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fortune /* where a man ' s own feelings obtain a given result ! And are not Heaven and Honour in that case either forgotten , —or quoted to enhance the delirium and as witnesses of the vows of constancy in the same ! Bragelone ' s apology to himself for kissing La Vallilre while she is in a swoon , and his horror at the " sinfulness" of preserving her glove as a loverelict , are miraculous aberrations , which must have been very
amusing to the author to indite * The confusion of the whole of this philosophy is apparent even in the remorse and retirement of La Valliere from the scene . Her repentance ( see p . 147 ) is only because there is no further hope of continuing her intimacy with the King . That she firmly resists all his entreaties at last , is evidently a most painfully intense struggle against her nature ; and when the poor devoted victim of pure affection has taken the veil ; when the dark convent walls are
just closing in upon her very heart and soul and all their mortal hopes ; when at this moment Bragelone asks her emphatically , " Art thou happy ? " and she answers , " Yes ! " we pass , with a deep sigh , over the confusion of her brain , and sympathizing
at once with her real sensations , declare that—it is no $ true Most of the Magdalens of Correggio , Guido , or Lodovico Carracci , might have made the same reply ; but we have the desolate divinity of their impassioned faces to prove the inward agony of their hearts * ___
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Mr Knowles is not only a truly dramatic writer , but he also combines more dramatic excellences than any of his contemporaries , or perhaps than any that have preceded him since the time of Sheridan and Holcroft . He has not the refined pathos andclassicality of Barry'Cornwall , or Mr SerjeantTalfourd , — 'the fine poetry contained in the dramas of Shelley , Byron , nor in
those of the authors of ' Joseph and his Brethren / * The Jew of Arragon / and * The Bride ' s Tragedy : * in some respects he is inferior to Jerrold ; but as one who can write good sterling poetry of nature , originating in action , and suited to the physical cravings of a theatrical audience , he has no equal . The unaffected sweetness which is the chief merit in the plays of Mr Knowles , as intellectual compositions , is not the merit that
renders them popular on the stage . Their success is attributable solely to their dramatic and melo-dramatic construction ; and precisely the same may be said of all other permanently successful dramas , taking those of Shakspeare as the prime instances , all of whose acted p lays are cut down to fit the required continuity of vivid action . It would hence appear that a man should be an actor- —at least he must have been accustomed to the stage—in order to produce an acting play ; or else , that a play containing the elements of action should be patiently , and we think wisely , submitted to be reduced to the
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% The Daughter * J $
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 1, 1837, page 73, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1828/page/26/
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