New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-04-06
,,sIxEgpEARE AND MoLIERE.
,.oxsr.Er coouEIIN DISCUSSES THEM,
xrx,rUsNrH CENTURY CLUB LISTENS TO
= - -. ,.sorls FRENCH COMEDIAN.

..x,.x,ruxNrH CENTURY CLUB LISTENS TO
r7r FAMOUS Es2NcH COMEDIAN.
S. "a, read a lecture on Shakespeare and
=. 80 nieht before the members Of the Nine-
rcnss $50 cab, who gathered in fuu force 70
eectn s' 100 comedian. Brander Matthews pre-
s sssf shs S,sf introduction Mr. Matthews pointed
MeL !. rsn,es NJ Ccquelin is known not only as
s ~ - :. ~. Int as deep thinker, an able writer
~ ,-s,ssnt critic, and an ardent worshipper OF
s - - ..t dramatists whose merits ne was SCOUT
pe 49, qhss afternoon N. coquelin had piasee
= ,r.sr.rsl,s Of Moiiere and IN less than montn
:. ,ouM be playing In London sne fe'ru0h'o W
oeksspeare ...,or an. .vervth,np
~ Ia ,so,t Moliere, and thai In France he has
: ~ =. affect Of the most extravagant theories
~ 4. ony ono suggestion no SAID whicn no
-.,tred to nake-that is to deny that he Is
eDe !, q his works. In England there is school
~ - a.e,.rss thst Shakespeare was but q man OK
rssn - ,hat the true poet Of Hamlet ana The
49, y, MS Bacon. We have not yet school hKe
icy .,sonsh such hypothesis is not impossioie.
.sss - not with equal likelihood attribute inc pa
.,sx 81 tho school for Wives and Don Juan 70 Ine
80 rsnde who was the ayowed protector OF Molero
-, NAV he not have had hand In these pisSst
w -,s,s sxnlain why sTartufe' was first acted at
&. sos. and why Moliere left no manuscripts oenind
bfns
8 n coouelln then proceeded 10 dwell on the many
.xtrsordinary smilarIties in career and IN charac
9, bstvoen Moiiere and Shakespeare, who were
~ actors. authors managers, both en-
ara thu profession young ana poor, and both made
ney nv the theatre and died rich, one at hfty-two
nd the other at aftyons, leaving almost the same
.xnber OF works. As Queen Elizabeth patroniEeo
haspspeare, SO Louis XIV favored Molsere. Both
s tsa.txts were loved and blamed by more classical
NV Par nd IA
rreach by Boileau, and both were pursued and MAJ
,sa.a by rival poetasters, Green and Wise.
ss.r a minute analysis Of the development Of the
<.u..c fsoulty first in Moliere and then in Shake
se.ss. n. coquen went on to suggest that the dom
s,sas qualify of Shakespeare Is passion, whereas
rossr, q not frankly tragic. Shakespeare he
- 81 ked 1, take an irreproschable man, fresh
ou ths hands Of nature, full Of the milk OF human
t,aness and seeking honestly what he most ardenfiy
Gsases But there is In him germ, often impercep-
shs Al first, germ which may grow, swell and be-
,ons devouring and irresistible passion, deyel-
80 hy circumstances, chance, the perHdy of an
10. Ae meeting with three old women in the mist
!, sesn. or less And then the fatal result ensues-
anna dsspair, DEATH Nothing can prevent 1t The
IN a man s as the sport Of chance the heat OF the
kkad Even In the later works where the ending
K nsppy, tbs hand Of man had little to do with It,
II d accident again which brings al to happy con-
bat posthumus ana Je0utes arc As HlisoraoS
- ursy Oh their imagination as othello or Lear.
eaore sees things moro IN their reality ana tne
faai morality Of bis work is; Be right, ana an WI,
a wells ais works are as clear as day The haired
"A vice "A there and The love Of trathnot platonic
Eyssut militant love- armed and fighting 10 the last
siadtsL For Moiiere Is IN the thick OF the nghG
&ahsspeafe dwells in serene temples and he sSts
iore us tbs immense and sorrowful speetacie OF sne
Scfd but ne draws from 1t rules OF Life, for what
ne would serve us In dIesmi And SO ore might
AZ peraaus az last word that Shakespeare teaches
- a Ii fbinf while Moliere teaches us 10 I've
General Horace Porter and Frederic x; Cooaei'
ss,nint The full text OF N. Coqueln's lecture will
& published in an carly number Of The Century