| ACT I. | -- | TEMPTATION. |
| ACT II. | -- | MURDER AND USURPATION. |
| ACT III. | -- | THE FRENZY OF CRIME AND THE HAUNTING OF REMORSE. |
| ACT IV. | -- | GATHERING RETRIBUTION. |
| ACT V. | -- | RETRIBUTION CONSUMMATED. |
Can it be doubted that Shakespeare had in his mind the rhythm marked by this act-division? I do not mean, of course, that these phrases, or anything like them, were present to his consciousness, but merely that he "thought in acts," and mentally assigned to each act its definite share in the development of the crisis.
Turning now to Ibsen, let us draw up an act-scheme for the simplest and most straightforward of his plays, An Enemy of the People. It might run as follows:
ACT I.--THE INCURABLE OPTIMIST.--Dr. Stockmann announces his
discovery of the insanitary condition of the Baths.
ACT II.--THE COMPACT MAJORITY.--Dr. Stockmann finds that he will
have to fight vested interests before the evils he has discovered
can be remedied, but is assured that the Compact Majority is at
his back.
ACT III.--THE TURN OF FORTUNE.--The Doctor falls from the pinnacle