ABSTRACT
‘It seems an unaccountable pleasure, which the spectators [of works of tragedy] receive from sorrow, terror, anxiety, and other passions, that are in themselves disagreeable and uneasy. The more they are touched and affected, the more are they delighted with the spectacle… They are pleased in proportion as they are afflicted, and never so happy as when they employ tears, sobs and cries to give vent to their sorrow.’
