Simpson’s Contemporary Quotations, compiled by James B. Simpson. 1988.
NUMBER:
9043
AUTHOR:
Lillian Hellman
QUOTATION:
If you believe, as the Greeks did, that man is at the mercy of the gods, then you write tragedy. The end is inevitable from the beginning. But if you believe that man can solve his own problems and is at nobody’s mercy, then you will probably write melodrama.
ATTRIBUTION:
Answering critics’ complaints that her plots were melodramatic, recalled on her death 30 Jun 84
SUBJECTS:
Communications & the Arts: Theater: Playwrights, Producers & Directors
