FICTION.
Fiction which includes two closely related forms, the novel or romance
and the drama, has two functions; the more important being the
interpreting and reflecting of life, the holding of the mirror up to
nature, as Hamlet called it, and the giving of pleasure as a result of
the presentation.
The romance which may be in the form of a novel or of a drama differs
from the ordinary novel as chiefly in dealing with the unusual and
improbable, including the supernatural. The novel performs to-day a
great part of what the drama performed practically alone in the days of
Elizabeth and James.
The close relation of the drama and the novel is seen in the fact that
the same story may be told in both forms and it is common to-day to see
a successful novel presented as a drama on the stage while on the other
hand, novels have sometimes been written from plays.
The novel and the drama are classed as fiction because they present
pictures that are usually not representations of actual fact, but no
novel or drama is worthy of consideration which is untrue to what
might happen in human life or to the great essential truths of human
relationships. This is not a distinction between moral and immoral
novels and dramas, for an immoral book may be true to facts in human
experience, but they are the facts of pathological conditions and not
of health.
An immoral book is one in which vice is made attractive and evil
is condoned and unpunished. The Elizabethan drama never made vice
triumphant and the sinner always was made to pay the just penalty for
his sin. The drama of the Restoration, narrower in human interest than
that of the Elizabethans, differed from the latter notably in the
attitude towards vice; sacred relationships were matters of jest by the
dissolute courtiers and their followers and vice was objectionable only
when found out. When our ideas of right and wrong are confused and our
conceptions of morality undermined by a book, it is to be avoided, for
it can only do us harm. No good book ever makes sin respectable though
it may of necessity present scenes in which disreputable characters
appear; one of the greatest examples of this is _Vanity Fair_.
Keener observers than we are, who saw deeper into the inner workings of
human nature have described in novels the operations and consequences
of love, hate, avarice, revenge and other emotions which are always
likely to move the heart. It is therefore of the utmost importance that
when we read fiction we should read none except that written by masters
who really did understand the soul of man, for when we read books by
inferior observers we get warped and false ideas. In giving impressions
of life the novel possesses a great advantage over biography, because,
out of respect for the memory of the dead and the feelings of the
living, the tendency of biography is to omit or to subdue harsh
experiences, so that books like the _Confessions of Rousseau_ which
describe the deepest workings and weaknesses of the heart of a real man
are exceedingly rare.
Treating of imaginary characters, the novelist may describe what he
actually sees without fear of hurting the feelings of anyone. The
tendency of many novels to conventionalize life and to express in set
phrases the tenderest emotions is another reason why we should read no
fiction but that which is true to life. We may occasionally be obliged
to read for information a book written by an inferior author but there
is no excuse for reading any novels but those of the highest class.
We should question fiction sharply as to its effect upon our natures;
if it does not have a wholesome and uplifting influence, no amount of
interest that it possesses should entitle it to consideration.
When you read fiction read that written by the masters, like Scott,
Dickens, Thackeray and George Eliot. Read the great novels that the
judgment of the world has pronounced of permanent value but do not form
one of the large class whose chief inspiration is derived from the last
new novel. The new book that every one is talking about will probably
be forgotten in six months but _Ivanhoe_, _Henry Esmond_, _David
Copperfield_, and _Romola_ will last as long as the English language.
There are some classic stories like _Robinson Crusoe_, _Gulliver’s
Travels_ and _The Arabian Nights_ to which constant reference is made
and with which every educated person is expected to be familiar.
To keep up with the flood of modern fiction is impossible. There is
a great gain if we can find amusement in reading books which inform
as well as entertain. Prefer fact to fiction. Few are indifferent to
the pathos of Dickens and Thackeray but there is a chord touched in
reading of the actual heroism of brave men and women which no imaginary
character can affect so strongly. When we read poor DeLong’s record,
in the midst of that terrible Arctic winter on the Jeannette, “for
myself, I am doing all I can to make myself trusted and respected, and
I think I succeed, I try to be gentle but firm in correcting anything
I see wrong, and always calm and self-possessed.” we are moved by a
real human sympathy. Yet it is one of the miracles of the masters of
fiction that they make their characters so real to us. Lowell said he
knew the sound of Squire Weston’s voice; and for many people Baker
Street, London, is more definite as a landmark as the residence of the
imaginary Sherlock Holmes than of the real Mrs. Siddons.