element; for instance, two or more principal characters in a novel or
play--Lord and Lady Macbeth, Sancho and Don Quixote, Othello and
Desdemona, Brand and his wife. In this case, there must be either
subordination among them, a hierarchical arrangement; or else
reciprocity or balance, as in the illustrations cited, where it is
difficult to tell which is the more important of the two; otherwise
they would pull the whole apart. The advantage of several dominant
elements lies in the greater animation, and when the work is large,
in the superior organization, which they confer. In order that there
may be perspicuity, it is necessary, when there are many elements,
that they be separated into minor groups around high points which
individualize and represent them, and so take their place in the mind,
mediating between them and unity when a final synthesis of the whole
is to be made.

The third great principle of aesthetic structure is equilibrium or
impartiality. This is a principle counteracting dominance. It demands,
despite the subordination among the elements, that none be neglected.
Each, no matter how minor its part in the whole, must have some unique
value of its own, must be an end as well as a means. Dominance is the
aristocratic principle in art, the rule of the best; this is the
democratic principle, the demand for freedom and significance for all.
Just as, in a well-ordered state, the happiness of no individual or
class of individuals is sacrificed to that of other individuals or
classes; so in art, each part must be elaborated and perfected, not
merely for the sake of its contribution to the whole, but for its own
sake. There should be no mere figure-heads or machinery. Loving care
of detail, of the incidental, characterizes the best art.

Of course this principle, like the others, is an ideal or norm, which