The sun., 1878-02-17
ADJUSTMENTS.


material In Charlotte Brontc's story of Jane
| Eyre"
! have no, tho slightcs, doubt Of IT, That
! something which we call character is shown i'm
tho selecting and rrarrnnging OF this mat rial
not as strongly and CLEARLY us in the acting
for Miss Morriss gift is the lift OF player. not
OF writer; but it is shown.
! There was already a stage version Of Jano
Eyrr." which ior popular purposes was far
more objective and mclcdrumatic than the latest
transcript. but it was not the Jane Eyre of
! Charlotte Bronic. Almost everything in tha,
version was sacrificed To- the dreadful stage Mo-
! loch OF situation. Whatever Of emotion. philos-
! ophy. or character could be made to dance the
! jig oi action wa, seized upon. and everything
that did not appeal to the cycs and ears was left
| out. The consequence was a badly articulatcd
but very animated skeleton of what is one of the
most roundly human stories IN our language.
The new version is not by any means - viva
cious puntomime. for it Is reasonably literal
! reproduction of that s'nid Intellectual. and in
| Prospective crcature-Janc Eyre hersef-and
her heart struggles.
1t is in word, essentially drama Of emotion.
| in which the interest centres in u woman whose
| moral instincts interfere sadly with her happi-
ness
In common parlancc. Miss Morris has got the
| meat Of personal suffering and the milk Of
| moral heroism out Of the literary cOcoanut, and
| her play il a noble and worthy ono in its pur-
! pose. and an exceedingly strong one in its
I manifestation ofcharactcr. whatever else 1t may
be by reason Of it's construction or on account
of Mr.. Mardc's large share In the representa-
ton.
am free 10 confess that tine mechanism Is
faulty. But make haste 10 add that am sur
so f,1u Iua ko.
made out OF material which is SO barren of what
the public is pleased 10 call dramatic interest
Nothing is SO cheap as advice to playwrights
whose plays hnyc only been seen once The
patent verdict is-cut 1t down. II you ask the
average habitu6 Of the theatre what he thinks
OF the now work he has lust Witnessed. he will
invariably reply. with overwhelming alacrity
" Oh. It must bo cut down. Then it will be all
right
Now. l am inclined TO think that this is
especially true of such plays as Mark Twain's
the author Of which has acknowledged IN pub
lie that the moro that is cut out Of them the bet
ter they sre-and his candor was mistaken for
wit. But II does not apply to symmetrical con-
ceptons embodying purpose and ideas At all
events. it is advice that is too common for us 10
initiate. and therefore decline to ask Miss
Morris TO cut her play
That which she can take out of il is Of less
consequence than that which she has put into
it. II need not say to YOU that she did not put
Warde into it; that is where tho MANAGEMENT
might cut with advantageD
And now let me tell you what think she has
put into It.
First of ALL perhaps. ought TO mention what
She has not pu, into it, Well. then. she has no,
put a duel in it, or documents. or a personal
encounter Of any kind
But IN this she l. not entirely alone. believe
there are two or three modern society plays
which have no duels or documents though |
cannot AT this moment recollcct what they are
What she lid put into it WAS sincere purpose
10 work out the spiritual side OF Jane Eu.e in
her own eeric way.
You wouldn't have given her credit for any
uins OF that kind when She was playing tn,
Sphh1 or Mss Ntbon-would you now9
II know your mind. you thought she leaned
little TO the fieshly side of those works. Even
in Camille" 1t wasn't the grief and sorrow and
shame and despair that wrought upon you.
thought she did not tail 10 paint them. II was
the physical weakness. the fascinating realism
OF her bodily suffering. There WAS no escape
from the terrible coeency ot her paroxysms.
But there was not so much art as nature in the
specialization Miss Morris has certain tones in
her voice which reveal TO all listeners. whether
she will or not. the profound depths OF her
emotional experience. and her gesticulations
are innocent Of any applied system.
Admire as much AS we pleased II was the
corporeality rather than the spirituality that
made her representations e1cacious
She has broken away from this physical lin
tatlon in The Governess" II you observe
the play closely. you will see TINT the endeayor
is to show the moral side OF Jane Eyre's char
"a md fhsft th.s. a
planted squarcy on the hilltop ,nohf OF virtue
resisting and overcoming evil. II isn't merely
her disappointment. her grief or her suffering
that moves you now 1t is her noble heroism.
In her former efforts strong circumstances
were planted on debility. We shuddercd AT the
weak will, while We admired the keen snnsihili-
ties that could suffer so acutcy Now an in
domithple Will does right in spite OF feelings
and we respect while We applaud the heroine.
Let us take u long breath AT this spectacle of
the player lifting herself. unaided. on, Of the
materialism into which her playwrshts had
dragged her. A moments sinceror admiration
my dear sirs Tor the actress who. through n
long and fevcrish term. bore the oboluy Of
coarseness and the charge Of Frenchlness. bu,
who now gets the Puritan element out Of an
English story. and teaches all her mechanicians
the grand lesson Of our day--that the human
Will, WIEN IL Hds couNlcllOn Denluu II, II
stronger than circumstances
The whole Of the third act Of The Cover
ness is remarkable for its con eentration Of in
terest in the two characters wl.p dominate the
play. and for the clever comp lcting in one in
tense struggle OF all the passi IN. affection. ten
derness. selhshness. rectitude. and letermina-
tion that are scattered through u hundred
pages Of the story.
With tne sasacity. Miss Morris detected the
supreme element Of the story. With an extra
ordinary skill she projected It into this scene.
For few moments We see in all the gray tints
OF the modern school that old. old story that has
run through literature and art for centuries II
is Faust and Marguerite again, only Marguerite
now has the new strength Of the nineteenth
century organized in her. II is tho mystic pie
ture and poem Of lie Diable' again. with the
hend in a black coat pulling aud caressing.
only Alice does not fall in the weakness Of
superstition at the foot OF the cross. bvt stands
up in the new majesty Of womanhood and virtue.
and lifts her white arm reverenty to heaven.
and Is strong.
That this better exhibition OF the woman is