New-York tribune., 1875-07-13
BEAUTY AND BRAINS.


II is easy for persons who have failed upon
the stage to sulk at persons who have sue
ceeded. and, sarcasticaly, to ascribe their sue
cess to various causes aside from merit and
desert. All readers of current theatrical COM
ment and discussion are familiar, for example,
with tbc ironical assertion that no woman can
succeed on the stage unless she has pretty
face and fine wardrObc,-the implication
being that public taste and intelligence are
| low and narrow and that good looks and good
clothes are the surest, if not the only, passport
TO its favor. Much nonsense is talked on this
subject. The fact is, as experience shows, that
tbe public forms rational and correct jndg-
mcnt as to most of the dramatic asplrants who
seek its favor, and that upon the whole, 1t
nays no more attention to cOmclncSs ana me
rament than these, in reason, deserve.
To q woman who attempts the stage, beauty
of person and taste in dress are great advan-
tagcs They do not imply the possession of dra-
matte talent or general Intelligence; but upon
tbe other hand, neither does ugliness indicate
cnnius. The vinegar faced and nasalvoiced
ladies who file out from time to time AS Julia,
or Pauline, or Juliet, may not he able to com
pr,hcnd this; but it Is a fact that mankind
prefers beauty to ugliness. and that talent has
always a better chance of success when beauty
commcnds it to favor. No sane person, of course,
will contend that u pretty face makes an ac-
tress but every observer Oi human nature AMI
the stage must cOnccde it to he fact, ami a
natural one. that the woman who il an ac-
tress, and has pretty face, has an easier
task in achieving public favor than her homely
professional sisters. Almost every play that
is acted contains q lOve-story and in the dra-
mltic illustration of lOyc-story youth and
beauty are imperativcly essential Romeo
must not he bow-lcggcd or red-noscd, and
Juliet must not have IA hump-back or swivel
eye. Elderly men and women have been known
to act Romeo and Juliet, and to succeed i'll
pleasing their audiences but they did this
through the skillfu and eiiectual smula-
ton of youth. beauty. and passion, and
not bv decrepitudc: they seemed to possess,
and therefore practically did possess, the phys-
cal qualifications necessary to create and sus-
tain an Illusion. Undue estimation OF these
attributes would be an error; but all sncerS ut
them, as of little or no value compared with
brains. are premature and silly Among the
requisites that Sir Roger de COycilcy prescribed
in his chaplain were u good aspect ana clear
voice; and this was a very sound Judgment
~ to what is necessary in person who must
be often seen and heard.
Instances are on record of success upon the
stage achieved in despite of personal defects.
Betterton was a thick klimbcd and peck marked
man, and Macready had bad figure,
an unpeasing voice, and harsh face
but BettcrtOn had such soul within
him as transigured his ungainly body,
and when as Hamlet he bcheld the ghost, his
| countenance blanchcd to an awful pallor-so
intense was the magnetic feeling which pos
sessed him and which he impaired to Others
and Macreadys earnestness was so profound,
his passion 80 just, his carriage so noble, and
his taste and execution so true that he thrilled
| the spectator and satisfied him and made his
own grim looks forgotten. Miss Cushman,
upon our own stage. has, in like manner, been
| triumphant over some disadvantages OF face
| and ply ysque-for she is Il woman of wonder
ful magnetic force and besides she was wise
enough to leave the Mrs. IIallers and the
Riancas and adhere to Meg Merriles, Queen
Katherine, and Lady Macbeth. These
and cthcrs like them are exceptions, which
only prompt regret that persons so highly en-
| dowed should not also have been blessed with
physical perfection. They would certainly
have had an easier time, and probably they
would have conquered more extensive and
enthusiastic admiration.
While however, the public takes kindly to
beauty, there is no instance in which mere
beauty has won success for a dramatic per-
former 1t is usually the passport to immedi-
ate notice, but it proves an injury rather than Il
benefit when it is found to cover emptiness
and incapacity. We might mention several ex-
cccdingly handsome women who have failed on
tho American stage because their talents were
found to be of mediocre description. In the
long run success perches where it is deserved,
and in all the arts, sooner or later the true
artists get their acceptance and reward.