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an " Epic episode . " We do not know that the t ^ rin " epic *' is quite so applicable to the more pathetic episodes it contains , as would be that of " didactic ; " but either of them would bs
more appropriate than the term * ' dramatic / ' The beautiful passages throughout , with a few striking exceptions ( such as the speeches of Bragelone to the King ) are not of a kind , to require ! or admit of much action . They are far more addressee } to the mind , as moral homilies ; and to the lawful feelings of society , rather than to the lawlessness of the will , or to the involuntary
emotions of the excited heart . We are somewhat disposed to differ with the talented author in his opinion of the poetical inspiration to be derived from the reign of Louis the Fourteenth , or the story of the Duchess de la Valli&re ; or at all events we demur to the character of the unfortunate lady as rendered in this play , because we think such a view of it too retiring , gentle , and refined , for the heroine of any dramatic representation , especially as there is no strength in any other
character ( except that of Bragefone , who turns monk and does fldt often appear , losing also a fine closing scene by never making himself known ; to the King , ) to produce a fruflicieiit ; force of contrast . We do not think that any weak character * can well be made the heroine of a dramatic production without having a corresponding tendency to injure the effect of such piece when read , and of destroying it when acted . La Valliere does nothing of her own will ; she only acts as others act upon her . She is a patient , never an agent *
The author frequently designates his heroine as " the soft La Valliere / ' and indeed that epithet is profusely used ftom the Preface to the end of the publication . The quotation also in the title-page shows what we are to expect : — " Ne pour les passions ,- — et pour le repentir . " Tragic passions , and dramatic not tnat
characters in general , are given way ; or n t ^ hey repent it is not till all is accomplished , and the prospect of such repentance never interferes to dilute , but rather % q increase the effect of " humanity ' s afflicted will . " Whatever pleasure may be derived from the many exquisite passages contained in this play , and however well it may , or may not be now received in public , [ we are afraid that such peculjaritte / t of construction as we have ventured to consider errors , will
militate against the position it might otherwise have attained in dramatic literature , and against the permanence of its reception in public . Howbeit , towards the latter , Mr Bulwer has dotte much by sundry judicious curtailments and additibnd . We shall not enter into any elaborate knaly&ife of the different scenes of this play , considering that our readers are by this time sufficiently acquainted with them , either through the book itself , or through the various and voluminous (^ extracts
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The XXttchess de la Vvlliire . 67
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 1, 1837, page 67, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1828/page/20/
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