Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-10-31
IRVING AND ELLEN TERRY
As They Appeared to .Jennie June,

As They Appeared to .'Jennie June
They are Artists of Merit and Grace.l
Jennie June" in the New York World /:
Mr.. Irving is to the stage what Goethe
was in ature-many-sided, not to be
judged by any single effort, hardly by his
achievements in any one department of
his art. His historical accuracy, his ex-
traordinary insight and sympathy, his
complete mastery, which is capable of
doing the fullest justice to all subordinate
objects and requires the best in his sur
roundings to bring out the full measure of
his ability, are all facts that gradually
dawn upon the consciousness and cannot
be tested by a single glimpse in single
part. Versatility is not the word to ex-
press the equal greatness of the most op-
posite of his characters, for that is super
fetal word at best and only means the
facility with which an actor or actress can
change their mask; but Henry Irving
does not seem to be wearing q mask.
AS the elegant "Doricourt" in the Bellies
Strdtdgem, or as Shakespeare's "Shylock," I"
he is real, and one seems to be as real
as the other. He is, more than any other
individual | ever saw, the universal man,
with consciousness of all that has been
and the braadest sympathy for all that is.
His Hamlet" was to me a revelation.
was brought up on Edwin Booths "Ham-
let" and believed in his melancholy
Dane, from his plumed hat to the toe of
his boots. But the picturesque grandeur
of Mr.. Irving's "Prince of Denmark"
created a new standard. made Hamlet
more Intellectually worthy of his place for
these hundreds of years as the foremost
character OF the foremost play ofthe great
est writer which the world has vet pro-
duced. His "Shylock" is, as have said,
Shakespeare's; he is no vulgar villain, but
a strong member of despised and cruelty
tseated race-a man abused and spat upon
but great in spite of insults, opprobrium,
failure and humiliation. His genius as
manager can hardly be entered at its full
value here, where it is not known how
lauch he has accomplished against blind
prejudice and many obstacles, but every
one Will be able to appreciate the fine
quality OF his manliness and gentlemanli-
ness.
ELLEN TERRY.
But if recognition and appreciation of
Mr.. Irving are doubtful, what is to be said
OF Miss Terry, who seems to have been cut
out of one of Botticelli's pictures; who is
like nothing real, nothing earthly but her
sell; who is all atmosphere" as Sarah
Bernhardt is all Temperament" and who
as Gamma" in the Cup was considered
too dreadful by an American lady in
London because she was the primitive
woman and did not play it in high heels
and embroidered tie-back. 1t is never
possible to decide whether Ellen Terry is
beautiful or whether she is a great artist,
and there is sort of tangibility about her
which eludes fixed laws and iron-clad
opinions. You only know that you would
not have her anything else but what she
IS, and that whatever she does and is is
right. 1t is the same about her acting.
You are carried away by her "Portia."
Its winning charm, its gracious dignity,
its sweet persuasiveness, its one little scene
where she receives "Bassanio's' friends,
is a lesson to any lady in exquisite
manners and worth volumes of twaddle
about etiquette. Yet you know half
dozen little American actresses
sho could 'rise superior" in declaiming
Portals famous lines in regard to the
quality of mercy. Her dress is as elusive
as her appearance. Worth would never
be able to do anything with her. She is
very tall, yet does not appear so She has
the Oriental feeling for color; her dress
always seems to have grown upon her,
never to have been made, cut, twisted or
tortured by any ordinary dressmaker.
Could any one who saw her ever forget her
appearance as Gamma" in the temple of
Artemis-the slow expansion of the gray,
mist-like veil that enveloped her with
every motion of her arm? Nor did
thank the friend who told me that this
weird impression was produced by simply
fastening the tissue to the bracelet upon
her wrist. l like to be strongly impressed
myself, and do not care to know much in
regard to the mechanism of the means
that produces that result. Certainly Miss
l. . al L. L
relation to the dramatic world; she is as
much herself as Mr.. Irving is himself,
and if she has not genius, one would say
it is because she is genius itself