There  is  room  in  such  productions  for  the  greatest
possible  variety  of  style,  and  for  the  widest  and  no-
blest range  of  thought.  Care,  however,  should  be  ex-
ercised not  to  make  the  production  tedious  by  too  long
speeches,  and  a  stilted,  artificial,  and  bombastic  style
should  especially  be  avoided.  The  poet  may  draw
from  his  own  fancy  ;  the  scholar  from  his  library ;  but
the  proper  study  of  the  dramatic  writer,  whether  in
verse  or  in  prose,  is  man — man,  as  he  exists  in  society.
129.  Soliloquies. — Soliloquies  are  the  vocal  expres-
sion of  thought  and  passion  by  persons  alone,  supposed


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to  be  speaking  aloud,  unaware  of  a  listener,  and  per-
haps unconscious  of  speaking.  These  can  not  with
propriety  be  introduced  except  either  in  dramatic-  or
fictitious  writings.  None  who  read  the  English  lan-
guage can  long  remain  unacquainted  with  some  of  the
most  noted  soliloquies  of  Shakspeare,  such  as  those  of
Henry  IV.,  Cardinal  Wolsey,  and  Hamlet's,  on  Death.
Almost  equally  well  known  is  that  on  Immortality,
put  into  the  mouth  of  Cato  by  Addison,  commencing  :

"It  must  be  so.     Plato,  thou  reasonest  well—

he  nee  this  pleasing  hope,  this  fond  desire,
This  longing  after  immortality  ?''

130.  The  Three  Unities. — It  has  passed  into  a  canon
of  Rhetoric,  that  what  are  called  the  three  Unities
should,  at  least  in   spirit,  be  preserved  in  dramatic
writings.     These  are  the  unity  of  subject,  the  unity
of  time,  and  the  unity  of  place.     One   main  leading
subject  should  be   presented ;  the  time  supposed  to
elapse  in  the  course   of  the  representation  should
neither  be  so  long  or  short  as  to  offend  a  sense  of
propriety,  and  the  place  should  correspond  with  what
could  easily  be  conceived  to  be  fact.
