We can
play the part of the adventurer without being involved in any blame;
we can fall in love with the heroine without any subsequential
entanglements; we can be a hero without suffering the penalties of
heroism; we can travel into foreign lands without deserting our business
or emptying our purses. Hence, although no one would exchange life for
literature, one is better content, having literature, to forego much
of life.
The elements of every story are these five: character, incident, nature,
fate, and milieu--the social, historical, and intellectual background.
Character and incident are capable of some degree of separation, so
far as, in novels of adventure, the personalities necessary to carry
on the action may be very abstract or elementary, and so far as, in
so-called psychological novels, the number of events related may be
very small and their interest dependent upon their effect on character;
but one without the other is as inconceivable in a story as it is in
life itself, and the development of fiction has been steadily in the
direction of their interdependence. Aristotle's dictum regarding the
superior importance of plot over character applies to the drama only,
and because character cannot well be revealed there except through
action. The construction of character depends upon the delineation of
distinctive and recognizable physical traits, a surprisingly small
number sufficing, a mere name being almost enough; upon the definition
of the individual's position in a group--his relation to family,
townspeople, and other associates--a matter of capital importance;
and, finally, information about his more permanent interests and
attitudes.
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