the royal provinces. Thus we have the triumph of the play and the overthrow of the counterplay.

The course of this same narrative well illustrates also the meaning of two other terms, rise and fall, used to indicate the two main divisions of the dramatic action. The ultimate reversal of conditions which has been pointed out as characterizing the Esther plot is not a sudden phenomenon, but a gradual process. The fortunes of Haman ascend by degrees to constantly higher planes; the counter-efforts of Mordecai indicate a losing struggle. A moment, however, is finally reached when the success of Haman attains its culmination, and, for an instant, play and counterplay stand in equilibrium. Then the decline begins. From that point success falls away from Haman; his good fortune deserts him; he yields step by

FIG. 4

step before the advance of Mordecai, and the action falls more and more rapidly to the close. This successive rising and falling action is conventionally represented by the appended diagram, figure 4.

A second characteristic typical of the dramatic method of plot-ordering is found in the logical nature of the bond that unites the various episodes. It is not enough that mere chance shall bring about the triumph of the play or of the counterplay; each episode must constitute an event in the sense already developed on page 205. In the Esther plot, for example, while Jehovah's name and direct interference in the action are not distinctly specified as the motive power, yet God's care for the Promised Seed is the consistent mainspring of the narrative. The story itself is a sort of national drama, explaining the institution of the Feast of Purim, and Mor

decai's triumph over his enemy comes in no way through a mere fortuitous combination of circumstances; rather it results from a direct chain of causation; it emanates from an intelligent will; it marks the accomplishment of a definite purpose.

These two features, then, may be called the fundamentals of the dramatic structure: (a) the rise and fall of play and counterplay, or the dramatic conflict; and (b) the serial nature of the episodes. Subordinate to them are further essential characteristics. In the course of the rising and falling action there are certain well-defined "moments," or stages, that mark the progress of the action along its course. Of these the first is what is sometimes termed the exposition, or the anticipatory action. This is the preliminary stage found at the threshold of every form of plot movement. The reader must know his surroundings, he must meet those whose fortunes he is to follow. The author must familiarize him with all necessary details, and yet give him no hint of what is to come, lest the rhetorical force of the dénouement be destroyed. Setting and, it may be, preliminary characterization will play important rôles. The bleeding sergeant will acquaint the audience with the news from the front; Ross will announce the victory of Duncan, the fate of Cawdor, and the coming honors of Macbeth. Flavius and Marullus, the tribunes, will expound conditions prevalent at Rome, — the ambition of Cæsar, the uneasiness of the republicans, the degeneration of the commons. If the exposition be well done, the reader will be prepared to follow intelligently the thread of the rising action when it shall definitely begin its upward movement.

In Esther the exposition consists of five well-defined episodes that serve this purpose of introduction: (1) The

royal feast given by King Ahasuerus in Shushan, followed by Queen Vashti's refusal to obey the King's command, and her banishment; (2) the preparations for the appointment of her successor, including the introduction of Mordecai and Esther; (3) Esther's year of preparation in the house of Hegai, followed by her increasing favor with the King, and her coronation; (4) the conspiracy of Bigthan and Teresh, and Mordecai's service in saving the King's life; (5) the introduction of Haman, already high in the royal favor. It will be observed that all these steps are no more than introductory. The various plot threads are merely indicated; they as yet show no complication. In fact, the two main strands of what we recognize later as the play and the counterplay betray no sign of converg

ence. The plot action has not begun, but the reader, after this preliminary exposition, is in a position to follow understandingly the complications that may arise out of the conditions thus placed before him. In its relation to the complete plot to be evolved, the situation at this point in the narrative may be represented as in figure 5, the horizontal, continuous line indicating the exposition preliminary to the upward movement of the rising action.

FIG. 5

When the exposition is complete, there succeeds an episode that brings to sudden convergence the threads of play and counterplay, disturbs the expository conditions, and precipitates the dramatic conflict. This episode constitutes what is known as the moment of exciting force. The witches inspire in the heart of Macbeth the ambition to seize the throne of Scotland. Cassius

FIG. 6

turns the mind of Brutus definitely in the direction of conflict with Cæsar and Cæsarism. In Esther the play and counterplay are suddenly thrown into antagonistic relations by Mordecai's refusal to reverence Haman. The conflict once set into action, the progress of the rising movement begins. The status may be represented as in figure 6, the star indicating the initial action under discussion. From the moment of exciting force up to the turningpoint of the narrative extends the main course of the rising action, sometimes technically known as the heightening. The hero now shows a steady increase in power, a constant growth toward the attainment of his goal. The collision between the play and the counterplay becomes increasingly violent. If the narrative be principally one of action, the threads become increasingly complicated; if of character, the personality of the hero is more clearly expounded, and is brought into increasing conflict with external forces. This phase is a period of vigorous action, rapid movement, and definite progress toward the climax. All this is well exemplified in the course of the Old Testament narrative under consideration. The heightening passes through five stages, or scenes, with their respective secondary episodes: (1) Haman, filled with wrath against Mordecai, plots vengeance in the wholesale slaughter of the Jews, who, through his influence with Ahasuerus, are delivered over to him; the edict goes forth; the Jews fill the land with lamentation; Haman's star is in the ascendant. (2) Mordecai now comes forward and places upon Esther the responsibility of saving her people; unmindful of the

danger, she consents, with the patriotic exclamation, "If I perish, I perish!" (3) Then follow her self-sought audience with the King, her favorable reception, her invitation to the King and Haman, the banquet of wine, and her petition. (4) From this scene we pass to Haman's house and see him in all his boastful pride; never have his fortunes been so prosperous; his position with the King is assured, and with the Queen as well he is apparently a favorite; he confidently orders the erection of a gallows for the execution of his enemy. (5) Then ensues a brief episode, fraught with significance to play and counterplay: the King is reminded of Mordecai's services at the time of Bigthan and Teresh's conspiracy, and discovers that the faithful Jew has never been rewarded for his loyalty. Up to this point of the narrative the hero of the rising action has steadily advanced in fortune, and now stands at the apex of his prosperity, the attainment of supreme social and political favor. Mordecai, on the other hand, has met with consistent adversity. But it is clear, through all, that Haman's fortunes contain the possibilities of downfall and that Mordecai's apparently hopeless case contains equally great possibilities of bet

terment. In other words, the rise has in it the seeds of complete reversal of conditions. The plot up to this point would be represented as in figure 7.

It is clear that the point now reached is critical: a complete change in the course of fortune

FIG. 7

is at hand. The onward progress of one set of conditions is on the verge of being checked, and the current is about to set in the new direction. At this place,