        
,emphasis by ,imitative                 
,movement4--,emphasis in narrative may  
also  be attained by imitative movement4
 ,whatever is imagined to have  happened
 quickly should be narrated quickly1 in 
few words and in rapid  rhythm2 and     
whatever is imagined to have happened   
slowly should be  narrated in a more    
leisurely manner1--sometimes in a       
greater number of  words than are       
absolutely necessitated by the sense    
alone1--the words  being arranged1      
furthermore1 in a rhythm of appreciable 

sluggishness4  ,in ,markheim1 the dealer
 is murdered in a single sudden         
sentence3  ,the long1 skewerlike dagger 
flashed and fell4 ,but1 later on in the 
story1 it takes the hero a whole        
paragraph1 containing no less than      
three hundred words1 to mount the       
four-and-twenty steps to the first      
floor of the house4 ,in the following   
passage from ,the ,masque of the  ,red  
,death1 notice how much of the effect is
 due to imitative movement  in the      
narrative3--    ,but from a certain     
nameless awe with which the mad         
assumptions of the  mummer had inspired 
the whole party there were found none   
who put  forth hand to seize him2 so    
that1 unimpeded1 he passed within a yard
  of the ,prince's person2 and1 while   
the vast assembly1 as if with one       
impulse1 shrank from the centres of the 
rooms to the walls1 he made  his way    
uninterruptedly1 but with the same      
solemn and measured step  which had     
distinguished him from the first1       

through the blue chamber  to the        
purple--through the purple to the       
green--through the green to  the        
orange--through this again to the       
white--and even thence to the  violet1  
ere a decided movement had been made to 
arrest him4 ,it was  then1 however1 that
 the ,prince ,prospero1 maddening with  
rage and the  shame of his own momentary
 cowardice1 rushed hurriedly through the
 six  chambers1 while none followed him 
on account of a deadly terror that  had 
seized upon all4 ,the spectre and the   
,prince pass successively  through the  
same series of rooms2 but it takes the  
former fifty-one  words to cover the    
distance1 whereas it takes the latter   
only six4    ,in every story that is    
artistically fashioned1 the methods of  
emphasis  enumerated in this chapter    
will be found to be continually applied4
  ,its essential features will be       
rendered prominent by position          
7terminal or initial71 by pause1 by     
proportion 7direct or inverse71 by      

iteration or parallelism1 by antithesis1
 by climax1 by surprise1 by  suspense1  
by imitative movement1 or by a          
combination of any or all of  these4    
,the necessity of emphasis is ever      
present2 the means of  emphasis are     
simple2 and any writer of narrative who 
knows his art  will endeavor to employ  
them always to the best advantage4      
,,review ,,questions    #a4 ,what       
reasons account for the importance of   
the principle of    emphasis in art8    
#b4 ,imagine a fictitious event of      
sufficient complexity2 select the one   
detail that seems to be the most        
essential2 and then write eleven        
distinct themes1 narrating this same    
incident1 and emphasizing this    detail
 successively1 #a4 ,by ,terminal        
,position2 #b4 ,by ,initial             
,position2 #c4 ,by ,pause2 #d4 ,by      
,direct ,proportion2 #e4 ,by ,inverse   
,proportion2 #f4 ,by ,iteration2 #g4 ,by
 ,antithesis2 #h4 ,by ,climax2 #i4 ,by  
,surprise2 #aj4 ,by ,suspense1 and #aa4 

,by ,imitative ,movement4               
,,suggested ,,reading    ,,victor       
,,hugo3 ,notre ,dame de ,paris4--,this  
is one of the great novels  of the      
world2 and it illustrates1 at many      
moments1 every technical  device of     
emphasis that has been expounded in this
 chapter4          ,,chapter ,,ix       
,,the ,,epic1 ,,the ,,drama1 ,,and ,,the
 ,,novel        ,fiction a ,generic     
,term--,narrative in ,verse and         
,narrative in    ,prose--,three ,moods  
of ,fiction3 ,i4 ,the ,epic ,mood--,,ii4
 ,the ,dramatic    ,mood3 #a4 ,influence
 of the ,actor2 #b4 ,influence of the   
,theatre2 #c4    ,influence of the      
,audience--,dramatized ,novels--,,iii4  
,the    ,novelistic ,mood4      ,fiction
 a ,generic ,term4--,throughout the     
present volume1 the word  fiction has   
been used with a very broad             
significance1 to include  every type of 
literary composition whose purpose is to
 embody certain  truths of human life in
 a series of imagined facts4 ,the reason

 for  this has been that the same       
general artistic methods1 with very     
slight  and obvious modifications1 are  
applicable to every sort of narrative   
which sets forth imagined people in a   
series of imagined acts4 ,nearly  all of
 the technical principles which have    
been outlined in the six  preceding     
chapters apply not only to the novel and
 the short-story1  but likewise to the  
epic and the lesser narrative in verse1 
and also  7though with certain evident  
limitations7 to the drama4 ,the         
materials  and methods of fiction may be
 studied in the works of ,homer1        
,shakespeare1 and even ,browning1 as    
well as in the works of ,balzac1        
,turgnieff1 and ,mr4 ,kipling4 ,the     
nature of narrative is necessarily  the 
same1 whatever be its mood or its       
medium4 ,the methods of  constructing   
plots1 of delineating characters1 of    
employing settings1  do not differ      
appreciably whether a narrative be      
written in verse or  in prose2 and in   

either case the same selection of point 
of view and  variety of emphasis are    
possible4 ,therefore1 in this volume1 no
  attempt has hitherto been made to     
distinguish one type of fictitious      
narrative from another4    ,narrative in
 ,verse and ,narrative in ,prose4--,such
 a distinction1 if it  be attempted at  
all1 should be made only on the broadest
 and most  general lines4 ,first of all1
 it should be admitted that1 in an      
inquiry  concerned solely with the      
methods of fiction1 no technical        
distinction  is possible between the    
narrative that is written in verse and  
the  narrative that is written in prose4
 ,the two differ in the mood of  their  
materials and the medium through which  
they are expressed2 but  they do not    
differ distinctly in methods of         
construction4 ,as far as  plot and      
characters and setting are concerned1   
,sir ,walter ,scott went  to work in the
 ,waverley ,novels1 which are written in
 prose1 just as he  had gone to work in 

,marmion and ,the ,lady of the ,lake1   
which are  written in verse4 ,in his    
verse he said things with the better    
art1 in  his prose he had more things to
 say2 but in each case his central      
purpose was the same3 and nothing can be
 gained from a critical dictum  that    
,ivanhoe is fiction and that ,marmion is
 not4 ,in the history of  every nation1 
fiction has been written earliest in    
verse and only  afterwards in prose4    
,what we loosely call the novel was     
developed  late in literature1 at a time
 after prose had supplanted verse as the
  natural medium for narrative4         
,therefore1 and therefore only1 have we 
come to regard the novel as a type of   
prose literature4 ,for there is  no     
inherent reason why a novel may not be  
written in verse4 ,there is a  sense in 
which ,mrs4 ,browning's ,aurora ,leigh1 
,owen ,meredith's  ,lucile1 and         
,coventry ,patmore's ,the ,angel in the 
,house1 to mention  works of very       
different quality and calibre1 may be   

regarded more  properly as novels than  
as poems4 ,the story of ,maud inspired  
,tennyson to poetic utterance1 and he   
told the tale in a series of  exquisite 
lyrics2 but the same story might have   
been used by a  different author as the 
basis for a novel in prose4 ,the subject
 of  ,evangeline was suggested to       
,longfellow by ,hawthorne2 and if the   
great prose poet had written the story  
himself1 it would not have  differed    
essentially in material or in structural
 method from the  narrative as we know  
it through the medium of the verse      
romancer4  ,franois ,coppe has composed 
admirable short-stories in verse as     
well as in prose4 ,the ,strike of the   
,iron-,workers 7,la ,grve des           
,forgerons71 which is written in rhymed 
,alexandrines1 does not  differ markedly
 in narrative method from ,the          
,substitute 7,le  ,remplaant71 which is 
written in prose4 ,to be sure1 the      
former is a  poem and the latter is not2
 but only a very narrow-minded critic   

would  call the latter a short-story    
without applying the same term also to  
the former4 ,therefore1 the question    
whether a certain fictitious tale       
should be told in verse or in prose has 
no place in a general  discussion of the
 materials and methods of fiction4 ,it  
is a matter  of expression merely1 and  
must be decided in each case by the     
temperamental attitude of the author    
toward his subject-matter4    ,three    
,moods of ,fiction4--,eliminating1      
therefore1 as unprofitable any  attempt 
at a critical distinction between       
fiction that is written in  verse and   
fiction that is written in prose1 we may
 yet derive a  certain profit from a    
distinction along broad and general     
lines  between three leading moods of   
fiction1--the epic1 the dramatic1 and   
what 7lacking a more precise term7 we   
may call the novelistic4 ,certain       
materials of fiction are inherently     
epic1 or dramatic1 or novelistic1  as   
the case may be4 ,also1 an author1      

according to his mental attitude  toward
 life and toward the subject-matter of  
his fictions1 may cast  his stories     
either in the epic1 the dramatic1 or the
 novelistic mood4  ,in order to         
understand this distinction1 we must    
examine the nature of  the epic and the 
drama1 and then study the novel in      
comparison with  these two elder types  
of fiction4    ,i4 ,the ,epic           
,mood4--,the great epics of the world1  
whether1 as in the  case of the ,norse  
sagas and possibly of the ,homeric      
poems1 they have  been a gradual and    
undeliberate aggregation of traditional 
ballads1 or  else1 as in the case of the
 neid and ,paradise ,lost1 they have    
been the deliberate production of a     
single conscious artist1 have  attained 
their chief significance from the fact  
that they have summed  up within        
themselves the entire contribution to   
human progress of a  certain race1 a    
certain nation1 a certain organized     
religion4 ,the  glory that was ,greece  

is epitomized and sung forever in the   
,iliad1--the grandeur that was ,rome1 in
 the neid4 ,all that the  ,middle ,ages 
gave the world is gathered and expressed
 in the ,divine  ,comedy of ,dante3 all 
of medieval history1 science1           
philosophy1  scholarship1 poetry1       
religion may be reconstructed from a    
right  reading and entire understanding 
of this single monumental poem4 ,if  you
 would know ,portugal in her great age  
of discovery and conquest and  national 
expansion1 read the ,lusiads of ,camons4
 ,if you would know  ,christianity      
militant against the embattled legions  
of the ,saracens1  read the ,jerusalem  
,liberated of ,tasso4 ,if you would know
 what the  ,puritan religion once meant 
to the greatest minds of ,england1 read 
the  ,paradise ,lost of ,milton4    ,the
 great epics have attained this         
resumptive and historical  significance 
only by exhibiting as subject-matter a  
vast and communal  struggle1 in which an
 entire race1 an entire nation1 an      

entire  organized religion has been     
concerned1--a struggle imagined as so   
vast  that it has shaken heaven as well 
as earth and called to conflict not     
only men but also gods4 ,the epic has   
dealt always with a struggle1 at  once  
human and divine1 to establish a great  
communal cause4 ,this  cause1 in the    
neid1 is the founding of ,rome2 in the  
,jerusalem  ,liberated it is the        
recovery of the ,holy ,sepulchre2 in the
 ,faerie  ,queene it is the triumph of  
the virtues over the vices2 in the      
,lusiads it is the discovery and        
conquest of the ,indies2 in the  ,divine
 ,comedy it is the salvation of the     
human soul4 ,whatever  nations1 whatever
 races1 whatever gods oppose the        
founding of ,rome or  the liberation of 
,jerusalem must be conquered1 because in
 either case  the epic cause is         
righteous and predestined to prevail4   
,as a result of this1 the characters in 
the great epics are memorable  mainly   
because of the part that they play in   

advancing or retarding  the victory of  
the vast and social cause which is the  
subject of the  story4 ,their virtues   
and their faults are communal and       
representative3  they are not adjudged  
as individuals1 apart from the conflict 
in which  they figure3 and1 as a        
consequence1 they are rarely interesting
 in  their individual traits4 ,it is in 
rendering the more intimate and         
personal phases of human character that 
epic literature shows itself1  when     
compared with the modern novel1         
inefficient4 ,the epic author  exhibits 
little sympathy for any individual who  
struggles against the  cause that is to 
be established4 neas dallying with ,dido
 and  subsequent desertion of her is of 
little interest to ,virgil on the       
ground of individual personality3 what  
interests him mainly is that so  long as
 neas lingers with the ,carthaginian    
queen1 the founding of  ,rome is being  
retarded1 and that when at last neas    
leaves her1 he  does so to advance the  

epic cause4 ,therefore ,virgil regards  
the  desertion of ,dido as an act of    
heroic virtue on the part of the man    
who sails away to found a nation4 ,a    
modern novelist1 however 7and this  is  
the main point to be considered in this 
connection71 would conceive  the whole  
matter more personally4 ,he would be far
 less interested at  the moment in the  
ultimate founding of ,rome than he would
 be in the  misery of the deserted      
woman2 and instead of considering neas  
as a  model of heroic virtue1 would     
adjudge him as personally base4 ,from   
this we see that the novelistic attitude
 toward character is much more  intimate
 than the epic attitude4 ,the wrath of  
,achilles is significant  to ,homer1 not
 so much because it is an exhibition of 
individual  personality as because it is
 a factor in jeopardizing the victory of
  the ,greeks4 ,considered as types of  
individual character1 most of  ,homer's 
heroes are mere boys4 ,it is the cause  
for which they fight  that gives them   

dignity3 embattled ,greece must         
repossess the beauty  which a lesser    
race has reft away from it4 ,even ,helen
 herself is  merely an idea to be fought
 for2 she is not1 as a woman1           
interesting  humanly4 ,it is only in    
infrequent passages1 such as the scene  
of  parting between ,andromache and     
,hector1 that the ancient epics reveal  
the intimate attitude toward character  
to which we have grown  accustomed in   
the modern novel4    ,because the epic  
authors have been interested always in  
communal  conflict rather than in       
individual personality1 they have seldom
 made  any use of the element of        
love1--the most intimate and personal of
 all  emotions4 ,there is no love in    
,homer1 and scarcely any love in ,virgil
  and in ,milton4 ,tasso1 to be sure1   
uses a love motive as the basis for     
each of the three leading strands of his
 story2 but because of this1  his epic1 
though gaining in modernity and charm1  
loses something of  the communal        

immensity--the impersonal dignity--of   
the ,iliad and the  neid4 ,on the other 
hand1 novelistic authors1 since they    
have been  interested mainly in the     
revelation of intimate phases of        
individual  personality1 have seized    
upon the element of love as the leading 
motive of their stories4 ,and this is   
one of the main differences1 on  the    
side of content1 between epic and       
novelistic fiction4    ,certain great   
works of fiction stand upon the         
borderland between the  epic and the    
novel4 ,don ,quixote is1 for instance1  
such a work4 ,it  is epic in that it    
sums up and expresses the entire        
contribution of  ,spain to the progress 
of humanity4 ,it is resumptive of the   
nation that  produced it3 all phases of 
,spanish life and character1 ideals and 
temperament1 are epitomized within it4  
,but1 on the other hand1 it is          
novelistic in the emphasis it casts on  
individual personality1--the  intimacy  
with which it focusses the interest not 

so much upon a nation  as upon a man4   
,the epic1 in the ancient sense1 is dead
 to-day4 ,facility of                   
intercommunication between the nations  
has made us all citizens of the  world2 
and an increased sense of the relativity
 of national and  religious ideals has  
made us catholic of other systems than  
our own4  ,consequently we have lost    
belief in a communal conflict so        
absolutely  just and necessary as to    
call to battle powers not only human but
  divine4 ,also1 since the ,french      
,revolution1 we have grown to set the   
one above the many1 and to believe that1
 of right1 society exists for  the sake 
of the individual rather than the       
individual for the sake of  society4    
,therefore the novel1 which deals with  
individual personality  in and for      
itself1 is more attuned to modern life  
than the epic1 which  presents the      
individual mainly in relation to a      
communal cause which  he strives to     
advance or to retard4    ,the epic note1

 however1 survives in certain momentous 
modern novels4  ,uncle ,tom's ,cabin1   
for example1 is less important merely as
 a novel  than as the epic of the great 
cause of abolition4 ,underlying many of 
the works of ,erckmann-,chatrian is an  
epic purpose to advance the cause  of   
universal peace by a depiction of the   
horrors of war4 ,balzac had in  mind the
 resumptive phase of epic composition   
when he planned his  ,human ,comedy     
7choosing his title in evident imitation
 of that of  ,dante's poem71 and started
 out to sum up all phases of human life 
in  a single monumental series of       
narratives4 ,so also the late ,frank    
,norris had an epic idea in his         
imagination when he planned a trilogy   
of novels 7which unhappily he died      
before completing7 to exhibit what  the 
great wheat industry means to the modern
 world4    ,in the broad and social     
sense1 the epic is undeniably a greater 
type  of fiction than the novel1 because
 it is more resumptive of life in  the  

large1 and looks upon humanity with a   
vaster sweep of vision2 but  in the deep
 and personal sense1 the novel is the   
greater1 because it  is more capable of 
an intimate study of individual emotion4
 ,and it is  possible1 as we have seen1 
that modern fiction should be at once   
epic  and novelistic in content and in  
mood1--epic in resuming all aspects  of 
a certain phase of life and in          
exhibiting a social struggle1 and       
novelistic in casting emphasis upon     
personal details of character and  in   
depicting intimate emotions4 ,probably  
no other author has succeeded  better   
than ,emile ,zola in combining the epic 
and the novelistic moods  of fiction2   
and the novels in the ,rougon-,macquart 
series are at once  communal and        
personal in their significance4    ,,ii4
 ,the ,dramatic ,mood4--,it is somewhat 
simpler to trace a  distinction both in 
content and in method between novelistic
 and  dramatic fiction1 because the     
latter is produced under special        

conditions which impose definite        
limitations upon the author4 ,a  drama  
is1 in essence1 a story devised to be   
presented by actors on a  stage before  
an audience4 ,the dramatist1 therefore1 
works ever  under the sway of three     
influences to which the novelist is not 
submitted3--namely1 the temperament of  
the actors by whom his plays  are to be 
performed1 the physical conditions of   
the theatre in which  they are to be    
produced1 and the psychologic nature of 
the audience  before which they are to  
be presented4 ,the combined force of    
these  three external influences upon   
the dramatist accounts for all of  the  
essential differences between the drama 
and the novel4    #a4 ,influence of the 
,actor4--,first of all1 because of the  
influence  of his actors1 the dramatist 
is obliged to draw character through    
action1 and to eliminate from his work  
almost every other means of             
characterization4 ,he must therefore    
select from life such moments as  are   

active rather than passive4 ,his        
characters must constantly be  doing    
something2 they may not pause for       
careful contemplation4  ,consequently   
the novelist has a wider range of       
subject than the  dramatist1 because he 
is able to consider life more calmly1   
and to  concern himself1 if need be1    
with thoughts and feelings that do not  
translate themselves into action4 ,in   
depicting objective events in  which the
 element of action is paramount1 the    
drama is more  immediate and vivid2 but 
the novel may depict subjective events  
which are quite beyond the presentation 
of actors in a theatre4  ,furthermore1  
since he is not obliged to think of     
actors1 the  novelist has a greater     
freedom in creating characters than the 
dramatist4 ,the great characters of the 
drama have been devised by  playwrights 
who have already attained command of the
 theatre of  their place and time1 and  
who therefore have fashioned their parts
 to  fit the individual actors they have

 found ready to perform them4           
,consequently they have endowed their   
characters with the physical1 and  even 
to some extent the mental1              
characteristics of certain actual       
actors4 ,m4 ,rostand's ,cyrano de       
,bergerac is not merely ,cyrano1 but    
also ,constant ,coquelin2 ,sardou's ,la 
,tosca is not merely ,la ,tosca1 but    
also ,mme4 ,sarah ,bernhardt2 ,molire's 
,climne is not merely ,climne1  but also
 ,mlle4 ,molire2 ,shakespeare's ,hamlet 
is not merely ,hamlet1  but also        
,richard ,burbage4 ,in working thus with
 one eye upon the  actual1 the dramatist
 is extremely likely to be betrayed into
  untruthfulness4 ,in the last scene of 
,hamlet1 the ,queen says of  the        
,prince1 ,he's fat and scant of breath4 
,this line was of course  occasioned by 
the fact that ,richard ,burbage was     
corpulent during the  season of #afjb4  
,but the eternal truth is that ,prince  
,hamlet is a  slender man2 and          
,shakespeare has here been forced to    

belie the  truth in order to subserve   
the fact4 ,on the other hand1 the       
dramatist is undoubtedly aided in his   
great aim of creating  characters by    
holding in mind certain actual people   
who have been  selected to represent    
them2 and what the novelist gains in    
range and  freedom of characterization1 
he is likely to lose in concreteness  of
 delineation4    #b4 ,influence of the  
,theatre4--,secondly1 the form and      
structure of  the drama in any age is   
imposed upon the dramatist by the size  
and  shape and physical appointments of 
the theatre he is writing for4  ,plays  
must be built in one way to fit the     
theatre of ,dionysus1 in  another way to
 fit the ,globe upon the ,bankside1 in  
still another way  to fit the modern    
electric-lighted stage behind a         
picture-frame  proscenium4 ,the         
dramatist in constructing his story is  
hedged in by a  multitude of physical   
restrictions1 of which he must make a   
special  study in order to force them to

 contribute to the presentation of his  
truth instead of detracting from it4 ,in
 this regard1 again1 the  novelist works
 with greater freedom4 ,seldom is his   
labor subjected to  merely physical     
restrictions from without4 ,sometimes1  
to be sure1  certain arbitrary          
conditions of the trade of publishing   
have exercised  an influence over the   
structure of the novel4 ,in ,england1   
early in the  nineteenth century1 it was
 easier to sell a three-volume novel    
than a  tale of lesser compass2 and many
 a story of the time had to be pieced   
out beyond its natural and truthful     
length in order to meet the  demands of 
the public and the publishers4 ,but such
 a case1 in the  history of the novel1  
is exceptional4 ,in general1 the        
novelist may  build as he chooses4 ,he  
may tell a tale1 long or short1         
happening in  few places or in many2 and
 is not1 like the modern dramatist1     
confined  in place to no more than four 
or five different settings1 and in time 

to the two hours' traffic of the stage4 
,the novel1 therefore1 is far  more     
serviceable than the drama as a medium  
for exhibiting the gradual  growth of   
character1--the development of          
personality under influences  extending 
over long periods of time and exerted in
 many different  places4    #c4         
,influence of the ,audience4--,thirdly1 
the very content of the  drama is       
determined by the fact that a play must 
be devised to  interest a multitude     
rather than an individual4 ,the novelist
 writes  for a reader sitting alone in  
his library3 whether ten such readers or
  a hundred thousand ultimately read a  
book1 the author speaks to each  of them
 apart from all the others4 ,but the    
dramatist must plan his  story to       
interest simultaneously a multitude of  
heterogeneous  observers4 ,the drama1   
therefore1 must be richer in popular    
appeal2 but  the novel may be subtler in
 appealing to the one instead of to the 
many4 ,since the novelist addresses     

himself to a single person only1 or  to 
a limitless succession of single        
persons1 he may choose the sort of      
reader he will write for2 but the       
dramatist must please the many1 and  is 
therefore at the mercy of the multitude4
 ,he writes less freely than  the       
novelist1 since he cannot pick his      
auditors4 ,his themes1 his  thoughts1   
and his emotions are restricted by the  
limits of popular  appreciation4        
,this important condition is potent in  
determining the proper content  of      
dramatic fiction4 ,for it has been found
 in practice that the one  thing most   
likely to interest a crowd is a struggle
 between character  and character4      
,speaking empirically1 the late         
,ferdinand ,brunetire1 in  his preface  
to ,annales du ,thtre et de la ,musique 
for #ahic1  stated that the drama has   
dealt always with a struggle between    
human  wills2 and his statement1        
formulated in the catch-phrase1 ,no     
struggle1 no drama1 has since become a  

commonplace of dramatic  criticism4 ,the
 reason for this is simply that         
characters are  interesting to a crowd  
mainly in those crises of emotion that  
bring  them to the grapple4 ,a single   
individual1 like the reader of a novel1 
may be interested intellectually in     
those gentle influences beneath  which a
 character unfolds itself as mildly as a
 blowing rose2 but to  the gathered     
multitude a character does not appeal   
except in moments  of contention4 ,hence
 the drama1 to interest an audience1    
must present  its characters in some    
struggle of the wills1--whether it be   
merely  flippant1 as in the case of     
,benedick and ,beatrice1 or gentle1 as  
in  that of ,viola and ,orsino1 or      
terrible1 with ,macbeth1 or piteous1    
with  ,lear4 ,the drama1 therefore1 is  
akin to the epic1 in that it must       
represent a struggle2 but it is more    
akin to the novel1 in that it  deals    
with human character in its individual1 
rather than its  communal1 aspects4 ,but

 in range of representing characters1   
the drama  is more restricted than the  
novel2 for though the novelist is at    
liberty to exhibit a struggle of        
individual human wills whenever he  may 
choose to do so1 he is not1 like the    
dramatist1 prohibited from  representing
 anything else4 ,in covering this       
special province1 the  drama is         
undeniably more vivid and emphatic2 but 
many momentous phases  of human         
experience are not contentious but      
contemplative2 and these  the novel may 
reveal serenely1 without employment of  
the sound and  fury of the drama4       
,since the mind of the multitude is more
 emotional than intellectual1  the      
dramatist1 for his most effective       
moments1 is obliged to set forth  action
 with emotion for its motive4 ,but the  
novelist1 in motivating  action1 may be 
more considerate and intellectual1 since
 his appeal is  made to the individual  
mind4 ,in its psychologic processes1 the
 crowd  is more commonplace and more    

traditional than is the individual4 ,the
  drama1 therefore1 is less serviceable 
than the novel as a vehicle for         
conveying unaccustomed and advanced     
ideas of life4 ,the crowd has no        
speculation in its eyes3 it is impatient
 of original thought1 and of  any but   
inherited emotion3 it evinces little    
favor for the original1  the            
questioning1 the new4 ,therefore if an  
author holds ideas of  religion1 or of  
politics1 or of social law that are in  
advance of his  time1 he will do better 
to embody them in a novel than in a     
drama2  because the former makes its    
appeal to the individual mind1 which has
  more patience for intellectual        
consideration4    ,furthermore1 the     
novelist need not1 like the dramatist1  
subserve the  immediate necessity for   
popular appeal4 ,the dramatic author1   
since he  plans his story for a         
heterogeneous multitude of people1 must 
incorporate in the same single work of  
art elements that will interest  all    

classes of mankind4 ,but the novelistic 
author1 since he is at  liberty to pick 
his auditors at will1 may1 if he choose1
 write only  for the best-developed     
minds4 ,it is an element of             
,shakespeare's  greatness that his most 
momentous plays1 like ,hamlet and       
,othello1  are of interest to people who
 can neither read nor write1 as well as 
to people of educated sensibilities4    
,but it is an evidence of  ,meredith's  
greatness that his novels are caviare to
 the general4 ,mr4  ,kipling's ,they is 
the greater story because it defends    
itself from  being understood by those  
it is not really for4 ,in exhibiting the
  subtler and more delicate phases of   
human experience1 the novel far         
transcends the drama4 ,the drama1 at its
 deepest1 is more poignant2 but  the    
novel1 at its highest1 is more          
exquisite4    ,dramatized ,novels4--,the
 proper material for the drama is1 as we
  have seen1 a struggle between         
individual human wills1 motivated by    

emotion rather than by intellect1 and   
expressed in terms of  objective action4
 ,in representing such material1 the    
drama is supreme4  ,but the novel is    
wider in range2 for besides exhibiting  
7though  less emphatically7 this special
 aspect of human life1 it may embody    
many other and scarcely less important  
phases of individual  experience4 ,of   
late1 an effort has been made to break  
down the  barrier between the novel and 
the drama3 many stories1 which have     
been told first in the novelistic mood1 
have afterward been  reconstructed and  
retold for presentation in the theatre4 
,this  attempt has succeeded sometimes1 
but has more often failed4 ,yet it      
ought to be very easy to distinguish a  
novel that may be dramatized  from a    
novel that may not4 ,certain scenes in  
novelistic literature1  like the duel in
 ,the ,master of ,ballantrae1 are       
essentially dramatic  both in content   
and in mood4 ,such scenes may be adapted
 with very  little labor to the uses of 

the theatre4 ,certain novels1 like ,jane
  ,eyre1 which exhibit an emphatic      
struggle between individual human       
wills1 are inherently capable of        
theatric representment4 ,but any novel  
in which the main source of interest is 
not the clash of character  on          
character1 in which the element of      
action is subordinate1 or in  which the 
chief appeal is made to the individual  
7instead of the  collective7 mind1 is   
not capable of being dramatized         
successfully4    ,,iii4 ,the ,novelistic
 ,mood4--,it is impossible to determine 
whether1 at  the present day1 the novel 
or the drama is the more effective      
medium  for embodying the truths of     
human life in a series of imagined      
facts4  ,dramatic fiction has the       
greater depth1 and novelistic fiction   
has the  greater breadth4 ,the latter is
 more extensive1 the former more        
intensive1 in its artistry4 ,this much1 
however1 may be decided  definitely4    
,the novel1 at its greatest1 may require

 a vaster sweep of  wisdom on the part  
of the author2 but the drama is         
technically more  difficult1 since the  
dramatist1 besides mastering all of the 
general  methods of fiction which he    
necessarily employs in common with the  
novelist1 must labor in conformity with 
a special set of conditions to  which   
the novelist is not submitted4 ,george  
,meredith may be a greater  author than 
,sir ,arthur ,wing ,pinero2 but ,pinero 
is of necessity more  rigid in his      
mastery of structure4      ,,review     
,,questions    #a4 ,define the three    
moods of fiction1--epic1 dramatic1 and  
novelistic4    #b4 ,what are the        
advantages and disadvantages of the epic
 mood8    #c4 ,explain the three        
influences under which the dramatist    
must always    do his work1--that of the
 actor1 that of the theatre1 and that of
    the audience4    #d4 ,what sort of  
novel can be dramatized successfully8   
,,suggested ,,reading    ,study1        
comparatively1 the character of neas in 

,virgil's epic1 the  character of       
,macbeth in ,shakespeare's drama1 and   
the character of  ,sentimental ,tommy in
 ,sir ,james ,barrie's novels4          
,students who desire to pursue a special
 study of the materials and  methods of 
the drama will find a full discussion of
 these topics in  three books by        
,clayton ,hamilton1 entitled ,the       
,theory of the ,theatre1  ,studies in   
,stagecraft1 and ,problems of the       
,playwright4          ,,chapter ,x      
,,the ,,novel1 ,,the ,,novelette1 ,,and 
,,the ,,short-,,story        ,novel1    
,novelette1 and ,short-,story--,the     
,novel and the ,novelette--,the         
,short-,story a ,distinct ,type--,the   
,dictum of ,poe--,the ,formula of       
,brander ,matthews--,definition of the  
,short-,story--,explanation of    ,this 
,definition3 #a4 ,single ,narrative     
,effect2 #b4 ,greatest ,economy    of   
,means2 and #c4 ,utmost                 
,emphasis--,brief ,tales ,that ,are ,not
    ,short-,stories--,short-,stories    

,that ,are ,not ,brief--,bliss ,perry's 
,annotations--,the ,novelist and the    
,writer of ,short-,stories--,the        
,short-,story ,more ,artistic ,than the 
,novel--,the ,short-,story ,almost      
,necessarily ,romantic4      ,novel1    
,novelette1 and ,short-,story4--,turning
 our attention from the  epic and the   
drama1 and confining it to the general  
type of fiction  which in the last      
chapter was loosely named novelistic1 we
 shall find  it possible to distinguish 
somewhat sharply1 on the basis of both  
material and method1 between three      
several forms1--the novel1 the          
novelette1 and the short-story4 ,the    
,french1 who are more precise than  we  
in their use of denotative terms1 are   
accustomed to divide their  novelistic  
fiction into what they call the roman1  
the nouvelle1  and the conte4 ,novel and
 novelette are just as serviceable terms
  as roman and nouvelle2 in fact1 since 
novelette is the  diminutive of novel1  
they express even more clearly than     

their  ,french equivalents the relation 
between the two forms they designate4   
,but it is greatly to be regretted that 
we do not have in ,english a            
distinctive word that is the equivalent 
of conte4 ,edgar ,allan ,poe  used the  
word tale with similar meaning2 but this
 term is so  indefinite and vague that  
it has been discarded by later critics4 
,it  is customary at the present day to 
use the word short-story1 which         
,professor ,brander ,matthews has       
suggested spelling with a hyphen to     
indicate that it has a special and      
technical significance4    ,the ,french 
apply the term roman to extensive works 
like ,notre ,dame  de ,paris and ,eugnie
 ,grandet2 and they apply the term      
nouvelle to  works of briefer compass   
but similar method1 like the ,colomba   
and  the ,carmen of ,prosper ,mrime4 ,in
 ,english we may class as novels  works 
like ,kenilworth1 ,the ,newcomes1 ,the  
,last of the ,mohicans1  ,the ,rise of  
,silas ,lapham2 and we may class as     

novelettes works like  ,daisy ,miller1  
,the ,treasure of ,franchard1 ,the      
,light ,that ,failed4  ,the difference  
is merely that the novelette 7or        
nouvelle7 is a work  of less extent1 and
 covers a smaller canvas1 than the novel
 7or  roman74 ,the distinction is       
quantitative but not qualitative4 ,the  
novelette deals with fewer characters   
and incidents than the novel2 it        
usually limits itself to a stricter     
economy of time and place2 it  presents 
a less extensive view of life1 with     
7most frequently7 a more  intensive art4
 ,but these differences are not definite
 enough to  warrant its being considered
 a species distinct from the novel4     
,except  for the restrictions imposed by
 brevity of compass1 the writer of      
novelettes employs the same methods as  
the writer of novels2 and1  furthermore1
 he sets forth similar materials4       
,the ,novel and the ,novelette4--,more  
and more in recent years1 the  novel has
 tended to shorten to the novelette4 ,a 

stricter sense of art  has led to the   
exclusion of digressive and discursive  
passages2 and  the hurry and            
preoccupation of contemporary readers   
has militated  against the leisurely and
 rambling habit of the authors of an    
earlier  time4 ,the lesson of excision  
and condensation has been taught by     
writers as different in tone as ,mrime1 
,turgnieff1 and ,stevenson4  ,the       
three-volume novel is extinct1 as ,mr4  
,kipling stated in the  motto prefixed  
to the poem called ,the ,three-,decker1 
in which1 with a  commingling of satire 
and sentiment1 he chanted its requiem4  
,it was  nearly always1 in the matter of
 structure1 a slovenly form2 and there  
is therefore little cause for regret    
that the novelette seems destined  to   
supplant it4 ,for the novelette         
accomplishes the same purpose as the    
novel1 with necessarily a more intensive
 emphasis of art1 and with a  tax       
considerably less upon the time and     
attention of the reader4    ,the        

,short-,story a ,distinct ,type4--,but  
the conte1 or short-story1  differs from
 the novel and the novelette not only   
quantitatively1 but  also qualitatively1
 not only in length1 but also in kind4  
,in such  contes as ,the ,necklace of de
 ,maupassant and ,the ,last ,class of   
,daudet1 in such short-stories as       
,ligeia1 ,the ,ambitious ,guest1        
,markheim1 and ,without ,benefit of     
,clergy1 the aim of the author is  quite
 distinct from that of the writer of    
novels and of novelettes4 ,in  material 
and in method1 as well as in extent1    
these stories represent  a type that is 
noticeably different4    ,the           
short-story1 as well as the novel and   
the novelette1 has always  existed4 ,the
 parable of ,the ,prodigal ,son1 in the 
fifteenth chapter  of the ,gospel       
according to ,luke1 is just as surely a 
short-story in  material and method as  
the books of ,ruth and ,esther are      
novelettes  in form4 ,but the critical  
consciousness of the short-story as a   

species of fiction distinct in purpose  
and in method from the novel  dates only
 from the nineteenth century4 ,it was   
,edgar ,allan ,poe who  first designated
 and realized the short-story as a      
distinct form of  literary art4 ,in the 
scholarly and thorough introduction to  
his  collection of ,american ,short     
,stories1#c ,professor ,charles ,sears  
,baldwin points out that ,poe1 more than
 any of his predecessors in the  art of 
fiction1 felt narrative as structure4   
,it was he who first  rejected from the 
tale everything that was1 from the      
standpoint of  narrative form1          
extraneous1 and made the narrative      
progress more  direct4 ,the essential   
features of his structure were 7to use  
,professor  ,baldwin's words7           
harmonization1 simplification1 and      
gradation4 ,he  stripped his stories of 
every least incongruity4 ,what he taught
 by his  example was reduction to a     
straight predetermined course2 and he   
made  clear to succeeding writers the   

necessity of striving for unity of      
impression through strict unity of form4
    ,the ,dictum of ,poe4--,poe was a   
critic as well as a teller of tales2    
and what he inculcated by example he    
also stated by precept4 ,in his  now    
famous review of ,hawthorne's ,tales1   
published originally in  ,graham's      
,magazine for ,may1 #ahdb1 he thus      
outlined his theory of the  species3--  
,the ordinary novel is objectionable1   
from its length1 for reasons  already   
stated in substance4 ,as it cannot be   
read at one sitting1 it  deprives       
itself1 of course1 of the immense force 
derivable from  totality4 ,worldly      
interests intervening during the pauses 
of  perusal1 modify1 annul1 or          
counteract1 in a greater or less degree1
  the impressions of the book4 ,but     
simple cessation in reading would1 of   
itself1 be sufficient to destroy the    
true unity4 ,in the brief tale1         
however1 the author is enabled to carry 
out the fulness of his  intention1 be it

 what it may4 ,during the hour of       
perusal the soul of  the reader is at   
the writer's control4 ,there are no     
external or  extrinsic                  
influences--resulting from weariness or 
interruption4    ,a skilful literary    
artist has constructed a tale4 ,if wise1
 he has not  fashioned his thoughts to  
accommodate his incidents2 but having   
conceived1 with deliberate care1 a      
certain unique or single effect  to be  
wrought out1 he then invents such       
incidents--he then combines  such events
 as may best aid him in establishing    
this preconceived  effect4 ,if his very 
initial sentence tend not to the        
outbringing of  this effect1 then he has
 failed in his first step4 ,in the whole
  composition there should be no word   
written1 of which the tendency1  direct 
or indirect1 is not to the one          
prestablished design4 ,and by  such     
means1 with such care and skill1 a      
picture is at length painted  which     
leaves in the mind of him who           

contemplates it with a kindred  art1 a  
sense of the fullest satisfaction4 ,the 
idea of the tale has  been presented    
unblemished1 because undisturbed2 and   
this is an end  unattainable by the     
novel4 ,undue brevity is just as        
exceptionable here  as in the poem2 but 
undue length is yet more to be avoided4 
,the ,formula of ,brander               
,matthews4--,from the very outset1 the  
currency  of ,poe's short-stories was   
international2 and his concrete example 
in  striving for totality of impression 
exerted an immediate influence not  only
 in ,america but even more in ,france4  
,but his abstract theory1  which 7for   
obvious reasons7 did not become so      
widely known1 was not  received into the
 general body of critical thought until 
much later in  the century4 ,it remained
 for ,professor ,brander ,matthews1 in  
his  well-known essay on ,the           
,philosophy of the ,short-story1 printed
  originally in ,lippincott's ,magazine 
for ,october1 #ahhe1d to state          

explicitly what had lain implicit in the
 passage of ,poe's criticism  already   
quoted1 and to give a general currency  
to the theory that the  short-story     
differs from the novel essentially1--and
 not merely in the  matter of length4   
,in the second section of his essay1    
,professor  ,matthews stated3--    ,a   
true short-story is something other and 
something more than a mere  story which 
is short4 ,a true short-story differs   
from the novel  chiefly in its essential
 unity of impression4 ,in a far more    
exact and  precise use of the word1 a   
short-story has unity as a novel cannot 
have it4 ,often1 it may be noted by the 
way1 the short-story fulfills  the three
 false unities of the ,french classic   
drama3 it shows one  action1 in one     
place1 on one day4 ,a short-story deals 
with a single  character1 a single      
event1 a single emotion1 or the series  
of emotions  called forth by a single   
situation4 ,poe's paradox that a poem   
cannot  greatly exceed a hundred lines  

in length under penalty of ceasing to   
be one poem and breaking into a string  
of poems1 may serve to suggest  the     
precise difference between the          
short-story and the novel4 ,the         
short-story is the single effect1       
complete and self-contained1 while  the 
novel is of necessity broken into a     
series of episodes4 ,thus the           
short-story has1 what the novel cannot  
have1 the effect of 'totality1'  as ,poe
 called it1 the unity of impression4    
,of a truth1 the short-story is not only
 not a chapter out of a novel1  or an   
incident or an episode extracted from a 
longer tale1 but at its  best it        
impresses the reader with the belief    
that it would be spoiled  if it were    
made larger1 or if it were incorporated 
into a more  elaborate work4444    ,in  
fact1 it may be said that no one has    
ever succeeded as a writer of           
short-stories who had not ingenuity1    
originality1 and compression2 and  that 
most of those who have succeeded in this

 line had also the touch  of fantasy4   
,definition of the ,short-,story4--,on  
the basis of these theories1 the        
present writer essayed a few years ago  
to formulate within a single  sentence a
 definition of the short-story4 ,thus3  
,the aim of a  short-story is to produce
 a single narrative effect with the     
greatest  economy of means that is      
consistent with the utmost emphasis4#e  
,explanation of ,this ,definition3 #a4  
,single ,narrative ,effect4--,because   
of its succinctness1 this sentence needs
 a little explanation4 ,a narrative     
effect necessarily involves the three   
elements of action1 characters1  and    
setting4 ,in aiming to produce a        
narrative effect1 the short-story1      
therefore1 differs from the sketch1     
which may concern itself with only  one 
of these elements1 without involving the
 other two4 ,the sketch most  often     
deals with character or setting divested
 of the element of action2  but in the  
short-story something has to happen4 ,in

 this regard1 the  short-story is       
related more closely to the novel than  
to the sketch4 ,but  although in the    
novel any two1 or all three1 of the     
narrative elements  may be so intimately
 interrelated that no one of them stands
 out clearly  from the others1 it is    
almost always customary in the          
short-story to  cast a marked           
preponderance of emphasis on one of the 
elements1 to the  subversion of the     
other two4 ,short-stories1 therefore1   
may be divided  into three classes1     
according as the effect which they      
purpose to  produce is primarily an     
effect of action1 or of character1 or of
 setting4  ,the ,masque of the ,red     
,death produces an effect of setting1   
,the  ,tell-,tale ,heart an effect of   
character1 and ,the ,cask of            
,amontillado an  effect of action4 ,for 
the sake of economy it is incumbent on  
the  author to suggest at the outset    
which of the three sorts of narrative   
effect the story is intended to produce4

 ,the way in which ,poe  accomplished   
this in the three stories just mentioned
 may be seen at once  upon examination  
of the opening paragraph of each4       
,having selected his  effect the author 
of a short-story should confine his     
attention to  producing that1 and that  
alone4 ,he should stop at the very      
moment when his  prestablished design   
has been attained2 and never during the 
progress  of his composition should he  
turn aside for the sake of a lesser     
effect  not absolutely inherent in his  
single narrative purpose4 ,stevenson    
insisted on this focus of attention in a
 passage of a personal letter  addressed
 to ,sir ,sidney ,colvin3--    ,make    
another end to it8 ,ah1 yes1 but that's 
not the way ,i write2 the  whole tale is
 implied2 ,i never use an effect when ,i
 can help it1  unless it prepares the   
effects that are to follow2 that's what 
a story  consists in4 ,to make another  
end1 that is to make the beginning all  
wrong4 ,the dnouement of a long story is

 nothing1 it is just 'a full  close1'   
which you may approach and accomplish as
 you please--it is a  coda1 not an      
essential member in the rhythm2 but the 
body and end of a  short-story is bone  
of the bone and blood of the blood of   
the  beginning4    #b4 ,greatest        
,economy of ,means2 and #c4 ,utmost     
,emphasis4--,the  phrase single         
narrative effect1 with all its          
implications1 should  now be clear4 ,the
 phrase with the greatest economy of    
means  implies that the writer of a     
short-story should tell his tale with   
the fewest necessary number of          
characters and incidents1 and should    
project it in the narrowest possible    
range of place and time4 ,if he  can get
 along with two characters1 he should   
not use three4 ,if a  single event will 
suffice for his effect1 he should       
confine himself  to that4 ,if his story 
can pass in one place at one time1 he   
must  not disperse it over several times
 and places4 ,but in striving  always   

for the greatest possible conciseness1  
he must not neglect  the equally        
important need of producing his effect  
with the utmost  emphasis4 ,if he can   
gain markedly in emphasis by violating  
the  strictest possible economy1 he     
should do so2 for1 as ,poe stated1      
undue brevity is exceptionable1 as well 
as undue length4 ,thus the  parable of  
,the ,prodigal ,son1 which might be told
 with only two  characters--the father  
and the prodigal--gains sufficiently in 
emphasis by the introduction of a       
third--the good son--to warrant  this   
violation of economy4 ,the greatest     
structural problem of the  writer of    
short-stories is to strike just the     
proper balance between  the effort for  
economy of means--which tends to        
conciseness--and  the effort for the    
utmost emphasis--which tends to         
amplitude of  treatment4    ,brief      
,tales ,that ,are ,not                  
,short-,stories4--,there can be no doubt
 that  the short-story1 thus rigidly    

defined1 exists as a distinct form of   
fiction1--a definite literary species   
obeying laws of its own4 ,now and  again
 before the nineteenth century1 it      
appeared unconsciously4 ,since  ,poe1 it
 has grown conscious of itself1 and has 
been deliberately  developed to         
perfection by later masters1 like ,guy  
de ,maupassant4 ,but  it must be        
admitted frankly that brief tales have  
always existed1 and  still continue to  
exist1 which stand entirely outside the 
scope of  this rigid and rather narrow  
definition4 ,professor ,baldwin1 after a
  careful examination of the hundred    
tales in ,boccaccio's ,decameron1       
concluded that only two of them were    
short-stories in the modern  critical   
sense1#f and that only three others     
approached the totality  of impression  
that depends on conscious unity of form4
 ,if we should  select at random a      
hundred brief tales from the best       
contemporary  magazines1 we should find1
 of course1 that a larger proportion of 

them  would fulfill the definition2 but 
it is almost certain that the  majority 
of them would still be stories that     
merely happen to be  short1 instead of  
true short-stories in the modern        
critical sense4 ,yet  these brief       
fictions1 which are not short-stories1  
and for which we  have no name1 are none
 the less estimable in content1 and     
sometimes  present a wider view of life 
than could be encompassed within the    
rigid limits of a technical short-story4
 ,hawthorne's tales stand  higher in the
 history of literature than ,poe's1     
because they reveal a  deeper insight   
into life1 even though the great ,new   
,england dreamer  often violates the    
principle of economy of means1 and      
constructs less  firmly than the        
mathematically-minded ,poe4 ,washington 
,irving's brief  tales1 such as ,rip    
,van ,winkle and ,the ,legend of ,sleepy
 ,hollow1  which are not short-stories  
in the technical sense of the term1 are 
far more valuable as representations of 

humanity than many a  structural        
masterpiece of ,guy de ,maupassant4 ,for
 my part1 ,irving  wrote to one of his  
friends1 ,i consider a story merely as a
 frame on  which to stretch the         
materials2 it is the play of thought1   
and  sentiment1 and language1 the       
weaving in of characters1 lightly yet   
expressively delineated2 the familiar   
and faithful exhibition of  scenes in   
common life2 and the half-concealed vein
 of humor that is  often playing through
 the whole1--these are among what ,i aim
 at1 and  upon which ,i felicitate      
myself in proportion as ,i think ,i     
succeed4  ,there is much to be said in  
favor of this meandering and leisurely  
method2 and authors too intent upon a   
merely technical accomplishment  may    
lose the genial breadth of outlook upon 
life which men like ,irving  have so    
charmingly displayed4 ,let us admit1    
therefore1 that the                     
story-which-is-merely-short is just as  
worthy of cultivation as the  technical 

short-story4    ,short-,stories ,that   
,are ,not ,brief4--,but if there exist  
many brief  tales which are not         
short-stories1 so also there exist      
certain  short-stories which are not    
brief4 ,the ,turn of the ,screw1 by     
,henry  ,james1 is a short-story1 in the
 technical sense of the term1 although  
it contains between two and three       
hundred pages4 ,assuredly it is not a   
novelette4 ,it aims to produce one      
narrative effect1 and only one2 and  it 
is difficult to imagine how the full    
force of its cumulative  mystery and    
terror could have been created with     
greater economy of  means4 ,it is a long
 short-story4 ,stevenson's ,dr4 ,jekyll 
and ,mr4  ,hyde1 which is conceived1 and
 for the most part executed1 as a       
short-story1 is longer than the same    
author's ,the ,beach of ,fales1  which  
is conceived and executed as a          
novelette4 ,edward ,everett ,hale's     
famous short-story1 ,the ,man ,without a
 ,country1 is long enough to be  printed

 in a little volume by itself4 ,the     
point to be remembered1  therefore1 is  
that the two different types of brief   
fiction are to be  distinguished one    
from the other not by comparative length
 but by  structural method4 ,the critic 
may formulate the technical laws of the 
stricter type2 but it must not be       
forgotten that these laws do not  apply 
7and there is no reason whatever that   
they should7 to those  other estimable  
narratives which1 though brief1 stand   
outside the  definition of the          
short-story4    ,bliss ,perry's         
,annotations4--,bearing in mind this    
limitation of  the subject1 we may      
proceed to a further study of the strict
  short-story type4 ,in an admirable    
essay on ,the ,short ,story1#g          
,professor ,bliss ,perry had discussed  
at length its requirements and          
restrictions4 ,admitting that writers of
 short-stories usually cast a  marked   
preponderance of emphasis on one of the 
three elements of  narrative1 to the    

subversion of the other two1 ,professor 
,perry  calls attention to the fact that
 in the short-story of character1  the  
characters must be unique1 original     
enough to catch the eye at  once4 ,the  
writer does not have sufficient time at 
his disposal to  reveal the full human  
significance of the commonplace4 ,if his
  theme is character-development1 then  
that development must be  hastened by   
striking experiences4 ,hence this class 
of short-story1  as compared with the   
novel1 must set forth characters more   
unusual  and unexpected4 ,but in the    
short-story of action1 on the other     
hand1 the plot may be sufficient unto   
itself1 and the characters  may be the  
merest lay figures4 ,the heroine of ,the
 ,lady or the  ,tiger1 for example1 is  
simply a woman--not any woman in        
particular2  and the hero of ,the ,pit  
and the ,pendulum is simply a man--not  
any man in particular4 ,the situation   
itself is sufficient to hold  the       
reader's interest for the brief space of

 the story4 ,hence1  although1 in the   
short-story of character1 the leading   
actor is  likely to be strikingly       
individualized1 the short-story of      
action  may content itself with entirely
 colorless characters1 devoid of any    
personal traits whatever4 ,professor    
,perry adds that in the class of        
short-story which casts the main        
emphasis on setting1 both  characters   
and action may be almost without        
significance2 and he  continues1--,if   
the author can discover to us a new     
corner of the  world1 or sketch the     
familiar scene to our heart's desire1 or
  illumine one of the great human       
occupations1 as war1 or commerce1 or    
industry1 he has it in his power1       
through this means alone1 to give  us   
the fullest satisfaction4    ,from the  
fact that the short-story does not keep 
the powers of the  reader long upon the 
stretch1 ,professor ,perry deduces      
certain  opportunities afforded to      
short-story writers but denied to       

novelists1--opportunities1 namely1 for  
innocent didacticism1 for  posing       
problems without answering them1 for    
stating arbitrary  premises1 for        
omitting unlovely details and1          
conversely1 for making  beauty out of   
the horrible1 and finally for poetic    
symbolism4 ,passing  on to a            
consideration of the demands which the  
short-story makes upon  the writer1 he  
asserts that1 at its best1 it calls for 
visual  imagination of a high order3 the
 power to see the object2 to penetrate  
to its essential nature2 to select the  
one characteristic trait by  which it   
may be represented4 ,furthermore1 it    
demands a mastery of  style1 the verbal 
magic that recreates for us what the    
imagination  has seen4 ,but1 on the     
other hand1 to write a short-story      
requires no  sustained power of         
imagination2 nor does the short-story   
demand of  its author essential sanity1 
breadth1 and tolerance of view4 ,since  
he  deals only with fleeting phases of  

existence--not with wholes1 but  with   
fragments--the writer of the short-story
 need not be  consistent2 he need not   
think things through4 ,hence1 in spite  
of the  technical difficulties which    
beset the author of short-stories1 his  
work is1 on human grounds1 more easy    
than that of the novelist1 who  must be 
sane and consistent1 and must be able to
 sustain a prolonged  effort of         
interpretive imagination4    ,the       
,novelist and the ,writer of            
,short-,stories4--,these points have    
been so fully covered and so admirably  
illustrated by ,professor ,perry  that  
they do not call for any further        
discussion in this place4 ,but  perhaps 
something may be added concerning the   
different equipments  that are required 
by authors of novels and authors of     
short-stories4  ,matthew ,arnold1 in a  
well-known sonnet1 spoke of ,sophocles  
as a man  who saw life steadily and saw 
it whole2 and if we judge the novelist  
and the writer of short-stories by their

 attitudes toward life1 we may  say that
 they divide this verse between them4   
,balzac1 ,george ,eliot1  and ,meredith 
look at life in the large2 they try to  
see it whole and  to reproduce the chaos
 of its intricate relations3 but ,poe1  
de  ,maupassant1 and ,mr4 ,kipling aim  
rather to see steadily a limited  phase 
of life1 to focus their minds upon a    
single point of experience1  and then to
 depict this point briefly and          
strikingly4 ,it follows that  the       
novelist requires an experience of life 
far more extensive than  that which is  
required by the writer of short-stories4
 ,the great  novelists have all been men
 of mature years and accumulated wisdom4
  ,but if an author knows one little    
point of life profoundly1 he may        
fashion a great short-story1 even though
 that one thing be the only  thing he   
knows4 ,of life as it is actually lived1
 of genuine humanity  of character1 of  
moral responsibility in human           
intercourse1 ,edgar  ,allan ,poe knew   

nothing2 and yet he was fully equipped  
to produce what  remain until this day  
the most perfect examples of the        
short-story in  our language4 ,it is    
therefore not surprising that1 although 
the great  novels of the world have been
 written for the most part by men over  
forty years of age1 the great           
short-stories have been written by men  
in their twenties and their thirties4   
,mr4 ,kipling wrote two or three        
short-stories which are almost great    
when he was only seventeen4  ,steadiness
 of vision is a quality of mind quite   
distinct from the  ability to see things
 whole4 ,plain ,tales from the ,hills   
are in many  ways the better stories for
 being the work of a lad of twenty3     
whatever ,mr4 ,kipling saw at that very 
early age he envisaged steadily  and    
expressed with the glorious triumphant  
strength of youth4 ,but if  at the same 
period he had attempted a novel1 the    
world undoubtedly  would have found out 
how very young he was4 ,he would have   

been  incapable of slicing a            
cross-section clean through the         
vastitude of  human life1 of seeing it  
whole1 and of representing the appalling
  intricacy of its interrelations4 ,on  
the other hand1 most of the mature  men 
who have been wise enough to do the     
latter1 have shown themselves  incapable
 of focussing their minds steadily upon 
a single point of  experience4          
,wholeness and steadiness of vision--few
 are the men who1  like ,sophocles1 have
 possessed them both4 ,the same author1 
therefore1  has almost never been able  
to write great short-stories and great  
novels4 ,scott wrote only one           
short-story1--,wandering ,willie's ,tale
  in ,redgauntlet2 ,dickens also wrote  
only one that is worthy of being        
considered a masterpiece of art1--,a    
,child's ,dream of a ,star2 and         
,thackeray1 ,cooper1 ,george ,eliot1 and
 ,meredith have written none at  all4   
,on the other hand1 ,poe could not      
possibly have written a novel2  ,guy de 

,maupassant shows himself less masterly 
in his more extended  works2 and ,mr4   
,kipling has yet to prove that the novel
 is within his  powers4 ,hawthorne is   
the one most notable example of the man 
who1  beginning as a writer of          
short-stories1 has developed in maturer 
years  a mastery of the novel4    ,the  
,short-,story ,more ,artistic ,than the 
,novel4--,unlike the  short-story1 the  
novel aims to produce a series of       
effects1--a  cumulative combination of  
the elements of narrative1--and         
acknowledges  no restriction to economy 
of means4 ,it follows that the novel1 as
 a  literary form1 requires far less    
attention than the short-story to       
minute details of art4 ,great novels may
 be written by authors as  careless as  
,scott1 as lazy as ,thackeray1 or as    
cumbersome as ,george  ,eliot2 for if a 
novelist gives us a criticism of life   
which is new and  true1 we forgive him  
if he fails in the nicer points of      
structure and  style4 ,but without these

 nicer points1 the short-story is       
impossible4  ,the economy of means that 
it demands can be conserved only by     
rigid  restriction of structure2 and the
 necessary emphasis can be produced     
only by perfection of style4 ,the great 
masters of the short-story1  like ,poe  
and ,hawthorne1 ,daudet and de          
,maupassant1 have all been  careful     
artists3 they have not1 like ,thackeray1
 been slovenly in  structure2 they have 
not1 like ,scott1 been regardless of    
style4 ,the  artistic instinct shows    
itself almost always at a very early    
age4 ,if a  man is destined to be an    
artist1 he usually exhibits a surprising
  precocity of expression at a period   
when as yet he has very little to       
express4 ,this is another reason why the
 short-story1 as opposed to the  novel1 
belongs to youth rather than to age4    
,though a young writer may  be obliged  
to acknowledge inferiority to his elders
 in maturity of  message1 he may not    
infrequently transcend them in fineness 

of  technical accomplishment4    ,the   
,short-,story ,almost ,necessarily      
,romantic4--,another point that  remains
 to be considered1 before we relinquish 
this general discussion  in order to    
devote our attention more particularly  
to a technical  study of the structure  
of the short-story1 is that1 although   
the novel  may be either realistic or   
romantic in general method1 the         
short-story  is almost of necessity     
obliged to be romantic4 ,in the brief   
space  allotted to him1 it is           
practically impossible for the writer of
  short-stories to induce a general     
truth from particular imagined facts    
imitated from actuality3 it is far      
simpler to deduce the imagined  details 
of the story from a central thesis1 held
 securely in the  author's mind and     
suggested to the reader at the outset4  
,it is a  quicker process to think from 
the truth to facts than to think from   
facts to the truth4 ,daudet and de      
,maupassant1 who worked realistically   

in their novels1 worked romantically in 
their contes2 and the great             
short-stories of our own language have  
nearly all been written by  romantic    
authors1 like ,poe1 ,hawthorne1         
,stevenson1 and ,mr4 ,kipling4       #c 
,a contribution to ,the ,wampum         
,library2 ,longmans1 ,green  ,co41      
#aijd4       #d ,this paper1 later      
included in ,pen and ,ink1 #ahhh1 has   
since been         published by itself  
in a little volume3 ,longmans1 ,green   
,co41         #aija4       #e ,this     
definition was printed first in the     
,bookman for ,february1         #aijd1  
and later in the ,reader for ,february1 
#aijf4 ,it has         subsequently been
 repeated in nearly every book that     
deals with         this special aspect  
of the art of fiction4       #f ,the    
second story of the second day1 and the 
sixth story of the         ninth day4   
,see ,american ,short ,stories1 p4 #bh4 
#g ,published first in ,the ,atlantic   
,monthly for ,august1 #aijb1 and        

since included1 as ,chapter ,,xii4 in ,a
 ,study of ,prose ,fiction3             
,houghton1 ,mifflin  ,co41 #aijd4       
,,review ,,questions    #a4 ,distinguish
 between the novel1 the novelette1 and  
the short-story4    #b4 ,define the     
short-story4    #c4 ,explain the        
contributions made by ,edgar ,allan ,poe
 and ,brander    ,matthews to the       
consciousness of the short-story as a   
special form    of art4    #d4 ,what are
 the advantages and disadvantages of the
 short-story as    compared with the    
novel8    #e4 ,is realism possible in   
the short-story8 ,if not1 why not8      
,,suggested ,,reading    ,,edgar ,,allan
 ,,poe3 ,review of ,hawthorne's ,tales4 
,,brander ,,matthews3 ,the ,philosophy  
of the ,short-,story4    ,,bliss        
,,perry3 ,a ,study of ,prose            
,fiction--,chapter ,,xii1 on ,the ,short
  ,story4    ,,charles ,,sears          
,,baldwin3 ,introduction to ,american   
,short ,stories4    ,,henry ,,seidel    
,,canby3 ,the ,short ,story in ,english4

    ,,charles ,,raymond ,,barrett3      
,short ,story ,writing4    ,,brander    
,,matthews3 ,introduction to ,the       
,short-,story3 ,specimens  ,illustrating
 ,its ,development4          ,,chapter  
,,xi    ,,the ,,structure ,,of ,,the    
,,short-,,story      ,only ,one ,best   
,way to ,construct a                    
,short-,story--,problems of             
,short-,story    ,construction--,the    
,initial ,position--,the ,terminal      
,position--,poe's    ,analysis of ,the  
,raven--,analysis of ,ligeia--,analysis 
of ,the    ,prodigal ,son--,style       
,essential to the ,short-,story4        
,only ,one ,best ,way to ,construct a   
,short-,story4--,since the aim of a     
short-story is to produce a single      
narrative effect with the greatest      
economy of means that is consistent with
 the utmost emphasis1 it  follows that1 
given any single narrative effect--any  
theme1 in other  words1 for a           
short-story--there can be only one best 
way to construct  the story based upon  

it4 ,a novel may be built in any of a   
multitude of  ways2 and the selection of
 method depends more upon the           
temperament  and taste of the author    
than upon inherent logical necessity4   
,but in a  short-story the problem of   
the author is primarily structural2 and 
structure is a matter of intellect      
instead of a matter of temperament  and 
taste4 ,now1 the intellect differs from 
the taste in being an  absolute and     
general1 rather than an individual and  
personal1 quality  of mind4 ,there is no
 disputing matters of taste1 as the     
,latin proverb  justly says2 but matters
 of intellect may be disputed logically 
until  a definite decision is arrived   
at4 ,hence1 although the planning of a  
novel must be left to the individual    
author1 the structure of a  short-story 
may be considered as a matter impersonal
 and absolute1  like the working out of 
a geometrical proposition4    ,problems 
of ,short-,story ,construction4--,the   
initial problem of the  writer of       

short-stories is to find out by         
intellectual means the one  best way of 
constructing the story that he has to   
tell2 and1 in order  to solve this      
problem1 there are many questions he    
must take up and  decide4 ,first of all1
 he must conserve the need for economy  
of means  by considering how many1 or   
rather1 how few1 characters are         
necessary to the narrative1 how few     
distinct events he can get along  with1 
and how narrow is the compass of time   
and place within which he  may compact  
his material4 ,he must next consider all
 the available  points of view from     
which to tell the given story1 and must 
decide  which of them will best subserve
 his purpose4 ,next1 in deciding on his 
means of delineating characters1 of     
representing action1 of employing       
setting1 he must be guided always by the
 endeavor to strike a just  balance     
between 7on the one hand7 the greatest  
economy of means and  7on the other7 the
 utmost emphasis4 ,and finally1 to      

conserve the  latter need1 he must1 in  
planning the narrative step by step1 be 
guided by the principle of emphasis in  
all its phases4    ,the ,initial        
,position4--,the natural emphasis of the
 initial and the  terminal position is1 
in the short-story1 a matter of prime   
importance4 ,the opening of a perfectly 
constructed tale fulfills two  purposes1
 one of which is intellectual and the   
other emotional4  ,intellectually1 it   
indicates clearly to the reader whether1
 in the  narrative that follows1 the    
element of action1 or of character1 or  
of  setting is to be predominant1--in   
other words1 which of the three  sorts  
of narrative effect the story is        
intended to produce4  ,emotionally1 it  
strikes the key-note and suggests the   
tone of the  entire story4 ,edgar ,allan
 ,poe1 in his greatest tales1 planned   
his  openings infallibly to fulfill     
these purposes4 ,he began a story of    
setting with description2 a story of    
character with a remark made by1  or    

made about1 the leading actor2 and a    
story of action with a  sentence        
pregnant with potential incident4       
,furthermore1 he conveyed in  his very  
first sentence a subtle sense of the    
emotional tone of the  entire narrative4
    ,in opening his short-stories1      
,hawthorne showed himself far inferior  
to  his great contemporary4 ,only       
unawares did he occasionally hit upon   
the  inevitable first sentence4 ,often  
he wasted time at the beginning by      
writing an unnecessary introduction2 and
 frequently he began upon the  wrong    
track1 by suggesting character at the   
outset of a story of  action1 or        
suggesting setting at the outset of a   
story of character4  ,the tale of ,the  
,gentle ,boy1 for instance1 which was   
one of the first  to attract attention  
to his genius1 begins unnecessarily with
 an  historical essay of three pages2   
and it is not until the narrative is    
well on its way that the reader is able 
to sense the one thing that it  is all  

about4    ,mr4 ,rudyard ,kipling1 in his
 earlier stories1 employed a method of  
opening which is worthy of careful      
critical consideration4 ,in ,plain      
,tales from the ,hills and the several  
volumes that followed it within  the    
next few years1 his habit was to begin  
with an expository essay1  filling the  
space of a paragraph or two1 in which he
 stated the theme  of the story he was  
about to tell4 ,this is what the story  
is to deal  with1 he would say          
succinctly3 ,now listen to the tale     
itself4 ,this  method is extremely      
advantageous on the score of economy4   
,it gives the  reader at the outset an  
intellectual possession of the theme2   
and  knowing from the very beginning the
 effect designed to be produced1 he  can
 follow with the greater economy of     
attention the narrative that  produces  
it4 ,but1 on the other hand1 the method 
is inartistic1 in that  it presents     
explicitly what might with greater      
subtlety be conveyed  implicitly1 and   

subverts the mood of narrative by       
obtruding  exposition4 ,in his later    
stories1 ,mr4 ,kipling has discarded for
 the  most part this convenient but too 
obvious expedient1 and has revealed  his
 theme implicitly through the narrative 
tenor and emotional tone of  his initial
 sentences4 ,that the latter method of  
opening is the more  artistic will be   
seen at once from a comparison of       
examples4 ,this is  the beginning of    
,thrown ,away1 an early story3--    ,to 
rear a boy under what parents call the  
'sheltered life system' is1  if the boy 
must go into the world and fend for     
himself1 not wise4  ,unless he be one in
 a thousand he has certainly to pass    
through many  unnecessary troubles2 and 
may1 possibly1 come to extreme grief    
simply  from ignorance of the proper    
proportions of things4    ,let a puppy  
eat the soap in the bath-room or chew a 
newly blacked  boot4 ,he chews and      
chuckles until1 by and by1 he finds out 
that  blacking and ,old ,brown ,windsor 

made him very sick2 so he argues that   
soap and boots are not wholesome4 ,any  
old dog about the house will  soon show 
him the unwisdom of biting big dogs'    
ears4 ,being young1 he  remembers and   
goes abroad1 at six months1 a           
well-mannered little beast  with a      
chastened appetite4 ,if he had been kept
 away from boots1 and  soap1 and big    
dogs till he came to the trinity        
full-grown and with  developed teeth1   
consider how fearfully sick and thrashed
 he would be6  ,apply that notion to the
 'sheltered life1' and see how it works4
 ,it  does not sound pretty1 but it is  
the better of two evils4    ,there was a
 ,boy once who had been brought up under
 the 'sheltered  life' theory2 and the  
theory killed him dead4444    ,and so   
on4 ,at this point1 after the expository
 introduction1 the  narrative proper    
begins4 ,consider now the opening of a  
later story1  ,without ,benefit of      
,clergy4 ,this is the first             
sentence3--,but if it  be a girl8       

,notice how much has already been said  
and suggested in  this little question  
of six words4 ,surely the beginning of  
this story  is conducted with the better
 art4    ,the expository opening was    
copied from ,mr4 ,kipling by ,o4 ,henry 
and  established by this writer as a    
fashion which is still continued by     
contributors to ,american magazines4    
,but a popular expedient is not         
necessarily to be regarded as a         
permanent contribution to the methods   
of fiction2 and ,mr4 ,kipling1 in his   
later stories1 is a finer artist  than  
,miss ,edna ,ferber or any other of the 
many imitators of ,o4 ,henry4    ,the   
,terminal ,position4--,but1 in the      
structure of the short-story1  the      
emphasis of the terminal position is an 
even more important  matter4 ,in this   
regard again ,poe shows his artistry1 in
 stopping at  the very moment when he   
has attained completely his             
prestablished  design4 ,his conclusions 
remain to this day unsurpassed in the   

sense  they give of absolute finality4  
,hawthorne was far less firm in         
mastering the endings of his stories4   
,his personal predilection for  pointing
 a moral to adorn his tale led him      
frequently to append a  passage of      
homiletic comment which was not bone of 
the bone and blood  of the blood of the 
narrative itself4 ,in the chapter on    
emphasis1 we  have already called       
attention to ,guy de ,maupassant's      
device of  periodic structure1 by means 
of which the solution of the story is   
withheld till the concluding sentences4 
,this exceedingly effective  expedient1 
however1 is applicable only in the sort 
of story wherein  the element of        
surprise is inherent in the nature of   
the theme4 ,in no  other single feature 
of construction may the work of the     
inexperienced  author be so readily     
detected as in the final passage of his 
story4  ,mr4 ,kipling's ,lispeth 7the   
first of ,plain ,tales from the ,hills71
  which was written at a very early age1

 began perfectly the first word  is ,she
 and proceeded well2 but when he        
approached his conclusion1  the young   
author did not know where to stop4 ,his 
story really ended at  the words1 ,and  
she never came back2 for at that point  
his  pre-established design had been    
entirely effected4 ,but instead of      
closing there1 he appended four         
unnecessary paragraphs1 dealing with    
the subsequent life of his heroine--all 
of which was1 to use his own  familiar  
phrase1 another story4 ,poe and de      
,maupassant would not have  made this   
mistake2 and neither would ,mr4 ,kipling
 after he had grown  into mastery of    
artistic method4 ,in one of the most    
celebrated stories  of ,o4 ,henry1      
entitled ,the ,gift of the ,magi1 the   
author made the  technical mistake of   
appending a superfluous paragraph after 
his  logical pattern had been completed4
    ,poe's ,analysis of ,the            
,raven4--,in his very interesting paper 
on  ,the ,philosophy of ,composition1   

,edgar ,allan ,poe outlined step by step
  the intellectual processes by which he
 developed the structure of ,the  ,raven
 and fashioned a finished poem from a   
preconceived effect4 ,it is  greatly to 
be regretted that he did not write a    
similar essay  outlining in detail the  
successive stages in the construction of
 one  of his short-stories4 ,with his   
extraordinarily clear and analytic      
intellect1 he fashioned his plots with  
mathematical precision4 ,so  rigorously 
did he work that in his best stories we 
feel that the  removal of a sentence    
would be an amputation4 ,he succeeded   
absolutely  in giving his narrative the 
utmost emphasis with the greatest       
economy  of means4    ,analysis of      
,ligeia4--,if we learn through and      
through how a single  perfect story is  
constructed1 we shall have gone far     
toward  understanding the technic of    
story-building as a whole4 ,let us      
therefore analyze one of ,poe's         
short-stories--following in the main    

the method which he himself pursued in  
his analysis of ,the ,raven--in  order  
to learn the successive steps by which  
any excellent short-story  may be       
developed from its theme4 ,let us choose
 ,ligeia for the  subject of this study1
 because it is very widely known1 and   
because  ,poe himself considered it the 
greatest of his tales4 ,let us see how1 
starting with the theme of the story1   
,poe developed step by step the         
structure of his finished fabric2 and   
how1 granted his prestablished  design1 
the progress of his plan was in every   
step inevitable4#h    ,the theme of     
,ligeia was evidently suggested by those
 lines from  ,joseph ,glanvill which1   
quoted as a motto for the story1 are    
thrice  repeated during the course of   
the narrative3--    ,and the will       
therein lieth1 which dieth not4 ,who    
knoweth the  mysteries of the will1 with
 its vigor8 ,for ,god is but a great    
will1  pervading all things by nature of
 its intentness4 ,man doth not yield    

himself to the angels1 nor unto death   
utterly1 save only through the  weakness
 of his feeble will4    ,poe recognized1
 with the ,english moralist1 that the   
human will is  strong and can conquer   
many of the ills that flesh is heir to4 
,if it  were still stronger1 it could do
 more mighty things2 and if it were     
very much stronger1 it is even          
conceivable that it might vanquish      
death1 its last and sternest foe4 ,now  
it was legitimate for the  purposes of  
fiction to imagine a character endowed  
with a will strong  enough to conquer   
death2 and a striking narrative effect  
could  certainly be produced by setting 
forth this moral conquest4 ,this1  then1
 became the purpose of the story3 to    
exhibit a character with a  superhuman  
will1 and to show how1 by sheer force of
 volition1 this  person conquered death4
    ,having thus decided on his theme1  
the writer of the story was  first      
forced to consider how many1 or rather  
how few1 characters  were necessary to  

the narrative4 ,one1 at least1 was      
obviously  essential1--the person with  
the superhuman will4 ,for esthetic      
reasons  ,poe made this character a     
woman1 and called her ,ligeia2 but it is
  evident that structurally the story   
would have been the same if he  had made
 the character a man4 ,the resultant    
narrative would have been  different in 
mood and tone2 but it would not have    
been different in  structure4 ,given    
this central character1 it was not      
perhaps evident  at first that another  
person was needed for the tale4 ,but in 
all  stories which set forth an         
extraordinary being1 it is necessary to 
introduce an ordinary character to serve
 as a standard by which the  unusual    
capabilities of the central figure may  
be measured4  ,furthermore1 in stories  
which treat of the miraculous1 it is    
necessary to have at least one          
eye-witness to the extraordinary        
circumstances beside the person         
primarily concerned in them4 ,hence     

another character was absolutely needed 
in the tale4 ,this second  person1      
moreover1 had to be intimately          
associated with the heroine1  for the   
two reasons already considered4 ,the    
most intimate relation  imaginable was  
that of husband and wife2 he must       
therefore be the  husband of ,ligeia4   
,beside these two people1--a woman of   
superhuman  will1 and her husband1 a man
 of ordinary powers1--no other character
  was necessary2 and therefore ,poe did 
not 7and could not1 according  to the   
laws of the short-story7 introduce      
another4 ,the ,lady of  ,tremaine1 as we
 shall see later on1 is not1 technically
 considered1 a  character4    ,the main 
outline of the story could now be       
plotted4 ,ligeia and her  husband must  
be exhibited to the reader2 and then1 in
 her husband's  presence1 ,ligeia must  
conquer death by the vigor of her will4 
,but in  order to do this1 she must     
first die4 ,if she merely exerted her   
will  to ward off the attacks of death1 

the reader would not be convinced  that 
her recovery had been accomplished by   
other than ordinary means4  ,she must   
die1 therefore1 and must afterwards     
resurrect herself by a  powerful        
exertion of volition4 ,the reader must  
be fully convinced that  she did really 
die2 and therefore1 before her          
resurrection1 she must  be laid for some
 time in the grave4 ,the story1 then1   
divided itself  into two parts3 the     
first1 in which ,ligeia was alive1      
terminated with  her death2 and the     
second1 in which she was dead1 ended    
with her  resurrection4    ,having thus 
arrived at the main outline of his plot1
 ,poe was next  forced to decide on the 
point of view from which the story      
should be  told4 ,under the existing    
conditions1 any one of three distinct   
points  of view may have seemed1 at the 
first glance1 available3 that of the    
chief character1 that of the secondary  
character1 and that of an  external     
omniscient personality4 ,but only a     

little consideration was  necessary to  
show that only one of these three could 
successfully be  employed4 ,obviously1  
the story could not be narrated by      
,ligeia3 for it  would be awkward to let
 an extraordinary woman discourse about 
her own  unusual qualities2 and         
furthermore1 she could hardly narrate a 
story  involving as one of its chief    
features her stay among the dead without
  being expected to tell the secrets of 
her prison-house4 ,it was  likewise     
impossible to tell the tale from the    
point of view of an  external omniscient
 personality4 ,in order that the final  
and  miraculous incident might seem     
convincing1 it had to be narrated not   
impersonally but personally1 not        
externally but by an eye-witness4       
,therefore1 the story must1 of course1  
be told by the husband of  ,ligeia4     
,at this point the main outline was     
completed4 ,it then became  necessary   
for ,poe to plan the two divisions of   
the story in detail4  ,in the first     

part1 no action was necessary1 and very 
little  attention had to be paid to     
setting4 ,it was essential that all of  
the writer's stress should be laid on   
the element of character2 for  the sole 
purpose of this initial division of the 
story must be to  produce upon the      
reader an extremely emphatic impression 
of the  extraordinary personality of    
,ligeia4 ,as soon as the reader could be
  sufficiently impressed with the force 
of her character1 she must be  made to  
die2 and the first part of the story    
would be finished4 ,but  at this point  
,poe was obliged to choose between the  
direct and the  indirect means of       
delineating character4 ,should ,ligeia  
be depicted  directly by her husband1 or
 indirectly1 through her own speech8 ,in
  other words1 should this first half of
 the story be a description  or a       
conversation8 ,the matter was easy to   
decide4 ,the method of  conversation was
 unavailable2 because a dialogue between
 ,ligeia and  her husband would keep the

 attention of the reader hovering from  
one  to the other1 whereas it was       
necessary for the purpose of the tale   
to focus all of the attention on        
,ligeia4 ,she must1 therefore1 be       
depicted directly by her husband4       
,having concluded that he must devote   
the entire first half of his story to   
this description1 ,poe  employed all his
 powers to make it adequate and         
emphatic4 ,the  description must1 of    
course1 be largely subjective and       
suggestive1  and must be pervaded with a
 sense of something unfathomable about  
the person described4 ,in order that    
7reverting to the language of  ,poe's   
own critical dictum7 his very initial   
sentence might tend  to the outbringing 
of this effect1 the author wrote1 ,i    
cannot  for my soul remember how1 when1 
or even precisely where ,i first  became
 acquainted with the ,lady ,ligeia2 and 
the story was begun4    ,it was more    
difficult to handle the second division 
of the tale1  which was to deal with the

 period between ,ligeia's death and her 
resurrection4 ,the main stress of the   
story now ceased to be laid on  the     
element of character4 ,the element of   
action1 furthermore1 was  subsidiary in 
the second part of the tale1 as it had  
been already in  the first4 ,all that   
had to happen was the resurrection of   
,ligeia2  and this the reader had been  
forced by the very theme of the  story  
to foresee4 ,the chief interest in the  
second part must therefore  lie in      
determining where and when and how this 
resurrection was  accomplished4 ,a      
worthy setting must be found for the    
culminating  event4 ,poe could lose no  
time in preparing a place for his       
climax2  and therefore he was obliged1  
as soon as he had laid ,ligeia in the   
grave1 to begin an elaborate description
 of the stage settings of his  final    
scene4 ,the place must be wild and weird
 and arabesque4 ,it must  be worthy to  
receive a resurrected mortal revisiting 
the glimpses  of the moon4 ,the place   

was found1 the time--midnight--decided  
upon3  but the question remained1--how  
should ,ligeia be resurrected8    ,and  
here arose almost an insuperable        
difficulty4 ,ligeia had been  buried    
7must have been buried1 as we have      
seen71 and her body had  been given to  
the worms4 ,yet now she must be revived4
 ,and it would not  be sufficient to let
 her merely walk bodily into the        
fantastic  apartment where her husband1 
dream-haunted1 was waiting to receive   
her2 for the point to be emphasized was 
not so much the mere fact of  her being 
once more alive1 as the fact that she   
had won her way back  to life by the    
exertion of her own extraordinary will4 
,the reader must  be shown not only the 
result of her triumph over death1 but   
the  very process of the struggle       
through which by sheer volition she     
forced her soul back into the bodily    
life4 ,if only her body were  present1  
so that the reader could be shown its   
gradual obsession by  her soul1 all     

would be easily accomplished2 but1 by   
the conditions of  the story1 her body  
could not be present3 and the difficulty
 of the  problem was extreme4    ,but   
here ,poe hit upon a solution of the    
difficulty4 ,would not another  dead    
body do as well8 ,surely ,ligeia could  
breathe her life into any  discarded    
female form4 ,therefore1 of course1 her 
husband must marry  again1 solely in    
order that his second wife should die4  
,the ,lady  ,rowena ,trevanion of       
,tremaine is1 therefore1 as ,i have     
already hinted1  not really a character1
 but only a necessary adjunct to the    
final  scene1 an indispensable piece of 
stage property4 ,in order to indicate   
this fact1 ,poe was obliged to abstain  
carefully from describing her in        
detail1 and to seek in every possible   
way to prevent the reader's  attention  
from dwelling long upon her4 ,hence1    
although1 in writing the  first part of 
the story1 he devoted several pages to  
the description  of the heroine1 he     

dismissed the ,lady ,rowena1 in the     
second part1 with  only two descriptive 
epithets1--fair-haired and blue-eyed1 to
  distinguish her briefly from the      
dark-eyed and raven-haired ,ligeia4     
,with the help of this convenient body1 
it was easy for ,poe to develop  his    
final scene4 ,the intense struggle of   
,ligeia's soul to win its way  back to  
the world could be worked up with       
enthralling suspense3 and  when at last 
the climax was reached and the husband  
realized that his  lost love stood      
living before him1 the purpose of the   
story would be  accomplished1 ,ligeia's 
will would have done its work1 and there
 would  be nothing more to tell4 ,poe   
wrote1 ,these are the full1 and the     
black1 and the wild eyes--of my lost    
love--of the ,lady--of the ,lady        
,ligeia3 and the story was ended4       
,for it must be absolutely understood   
that with whatever may have  happened   
after that moment of entire recognition 
this particular story  does not1 and    

cannot1 concern itself4 ,whether in the 
next moment  ,ligeia dies again         
irrevocably1 or whether she lives an    
ordinary  lifetime and then ultimately  
dies forever1 or whether she remains    
alive eternally as a result of the      
triumph of her will1 are questions      
entirely beyond the scope of the story  
and have nothing to do with the  single 
narrative effect which ,poe1 from the   
very outset1 was planning  to produce4  
,at no other point does he more clearly 
display his  mastery than in his choice 
of the perfect moment at which to end   
his  story4    ,it would1 of course1 be 
idle to assert that ,poe disposed of all
 the  narrative problems which          
confronted him while constructing this  
story  precisely in the order ,i have   
indicated4 ,unfortunately1 he never     
explained in print the genesis of any of
 his stories1 and we can only  imagine  
the process of his plans with the aid of
 his careful analysis  of the           
development of ,the ,raven4 ,but ,i     

think it has been clearly  shown that   
the structure of ,ligeia is at all      
points inevitably  conditioned by its   
theme1 and that no detail of the        
structure could be  altered without     
injuring the effect of the story2 and ,i
 am confident  that some intellectual   
process similar to that which has been  
outlined  must be followed by every     
author who seeks to construct stories as
  perfect in form as ,poe's4            
,analysis of ,the ,prodigal ,son4--,the 
student of short-story  structure is    
therefore advised to submit several     
other masterpieces of  the form to a    
process of intellectual analysis similar
 to that which  we have just pursued4   
,by so doing he will become impressed   
with the  inevitability of every        
structural expedient that is employed in
 the  best examples of the type4 ,for a 
further illustration of this            
inevitability of structure1 let us look 
for a moment at the parable of  ,the    
,prodigal ,son 7,luke xv41 beginning    

with the eleventh verse71  which1       
although it was written down many       
centuries ago1 fulfills the  modern     
critical concept of the short-story1 in 
that it produces a  single narrative    
effect with the greatest economy of     
means that is  consistent with the      
utmost emphasis4 ,for the purposes of   
this study1  let us set aside the       
religious implications of the parable1  
and  consider it as an ordinary work of 
fiction4 ,the story should more         
properly be called ,the ,forgiving      
,father1 rather than ,the ,prodigal     
,son2 because the single narrative      
effect to be wrought out is the  extent 
of a father's forgiveness toward his    
erring children4 ,two  characters are   
obviously needed for the tale1--first1 a
 father to  exercise forgiveness1 and   
second1 a child to be forgiven4 ,whether
 this  child were a son or a daughter   
would1 of course1 have no effect on the 
mere structure of the story4 ,in the    
narrative as we know it1 the  erring    

child is a son4 ,in pursuance of the    
greatest economy of means1  the story   
might be told with these two characters 
only1 because the  effect to be wrought 
out is based on the personal relation   
between  them1--a relation involving no 
one else4 ,but fatherly forbearance     
exercised toward an only child might    
seem a trait of human weakness  instead 
of patriarchal strength2 and the        
father's forgiveness will be  greatly   
accentuated if1 beside the prodigal1 he 
has other children  less liable to      
error4 ,therefore1 in pursuance of the  
utmost emphasis1  it is necessary to add
 a third character1--another son who is 
not  allured into the way of the        
transgressor4 ,the story must           
necessarily  be narrated by an external 
omniscient personality3 it must be seen 
and  told from a point of view aloof and
 god-like4 ,the father could not tell   
it1 because the theme of the tale is the
 beauty of his own character2  and      
neither of the two sons is in a position

 to see the story whole  and to narrate 
it without prejudice4 ,the story opens  
perfectly1 with  the very simple        
sentence1 ,a certain man had two sons4  
,already the  reader knows that he is to
 be told a story of character 7rather   
than  of action or of setting7          
concerning three people1 the most       
important  of whom is the certain man   
who has been mentioned first4 ,consider1
 in  passing1 how faulty would have been
 such another opening as this1 for      
instance1--,not long ago1 in a city of  
,judea4444 ,such an initial  sentence   
would have suggested setting1 instead of
 suggesting  character1 as the leading  
element in the story4 ,very properly1   
the  first of the two sons to be singled
 out specifically is the more  important
 of the two1 the prodigal3 ,and the     
younger of them said to  his father1    
',father1 give me the portion of goods  
that falleth to  me4' ,thus1 in only two
 sentences1 the reader is given the     
entire  basis of the story4 ,the swift  

and simple narrative that follows is    
masterly in absolute conciseness4 ,the  
younger son takes his journey  into a   
far country1 wastes his substance in    
riotous living1 begins to  be in want1  
suffers and repents1 and returns to seek
 the forgiveness  of his father4        
,wonderfully1 beautifully1 his father   
loves and pities  and forgives him3 ,for
 this my son was dead and is alive      
again2 he was  lost1 and is found4 ,at  
this point the story would end1 if it   
were  told with only two characters     
instead of three4 ,but emphasis demands 
that the elder son should now make an   
entirely reasonable objection to  the   
reception of the prodigal2 because the  
great love which is the  essence of the 
father's character will shine forth much
 more brightly  when he overrules the   
objection4 ,he does so in the same words
 he had  used in the first moment of    
emotion3 ,for this thy brother was dead1
  and is alive again2 and was lost1 and 
is found4 ,these beautiful  words1 which

 now receive the emphasis of iteration  
as well as the  emphasis of terminal    
position1 sum up and complete the entire
  prestablished design4    ,this story1 
which contains only five hundred words1 
is a little  masterpiece of structure4  
,it embodies a narrative theme of       
profound  human import2 it exhibits     
three characters so clearly and         
completely  drawn that the reader knows 
them better than he knows many a hero of
 a  lengthy novel2 and it displays an   
absolute adjustment between economy  and
 emphasis in its succinct yet touching  
train of incidents4  ,furthermore1 it is
 also1 in the ,english version of the   
,king ,james  translators1 a little     
masterpiece of style4 ,the words are    
simple1  homely1 and direct4 ,most of   
them are of ,saxon origin1 and the      
majority are monosyllabic4 ,less than   
half a dozen words in the entire        
narrative contain more than two         
syllables4 ,and yet they are set so     
delicately together that they fall into 

rhythms potent with emotional  effect4  
,how much the story gains from this     
mastery of prose may be  felt at once by
 comparing with the ,king ,james version
 parallel  passages from the standard   
,french ,bible4 ,the ,english           
monosyllabic  refrain1 with its touching
 balance of rhythm1 loses nearly all of 
its  esthetic effect in the ,french     
translation3 ,car mon fils1 que voici1  
tait mort1 mais il est ressuscit2 il    
tait perdu1 mais il est  retrouv4 ,and  
that very moving sentence about the     
elder son1 ,and he  was angry1 and would
 not go in3 therefore came his father   
out and  entreated him1 becomes in the  
,french ,bible1 ,mais il se mit en      
colre1 et ne voulut point entrer2 et son
 pre tant sorti1 le priait  d'entrer4   
,no especial nicety of ear is necessary 
to notice that the  first is greatly    
written1 and the second is not4         
,style ,essential to the                
,short-,story4--,and this leads us to   
the  general consideration that even a  

perfectly constructed story will  fail  
of the uttermost effect unless it be at 
all points adequately  written4 ,after  
,poe had1 with his intellect1 outlined  
step by step  the structure of ,ligeia1 
he was obliged to confront a further    
problem1--the problem of writing the    
story with the thrilling and            
enthralling harmony of that low1 musical
 language which haunts us  like the echo
 of a dream4 ,it is one thing to build a
 story2 it is  quite another thing to   
write it3 and in ,poe's case it is      
evident that  an appreciable interval of
 time must have elapsed between his     
accomplishment of the first1 and his    
undertaking of the second1  effort4 ,he 
built his stories intellectually1 in    
cold blood2 he wrote  them emotionally1 
in esthetic exaltation3 and the two     
moods are so  distinct and mutually     
exclusive that they must have been      
successive  instead of coexistent4 ,some
 authors build better than they write2  
others write better than they build4    

,seldom1 very seldom1 is a man          
equipped1 as ,poe was1 with an equal    
mastery of structure and of style4  ,yet
 though unity of form may be attained   
through structure alone1  unity of mood 
is dependent mainly upon style4 ,the    
language should be  pitched throughout  
in tune with the emotional significance 
of the  narrative effect to be produced4
 ,any sentence which is tuned out of    
harmony will jangle and disrupt the     
unity of mood1 which is as  necessary to
 a great short-story as it is to a great
 lyric poem4  ,hawthorne1 though his    
structure was frequently at fault1      
proved the  greatness of his art by     
maintaining1 through sheer mastery of   
style1 an absolute unity of mood in     
every story that he undertook4  ,mr4    
,kipling has not always done so1 because
 he has frequently used  language more  
with manner than with style2 but in his 
best stories1  like ,the ,brushwood ,boy
 and ,they1 there is a unity of tone    
throughout the writing that sets them on

 the plane of highest art4       #h ,the
 analysis of ,ligeia which follows was  
first printed in the         ,reader for
 ,february1 #aijf4 ,it is here resumed  
with a few         revisions of detail4 
,,review ,,questions    #a4 ,what are   
the main points to be considered in     
constructing a    short-story8    #b4   
,explain the technical importance of the
 last paragraph1 and the    first       
paragraph1 of a short-story4    #c4     
,analyze a great short-story according  
to the method illustrated in    the     
foregoing analyses of ,ligeia and ,the  
,prodigal ,son4      ,,suggested        
,,reading    ,,edgar ,,allan ,,poe3 ,the
 ,fall of the ,house of ,usher4         
,,nathaniel ,,hawthorne3 ,the ,white    
,old ,maid4    ,,bret ,,harte3          
,tennessee's ,pardner4    ,,robert      
,,louis ,,stevenson3 ,markheim4         
,,rudyard ,,kipling3 ,without ,benefit  
of ,clergy4    ,,kenneth ,,grahame3 ,the
 ,roman ,road4    ,f4 ,j4 ,,stimson3    
,mrs4 ,knollys4    ,,guy ,,de           

,,maupassant3 ,the ,necklace4           
,,alphonse ,,daudet3 ,the ,last ,class4 
,h4 ,c4 ,,bunner3 ,a ,sisterly ,scheme4 
,o4 ,,henry3 ,a ,municipal ,report4     
,,chapter ,,xii    ,,the ,,factor ,,of  
,,style      ,structure and             
,style--,style a ,matter of             
,feeling--,style an    ,absolute        
,quality--,the ,twofold ,appeal of      
,language--,concrete                    
,examples--,onomatopoetic               
,words--,memorable ,words--,the         
,patterning    of ,syllables--,stevenson
 on ,style--,the ,pattern of            
,rhythm--,the    ,pattern of            
,literation--,style a ,fine ,art--,style
 an ,important    ,aid to ,fiction--,the
 ,heresy of the ,accidental--,style an  
,intuitive    ,quality--,methods and    
,materials--,content and ,form--,the    
,fusion    of ,both ,elements--,the     
,author's ,personality--,recapitulation4
      ,structure and ,style4--,the      
element of style1 which has just been   
touched upon in reference to the        

short-story1 must now be considered  in 
its broader aspect as a factor of       
fiction in general4 ,hitherto1 in       
examining the methods of fiction1 we    
have confined our attention for  the    
most part to the study of structural    
expedients4 ,the reason is  that        
structure1 being a matter merely of the 
intellect1 can be  analyzed clearly and 
expounded definitely4 ,like any other   
intellectual  subject--geometry1 for    
instance--structure may be taught4 ,but 
style1  although it is in fiction a     
factor scarcely less important1 is not a
  matter merely of the intellect4 ,it is
 not so easily permissible of  clear    
analysis and definite exposition2 and   
although it is true that1  in a certain 
sense1 it may be learned1 it is also    
true that it cannot  be taught4         
,style a ,matter of ,feeling4--,the word
 style comes trippingly to the  tongue  
of every critic2 but it has never yet   
been satisfactorily  defined4 ,famous   
phrases have been made about it1 to be  

sure2 but most  of these1 like that     
corrupted from ,buffon's cursory remark 
in his  discourse of reception into the 
,academy--,le style est de l'homme      
mme1--are lofty admissions of the       
impossibility of definition4 ,by  this  
fact we are fortified in our opinion    
that style is a matter of  feeling      
rather than of intellect4 ,avoiding1    
therefore1 as unwise any  attempt at    
definition1 we may yet succeed in       
clarifying our ideas  regarding style if
 we circle round the subject4    ,style 
an ,absolute ,quality4--,at the outset1 
in order to narrow the  compass of the  
circle1 let us admit that the familiar  
phrase bad  style is a contradiction of 
terms4 ,basically1 there is no such     
thing  as good style or bad4 ,either a  
literary utterance is made with style1  
or else it is made without it4 ,this    
initial distinction is absolute1  not   
relative4 ,it must1 however1 be admitted
 that of two utterances  made with      
style1 the one may be more imbued with  

that quality than is  the other2 but    
even this secondary distinction is a    
matter of more and  less1 rather than of
 better and worse4 ,style1 then1 is a   
quality  possessed in a greater or less 
degree1 or else not possessed at all4   
,this much being granted1 we may        
investigate with clearer minds the      
philosophic aspect of the subject4      
,the ,twofold ,appeal of                
,language4--,language makes to the mind 
of the  reader or the listener an appeal
 which is twofold4 ,first1 it conveys   
to his intellect a definite meaning     
through the content of the words  that  
are employed2 and secondly1 it conveys  
to his sensibilities an  indefinite     
suggestion through their sound4         
,consciously1 he receives a  meaning    
from the denotation of the words2       
subconsciously1 he receives  a          
suggestion from their connotation4 ,now1
 an utterance has the quality  of style 
when these two appeals of language--the 
denotative and the  connotative1 the    

definite and the indefinite1 the        
intellectual and the  sensuous--are so  
cordinated as to produce upon the reader
 or the  listener an effect which is1   
not dual1 but indissolubly single4 ,and 
an  utterance is devoid of the quality  
of style when1 although it conveys  a   
meaning to the intellect through the    
content of the words1 it does  not      
reinforce that conveyance of meaning by 
a cognate and harmonic  appeal to the   
senses through their sound4 ,in the     
latter case the  language produces upon 
the recipient an effect which is1 not   
single1  but dual and divorced4         
,concrete ,examples4--,the matter may be
 made more clear by the  examination of 
concrete examples4 ,the following       
sentence1 for  instance1 is devoid of   
style3 ,the square on the hypothenuse of
 a  right-angled triangle is equal to   
the sum of the squares on the other  two
 sides3 for1 although by its content it 
conveys to the intellect a  meaning     
which is entirely clear and absolutely  

definite1 it does not  by its sound     
convey to the senses a suggestion which 
is cognate4 ,but1  on the other hand1   
the following lines from ,tennyson's    
,the ,princess  are rich in style1      
because the appeals to the intellect and
 to the ear  are so cordinated as to    
produce a single simultaneous effect3-- 
,myriads of rivulets hurrying thro' the 
lawn1            ,the moan of doves in  
immemorial elms1            ,and        
murmuring of innumerable bees4    ,in   
these lines1 fully as much is conveyed  
to the reader by the mere  melody of m's
 and r's and l's as by the content1 or  
denotation1 of the  words4 ,for         
instance1 the word innumerable1 which   
denotes to the  intellect merely        
incapable of being numbered1 is in this 
connection  made to suggest to the      
senses the murmuring of bees4 ,that one 
word1  therefore1 accomplishes a dual   
service1 and contributes to the         
expression of the general idea in one   
way through its content and in  another 

through its sound4    ,onomatopoetic    
,words4--,this cordination of the two   
appeals is the  origin and the essence  
of the quality of style4 ,but the       
question now  demands to be             
considered1--how may this cordination be
 effected8  ,the first detail we must   
attend to is the choice of words4       
,tennyson's  task1 in the lines that we 
have just considered1 was comparatively 
easy4 ,he was writing about certain     
sounds2 and it was not especially       
difficult for him to imitate those      
sounds with the words that he  selected 
to denote them4 ,his device was the     
obvious one which is  called1 by        
rhetoricians1 onomatopoeia4 ,in every   
language those words  which are         
denotative of sounds are nearly always  
also imitative of  them4 ,such words1   
as1 for example1 whisper1 thunder1      
rattle1 are  in themselves stylistic4   
,alone1 and apart from any context1 they
  incorporate that cognate appeal of    
significance and sound which is the     

secret of style4 ,thus far the matter is
 extremely simple4 ,but there  are also 
many words which denote other things    
than sounds and yet  somehow convey     
subtly to the ear a sensuous suggestion 
of their  content4 ,such words1 for     
instance1 are mud1 nevermore1 and       
tremulous4 ,any child could tell you    
that words like these sound  just like  
what they mean2 and yet it would be     
impossible for the  critical intellect  
to explain exactly wherein lies the     
fitness between  sound and sense in such
 a word as mud4 ,the fitness1 however1  
is  obviously there4 ,if we select from 
several languages words which are       
identical in denotation1 we are likely  
to find that1 because of their          
difference in sound1 they connote       
different phases of the idea which  they
 contain4 ,for example1 the ,english    
word death has a spiritual  sound2      
whereas the ,german der ,tod sounds     
horrible and grim1 and  the ,french la  
mort sounds fearsome and bizarre4 ,in   

content1 these  three words are         
indistinguishable2 but in style they    
differ very  widely4 ,their diversity of
 connotation is obviously inherent in   
their  sound2 and yet1 though the       
difference may be heard at once1 it     
seems  inexplicable by the intellect4   
,memorable ,words4--,but by far the     
greatest number of stylistic words  owe 
their connotation not so much to their  
sound alone1 as to their  capacity for  
evoking memories4 ,they awake the       
psychologic process of  association4    
,such are the words which lie close to  
the heart of every  one's               
experience1--words like home1 sorrow1   
mother1 youth1 and  friends4 ,whenever  
such a word is used1 it conveys to the  
reader or  the listener not only the    
specific meaning intended by the        
momentary  context1 but also a          
subsidiary and subconscious recollection
 of many  phases of his personal        
experience4 ,all of the indisputably    
magic words  possess this associative or

 memorable quality4 ,saying one thing   
definitely1 they evoke a concordant     
harmony of subconscious and  shadowy    
suggestion4 ,expressing a message in the
 present1 they recall  remembered beauty
 from the past4 ,thus it is with the    
words of those  two enchanted lines of  
,keats1--            ,charm'd magic     
casements1 opening on the foam          
,of perilous seas1 in faery lands       
forlorn4    ,they say much more than    
what they say4 ,conveying one meaning to
 the  reader1 they remind him of many1  
many others4    ,the ,patterning of     
,syllables4--,but the choice of         
suggestive and  memorable words is only 
the first step toward mastery of style4 
,the  perfect marriage of significance  
and sound is dependent not so much  upon
 the words themselves as upon the way in
 which they are arranged4  ,the art of  
style1 like every other art1 proceeds by
 an initial  selection of materials and 
a subsequent arrangement of them in     
accordance with a pattern4 ,in style1   

the pattern is of prime  importance2 and
 therefore1 in order to understand the  
witchery of  writing1 we must next      
consider technically the patterning of  
words4    ,stevenson on ,style4--,this  
phase of the subject has been clearly   
expounded and deftly illustrated by     
,robert ,louis ,stevenson in his  essay 
,on ,some ,technical ,elements of ,style
 in ,literature4#i ,this  essay is1 so  
far as ,i know1 the only existing       
treatise on the technic  of style which 
is of any practical value to the        
incipient artist4 ,it  should therefore 
be read many times and mastered         
thoroughly by every  student of the     
mystery of writing4 ,since it is now    
easily accessible1  it will not be      
necessary here to do more than summarize
 its leading  points1--stating them in a
 slightly different way in order that   
they  may better fit the present        
context4    ,the ,pattern of            
,rhythm4--,every normal sentence1 unless
 it be  extremely brief1 contains a     

knot1 or hitch4 ,up to a certain point1 
the  thought is progressively           
complicated2 after that1 it is resolved4
 ,now1  the art of style demands that   
this natural implication and explication
  of the thought should be attended by a
 cognate implication and  explication of
 the movement of the sentence4 ,unless  
the hitch in the  rhythm coincides with 
the hitch in the thought1 the two       
appeals of the  sentence 7to the        
intellect and to the ear7 will contest  
against each  other instead of combining
 to accomplish a common effect4         
,therefore  the first necessity in      
weaving a web of words is to conquer an 
accordance between the intellectual     
progression of the thought and the      
sensuous progression of the sound4 ,the 
appeal of rhythm to the human  ear is   
basic and elemental2 and style depends  
for its effect more upon  a mastery of  
rhythmic phrase than upon any other     
individual detail4 ,in  verse1 the      
technical problem is twofold3 first1 to 

suggest to the ear  of the reader a     
rhythmic pattern of standard regularity2
 and then1 to  vary from the regularity 
suggested1 as deftly and as frequently  
as may  be possible without ever        
allowing the reader for a moment to     
forget  the fundamental pattern4 ,in    
prose1 the writer works with greater    
freedom2 and his problem is therefore at
 once more easy and more  difficult4    
,instead of starting with a standard    
pattern1 he has to  invent a web of     
rhythm which is suited to the sense he  
wishes to  convey2 and then1 without    
ever disappointing the ear of the reader
 by  unnecessarily withholding an       
expected fall of rhythm1 he must shatter
  every inkling of monotony by continual
 and tasteful variation4    ,the        
,pattern of ,literation4--,but language1
 by its very nature1 offers  to the ear 
not only a pattern of rhythm but also a 
pattern of letters4 ,a  mastery of      
literation is therefore a necessary     
element of style4  ,effects indisputably

 potent in suggestion may be gained by  
running a  recurrence of certain        
letters1 deftly for a time              
withheld1--since  blatancy must always  
be avoided1--yet triumphant in          
harmonious return4  ,the great sentences
 of literature which echo in our ears   
because their  sound is married to their
 meaning will be found upon examination 
to  incorporate an intricate pattern of 
tastefully selected letters4 ,thus it   
is with the following sentence of ,sir  
,thomas ,browne's1 wherein it is        
difficult to decide whether the rhythm  
or the literation contributes  the      
larger share to its symmetry of         
sound3--,but the iniquity of  oblivion  
blindly scattereth her poppy1 and deals 
with the memory of men  without         
distinction to merit of perpetuity4     
,thus it is1 again1 with  this sentence 
from ,ruskin's ,seven ,lamps of         
,architecture3--,they are  but the rests
 and monotones of the art2 it is to its 
far happier1  far higher1 exaltation    

that we owe those fair fronts of        
variegated  mosaic1 charged with wild   
fancies and dark hosts of imagery1      
thicker  and quainter than ever filled  
the depths of midsummer dream2 those    
vaulted gates1 trellised with close     
leaves2 those window-labyrinths of      
twisted tracery and starry light2 those 
misty masses of multitudinous  pinnacle 
and diademed tower2 the only witnesses1 
perhaps1 that  remain to us of the faith
 and fear of nations4 ,so it is also    
with  these sentences from ,de          
,quincey's ,the ,english                
,mail-,coach3--,the sea1  the           
atmosphere1 the light1 bore each an     
orchestral part in this  universal lull4
 ,moonlight1 and the first timid        
tremblings of the dawn1  were by this   
time blending2 and the blendings were   
brought into a  still more exquisite    
state of unity by a slight silvery mist1
  motionless and dreamy1 that covered   
the woods and fields1 but with a  veil  
of equable transparency4    ,style a    

,fine ,art4--,a more detailed study of  
style along these lines  would lead us  
to considerations too minutely technical
 for the purpose  of the present volume4
 ,style1 in its highest development1    
belongs only  to the finest art of      
literature2 and it must be admitted that
  literature is not always1 nor even    
perhaps most frequently1 a fine  art4   
,of the four rhetorical moods1 or       
methods1 of discourse1  exposition lends
 itself the least to the assistance of  
the quality of  style4 ,explanations are
 communicated from intellect to         
intellect4  ,words1 in exposition1 must 
be chosen chiefly with a view to        
definite  denotation4 ,the expository   
writer must be clear at any cost2 he    
must  aim to be precise rather than to  
be suggestive4 ,style is considerably   
more important as an adjunct to         
argumentation2 since in order really  to
 persuade1 a writer must not only       
convince the reader's intellect  but    
also rouse and conquer his emotions4    

,but it is in narrative and in          
description that the quality of style is
 most contributive to the  maximum      
effect4 ,to evoke a picture in the      
reader's mind1 or to convey  to his     
consciousness a sense of movement1 it is
 advisable 7,i am  tempted to say       
necessary7 to play upon his             
sensibilities with the  sound of the    
very sentences that are framed to convey
 a content to his  intellect4    ,style 
an ,important ,aid to ,fiction4--,since 
narrative is the natural  mood of       
fiction1 and since description is more  
often introduced than  either argument  
or exposition1 it follows that the      
writer of fiction  must always reckon   
with the factor of style4 ,it is true   
that stories  may be written without    
style2 it is even true that many of the 
greatest stories have been devoid of    
this indefinable quality3 but it  is not
 therefore logical to argue that the    
factor of style may be  neglected4 ,how 
much it may be made to contribute to the

 attainment of  the aim of fiction will 
be recognized instinctively upon        
examination  of any wonderfully written 
passage4 ,let us consider1 for example1 
the  following paragraphs from          
,markheim4 ,after ,markheim has killed  
the  dealer1 and gone upstairs to       
ransack the belongings of the murdered  
man1 he suffers an interval of quietude 
amid alarms4--    ,with the tail of his 
eye he saw the door--even glanced at it 
from  time to time directly1 like a     
besieged commander pleased to verify the
  good estate of his defenses4 ,but in  
truth he was at peace4 ,the rain        
falling in the street sounded natural   
and pleasant4 ,presently1 on the  other 
side1 the notes of a piano were wakened 
to the music of a hymn1  and the voices 
of many children took up the air and    
words4 ,how  stately1 how comfortable   
was the melody6 ,how fresh the youthful 
voices6 ,markheim gave ear to it        
smilingly1 as he sorted out the keys2   
and his mind was thronged with          

answerable ideas and images2            
church-going children and the pealing of
 the high organ2 children  afield1      
bathers by the brookside1 ramblers on   
the brambly common1  kite-fliers in the 
windy and cloud-navigated sky2 and then1
 at another  cadence of the hymn1 back  
again to church1 and the somnolence of  
summer ,sundays1 and the high genteel   
voice of the parson 7which he  smiled a 
little to recall7 and the painted       
,jacobean tombs1 and the dim  lettering 
of the ,ten ,commandments in the        
chancel4    ,and as he sat thus1 at once
 busy and absent1 he was startled to his
  feet4 ,a flash of ice1 a flash of     
fire1 a bursting gush of blood1 went    
over him1 and then he stood transfixed  
and thrilling4 ,a step mounted  the     
stair slowly and steadily1 and presently
 a hand was laid upon the  knob1 and the
 lock clicked1 and the door opened4     
,anybody who has ears to hear will      
immediately appreciate how much the     
effect of this passage is enhanced by   

the masterly employment of every  phase 
of style which we have hitherto         
discussed4 ,if1 instead of  writing1    
,presently the notes of a piano were    
wakened to the music of  a hymn1        
,stevenson had written1 ,soon a piano   
began to play a hymn1  he would have    
suggested to the ear a jangle like the  
banging of tin  pans1 instead of the    
measured melody he had in mind4 ,and let
 it be  particularly noted that the     
phrase suggested for comparison is1 in  
intellectual content alone1 scarcely    
distinct from the original4 ,how  little
 is the difference in denotation1 how   
great the difference in  suggestion6    
,the brief phrase1 ,kite-fliers in the  
windy and  cloud-navigated sky1 seems to
 blow us bodily upward into the         
air3--here is mastery of rhythm4 ,the   
somnolence of summer ,sundays1  is      
whispery and murmurous with s's1 m's1   
and n's3--here 7more  obviously7 is     
mastery of literation4 ,in the second   
paragraph1 notice  how the rhythm       

suddenly hurries when ,markheim is      
startled to his feet2  and in the last  
sentence1 consider the monotonous and   
measured  slowness of the movement1     
ominous with pauses4    ,the ,heresy of 
the ,accidental4--,every now and then a 
critic steps  forward with the statement
 that style in fiction is not a         
deliberate  and conscious conquest1 that
 the sound of sentences is accidental   
and  may therefore not be marshaled to  
contribute to the sense1 and that       
preoccupation with details of rhythm and
 of literation is an evidence  of a     
finical and narrow mind4 ,to such a     
statement no answer is  necessary but   
the wholesome advice to re-read1 aloud  
and carefully1  several passages on a   
par with that from ,markheim which we   
have just  examined4 ,very evidently    
,stevenson knew intuitively what he was 
about  when he planned his rhythmic     
patterns and his literate orchestral    
harmonies4    ,style ,an ,intuitive     
,quality4--,i say intuitively1 because1 

as ,i  admitted at the outset1 style is1
 with the author1 a matter of feeling   
rather than of intellect4 ,but matters  
may be planned with sensibility  as well
 as with intelligence4 ,the writer with 
the gift of style  forehears a rhythmic 
pattern into which he weaves such words 
as may be  denotative of his thought2   
and all the while that he is striving to
 be  definite and clear1 he carries in  
his mind a subtle sense of the  harmonic
 accompaniment of consonants1 the       
melodious eloquence of  vowels4    ,by  
what means a writer may attain to       
mastery of style is a question  not to  
be answered by the intellect4 ,matters  
of sensibility are  personal1 and every 
man must solve them for himself4 ,the   
author of  ,markheim1 as he tells us in 
his essay on ,a ,college ,magazine1     
taught himself to write by playing the  
sedulous ape to many masters2  and this 
method may be recommended to aspirants  
with an imitative ear4  ,but there can  
be no general rule2 because1 although in

 the process of  pure reason all men    
rightly minded think alike1 each man    
differs from  every other in the process
 of emotion4    ,this is the reason why 
style1 besides being 7as we asserted at 
the  outset7 an absolute quality1       
possessed or not possessed by any       
literary utterance1 is also in every    
case a quality personal to  the author  
who attains it4 ,in this regard1 ,buffon
 was right in  stating that style is a  
phase of the man himself4 ,any work that
 is  accomplished by the intellect alone
 belongs to man in general rather  than 
to one man in particular2 but any work  
that is accomplished by  the            
sensibilities incorporates those        
profounder qualities by virtue  of which
 each man stands distinct from every    
other4 ,by studying the  structure of an
 author's work1 we can estimate his     
intellect3 by  studying the style1 we   
can estimate that subtler entity which  
is the  man himself4    ,methods and    
,materials4--,at the close of our study 

of the materials  and methods of        
fiction1 it is advisable that we should 
consider in  general the relation       
between form and content1--the          
respective value  of methods and        
materials4 ,primarily1 there are two    
groups of worthy  fiction1--that which  
is great mainly on account of its       
content1 and  that which is great mainly
 on account of its form4 ,it would be   
unwise1  of course1 to overestimate the 
single and inherent value of either     
material or method4 ,some comparison1   
however1 may be made between the  merits
 of the one group and the other4        
,content and ,form4--,in the first      
place1 it must be noted that1 as far  as
 the general reader is concerned1 the   
appeal of any work of fiction  depends  
far more upon its content than upon its 
form4 ,the average  reader knows little 
and cares less about the technical      
methods of the  art4 ,what he demands   
above all is interesting subject-matter4
 ,he  seeks1 in the popular phrase1 a   

good story2 he wishes to be told        
interesting things about interesting    
people2 and he does not feel  especially
 concerned about the question whether or
 not these things  are told him in an   
interesting way4 ,the matter1 rather    
than the  manner1 is the element that   
most allures him4    ,there are many    
reasons that tempt the critic to accept 
without  reservation the general        
reader's view4 ,for instance1 many of   
the  most important works of fiction    
have been inefficient in mere art4 ,the 
,don ,quixote of ,cervantes is          
indubitably one of the very greatest    
novels in all literature1 for the reason
 that it contains so vast  a world4 ,yet
 it is very faulty both in structure and
 in style4 ,the  author seems to have   
built it little by little1 as he went   
along2  and he changed his plan so often
 during the process of construction     
that the resultant edifice1 like the    
cathedral of ,st4 ,peter's1 is          
architecturally incoherent4 ,he showed  

so little regard for unity that  he did 
not hesitate to halt his novel for half 
a hundred pages  while he set before the
 reader the totally extraneous novelette
 of  ,the ,curious ,impertinent1 which  
he happened to find lying idle in his   
desk4 ,how little he was a master of    
mere style may be felt at once by       
comparing his plays with those of       
,calderon4 ,yet these technical         
considerations do not count against the 
value of his masterpiece4 ,all  of      
,spain is there resumed and uttered1 all
 pains that the idealist in  any age    
must suffer1 all the pity and the glory 
of aspiration  misapplied4    ,scott has
 no style1 and ,thackeray has no        
structure2 but these  technical defects 
go down before their magnitude of       
message4 ,scott  teaches us the glory   
and the greatness of being healthy1     
young1  adventurous1 and happy2 and     
,thackeray1 with tears in his eyes that 
humanize the sneer upon his lips1       
teaches us that the thing we call       

,society1 with a capital ,s1 is but a   
vanity of vanities4 ,if we turn  from   
the novel to the short-story1 we shall  
notice that certain themes  are in      
themselves so interesting that the      
resultant story could not  fail to be   
effective even were it badly told4 ,it  
is perhaps unfair to  take as an example
 ,mr4 ,f4 ,j4 ,stimson's tale called    
,mrs4 ,knollys1  because his story is   
both correctly constructed and          
beautifully  written2 but merely in     
theme this tale is so effective that it 
could  have endured a less accomplished 
handling4 ,the story runs as            
follows3#aj--;,a girl and her husband1  
both of whom are very young1 go  to the 
,alps for their honeymoon4 ,the husband1
 in crossing a glacier1  falls into a   
crevasse4 ,his body cannot immediately  
be recovered2 but  ,mrs4 ,knollys learns
 from a ,german scientist who is making 
a study of  the movement of the ice that
 in forty-five years the body will be   
carried to the end of the glacier4      

,thereafter she regards her husband  as 
absent but not lost1 and lives her life 
in continuous imagined  communion with  
him4 ,at the end of the allotted time1  
she returns and  finds his body4 ,she is
 then a woman in her sixties2 but her   
husband  is1 in aspect1 still a boy of  
twenty-one4 ,she has dreamt of him as   
growing old beside her3 she finds him   
sundered from her by half a  century of 
change4--,even in a bald and ineffective
 summary the  interest of this narrative
 effect must be apparent4 ,the story    
scarcely  needed to be told so well as  
,mr4 ,stimson told it4    ,we must      
admit1 then1 that1 from the standpoint  
of the author as well  as from that of  
the general reader1 material may often  
be regarded as  more important than     
method4 ,but the critic is not therefore
 justified  in stating that style and   
structure may be neglected with         
impunity4  ,other things being equal1   
the books that have lived the longest   
are  those which have been executed with

 admirable art4 ,the decline in the     
fame of ,fenimore ,cooper is a case in  
point4 ,merely in subject-matter1  his  
books are more important now than they  
were at the time of their  original     
publication2 for the conditions of life 
in the forest  primeval must necessarily
 assume a more especial interest to a   
world  that1 in its immediate           
experience1 is rapidly forgetting them4 
,but  ,cooper wrote very carelessly and 
very badly2 and as we advance to a      
finer appreciation of the art of        
fiction1 we grow more and more          
distracted from the contemplation of his
 message by his preposterous            
inequalities of craftsmanship4          
,novels like the ,leatherstocking ,tales
 may be most enjoyed 7,i had  almost    
said appreciated best7 by readers with  
an undeveloped sense of  art4 ,this     
would seem a very strange admission at  
the close of a study  devoted to the art
 of fiction1 were it not for the        
existence of that  other group of       

stories whose importance lies in method 
even more than  in material4 ,a lesser  
thing done perfectly is often more      
significant  than a bigger thing done   
badly4 ,jane ,austen is likely to live  
longer  than ,george ,eliot1 because she
 conveyed her message1 less momentous   
though it were1 with a finer and a      
firmer art4 ,jane ,austen's subjects    
seem1 at the first glance1 to be of very
 small account4 ,from ,english          
middle-class society she selects a group
 of people who are in no  regard        
remarkable1 and thereafter concerns     
herself chiefly with the  simple        
question of who will ultimately marry   
whom4 ,but by sedulously  dwelling on   
the non-essentials of life1 she         
contrives to remind the  reader of its  
vast essentials4 ,by talking to us      
skilfully about the  many things that do
 not matter1 she suggests to us1        
inversely and with  unobtrusive irony1  
the few things that really do4 ,her very
 message1  therefore1 is immediately    

dependent upon her faultless art4 ,if   
she had  done her work less well1 the   
result would have been non-significant  
and wearisome4    ,poe and de           
,maupassant are shining examples of the 
class of authors who  are destined to   
live by their art alone4 ,poe1 in his   
short-stories1  said nothing of         
importance to the world2 and de         
,maupassant said many  matters which    
might more decorously have remained     
untalked of4 ,but the  thing they meant 
to do1 they did unfalteringly2 and      
perfect  workmanship is in itself a     
virtue in this world of shoddy          
compromise  and ragged effort4 ,long    
after people have ceased to care for    
battle1  murder1 and sudden death1 the  
thrill and urge of buoyant adventure1   
they will re-read the boyish tales of   
,stevenson for the sake of their        
swiftness of propulsion and exultant    
eloquence of style4    ,and fully to    
appreciate this class of fiction1 some  
technical  knowledge of the art is      

necessary4 ,washington ,irving's efforts
 must1  to a great extent1 be lost on   
readers who are lacking in the ear for  
style4 ,he had very little to           
say1--merely that the ,hudson is        
beautiful1 that the greatest sadness    
upon earth arises from the early  death 
of one we love1 that laughter and tears 
are at their deepest  indistinguishable1
 and that it is very pleasant to sit    
before the fire  of an old baronial hall
 and remember musingly2 but he said this
 little  like a gentleman1--with a      
charm1 a grace1 an easy urbanity of     
demeanor1 that set his work forever in  
the class of what has been well  done by
 good and faithful servants4    ,there  
is a very fine pleasure in watching with
 awareness the doing of  things that are
 done well4 ,hence1 even for the casual 
reader1 it is  advisable to study the   
methods of fiction in order to develop a
 more  refined delight in reading4 ,it  
would seem that a detective story1 in   
which the interest is centred mainly in 

the long withholding of a  mystery1     
would lose its charm for a reader to    
whom its secret has been  once revealed4
 ,but the reader with a developed       
consciousness of method  finds an       
interest evermore renewed in returning  
again and again to  ,poe's ,murders in  
the ,rue ,morgue4 ,after his first      
surprise has been  abated1 he can enjoy 
more fully the deftness of the author's 
art4  ,after he has viewed the play from
 a stall in the orchestra1 he may       
derive another and a different interest 
by watching it from the wings4  ,to use 
a familiar form of words1 ,jane ,austen 
is the novelist's  novelist1 ,stevenson 
the writer's writer1 ,poe the builder's 
builder2  and in order fully to         
appreciate the work of artists such as  
these1 it  is necessary 7in ,poe's      
words7 to contemplate it with a kindred 
art4    ,the ,fusion of ,both           
,elements4--,but the critic should not  
therefore be  allured into setting      
method higher than material and         

overestimating  form at the expense of  
content4 ,the ideal to be striven for in
 fiction  is such an intimate           
interrelation between the thing said and
 the way  of saying it that neither may 
be contemplated apart from the other4   
,we  are touching now upon a third and  
smaller group of fiction1 which         
combines the special merits of the two  
groups already noted4 ,such a  novel as 
,the ,scarlet ,letter1 such a           
short-story as ,the ,brushwood  ,boy1   
belong in this third and more           
extraordinary class4 ,what  ,hawthorne  
has to say is searching and profound1   
and he says it with an  equal mastery of
 structure and of style4 ,the ,scarlet  
,letter would be  great because of its  
material alone1 even had its author been
 a  bungler2 it would be great because  
of its art alone1 even had he been  less
 humanly endowed with understanding4    
,but it is greater as we know  it1 in   
its absolute commingling of the two     
great merits of important  subject and  

commensurate art4    ,the ,author's     
,personality4--,but in studying ,the    
,scarlet ,letter we  are conscious of   
yet another element of interest1--an    
interest derived  from the personality  
of the author4 ,the same story told with
 equal art  by some one else would      
interest us very differently4 ,and now  
we are  touching on still another group 
of worthy fiction4 ,many stories endure 
more because of the personality of the  
men who wrote them than because  of any 
inherent merit of material or method4   
,charles ,lamb's  ,dream-,children2 ,a  
,revery1 which1 although it is numbered 
among the  ,essays of ,elia1 may be     
regarded as a short-story1 is important 
mainly because of the nature of the man 
who penned it1--a man who1 in  an age   
infected with the fever of growing up1  
remained at heart a  little child1      
looking upon the memorable world with   
eyes of wonder4                         
,recapitulation4--,these1 then1 are the 
three merits to be striven for  in equal

 measure by aspirants to the art of     
fiction3 momentous  material1 masterly  
method1 and important personality4 ,to  
discover  certain truths of human life  
that are eminently worth the telling1 to
  embody them in imagined facts with a  
mastery both of structure and of  style1
 and1 behind and beyond the work itself1
 to be all the time a  person worthy of 
being listened to3 this is1 for the     
fiction-writer1  the ultimate ideal4    
,seldom1 very seldom1 have these three  
contrarious  conditions revealed        
themselves in a single author2 seldom1  
therefore1  have works of fiction been  
created that are absolutely great4 ,it  
would  be difficult for the critic to   
select off-hand a single novel which    
may be accepted in all ways as a        
standard of the highest excellence4     
,but if the term fiction be regarded in 
its broadest significance1 it  may be   
considered to include the one greatest  
work of art ever  fashioned by the mind 
of man4 ,the ,divine ,comedy is supreme 

in  subject-matter4 ,the facts of its   
cosmogony have been disproved by  modern
 science1 the religion of which it is   
the monument has fallen  into disbelief1
 the nation and the epoch that it       
summarizes have been  trampled under the
 progress of the centuries2 but in      
central and  inherent truth1 in its     
exposition of the struggle of the       
beleaguered  human soul to win its way  
to light and life1 it remains perennial 
and  new4 ,it is supreme in art4 ,with  
unfaltering and undejected effort the   
master-builder upreared in symmetry its 
century of cantos2 with  faultless      
eloquence he translated into song all   
moods the human heart  has ever known4  
,and it is supreme in personality2      
because in every  line of it we feel    
ourselves in contact with the vastest   
individual  mind that ever yet inhabited
 the body of a man4 ,we know 7to quote  
the  ,poet's most appreciative          
translator7--                 from what 
agonies of heart and brain1             

,what exultations trampling on despair1 
,what tenderness1 what tears1 what hate 
of wrong1             ,what passionate  
outcry of a soul in pain1               
,uprose this poem of the earth and air1 
,this medieval miracle of song4    ,his 
labor kept him lean for twenty years2   
and many a time he learned  how salt his
 food who fares upon another's          
bread1--how steep his path  who treadeth
 up and down another's stairs4 ,but     
,dante saw and  conquered1--realizing   
what he had to do1 knowing how to do it1
 being  worthy of his work4 ,therefore1 
singly among authors1 he deserves the   
epithet his countrymen apply to         
him1--divine4    ,the ,divine ,comedy is
 the supreme epic of the world4 ,the    
supreme  novel remains to be written4   
,it is doubtful if human literary art   
may  attain completeness more than once4
 ,but as our authors labor to embody    
truths of human life in arranged        
imagined facts1 they should  constantly 
be guided and inspired by the allurement

 of the ultimate  ideal4 ,the noblest   
work is evermore accomplished by        
followers of the  gleam4 ,let us1 in    
parting company1 paraphrase the sense of
 a remark  made centuries ago by ,sir   
,philip ,sidney1--that model of a       
scholar and  a gentleman3--,it is well  
to shoot our arrows at the moon2 for    
though  they may miss their mark1 they  
will yet fly higher than if we had      
flung them into a bush4       #i ,first 
published in the ,contemporary ,review  
for ,april1 #ahhe2 and         now      
included in ,volume ,,xxii of the       
,thistle ,edition3 ,charles             
,scribner's ,sons4      #aj ,mrs4       
,knollys is now easily accessible in    
,the ,short ,story3         ,specimens  
,illustrating ,its ,development4 ,edited
 by ,brander         ,matthews4         
,american ,book ,company1 #aijh4        
,,review ,,questions    #a4 ,what is    
meant by style in literature8    #b4    
,make three patterns of words1--the     
first notable for sheer    selection1   

the second notable for rhythm1 and the  
third notable for    literation4    #c4 
,write a theme1 containing approximately
 three hundred words1 that    shall be  
judged for its quality of style4        
,,suggested ,,reading    ,,robert       
,,louis ,,stevenson3 ,on ,some          
,technical ,elements of ,style in       
,literature4    ,,walter ,,pater3 ,essay
 on ,style1 in ,appreciations4          
,,herbert ,,spencer3 ,philosophy of     
,style4          ,,index      ,actions  
and ,reactions1 #aab1 #acg4    ,adam    
,bede1 #bj1 #cc1 #aaf4    ,addison1     
,joseph1 xv2    ,sir ,roger de          
,coverley1 xv4    neid1 ,the1 #afj1     
#afa1 #afb4    ,alcott1 ,louisa ,m41    
#gh2    ,little ,women1 #gh4            
,aldrich1 ,thomas ,bailey1 #acg2        
,marjorie ,daw1 #acg4    ,alice in      
,wonderland1 #ah4    ,ambitious ,guest1 
,the1 #agd4    ,american ,short         
,stories1 #agd4    ,amiel1              
,henri-,frdric1 #i4    ,andersen1 ,hans 
,christian1 #aa4    ,angel in the       

,house1 ,the1 #aeh4    ,an ,habitation  
,enforced1 #aab4    ,anna ,karnina1 xxi4
    ,arcadia1 #ajb4    ,archer1         
,william1 #h4    ,ariosto1 ,ludovico1   
#ajb2    ,orlando ,furioso1 #ajb4       
,aristotle1 #fi1 #gj4    ,arnold1       
,matthew1 #ahd4    ,assignation1 ,the1  
#ch4    ,as ,you ,like ,it1 #ab4    ,at 
the ,end of the ,passage1 #aaj4         
,aubignac1 ,abb d'1 xviii1 xx2          
,pratique du ,thtre1 xviii4    ,aurora  
,leigh1 #aeh4    ,austen1 ,jane1 #g1    
#ba1 #bi1 #ij1 #acj1 #aca1 #bba1 #bbb2  
,emma1 #ij1 #acj1 #adf2    ,pride and   
,prejudice1 #aca1 #adf4        ,bacon1  
,francis1 #cd4    ,baldwin1 ,charles    
,sears1 #agd1 #age1 #ahj2    ,american  
,short ,stories1 #agd4    ,balfour1     
,graham1 #ed4    ,balzac1 ,honor de1    
xiv1 xvi1 xvii1 #ee1 #eh1 #aeg1 #afc1   
#ahd2    ,eugnie ,grandet1 #agc2        
,human ,comedy1 #afc4    ,barrie1 ,sir  
,james ,matthew1 xxiv1 #ac1 #bh1 #ace1  
#acf4    ,beach of ,fales1 ,the1 #ahb4  
,beowulf1 #acc4    ,bernhardt1 ,sarah1  

#afe4    ,besant1 ,sir ,walter1 xxiv1   
#cg2    ,the ,art of ,fiction1 #cg4     
,beyle1 ,henri1 see ,stendhal4          
,boccaccio1 ,giovanni1 xiv1 #fd1 #aja1  
#ahj2    ,decameron1 #fd1 #aja1 #ahj4   
,boswell1 ,james1 #abe4    ,bront1      
,charlotte1 #ac2    ,jane ,eyre1 #ac1   
#abb1 #abd1 #agj4    ,brougham1 ,lord1  
xxiii4    ,browne1 ,sir ,thomas1 #bac4  
,browning1 ,elizabeth ,barrett1 #aeh2   
,aurora ,leigh1 #aeh4    ,browning1     
,robert1 #aeg4    ,brunetire1           
,ferdinand1 xiv1 #afg2    ,history of   
,classical ,french ,literature1 #ad4    
,brushwood ,boy1 ,the1 #bh1 #ce1 #bje1  
#bbc4    ,buffon1 ,comte de1 #bjg1 #bah4
    ,bunner1 ,henry ,cuyler1 #acg1 #aeb2
    ,a ,sisterly ,scheme1 #aeb2    ,the 
,documents in the ,case1 #acg4          
,bunyan1 ,john1 #ha2    ,pilgrim's      
,progress1 #fe1 #ha4    ,burbage1       
,richard1 #afe4        ,cable1 ,george  
,washington1 #aaa4    ,calderon1 #bai4  
,camons1 #afj2 ,the ,lusiads1 #afj4     
,captive1 ,the1 #ia1 #abd4    ,carlyle1 

,thomas1 #aj2    ,heroes and            
,hero-,worship1 #aj4    ,carmen1 #agc4  
,carroll1 ,lewis1 ,alice in ,wonderland1
 #ah4    ,cask of ,amontillado1 ,the1   
#adc1 #agh4    ,cervantes1 xiv1 #h1     
#bai2    ,don ,quixote1 xxv1 #afb1 #bai2
    ,the ,curious ,impertinent1 #bai4   
,chateaubriand1 ,ren de1 #ah4           
,child's ,dream of a ,star1 ,a1 #ahe4   
,cimabue1 #ii4    ,collins1 ,wilkie1    
#ah1 #ea1 #ge1 #aec2    ,the ,moonstone1
 #ge4    ,colomba1 #agc4    ,colvin1    
,sir ,sidney1 #agi4    ,cooper1 ,james  
,fenimore1 xvi1 #bi1 #adf1 #ahf1 #bbj2  
,leatherstocking ,tales1 #bba2    ,the  
,last of the ,mohicans1 #agc2    ,the   
,spy1 #adf4    ,coppe1 ,franois1 #aei2  
,the ,strike of the ,iron-,workers1     
#aei2    ,the ,substitute1 #aei4        
,coquelin1 ,constant1 #afe4             
,corneille1 ,pierre1 xx4    ,crawford1  
,f4 ,marion1 xxiv1 #bf2    ,the ,novel3 
,what ,it ,is1 #bf4    ,criticism and   
,fiction1 #dj1 #acd4    ,curious        
,impertinent1 ,the1 #bai4    ,cyrano de 

,bergerac1 #afe4        ,daisy ,miller1 
#agc4    ,daniel ,deronda1 #acj1 #adi4  
,d',annunzio1 ,gabriele1 #g1 #ah4       
,dante ,alighieri1 #cb1 #afj1 #bbe2     
,the ,divine ,comedy1 #afj1 #bbd1 #bbe4 
,daudet1 ,alphonse1 #gi1 #ajg1 #add1    
#agd1 #ahf1 #ahg2    ,sapho1 #ai1 #gi2  
,the ,elixir of the ,reverend ,father   
,gaucher1 #ajg2    ,the ,last ,class1   
#agd4    ,david ,copperfield1 #gb4      
,david ,swan1 #fe4    ,deal in ,cotton1 
,a1 #acg4    ,decameron1 #fd1 #aja1     
#ahj4    ,defoe1 ,daniel1 xv1 #ajc1     
#abb2    ,robinson ,crusoe1 #ajc1 #abb4 
,de ,quincey1 ,thomas1 #aj1 #bad2       
,the ,english ,mail-,coach1 #bad4       
,dickens1 ,charles1 xx1 #bc1 #gj1 #gb1  
#ha1 #ajd1 #adg1 #ahe2    ,a ,child's   
,dream of a ,star1 #ahe2    ,a ,tale of 
,two ,cities1 #fh1 #adg2    ,david      
,copperfield1 #gb2    ,martin           
,chuzzlewit1 #hf2    ,our ,mutual       
,friend1 #gj1 #if1 #ajc1 #aeb2          
,pickwick ,papers1 xxv2    ,the ,old    
,curiosity ,shop1 #ajd1 #aje4    ,divine

 ,comedy1 ,the1 #afj1 #bbd1 #bbe4       
,documents in the ,case1 ,the1 #acg4    
,doyle1 ,sir ,arthur ,conan1 #abe1 #adi4
    ,dream-,children1 #bbc4    ,dr4     
,jekyll and ,mr4 ,hyde1 ,strange ,case  
of1 xxii1 #cc1 #ch1 #abf1 #ahb4         
,dryden1 ,john1 xx4    ,dumas1          
,alexandra1 pre1 xvi1 xxiii1 #i1 #db1   
#ej1 #ade4    ,du ,maurier1 ,george1    
#aag4        ,eckermann1 ,j4 ,p41 xx4   
,egoist1 ,the1 #gb1 #hd1 #ib1 #aac4     
,elia1 ,essays of1 #bbc4    ,eliot1     
,george1 xvii1 xxiii1 #f1 #ac1 #bj1 #be1
 #bg1 #bh1 #bi1 #cc1 #cg1 #da1  #de1    
#ea1 #fg1 #gj1 #gb1 #gc1 #hc1 #hg1 #hh1 
#aaf1 #abc1 #abi1 #acj1 #ahd1 #ahf1     
#bba2    ,adam ,bede1 #bj1 #cc1 #aaf2   
,daniel ,deronda1 #acj1 #adi2           
,middlemarch1 #gj1 #gi2    ,romola1 #bh1
 #cg1 #aad1 #adh2    ,silas ,marner1    
#bi1 #fg2    ,the ,mill on the ,floss1  
#ab1 #hg1 #aab4    ,elixir of the       
,reverend ,father ,gaucher1 ,the1 #ajg4 
,emerson1 ,ralph ,waldo1 #dc1 #hj2      
,representative ,men1 #hj4    ,emma1    

#ij1 #acj1 #adf4    ,english            
,mail-,coach1 ,the1 #bad4    ,erasmus1  
xiv4    ,erckmann-,chatrian1 #afc4      
,essays of ,elia1 #bbc4    ,esther1     
,book of1 #agd4    ,eugnie ,grandet1    
#agc4    ,evangeline1 #aei4    ,evan    
,harrington1 #gc1 #abg4    ,experimental
 ,novel1 ,the1 #aaa4        ,faerie     
,queene1 ,the1 #ajb1 #afa4    ,fall of  
the ,house of ,usher1 ,the1 #if1 #aad1  
#aag1 #adc4    ,false ,dawn1 #aac4      
,ferber1 ,edna1 #aic4    ,fielding1     
,henry1 xv1 #ajc2    ,tom ,jones1 xxv4  
,flaubert1 ,gustave1 xvii1 #be1 #bf1    
#aad2    ,madame ,bovary1 #bf2          
,salammb1 #aad4    ,franklin1 ,benjamin1
 #hj2    ,autobiography of1 #hj4        
,freeman1 ,mrs4 ,mary ,e4 ,wilkins1     
#aaa4    ,freytag1 ,gustave1 xxiv2      
,technic of the ,drama1 xxiv4           
,froude1 ,james ,anthony1 xxiii4        
,furetire1 ,antoine1 xvii1 xviii2       
,roman ,bourgeois1 xvii4                
,garland1 ,hamlin1 #aaa4    ,gentle     
,boy1 ,the1 #aia4    ,gesta ,romanorum1 

#fd1 #aja4    ,gift of the ,magi1 ,the1 
#adc1 #aid4    ,gil ,blas1 #ff1 #abb4   
,giotto1 #ii1 #aja4    ,glanvill1       
,joseph1 #aie4    ,goethe1 ,j4 ,w4 von1 
xx2    ,conversations with ,eckermann1  
xx4    ,goldsmith1 ,oliver1 xv2    ,the 
,vicar of ,wakefield1 #hd1 #he4         
,goncourt1 ,jules and ,edmond de1 #bh4  
,gossip on ,romance1 ,a1 #ef1 #ajh4     
,greene1 ,robert1 xxiii4    ,gummere1   
,francis ,b41 xvii4        ,hale1       
,edward ,everett1 #ahb2    ,the ,man    
,without a ,country1 #ahb4    ,hamlet1  
xiv1 #h1 #i1 #hb1 #afe1 #afi4    ,hardy1
 ,thomas1 #aaa2    ,tess of the         
,d',urbervilles1 #aaa4    ,hawthorne1   
,nathaniel1 xvii1 #g1 #ae1 #bj1 #bh1    
#bi1 #ca1 #ch1 #fe1 #ga1 #gb1  #gc1     
#adf1 #adh1 #aed1 #aei1 #age1 #ahj1     
#ahf1 #ahg1 #aia1 #aic1 #bje1 #bbc2     
,david ,swan1 #fe2    ,the ,ambitious   
,guest1 #agd2    ,the ,gentle ,boy1     
#aia2    ,the ,house of the ,seven      
,gables1 #g1 #bh1 #ca2    ,the ,marble  
,faun1 #ch1 #gc1 #aed2    ,the ,scarlet 

,letter1 xxv1 #ae1 #bj1 #bi1 #cf1 #ga1  
#gb1 #gc1 #adf1 #bbc2    ,the ,white    
,old ,maid1 #adh4    ,hedda ,gabler1    
#adh4    ,hegel1 ,g4 ,f4 ,w41 xix4      
,henry ,esmond1 #bh1 #abb4    ,henry    
,,iv1 #di4    ,henry1 ,o41 #adc1 #aic1  
#aid2    ,the ,gift of the ,magi1 #adc1 
#aid4    ,heroes and ,hero-,worship1    
#aj4    ,hervieu1 ,paul1 xxiv4          
,homer1 #gd1 #acc1 #aeg1 #afj1 #afb2    
,the ,iliad1 #id1 #acc1 #afj1 #afb2     
,the ,odyssey1 #acc4    ,horace1 #gd4   
,house of the ,seven ,gables1 ,the1 #g1 
#bh1 #ca4    ,howells1 ,william ,dean1  
#dj1 #acd1 #ace2    ,criticism and      
,fiction1 #dj1 #acd2    ,the ,rise of   
,silas ,lapham1 #agc4    ,hugo1 ,victor1
 xvi1 xxiii1 #be1 #bf1 #ej1 #aab1 #ade1 
#adi2    ,les ,misrables1 #bf2    ,notre
 ,dame de ,paris1 #aab1 #ade1 #adi1     
#agc4    ,human ,comedy1 #afc4          
,humble ,remonstrance1 ,a1 #fj1 #gj4    
,huxley1 ,thomas ,henry1 xxi4           
,ibsen1 ,henrik1 #h1 #ab1 #adg2         
,hedda ,gabler1 #adh2    ,rosmersholm1  

#adg4    ,iceland ,fisherman1 ,the1     
#aab4    ,iliad1 ,the1 #id1 #acc1 #afj1 
#afb4    ,irving1 ,washington1 #g1 #aha1
 #bbb2    ,rip ,van ,winkle1 #aha2      
,the ,legend of ,sleepy ,hollow1 #aha4  
,james1 ,henry1 #ba1 #bg1 #cg1 #eg1 #gb1
 #gh1 #aah1 #acg1 #aea1 #aha2    ,daisy 
,miller1 #agc2    ,the ,art of ,fiction1
 #bg1 #aah2    ,the ,turn of the ,screw1
 #aea1 #aha2    ,what ,maisie ,knew1    
#acg4    ,jane ,eyre1 #ac1 #abb1 #abd1  
#agj4    ,jerusalem ,liberated1 #afj4   
,johnson1 ,samuel1 xv1 xviii1 xx1 xxiii1
 #abe4    ,jonson1 ,ben1 #ha4    ,just  
,so ,stories1 #bc4    ,keats1 ,john1    
#baa4    ,kenilworth1 #adi1 #agc4       
,kidnapped1 #ae1 #abb1 #abd4    ,kim1   
#fg1 #adh4    ,king ,lear1 #hb4         
,kipling1 ,rudyard1 #aa1 #ba1 #bb1 #bc1 
#ce1 #ci1 #ej1 #fg1 #gi1 #hb1 #hg1 #ajf1
 #aaj1  #aab1 #abd1 #abg1 #acg1 #adh1   
#aej1 #aeg1 #afi1 #agc1 #agd1 #ahd1     
#ahe1 #ahf1 #ahg1  #aia1 #aib1 #aic1    
#aid1 #bje2    ,actions and ,reactions1 
#aab1 #acg2    ,a ,deal in ,cotton1     

#acg2    ,an ,habitation ,enforced1     
#aab2    ,at the ,end of the ,passage1  
#aaj2    ,false ,dawn1 #aac2    ,how the
 ,elephant ,got ,his ,trunk1 #aa2       
,just ,so ,stories1 #bc2    ,kim1 #fg1  
#adh2    ,lispeth1 #aic2                
,love-o'-,women1 #aej2    ,mrs4         
,bathurst1 #ie1 #abg1 #aej2    ,only a  
,subaltern1 #ad2    ,plain ,tales from  
the ,hills1 #ahe1 #aia1 #aic2           
,soldiers ,three1 #abg2    ,the         
,brushwood ,boy1 #bh1 #ce1 #bje1 #bbc2  
,the ,captive1 #ia1 #abd2    ,the ,light
 ,that ,failed1 #agc2    ,the           
,three-,decker1 #agd2    ,they1 #bb1    
#ce1 #hg1 #afi1 #bje2    ,thrown ,away1 
#aib2    ,without ,benefit of ,clergy1  
#ba1 #ajf1 #agd1 #aib4    ,kreutzer     
,sonata1 ,the1 xxi4        ,lady of the 
,lake1 ,the1 #aeh4    ,lady or the      
,tiger8 ,the1 #aed1 #ahc4    ,lamb1     
,charles1 #ace1 #bbc2                   
,dream-,children1 #bbc2    ,essays of   
,elia1 #bbc2    ,the ,south ,sea ,house1
 #ace4    ,lantern-,bearers1 ,the1 #bc4 

,last ,class1 ,the1 #agd4    ,last ,days
 of ,pompeii1 ,the1 #aac4    ,last of   
the ,mohicans1 ,the1 #agc4              
,leatherstocking ,tales1 #bba4    ,le   
,breton1 ,andr1 xiv1 xxiii4    ,lee1    
,sir ,sidney1 #ga4    ,legend of ,sleepy
 ,hollow1 ,the1 #aha4    ,leibnitz1     
,baron ,g4 ,w4 von1 #ajd4    ,leonardo  
da ,vinci1 #ajj4    ,le ,sage1 ,alain   
,ren1 #ff2    ,gil ,blas1 #ff1 #abb4    
,les ,facheux1 #ff4    ,les ,misrables1 
#bf4    ,l',etourdi1 #ff4    ,lewes1    
,george ,henry1 #ea4    ,ligeia1 #agd1  
#aid1 #aie1 #bja1 #bjd4    ,light ,that 
,failed1 ,the1 #agc4    ,lispeth1 #aic4 
,little ,women1 #gh4    ,london1 ,jack1 
#aaa4    ,longfellow1 ,henry ,wadsworth1
 #aei1 #bbe2    ,evangeline1 #aei4      
,loti1 ,pierre1 #aab2    ,the ,iceland  
,fisherman1 #aab4    ,love-o'-,women1   
#aej4    ,lowell1 ,james ,russell1 xvii1
 #g4    ,lucile1 #aeh4    ,lusiads1     
,the1 #afj4        ,macbeth1 #g1 #hb1   
#aec1 #afh4    ,mac,leod1 ,fiona1 #aac4 
,madame ,bovary1 #bf4    ,man ,without a

 ,country1 ,the1 #ahb4    ,manzoni1     
,alessandro1 xvi4    ,marble ,faun1     
,the1 #ch1 #gc1 #aed4    ,marjorie ,daw1
 #acg4    ,markheim1 xxii1 #cf1 #dh1    
#ada1 #aed1 #agd1 #bae1 #baf1 #bag4     
,marmion1 #aeh4    ,martin ,chuzzlewit1 
#hf4    ,masque of the ,red ,death1     
,the1 #adb1 #adi1 #aee1 #agh4    ,master
 of ,ballantrae1 ,the1 #ib1 #ic1 #id1   
#aac1 #abf1 #adh1 #agj4    ,matthews1   
,brander1 #db1 #acg1 #agc1 #agf2    ,the
 ,documents in the ,case1 #acg2    ,the 
,philosophy of the ,short-,story1 #agf4 
,maud1 #aeh4    ,maupassant1 ,guy de1   
#dj1 #fc1 #acb1 #acd1 #adb1 #adc1 #aeb1 
#agd1 #ahj1 #aha1 #ahd1  #ahf1 #ahg1    
#aic1 #bba2    ,pierre et ,jean1 #dj2   
,the ,necklace1 #adb1 #aeb1 #agd4       
,mends1 ,catulle1 #bi4    ,merchant of  
,venice1 ,the1 #fh4    ,meredith1       
,george1 #bi1 #ee1 #gb1 #gc1 #aac1 #abg1
 #abi1 #acj1 #afi1 #aga1 #ahd1 #ahf2    
,evan ,harrington1 #gc1 #abg2    ,the   
,egoist1 #gb1 #hd1 #ib1 #aac2    ,the   
,ordeal of ,richard ,feverel1 #aac4     

,meredith1 ,owen1 #afj2    ,lucile1     
#afj4    ,merime1 ,prosper1 #agc2       
,carmen1 #agc2    ,colomba1 #agc4       
,merry ,men1 ,the1 #ed4    ,middlemarch1
 #gj1 #gi4    ,millet1 ,jean-,franois1  
#aja4    ,mill on the ,floss1 ,the1 #ab1
 #hg1 #aab4    ,milton1 ,john1 #afj1    
#afb2    ,paradise ,lost1 #afj4         
,modern ,painters1 #aje4    ,molire1 ,j4
 ,b4 ,poquelin de1 xix1 #ff1 #afe2      
,les ,facheux1 #ff2    ,le ,tartufe1    
xix1 #h2    ,l',etourdi1 #ff4           
,moonstone1 ,the1 #ge4    ,motley1 ,john
 ,lothrop1 xxiii4    ,mrs4 ,bathurst1   
#ie1 #abg1 #aej4    ,mrs4 ,knollys1     
#bai1 #bbj4    ,murders in the ,rue     
,morgue1 ,the1 #ge1 #bbb4               
,necklace1 ,the1 #adb1 #aeb1 #agd4      
,new ,arabian ,nights1 #bh1 #he4        
,newcomes1 ,the1 #abf1 #agc4            
,nibelungen ,lied1 #acc4    ,norris1    
,frank1 xxii1 #aaa1 #afd4    ,notre     
,dame de ,paris1 #aab1 #ade1 #adi1 #agc4
    ,nouvelle ,hloise1 ,la1 #ajd4       
,novel1 ,the3 ,what ,it ,is1 #bf4       

,odyssey1 ,the1 #acc4    ,o,edipus      
,king1 xix4    ,old ,curiosity ,shop1   
,the1 #ajd1 #aje4    ,only a ,subaltern1
 #ad4    ,ordeal of ,richard ,feverel1  
,the1 #aac4    ,orlando ,furioso1 #ajb4 
,ostade1 ,adrian van1 #ajj4    ,othello1
 #adi1 #afi4    ,our ,mutual ,friend1   
#gj1 #if1 #ajc1 #aeb4        ,pamela1   
#bj4    ,paradise ,lost1 #afj4          
,parkman1 ,francis1 #aj4    ,patmore1   
,coventry1 #aeh2    ,the ,angel in the  
,house1 #aeh4    ,paul and ,virginia1   
#ajb4    ,peele1 ,george1 xxiii4        
,pendennis1 #ad4    ,pepys1 ,samuel1    
#dg4    ,perry1 ,bliss1 xxiv1 #bh1 #bi1 
#ahb1 #ahc1 #ahd2    ,a ,study of ,prose
 ,fiction1 #bh1 #ahb4    ,petrarch1 #ga4
    ,philosophy of ,composition1 ,the1  
#aid4    ,philosophy of the             
,short-,story1 ,the1 #agf4    ,pickwick 
,papers1 xxv4    ,pierre et ,jean1 #dj4 
,pilgrim's ,progress1 #fe1 #ha4         
,pinero1 ,sir ,arthur ,wing1 #adi1 #aga4
    ,pit and the ,pendulum1 ,the1 #ahc4 
,plain ,tales from the ,hills1 #ahe1    

#aia1 #aic4    ,plato1 #i4    ,plutarch1
 #aj4    ,poe1 ,edgar ,allan1 #bi1 #ch1 
#ge1 #aad1 #aae1 #abe1 #adb1 #adc1 #add1
 #agb1 #agd1  #age1 #agf1 #agg1 #agh1   
#agi1 #ahj1 #aha1 #ahc1 #ahd1 #ahe1     
#ahf1 #ahg1 #aij1 #aic1  #aid1 #aie1    
#aif1 #aig1 #aih1 #aii1 #bjj1 #bja1     
#bjd1 #bje1 #bba1 #bbb2    ,ligeia1     
#agd1 #aid1 #aie1 #bja1 #bjd2    ,the   
,assignation1 #ch2    ,the ,cask of     
,amontillado1 #adc1 #agh2    ,the ,fall 
of the ,house of ,usher1 #if1 #aad1     
#aag1 #adc2    ,the ,masque of the ,red 
,death1 #adb1 #adi1 #aee1 #agh2    ,the 
,murders in the ,rue ,morgue1 #ge1 #bbb2
    ,the ,philosophy of ,composition1   
#aid2    ,the ,pit and the ,pendulum1   
#ahc2    ,the ,raven1 #aid1 #bja2       
,the ,tell-,tale ,heart1 #add1 #agh4    
,pride and ,prejudice1 #aca1 #adf4      
,princess1 ,the1 #bji4    ,prodigal     
,son1 ,the1 #agd1 #bja1 #bjb1 #bjc1     
#bjd4        ,rabelais1 ,franois1 xiv1  
#ah4    ,raphael1 #ajj4    ,raven1 ,the1
 #aid1 #bja4    ,redgauntlet1 #ahe4     

,rembrandt1 #adj4    ,richardson1       
,samuel1 xv1 #bj1 #abg2    ,pamela1 #bj4
    ,rip ,van ,winkle1 #aha4    ,rise of
 ,silas ,lapham1 ,the1 #agc4            
,robinson ,crusoe1 #ajc1 #abb4    ,romeo
 and ,juliet1 #ad4    ,romola1 #bh1 #cg1
 #aad1 #adh4    ,ronsard1 ,pierre1 #ga4 
,rosmersholm1 #adg4    ,rossetti1 ,dante
 ,gabriel1 #ga1 #gb4    ,rostand1       
,edmond1 #afe2    ,cyrano de ,bergerac1 
#afe4    ,rousseau1 ,jean ,jacques1     
#ajd2    ,la ,nouvelle ,hloise1 #ajd4   
,ruskin1 ,john1 #aje1 #bac2    ,modern  
,painters1 #aje2    ,seven ,lamps of    
,architecture1 #bac4    ,ruth1 ,book of1
 #agd4        ,saint-,pierre1 ,bernardin
 de1 #ajb2    ,paul and ,virginia1 #ajb4
    ,salammb1 #aad4    ,sapho1 #ai1 #gi4
    ,sardou1 ,victorien1 #afe2    ,la   
,tosca1 #afe4    ,scarlet ,letter1 ,the1
 xxv1 #ae1 #bj1 #bi1 #cf1 #ga1 #gb1 #gc1
 #adf1 #bbc4    ,school for ,scandal1   
,the1 #adi4    ,scott1 ,sir ,walter1    
xvi1 #bj1 #ba1 #be1 #bf1 #ch1 #db1 #ej1 
#eh1 #gd1 #hf1 #acc1  #ade1 #adf1 #adi1 

#aeh1 #ahe1 #bai2    ,kenilworth1 #adi1 
#agc2    ,marmion1 #aeh2                
,redgauntlet1 #ahe2    ,the ,lady of the
 ,lake1 #aeh2    ,the ,talisman1 #adf2  
,wandering ,willie's ,tale1 #ahe2       
,waverley1 #bj4    ,seven ,lamps of     
,architecture1 ,the1 #bac4              
,shakespeare1 ,william1 xviii1 xix1 #g1 
#h1 #i1 #aj1 #ab1 #ac1 #ce1 #di1 #gj1   
#ga1 #aeg1 #afe1 #afh1 #afi2    ,as ,you
 ,like ,it1 #ab2    ,hamlet1 xiv1 #h1   
#i1 #hb1 #afe1 #afi2    ,henry ,,iv1    
#di2    ,king ,lear1 #hb2    ,macbeth1  
#g1 #hb1 #aec1 #afh2    ,othello1 #adi1 
#afi2    ,romeo and ,juliet1 #ad2       
,the ,merchant of ,venice1 #fh4         
,shaw1 ,george ,bernard1 #aj4           
,sheridan1 ,richard ,brinsley1 #adi2    
,the ,school for ,scandal1 #adi4        
,sidney1 ,sir ,philip1 #ajb1 #bbe2      
,arcadia1 #ajb4    ,silas ,marner1 #bi1 
#fg4    ,sisterly ,scheme1 ,a1 #aeb4    
,smoke1 xxv4    ,smollett1 ,tobias1 xv4 
,soldiers ,three1 #abg4    ,sophocles1  
xix1 xx1 #ahd1 #ahe2    ,o,edipus ,king1

 xix4    ,spenser1 ,edmund1 #ajb1 #aab2 
,the ,faerie ,queene1 #ajb1 #afa4       
,spielhagen1 ,friedrich1 xxiv2          
,technic of the ,novel1 xxiv4    ,spy1  
,the1 #adf4    ,steele1 ,sir ,richard1  
xv4    ,stendhal1 xvii4    ,sterne1     
,laurence1 xv4    ,stevenson1 ,robert   
,louis1 xxi1 xxii1 #af1 #bc1 #bh1 #cc1  
#cf1 #ci1 #dj1 #dh1  #ej1 #ed1 #ef1 #fj1
 #fa1 #fb1 #gj1 #gc1 #he1 #ajh1 #aac1   
#agj1 #agc1 #agd1 #agi1 #ahb1  #ahg1    
#bab1 #bbc2    ,a ,college ,magazine1   
#bag2    ,a ,gossip on ,romance1 #ef1   
#ajh2    ,a ,humble ,remonstrance1 #fj1 
#gj2    ,kidnapped1 #ae1 #abb1 #abd2    
,markheim1 xxii1 #cf1 #dh1 #ada1 #aed1  
#agd1 #bae1 #baf1 #bag2    ,new ,arabian
 ,nights1 #bh1 #he2    ,on ,some        
,technical ,elements of ,style in       
,literature1 #bab2    ,strange ,case of 
,dr4 ,jekyll and ,mr4 ,hyde1 xxii1 #cc1 
#ch1 #abf1 #ahb2    ,the ,beach of      
,fales1 #ahb2    ,the ,lantern ,bearers1
 #bc2    ,the ,master of ,ballantrae1   
#ib1 #ic1 #id1 #aac1 #abf1 #adh1 #agj2  

,the ,merry ,men1 #ed2    ,the ,treasure
 of ,franchard1 #agc2    ,treasure      
,island1 #ea1 #eb1 #gh1 #abb1 #abd4     
,stimson1 ,f4 ,j41 #bai2 ,mrs4 ,knollys1
 #bai1 #bbj4    ,stockton1 ,frank ,r41  
#aed2    ,the ,lady or the ,tiger81     
#aed1 #ahc4    ,strange ,case of ,dr4   
,jekyll and ,mr4 ,hyde1 xxii1 #cc1 #ch1 
#abf1 #ahb4    ,strike of the           
,iron-,workers1 ,the1 #aei4    ,study of
 ,prose ,fiction1 ,a1 #bh1 #ahb4        
,substitute1 ,the1 #aei4    ,swift1     
,jonathan1 xv1 #ah4        ,tale of ,two
 ,cities1 ,a1 #fh1 #adg4    ,talisman1  
,the1 #adf4    ,tarkington1 ,booth1     
#aaa4    ,tartufe1 ,le1 xix1 #h4        
,tasso1 ,torquato1 #afj1 #afb2          
,jerusalem ,liberated1 #afj4    ,taylor1
 ,bayard1 #aed2    ,who ,was ,she81     
#aed4    ,tell-,tale ,heart1 ,the1 #add1
 #agh4    ,teniers1 ,david1 the younger1
 #ajj4    ,tennyson1 ,alfred1 ,lord1    
#aeh1 #bji2    ,maud1 #aeh2    ,the     
,princess1 #bji4    ,tess of the        
,d',urbervilles1 #aaa4    ,thackeray1   

,william ,makepeace1 xvii1 #ad1 #ba1    
#bf1 #bg1 #bh1 #fc1 #ga1 #gd1  #gi1 #ig1
 #abf1 #acd1 #ace1 #ahe1 #bai2    ,henry
 ,esmond1 #bh1 #abb2    ,pendennis1 #ad2
    ,the ,newcomes1 #abf1 #agc2    ,the 
,virginians1 #bh2    ,vanity ,fair1 xxv1
 #bj1 #ga1 #gi1 #ig1 #ih1 #adf1 #aea4   
,theocritus1 xiv4    ,they1 #bb1 #ce1   
#hg1 #afi1 #bje4    ,three-,decker1     
,the1 #agd4    ,thrown ,away1 #aib4     
,tintoretto1 #adj4    ,tolstoi1 ,count  
,leo1 xxi1 #g2    ,anna ,karnina1 xxi2  
,the ,kreutzer ,sonata1 xxi2    ,war and
 ,peace1 xxv4    ,tom ,jones1 xxv4      
,tosca1 ,la1 #afe4    ,treasure ,island1
 #ea1 #eb1 #gh1 #abb1 #abd4    ,treasure
 of ,franchard1 ,the1 #agc4             
,trollope1 ,anthony1 #da1 #ea4          
,turgnieff1 ,ivan1 #eg1 #eh1 #gb1 #aeg1 
#agc2    ,smoke1 xxv4    ,turn of the   
,screw1 ,the1 #aea1 #aha4        ,uncle 
,tom's ,cabin1 #afc4        ,vanity     
,fair1 xxv1 #bj1 #ga1 #gi1 #ig1 #ih1    
#adf1 #aea4    ,verrocchio1 ,andrea1    
#adj4    ,vicar of ,wakefield1 ,the1    

#hd1 #he4    ,virgil1 #afa2    ,the     
neid1 #afj1 #afa1 #afb4    ,virginians1 
,the1 #bh4        ,wagner1 ,richard1    
#adg4    ,wandering ,willie's ,tale1    
#ahe4    ,war and ,peace1 xxv4          
,waverley1 #bj4    ,what ,maisie ,knew1 
#acg4    ,white ,old ,maid1 ,the1 #adh4 
,white1 ,stewart ,edward1 #aaa4         
,whitman1 ,walt1 #ga1 #gi4    ,who ,was 
,she81 #aed4    ,without ,benefit of    
,clergy1 #ba1 #ajf1 #agd1 #aib4         
,wordsworth1 ,william1 #eh4             
,zola1 ,emile1 #f1 #bi1 #da1 #aaa1 #afd2
    ,the ,experimental ,novel1 #aaa2    
,the ,rougon-,macquart ,series1 #aaa1   
#afd4          ,,the ,,country ,,life   
,,press    ,,garden ,,city1 ,n4 ,y4