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Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries From Genuinely Interested Students 4.2.97: Top | Help
Something that the Greeks did instinctively, later (post-Shakespeare) theorists turned into "rules." (It's important to see that they aren't actually rules; any writer can break them, as S often does). The theory (which is itself dubious) was that audiences had enough trouble imagining that the stage was some fictional place or time; asking them to imagine 2 or 3 places would be too much. Thus the Unity of Place: a play sould have only one setting. The Unity of Time: it should take place in a limited span of time, ideally equal to its running time, but no more than a day. The Unity of Action: there should be only one plot for them to keep track of. Obviously the assumptions about audience capability are false, but some theorists and a very few writers went along with the rules. S didn't.Posted by Hamlet on April 07, 1997 at 08:37:18
In Reply to "Greek unities of time and space" posted by Todd on April 04, 1997 at 19:31:57
Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries From Genuinely Interested Students 4.2.97: Top | Help