BOOK V

EPILOGUE

_CHAPTER XXII_ CHARACTER AND PSYCHOLOGY
_CHAPTER XXIII_ DIALOGUE AND DETAILS




_BOOK I_

PROLOGUE



_CHAPTER I_

INTRODUCTORY


There are no rules for writing a play. It is easy, indeed, to lay down
negative recommendations--to instruct the beginner how _not_ to do it.
But most of these "don'ts" are rather obvious; and those which are not
obvious are apt to be questionable. It is certain, for instance, that if
you want your play to be acted, anywhere else than in China, you must
not plan it in sixteen acts of an hour apiece; but where is the tyro who
needs a text-book to tell him that? On the other hand, most theorists of