The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1883-04-27
Salvini's King Lear

The tull-page crayon sketch of Sal
vini as King Lear, in the May Century,
accompanies an exposition by Emma
Lazarus of Salvini's Lear which says
in part:
Salvini understands the mOtJof Leor
to be not the local peculiarities of II
king of ancient Britain, but the passion
of fatherhOOd. sis not II father in Italy
the same rs father In Britain" are
his own words upon the subject, and
they clearly illustrate his conception.
For him the whole tragedy rests upon
the fact that the royal martyrdom is
undcserved; the moment thought is
entertained that it was Occasioned by
the kings own lack of foresight or JUS
ticc, its sublime quality disappears.
Viewed in this light, the superhuman
figure of Lear descends from those loft
lest spiritual regions where job and
PrOmetheus abide, to serve us warn
ing exemplar of the follies of impru-
dent gencrosity-a lesson to confirm the
cheap and worldly maxims of the COM
mon wisdom of the street. 1t were in
insult to the genius of SHAKESPEARE to
fancy that such was his sign in Great
ing the most sublime impersonatiOn of
old age and anguish ever conceived by
human imagination. In "I'imOn Of
Athens" he shows us the ordinary in
gratitude with which the world repays
the facilc prodigality of Il generous,
reckless spendthrift. But with Lear
there is no question of recklessness, of
fOolishly misplaced confidence III
strangers and svcophants: his trust is
in his own flesh and blood, his largess
is bestowed upon his passionately be-
loved offspring, to whom he is about to
give signal proof of his supreme alice
tion. What more fitting moment could
be selected that the occasion of his
daughters espousals! What wiser and
more appropriate act than, while re-
tanning the title and honors Of royalty,
to renounce its duties and cares, render.
ed irksome by the inevitable WEAKNESS
of "a ripe old a.es His own nature is
exuberaptly and demOnstrativcly affec-
tionate, and in presence of his whole
court he asks his daughters who among
them loves him best, simply for the de-
light of hearing their filial, graceful re.
plies. From Regain and GonerH he re-
ceives dutiful response; the overlooking
with paternal pride and love, he turns
to his darling youngest child, the gem
tlest and meekest of the three, and re-
ceives rebuff discourteous and irrcv-
crent enough to affront even modern
and non-royal father: 81 love you ac-
cording to my bond, neither more nor
! less. l am not yet married, but the
first stranger who appears and CLAIMS
me as his wife will obtain from me Il
greater need of affection than you can
possible expect" Whoever transports
himself mentally into the period, place,
and circumstances of this scene will not
consider the wrath of Lear exaggerated.
Only because of our own difficulty in
laying aside the knowledge of Cordelia' s
true character, which the latter portions
of the play reveal, do we here sympa-
thize with her, and condemn the per-
fectly justifiable indignation of the ag-
grieved parent and monarch.
Lear, as conceived by Salvini, is a
man of noble generosity, of exquisite
tenderness and sensitlveness, of power.
full intellect and imagination. His ro-
bust physical force is beginning to
wane, though still as man of eighty
he delights in the pleasures of the
chase. Rut there is no trace of senility
in the vigorous, richly endowed mind.
This conception is amply borne out by
the text; for, if the insanity of Lear
were occasioned by dotage and decrepi-
tude, instead Of by the stunning blows
of unparalleled misfortuncs. there could