New-York tribune., 1876-03-13
IRVING AS oTHELLo.


RELATIVE MERITS OF IRVING AND sALVlNI-Ihh
PLAY ADMIRABLY PRODUCED.
,v,o,, ,us pEGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNB.l
IoxnoS. Feb. 16.-Whatever may be thought OF
Ar Irvine's Ogtello which he played on Monday
rigbt for the first time the interest it has excited
rovas that hs fame and position are no longer DC
nendent on his success OF failure IN particular
character Nor can the question OF success OF ialne
always be settled decisivcly on first night nor
even by tho verdots of the press on the next morn
ing but one The public has right TO be heard, ana
II takes time to find ont what the puDhc thinhs.
The pecaliar composition of q hTst-nlght mouse
makes il but an Indifferent representative of the
,abIc nj large and its effect the actors nerves
may be anything but favorable. That MI Irving
was suffering from nervousness on Monday was evil
sent, sometimes painfully evident. His nervous
oos WAS 30 great as to account for some faults HIS
voice was NOT under command His mannerlsms
were more obtrusve than usual there were trc-
,uent alterations of extreme slOwneSs and eA-
treme rapidity of uttcTance. The muscles OF lls
Fnce worked at times in way which was not the
esult of intention. There surely was never an
Of6cUo who turned his back often and so long 10
his audience; and this not calculated eHec'
but refuge from embarrassment. The Oldest ACTOR
s subject TO those disturbances, aud MI IRVING AS
barely in his thirty-ninth year
There Was. lONtNcls roilArthiiS 'N'AN -
nervousness to be noted. Previously to undertaking
Otheilo. Mr.. Irving had played Hamlet and hact@h
almost every night for year feat OF endurance
rerhapS without parallel. and one which would task
a much moro rugged physique than ms. lie mas
l,oen studying and reheaIsinG Oth9io during the re-
,,odurtion of Hqgle and comes on the stage IN HIS
new and most arduous part after only a weeks rest
said something about this in former letter. ana
regret TO have 10 add that the fears limited az hau
Only too good cause. The supcr-subtie ana uioloio
traits which mar Mr IryiDgs Otheli0 are uaceaOle
in part 10 his iaded condition. couple OF months
Of absolute rest. and fresh sea breezes wouid nave
done more for him than all the study he has gwen
20 this character; statement which is eXtraV&sant
in oppearancc only For fault in 1t IS lts excess
of fiptelIectualness. Hewhoruns may read "Otheio'"
He who pnres over it in solitude, analyses It, taxes
each sentence to pieces dssocts the pieces and then
attempts 10 reconstruct the original figure enters on
perilous task. The study is necessary, no DOUBT
but the peril lies in carrying 1t on !l the student
loses sight OF the general outlines OF the creloh
And that is what Mr.. Irving in some measure has
done His very devotion to his arr, when IS most
intelligent and genuine has led him into attempting
too much Mono of his friends seem 10 raise warn
ing voice. II is not likely he win hear one from
across the Atlantic but Il be goes on at his present
pace the warning will come by and by IN shape
that cannot lie disregarded.
Like his Naebeh, Mr.. Iryings Gha3o Is per-
fermapce containing many brilliant passages |h;ch
il is impossible not to admire ana which won the
hearty applause they deserved 1t may, however
be criticised IN almost the same terms which were
spped 10 his HacBeh and this is the more TO tie re-
crctted because there was in the text OF NGc69h
some though not sufficient, justhcauon fOr MS coz
cepton Of that character, while about the character
Of Oiheuo there can hardly be any dispute Were
I'LL .i,.pN of &c
body and mind, he would have felt the character
ar, sure as ethcrs feel il. and would have repre-
septed IL with that simplicity and force which be-
long to it.
If one could accept Blr. Iryngs view of OhsilO as
whole the art with which lie seeks to make hisaudl-
cnce accept it would seem of high OTdor. STILL the
ar IS TOO parable; the display of il at times seems
display for its own sake. 1t rather On endeaVor 10
depict successive moods under an intense artihclal
light than the character as Whole IN the Droau
lizbt of dav. In the delivery of the address TO the
Senate there are few Of the paturancss which
was 80 great a merit in the latter with the players
in "Uamietr The two situations are unlike, Ger
family bat nature is nature, put it where you "lti,
md the speech was not spoken naturally; 1t was
declainled. The manner was anything Dut the man
per of man rude in speech il was varnished not
uuvsruishpd tale. So Of much else that Alr. irving
did Mr. Henry James jr in a recent letter, having
seen Mr. IyYing in Macbeth, complains ot bis want OF
naireG The complaint is just one, and the want l'
more evident in his Oteli0 Where IS the free ana
ordly creature as the ablest of recent critics Gals
Oflello-the half-ciyized barbarian, the halftamod
lion of the desert we all honor in Shakespeare lie
is supplanted by psychological phenomenon of the
pavemeuts who has been more occupied with books
than with battles, and in whom the reflective ele-
r1ent is uppermost. Spite Of armOr and weapons
there is scarcely a touch Of the soldier about
him; the genius for command is wanting ;
be lacks not only simplicity, but direct
ness The larger nature that comes OF
an active life is not here it is replaced by the specu-
latiyc subtlety Of the schools Melancholy marks
him for her own much too early. Instead OF the
man not easily jealous as Okeo describes himself
Mr Irving is perplexed i'll the extreme by the very
hrst hint of in6dety he hears from Idgo. through
ont the rst scene Of Act Ill down 30 the entry OF
De,o mona the insinuatons of iago fall off Shake
speale's Moor harmless. AZ most he is Little
dashed in spirits, Idgo observes. But MI irving
has been getting ready TO be Jealous from the begin
ming and his faith in his wife gives way at "a touch
He recites tie catalogue of his imperfections-
"hapIy for / am black" &c.-in tone OF COLI
frmed desl,ondency His I'm not believe it."
with which the sOliloquy couclades, Is magnh-
cent in itself, .and a magnificent contradiction
OF his own yiew--the proof at once that MS
qniet suspicion is not justified by the text and
that he could, if he would. give US throughout
the Moor whom Shakespeare drew. Ii is possible
the whole scene is designedly sacrificed 90 this point
though have too nuch belief in FIR. lrying's re-
spec for his art and mis- author to credit that The
fash of generous courage is only for moment. De-
lection quickly succeeds and the Farewell is deliv-
cred in tone which woald beft a clerk in the War
gen. mi