New-York tribune., 1883-12-13
THE DRAMA
rDWIN BOOTH AS LEAR.

turbulent cOSmlcal representation VI Oho OOh-
ouest of good by evil, under conditions most
rteous and harrowing-at once Tebukos the temer-
;tv of critical defnitiOn and measurement. The
colossal proportions of its great central hgure-hs
nosson his misery his defeat, ruin and dcath-are
srcb "a we'll may awe the mind into silence. Yet
the tragedy is produced, and the part is acted ana
no doubt the public interest is served, alike in this
preceding and in due record of its result
No thoughtful person needs to be told that IN tho
moral and physical scheme of human life thore Is
but little than can be understood pliiosopnoi
might say that this world could just as wen h"'0
been erected for the perfect happiness OF the human
GOO os for ANYTHING else Yet all experience has
shown that this was not the purpose OF nature OF
fate The human race is acquainted with happiness,
but also it is acquainted with grief Eve! ono u
its blessings is held by the siendereS' oi 'iii''',
and all its footsteps fall upon soSs'ei u u'U y,
the clements underneath which Is 'he oiinu caro-
of night and DEATH But every thinker Is Wiling "
assume the prevalence of a benehceAt purpose ana
wore and more in the fight of years, every human
,;,g realizes that aflicton and sorrow design
ed TO pnrfy and ennOble the spirit and life OF man.
WHY this should be so we do not understand. Why
v;l sbonld exist or even should prevail. do not
know Why misery in so many forms, or In any
form at ALL should steep many thousands of crea-
lures In tears and gloom and bitterness, we cannot
comprehend All we know is that these are the con-
these conditions were created, not by man, but by
his Maker.
This is the mystery of life-and this is the mys-
tcry of the tragedy of King Lear" in which the
whole awful and pathetic pageant of life Is nclosed
as in crystal. And just as in actual human ex-
perience the spectacle of a cruel calamity over
yhelmng the noble and gentle and good OF our
race will convulse our hearts with grief. and after
ward lift us into a sublime region of novel ana
Lola N contamination OF
Mailing tragedy, the spectacle of greatness de
sDoied love defeated virtue and sweetness troddcn
down by wickcdness and cruelty, and all that IS
right and noble and beautiful Overthrown and
crushed in tempest and chaos of evil and agony
will have the same effect, to smtc our hearts with
sharp pang of suffering aYd at last to lift MS out of
the weakness and all the other trammels of human-
itvand set us free in the triumphant life of the soul
The royal and magnificent King himself, the lovely
and loving Cordeid, the faithful and atlectonate
Kent the humane and gentle GIoser, the true
hearted sensitive tender pathetic Foot the simple,
noble and manly EdgGr-they are all delivered to
misery. some of them to excrucatng tormentS and
all but one of them to death. Lodr8 pathway is
through the hell of madness. CordeAd is hanged
Gloste,-hs eyes torn out and his old heart broken,
expires in a delirium of JOY and pam "IH go to
bed at noon" says the poor and broken Io0L " L
have a Journey sir, shortly tc CO." says the loyal
Kent who will not survive h master Edgar alone
remains-but wounded with n grief that never can
he healed The wicked agents Of all this misery
perish likewise; but this scarcely affects the result.
Evil has conquered and goodness has gone down ~
most acute, protTacted and iaInGtable, anguish.
The spectacle at1licts, but II cnnOhlCs IL Is the
greatness of the tragedy of "king Lear that 1t
causes this effect. =.
The drift of Shakespeare is not explained; it is
only stated. We can no more assume to c9mpTc-
bend this work than we can to GGnpredcsg n4 IL b
that effect it ought to be read and II ought 10 DC
acted People are better Tor & &rf9dng ana M seeing eng
lesson from its pagcantry of perfectly ade-
Quatc stage presentment of the tragedy WILL prop
ably never be seen-for there are insurmountable
difficulties in the way of the essential cOmpreen-
sion of the whole subject by each and every person
concerned in its exposition Much, however, is ieas-
ible, and much has been accomplished The char |
acter feelings and experience OF LeGr hsem Ial arc
not obscure No true student VIII be 9alled ny
them The part has been extremely well acted In |
our oI'' time by Forrest by Brooke by Charles Kean
by Mccullough and by Edwin Booth. In our opn-
ion it rs beyond the reach of all foreigners. ana only
TO be assumed by man whose native language Is
the language OF ShakeSpeafe me recent
enforced this judgment; ,..s,!
Edwin Booth early selected it as subject for his
studv and his efforts and il has long been the close
companion of his deepest feelings and most earnest
thoughts. At first be acted kdr, AS his 1ather ana
as Forrest had dOne-in the old late version Ihoul
fed by Kemble. Then in order to forget tins ana
to absorb the requisite feeling directly from the
original he laid the part aside fora long period.
About years ago he revived IT, III ms own version
of the original piece and since then his lmpcrsona-
tion of Lear has been often seen both IN the old
world and at home. No better evidence whether OF
his genius or of his intellectual growth, could be
wished or afforded than the performance TINT ne
gave last night Lear'S madness is ncipcnt a. the
outset and its development ensues, not upon his de-
thronement a King but upon his Dissertation as
father He must be royal, but he must possess
heart more royal than all the crowns and domina-
tions of the earth-a boundlcss wealth OF a1iectOn
and tenderness. If not he can neither leel the Rlow
nor utter the response. Lear is Ofcn SAID 10 Dc
part within the reach Of only blg man. ~ Is MS
take But Lear requires great heart. iIlls a9Gye
all. And then,-since even amid tne cnaOs OF MS
madness the elements of a splendid intellect and a
glorious imagination shine forth, like mete0rs ~
tempcst-he requires W. eeT sce his in
its actual perfection. The blight has begun before
the monarch is disclosed at all But we must ieei
this in what We see That is the ideal OF Lear WhcH
Mr. Booth makes actual i'll his embodiment, ana that
is the man more sinned against than SHINING VINO
is drawn i'll Shakcspeare's play. me ACTOR e4eG4-
ton furthermore, was level with his ideal; IIo
made 10 points" He never was theatiIcal no
rose naturally on the surgcs of passionate emotion,
10 the terror OF the fathers curse, and TO the frenzy
Of the mOnarchs futile threat lie showed INC
awful suheTings of a decaying Drahl whch yet y iS
dmly conscious Of its decay, and he showed thG
vacant pathetic terrible lcvity Of accomplished
madness. The most electrical moment OF TINS per
fOrmaDcc is that of the nnprecatoh OF thc tGrIois
Of tho earth" Tho highest moment Is that OF Lars
recognition of Cordelta But it is the splendid re-
strant Of aiiuent power all along the line OF the
work, that makes it entirely worthy III the eyes
of judment-the faculty which 1lr Do0tll as al
artist possesses in such fnlness' OF seenLe W ~
utterly abandoned To hs feelings yet az lHe wIl9
OF holding those feelings with gIlp OF steer ana
thus overwhelming audience, without beihg Iliil-
self submerged. III,
OF most Of tho players that associated with
Mr. Booth in this tragedy il is scarcely possible 10
speak with patience. Mr.. John A. Lane as hemt'
was the only one of the sixteen auXlllar perform
ances that could be deemed truly Shakesperean-
Pipe thorough and absolutely comReteGntsi AIMS ms
however, was an image of blum ana iona nuGny,
aud consistently and strongly sustained MT' Eooh
Pympson as Edgar expressed the simulated
madness with some skill and with sustained Vigor,
but in "A raw and bOisterOus manner ana WITHOUT
requisite transparency-whereby IT should be seen
that this madness is simulated and not actual, nor
merely theatrical fooery. In Mr flynPtons tnaho az