Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Plays can be seen to employ structural patterns in the same way that music
employs themes and motifs. The overall graph of any given play is like its
fi ngerprint; it is unique. An intriguing pastime for the quantitatively in-
clined is to observe how these fi ngerprint curves are refl ected in the smaller
incidents that make up larger anatomical parts. If one were to make a
“blow-up” of any segment of the graph for a real play, one would see (de-
pending upon the resolution of the underlying analysis) still more bumps
and curves, representing the structure of the smaller component incidents
that make up the larger anatomical parts. The exposition of a play, for in-
stance, is made up of a number of incidents that reveal information with
varying C/T values. The rising action is composed of smaller incidents that
tend to have a higher average slope than incidents of the exposition. Here,
a fractal quality can be observed: The smaller components of a given type
of action tend to refl ect “self-similarity at scale” (see Figure 3.8).
In
Hamlet
, for example, the overarching concern is revenge. The pattern
of the plot could be described as a battle of forces: moral thinking, impulse,
and deception. All of the major characters make choices in these realms.
Hamlet, in his quest to avenge his father's death, careens between over-
thinking and impulsive action, resorting to deception in his arrangement
Figure 3.8.
Self-similarity at scale in a dramatic plot
