In the Beginning of the Plot we have seen the Cause; in its Development we have felt the Effect of that cause; in the Climax we cannot avoid its inevitable Consequence.
In the Beginning of the Plot we have seen the Cause; in its Development we have felt the Effect of that cause; in the Climax we cannot avoid its inevitable Consequence.
In the Beginning of the Plot we have seen the Cause; in its Development we have felt the Effect of that cause; in the Climax we cannot avoid its inevitable Consequence.
The Climax and Completed Plot
SEQUENCE AND CONSEQUENCE; LOGICAL CAUSE AND COMPLETE SOLUTION; SUSTAINED CLIMAX; ALL EXPECTATIONS FULFILLED.
SEQUENCE AND CONSEQUENCE; LOGICAL CAUSE AND COMPLETE SOLUTION; SUSTAINED CLIMAX; ALL EXPECTATIONS FULFILLED.
WE have learned that we must create interest with the very first scene by significant action, and that our characters must win admiration or dislike upon their first appearance, but the fond hopes that we create in the beginning and excite thruout the development of the play must not be gratified till the Climax is reached. Nevertheless, thru painstaking construction, it is usually the unexpected that happens in the Climax, tho always that which is logical and has been the secret desire of the audience. A premise once advancedin the beginning of the plot must be conclusively proved, right or wrong, in the issue of the Climax; that is all there is to the play.
(EXAMPLE 63.)In the plot introduced in Example 53, we picture the old man in such a way that he wins the audience’s immediate sympathy and thus premise and promise to do all in our play-power to win his emancipation from abuse. We make the audience hope that he will win out with his “system” that once lost his fortune. To put every obstacle we can in his path marks the dramatic development of the plot; to remove them is the part of the Climax—providing it is not designed to be a tragedy.
(EXAMPLE 63.)In the plot introduced in Example 53, we picture the old man in such a way that he wins the audience’s immediate sympathy and thus premise and promise to do all in our play-power to win his emancipation from abuse. We make the audience hope that he will win out with his “system” that once lost his fortune. To put every obstacle we can in his path marks the dramatic development of the plot; to remove them is the part of the Climax—providing it is not designed to be a tragedy.
Climax brings the suspense to its summit and determines the outcome of the play in a single scene. What follows should be rapidly disposed of, and constitutes the Conclusion. The most effective drama is that which concludes with and is one with the Climax. This leaves an impression with the audience that minor details in a drawn-out Conclusion often efface.
(EXAMPLE 64.)In “The Salt of Vengeance,” the Climax comes in Scene 39; Dalton makes a superhuman effort to wave his handkerchief with the speeding train bearing down on him. 40 shows thecab of the engine, closing the throttle just in time. 41 shows the Climax still sustained but waning; Dalton has collapsed and the little girl whom he had risked his life to save, running toward him. 42 is the real Conclusion taken some time later with inimical factions all united in perfect happiness. In “All Power for a Day,” we find the Climax and Conclusion synonymous; Marsten, who has hampered, jailed and almost had our hero executed for a murder he himself had committed. The release of the hero and accusation drives him to suicide. The hero claims the heroine and they are handed a telegram for Marsten which tells them that Marsten has won that for which he had labored all his life—he is dead; it is the hero who holds all things. That is the end of the play.
(EXAMPLE 64.)In “The Salt of Vengeance,” the Climax comes in Scene 39; Dalton makes a superhuman effort to wave his handkerchief with the speeding train bearing down on him. 40 shows thecab of the engine, closing the throttle just in time. 41 shows the Climax still sustained but waning; Dalton has collapsed and the little girl whom he had risked his life to save, running toward him. 42 is the real Conclusion taken some time later with inimical factions all united in perfect happiness. In “All Power for a Day,” we find the Climax and Conclusion synonymous; Marsten, who has hampered, jailed and almost had our hero executed for a murder he himself had committed. The release of the hero and accusation drives him to suicide. The hero claims the heroine and they are handed a telegram for Marsten which tells them that Marsten has won that for which he had labored all his life—he is dead; it is the hero who holds all things. That is the end of the play.
That our characters are married, have children and live happily forever after, are separate outgrowths of our present play and require a new plot to handle any story they may contain. The play deals solely with removing the obstacles that stand in the way of our hero in his accomplishment of a definite object. The obstacles once removed, his object must be within his grasp, if the play is properly plotted. Preliminary to the Climax, the plot deck must be cleared for a decisive action; minor characters must be disposed ofand nothing permitted to interfere with the titanic struggle for supremacy between the hero and his foes. The instant one or other receives the mortal blow, our plot has achieved its purpose; our tale is told; our play is over.