“The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations”

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In 1895 French writer Georges Polti drew up a list of every dramatic situation that might arise in a story or performance, based on an earlier list drawn up by Venetian playwright Carlo Gozzi. They number only 36 — Polti listed the elements necessary for each:

  1. Supplication (“a Persecutor, a Suppliant and a Power in authority, whose decision is doubtful”)
  2. Deliverance (“an Unfortunate, a Threatener, a Rescuer”)
  3. Crime Pursued by Vengeance (“an Avenger and a Criminal”)
  4. Vengeance Taken for Kindred Upon Kindred (“Avenging Kinsman, Guilty Kinsman, Remembrance of the Victim, a Relative of Both”)
  5. Pursuit (“Punishment and Fugitive”)
  6. Disaster (“a Vanquished Power, a Victorious Enemy or a Messenger”)
  7. Falling Prey to Cruelty or Misfortune (“an Unfortunate, a Master or a Misfortune”)
  8. Revolt (“Tyrant and Conspirator”)
  9. Daring Enterprise (“A Bold Leader, an Object, an Adversary”)
  10. Abduction (“The Abductor, the Abducted; the Guardian”)
  11. The Enigma (“Interrogator, Seeker and Problem”)
  12. Obtaining (“A Solicitor and an Adversary Who Is Refusing, or an Arbitrator and Opposing Parties”)
  13. Enmity of Kinsmen (“a Malevolent Kinsman; a Hated or Reciprocally Hating Kinsman”)
  14. Rivalry of Kinsmen (“The Preferred Kinsman; the Rejected Kinsman; the Object”)
  15. Murderous Adultery (“Two Adulterers; a Betrayed Husband or Wife”)
  16. Madness (“Madman and Victim”)
  17. Fatal Imprudence (“The Imprudent; the Victim or the Object Lost”)
  18. Involuntary Crimes of Love (“The Lover; the Beloved; the Revealer”)
  19. Slaying of a Kinsman Unrecognized (“The Slayer; the Unrecognized Victim”)
  20. Self-Sacrifice for an Ideal (“The Hero; the Ideal; the ‘Creditor’ or the Person or Thing Sacrificed”)
  21. Self-Sacrifice for Kindred (“The Hero; the Kinsman; the ‘Creditor’ or the Person or Thing Sacrificed”)
  22. All Sacrificed for a Passion (“The Lover; the Object of the Fatal Passion; the Person or Thing Sacrificed”)
  23. Necessity of Sacrificing Loved Ones (“The Hero; the Beloved Victim; the Necessity for the Sacrifice”)
  24. Rivalry of Superior and Inferior (“The Superior Rival; the Inferior Rival; the Object”)
  25. Adultery (“A Deceived Husband or Wife; Two Adulterers”)
  26. Crimes of Love (“The Lover; the Beloved”)
  27. Discovery of the Dishonor of a Loved One (“The Discoverer; the Guilty One”)
  28. Obstacles to Love (“Two Lovers; an Obstacle”)
  29. An Enemy Loved (“The Beloved Enemy; the Lover; the Hater”)
  30. Ambition (“An Ambitious Person; a Thing Coveted; an Adversary”)
  31. Conflict With a God (“A Mortal; an Immortal”)
  32. Mistaken Jealousy (“The Jealous One; The Object of Whose Possession He Is Jealous; the Supposed Accomplice; the Cause or the Author of the Mistake”)
  33. Erroneous Judgment (“The Mistaken One; the Victim of the Mistake; the Cause or Author of the Mistake; the Guilty Person”)
  34. Remorse (“The Culprit; the Victim or the Sin; the Interrogator”)
  35. Recovery of a Lost One (“The Seeker; the One Found”)
  36. Loss of Loved Ones (“A Kinsman Slain; a Kinsman Spectator; an Executioner”)

Each situation has its variations; for example, The Count of Monte Cristo is a Revenge for a False Accusation, a variation on the Crime Pursued by Vengeance; and Great Expectations is a Life Sacrificed for the Happiness of a Relative or Loved One, a variation on Self-Sacrifice for Kindred.

The whole book is here.

Disappearing Act

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Image: Wikimedia Commons

A puzzle by Joseph Horton, from MIT Technology Review, January-February 1999:

If the sun takes two minutes to set, what angle does it subtend from Earth?

Click for Answer

Podcast Episode 329: The Cock Lane Ghost

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In 1759, ghostly rappings started up in the house of a parish clerk in London. In the months that followed they would incite a scandal against one man, an accusation from beyond the grave. In this week’s episode of the Futility Closet podcast we’ll tell the story of the Cock Lane ghost, an enduring portrait of superstition and justice.

We’ll also see what you can get hit with at a sporting event and puzzle over some portentous soccer fields.

See full show notes …

In a Word

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Image: Wikimedia Commons

hortulan
adj. of or belonging to a garden

micacious
adj. sparkling, shining

bumfuzzle
v. to astound or bewilder

asomatous
adj. having no material body

Artist Gary Drostle designed this trompe l’oeil mosaic for a public garden in Croydon in 1996.

He calls it “the ideal low maintenance fishpond.”

The Pizza Theorem

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Images: Wikimedia Commons

If you’re sharing a pizza with another person, there’s no need to cut it into precisely equal slices. Make four cuts at equal angles through an arbitrary point and take alternate slices, and you’ll both get the same amount of pizza.

Larry Carter and Stan Wagon came up with this “proof without words”: Each piece in an odd-numbered sector corresponds to a congruent piece in an even-numbered sector, and vice versa.

Also: If a pizza has thickness a and radius z, then its volume is pi z z a.

(Larry Carter and Stan Wagon, “Proof Without Words: Fair Allocation of a Pizza,” Mathematics Magazine 67:4 [October 1994], 267-267.)

A New Outlook

Sculptor Anna Coleman Ladd found an unusual application for her artistry during World War I, creating prostheses for the dramatic injuries produced by machine guns and heavy artillery. After reading about artist Francis Derwent Wood’s “Tin Noses Shop” in London, she moved to London and opened a “Studio for Portrait-Masks.”

Her copper and silver masks, 1/32″ thick and weighing 4-9 ounces, were founded on facial casts and painted to match the precise skin tone of each patient. Held in place by eyeglasses, many included realistic mustaches, eyebrows, and eyelashes. By the end of 1919 Ladd had created 185 of them, charging $18 for each and donating her own services. The Red Cross called them “miracles,” and in 1932 France made her a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour.

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A Look Back

kruševac window

On the grounds of the Fortress of Kruševac, in Serbia, is a “window to the past” that depicts the donjon tower as it appeared in its medieval heyday. At its height it served as the entrance to a medieval fortified town, the seat of Moravian Serbia.

A Stand of Seats

high wycombe chair arch

High Wycombe, a town of furniture makers, historically celebrated important visitors with arches of chairs. The most famous marked the arrival of Prince Edward in 1880; three years earlier a similar arch had arrested Queen Victoria on her way from Windsor Castle to Hughenden to visit Lord Beaconsfield.

“It was made up of chairs of all kinds, and bore the words, ‘Long Live the Queen,'” read the Annual Register. “Her Majesty’s attention was specially attracted by this curious structure, and the Royal carriage was stopped that its occupants might have a better view.”

Math Notes

In a 1752 letter to Euler, Christian Goldbach suggested that every odd integer is the sum of a prime and twice a square. (At the time, 1 was considered a prime number.)

Only two exceptions, 5777 and 5993, have ever been found.