Roars, weeps: Fielding here, at least on one level, criticises contemporary misinterpreters of Tragedy who reduce their characters to one tedious dimension. Drawcansir does nothing but roar; that is what makes him a "Heroick Actor." Parthenope weeps; that is what makes her--and those audience members who imitate her--a "Sympathizing Nymph."

For example, in Edward Phillips' The Stage-Mutineers (1733), the actress Haughty, who has apparently been given "a tragic Soul," refuses to debase her gifts to "vile Plebeian Farce"; a manager, extracting from her performance the two most necessary attributes of a good actress, advises her to "save a little of that Rant and some of those Tears for our next new Tragedy." Similarly, the tragedian Pistol, entering "in Heroicks," is entirely consumed by the Tragic Role: he refuses to play his part because it is not tragic enough, it is "dull unmeaning Nonsense."