"'Tis a Fault which Authors of Romances commit in every Page; they would Blind the Reader with this Miracle, but 'tis necessary the Miracle shou'd be feisable, to make an Impression in the Brain of Reasonable Persons."
— Manley, Delarivier (c. 1670-1724)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Date
1705
Metaphor
"'Tis a Fault which Authors of Romances commit in every Page; they would Blind the Reader with this Miracle, but 'tis necessary the Miracle shou'd be feisable, to make an Impression in the Brain of Reasonable Persons."
Metaphor in Context
One of the Things an Author ought first of all to take Care of, is to keep up to the Characters of the Persons he introduces. The Authors of Romances gave Extraordinary Virtues to their Heroins, exempted from all the Weakness of Humane Nature, and much above the Infirmities of their Sex; 'tis Necessary they shou'd be Virtuous or Vicious to Merit the Esteem or Disesteem of the Reader; but their Virtue ought to be spared, and their Vice exposed to every Trial: It wou'd in no wise be probable that a Young Woman fondly beloved by a Man of great Merit, and for whom she had Reciprocal Tenderness, finding her self at all Times alone with him in Places which favour'd their Loves, cou'd always resist his Addresses; there are too Nice Occasions; and an Author wou'd not enough observe good Sense, if he therein exposed his Heroins; 'tis a Fault which Authors of Romances commit in every Page; they would Blind the Reader with this Miracle, but 'tis necessary the Miracle shou'd be feisable, to make an Impression in the Brain of Reasonable Persons; the Characters are better managed in the Historical Novels, which are writ now-a-days; they are not fill'd with great Adventures, and extraordinary Accidents, for the most simple Action may engage the Reader by the Circumstances that attend it; it enters into all the Motions and Disquiets of the Actor, when they have well express'd to him the Character. If he be Jealous, the Look of a Person he Loves, a Mouse, a turn of the Head, or the least Complaisance to a Rival, throws him into the greatest Agitations, which the Readers perceive by a Counter-blow; if he be very Vertuous, and fals into a Mischance by Accident, they Pity him, and Commiserate his Misfortune; for Fear, and Pity in Romance as well as Tragedies are the Two Instruments which move the Passion; for we in some Manner put our selves in the Room of those we see in Danger; the Part we take therein, and the fear of falling into the like Misfortunes, causes us to interest our selves more in their Adventures, because that those sort of Accidents may happen to all the World; and it touches so much the more, because they are the Common Effects of Nature.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "brain" and "impression" in HDIS (Prose); found again in C-H Lion
Citation
At least 15 entries in the ESTC (1705, 1708, 1711, 1712, 1713, 1743, 1745, 1749).
Joseph Browne [ascribed to Delariviere Manley], The Secret History of Queen Zarah, and the Zarazians; Being a Looking-glass for In the Kingdom of Albigion. Faithfully Translated from the Italian Copy now lodg'd in the Vatican at Rome and never before Printed in any Language (Albigion [i.e. London]: Printed in the year 1705). <Link to ECCO>
Joseph Browne [ascribed to Delariviere Manley], The Secret History of Queen Zarah, and the Zarazians; Being a Looking-glass for In the Kingdom of Albigion. Faithfully Translated from the Italian Copy now lodg'd in the Vatican at Rome and never before Printed in any Language (Albigion [i.e. London]: Printed in the year 1705). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
05/18/2005
