Explore "Domitia" by Sabine Baring-Gould on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
The dramatic composer has this great advantage over the novelist, that when he has to allow for a certain amount of time,-it may be for years-to elapse between the parts of his play, he lowers the curtain, the first or second act is concluded, ices, oranges are taken round in the stalls; the orchestra strikes up an overture, the gentlemen retire to the promenade gallery for a cigar, and the ladies discuss their acquaintances, and the toilette of those in the boxes, after having explored the theatre with their glasses.
At Munich and Bayreuth, at the performance of Wagner's operas, the space allowed between the acts is sufficient for a walk and for a meal. Thus the lapse of time between the parts of a drama is given a real expression, and the minds of those who have followed the first part of the story are prepared to accept a change in the conditions of the performers, such as could be brought about solely by the passage of time.