silver mentioned so many times?

While you are reading the first part of Scene III, think how it should
be played. Note how much the stage directions add to the clearness of
the scene. How long should the pause be, before Madame enters? What is
gained by the calmness of the Bishop? How can he say that the silver was
not his? What does the Bishop mean when he says, "I gave it to him"?
What are Mademoiselle and Madame doing while the conversation with the
officers and Jean Valjean is going on? Is it a good plan to let them
drop so completely out of the conversation? Why does the Bishop say that
Jean has promised? Why does the scene close without Jean's replying to
the Bishop? How do you think the Bishop's kindness has affected Jean
Valjean's attitude toward life?

Note how the action and the conversation increase in intensity as the
play proceeds: Is this a good method? Notice the use of contrast in
speech and action. Note how the chief characters are emphasized. Can you
discover the quality called "restraint," in this fragment of a play? How
is it gained, and what is its value?


EXERCISES[8]

Select a short passage from some book that you like, and try to put it
into dramatic form, using this selection as a kind of model. Do not
attempt too much at once, but think out carefully the setting, the stage
directions, and the dialogue for a brief fragment of a play.

Make a series of dramatic scenes from the same book, so that a connected
story is worked out.