ABSTRACT
‘Tension’ is a word which is bound to recur in any discussion of drama. All works of art are fully grasped through the perception of the interrelatedness of their parts, and in drama the relation between parts is characteristically one of tension. There are many different kinds of tension in drama – between different ways in which a speech may be understood, between two characters, and so on – but the underlying, continuous tension is that between the situation at any given moment and the complete action. A play remains in a state of imperfect equilibrium until the completion of the action, and the most simple and striking example of this tension is suspense. The opening scenes of a play are of paramount importance, since they define the situation from which the whole action will grow, and establish the central concerns of the play by focusing our attention.
