The Project Gutenberg EBook of Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 1,
October 9, 1841, by Various

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Title: Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 1, October 9, 1841

Author: Various

Release Date: February 7, 2005 [EBook #14931]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

VOL. 1.

FOR THE WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 9, 1841.

* * * * *

A MANUAL OF DENOUEMENTS.

"In the king's name,
Let fall your swords and daggers."--CRITIC.

[Illustration: A]A melo-drama is a theatrical dose in two or three acts,
according to the strength of the constitution of the audience. Its
component parts are a villain, a lover, a heroine, a comic character, and
an executioner. These having simmered and macerated through all manner of
events, are strained off together into the last scene; and the
effervescence which then ensues is called the _denouement_, and the
_denouement_ is the soul of the drama.

_Denouements_ are of three kinds:--The natural, the unnatural, and the
supernatural.

The "natural" is achieved when no probabilities are violated;--that is,
when the circumstances are such as really might occur--if we could only
bring ourselves to think so--as, (_ex. gr._)

When the villain, being especially desirous to preserve and secrete
certain documents of vital importance to himself and to the piece, does,
most unaccountably, mislay them in the most conspicuous part of the stage,
and straightway they are found by the very last member of the _dram.
pers._ in whose hands he would like to see them.

When the villain and his accomplice, congratulating each other on the
successful issue of their crimes, and dividing the spoil thereof (which
they are always careful to do in a loud voice, and in a room full of
closets), are suddenly set upon and secured by the innocent yet suspected
and condemned parties, who are at that moment passing on their way to
execution.

When the guiltless prisoner at the bar, being asked for his defence, an