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Julia H. West's Writing Ideas and Prompts

The Thirty-seven Dramatic Situations 19-24

19. SLAYING OF A KINSMAN UNRECOGNIZED. Elements: The slayer, the unrecognized victim.
A1 Being upon the point of slaying a daughter unknowingly, by command of a divinity or an oracle.

A2 Through political necessity.

A3 Through a rivalry in love.

A4 Through hatred of the lover of the unrecognized daughter.

B1 Being upon the point of killing a son unknowingly.

B2 Being upon the point of killing a son unknowingly, strengthened by Machiavellian instigations.

B3 Being upon the point of killing a son unknowingly, intermixed with hatred of kinsmen.

C Being upon the point of killing one's brother unknowingly:
C1 Brothers slaying in anger.

C2 A sister slaying through professional duty.

D Slaying of a mother unrecognized. E1 A parent slain unknowingly through Machiavellian advice.

E2 The slaying of a parent unknowingly.

E3 The insulting of a parent unknowingly.

F1 A grandparent slain unknowingly, in vengeance and through instigation.

F2 A grandfather slain involuntarily.

F3 A parent-in-law killed involuntarily.

G1 Involuntary killing of a loved woman.

G2 Upon the point of killing a lover unrecognized.

G3 Failure to rescue an unrecognized son.

20. SELF-SACRIFICING FOR AN IDEAL. Elements: The hero, the ideal, the creditor or the person or things sacrificed.
A1 Sacrifice of life for the sake of one's word.

A2 Life sacrificed for the success of one's people.

A3 Life sacrificed for the happiness of one's people.

A4 Life sacrificed in filial piety.

A5 Life sacrificed for the sake of one's faith.

B1 Both love and life sacrificed for the sake of one's faith. B2 Both love and life sacrificed for the sake of a cause.

B3 Love sacrificed to interests of state.

C Sacrifice of well-being to duty. D The ideal of honor sacrificed to the ideal of faith.
21. SELF-SACRIFICE FOR KINDRED. Elements: The hero, the kinsman, the creditor or the person or thing sacrificed.
A1 Life sacrificed for that of a relative or loved one.

A2 Life sacrificed for the happiness of a relative or loved one.

B1 Ambition sacrificed for the happiness of a parent.

B2 Ambition sacrificed for the life of a parent.

C1 Love sacrificed for the sake of a parent's life.

C2 Love sacrificed for the happiness of one's child.

C3 Love sacrificed for the happiness of a loved one.

C4 Love sacrificed for the happiness of one's child, but caused by unjust laws.

D1 Life and honor sacrificed for the life of a parent or loved one.

D2 Modesty sacrificed for the life of a relative or a loved one.

22. ALL SACRIFICED FOR A PASSION. Elements: The lover, the object of the fatal passion, and the person or thing sacrificed.
A1 Religious vows of chastity broken for passion.

A2 A vow of purity broken.

A3 Respect for a priest destroyed. A4 A future ruined by passion

A5 Power ruined by a passion.

A6 Ruin of mind, health, and life.

A7 Passion gratified at the price of life.

A8 Ruin of fortunes, lives, and honor.

B Temptations (see 12) destroying the sense of duty, pity, etc. C1 Destruction of honor, fortune, and life by erotic vice.

C2 The same effect produced by any other vice.

23. NECESSITY OF SACRIFICING LOVED ONES. Elements: The hero, the beloved victim, and the necessity for the sacrifice.
A1 Necessity for sacrificing a daughter in the public interest.

A2 Duty of sacrificing her in fulfillment of a vow to God.

A3 duty of sacrificing benefactors or loved ones to one's faith.

B1 Duty of sacrificing one's child, unkown to others, under the pressure of necessity. B1 Duty of sacrificing, under the same circumstances, one's parent.

B3 Duty of sacrificing, under the same circumstances, one's spouse.

B4 Duty of sacrificing a son-in-law for the public good.

B5 Duty of sacrificing a son-in-law for the sake of reputation.

B6 Duty of contending with a brother-in-law for the public good.

B7 Duty of contending with a friend.

24. RIVALRY OF SUPERIOR AND INFERIOR. Elements: The superior rival, the inferior rival, and the object.
A1 Rivalry of a mortal and immortal.

A2 Of two divinities of unequal power.

A3 Of a magician and an ordinary man.

A4 Of conqueror and conquered.

A5 Of victor and vanquished.

A6 Of a master and a banished man.

A7 Of usurper and subject.

A8 Of suzerain king and vassal king(s).

A9 Of a powerful person and upstart.

A10 Of rich and poor.

A11 Of an honored man and a suspected one.

A12 Rivalry of two who are almost equal.

A13 Rivalry of equals, one of whom in the past has been proved guilty of adultery.

A14 Of a man who is loved and one who has not the right to love.

A15 Of the two (or more) successive husbands of a divorcee.

B1 Of a sorceress and an ordinary woman.

B2 Of victor and prisoner.

B3 Of a queen and subject.

B4 Of a queen and slave.

B5 Of lady and servant.

B6 Of a lady and a woman of humbler position.

B7 Of a lady and two women of humbler class.

B8 Rivalry of two who are almost equals, complicated by the abandonment of one.

B9 Rivalry between the memory or an ideal (that of a superior woman) and a vassal of her own.

C Double rivalry (A loves B, who loves C, who loves D). D Oriental rivalries (Hindu polygamy).

D1 Rivalry of two immortals.

D2 Of two mortals.

D3 Of two lawful wives.

Last updated 18 June 2011

Illustration from http://www.morguefile.com; photographer mconnors