All eyes are bent, therefore, upon
Zippa- but alas! upon the point at issue, Zippa does not so much as
open her mouth. It is scarcely too much to say that not a single
action of this impertinent little busybody has any real influence upon
the play;- yet she appears upon every occasion- appearing only to
perplex.
Similar things abound; we should not have space even to allude to
them all. The whole conclusion of the play is supererogatory. The
immensity of pure fuss with which it is overloaded forces us to the
reflection that all of it might have been avoided by one word of
explanation to the Duke an amiable man who admires the talents of
Angelo, and who, to prevent Isabella's marrying against her will,
had previously offered to free Falcone of his bonds to the usurer.
That he would free him now, and thus set all matters straight, the
spectator cannot doubt for an instant, and he can conceive no better
reason why explanations are not made than that Mr. Willis does not
think proper they should be. In fact, the whole drama is exceedingly
ill motivirt.
We have already mentioned an inadvertence, in the fourth Act,
where Isabella is made to escape from the sanctuary through the
midst of guards who prevented the ingress of Angelo. Another occurs
where Falcone's conscience is made to reprove him, upon the appearance
of his daughter's supposed ghost, for having occasioned her death by
forcing her to marry against her will.
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