The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1889-10-26

feeling which surprised me: "Three hun
dred years ago Shakespeare had dim, halt
realized visions of some such setting to ms
Mays, but he longed in vain for the power
20 fulfill ham. Imagine his sensations II
he could be here to night"
Eyes. indeed l was just thinking that
before the play began, and idly wishing II
Were possible
s'H6w do you know the wish was illef"
said MY companion gravely scanning my
face as he spoke with enc of those strange
chances which set nv nerves tingling and
my heart beating. There was no laughter
IN his eyes, and coss9 not eren smile at
his reioinder. l felt embarrassed and per
picked, and it was relief when he looked
away and spoke again in his usual friendly,
conversational tone. :,
''Yuut Henry living is great player"
he said, with an air of purposely changing
the subject but he does not give US Shaks-
peare's conception of Macbeth until the last
scene CT the first act. At the beginning
he is to calm and thoughtful Before the
crime Macbeth is something of swash
buckler, taking no care TO hide his feelings.
He is physically brave, but moral coward,
with strong passions aud no great intellect
The clever man yon player makes
him would never have allowed Banquo
TO divine how greatly the witches moved
him."
He spoke with certain authority, as II
there could be no appeal against his critl-
cisni. In any one else this would have an
rioyed me, but this man seemed to know
how to dogmatize without offending, and
assented without mental reservation to his
dictuln.
Yes" l said, she is rather too self-con-
tained.'
Self. containedI' he repeated In low
voice, as IL considering the meaning Of the
word. Eyes, it is good phrase. lnever
thought of it myself
The last words were an almost inaudible
murmur and he sank into tit OF abstrac-
ton and apparently forgot all about me.
But by this time was too much under the
spell of his fascination to bear to be ignor-
ed, SO l spoke again to rouse him.
'And what Of Miss Terry's Lady Mac
bethr'
"Sna is beautiful! [ have never before
seen even a bad actress, and this lady is
charming. Think how the lads who played
her part were wont to rant and mouth ii
800 years ago!'
How strangely his thoughts harped al
ways on the one string! Struggling with a
revived suspicion I made no answer, and
he continued with quiet earnestness: ~
never hoped to see Lady Macbeth so nea'ly
realized Mistress Terry is now and anon
not terrible enough, but it is good fault,
for she makes Lady Macbeth a woman such
as the playwright had in his mind-a low
Ing, lovable woman, ruined by one evil I'M
pulse. BY deliberate effort of will she
shuts out all considerations save the one
glittering object of her ambition. She has
to invoke the spirit of evil to give hel
strength to be cruel, commits a deed
against her nature, and atterward dies
slowly of unava ling remorse. The pity OF
it! The pity of it! Oh, how have suffer
ed for her and w tn her!n
hinly aA MQahpth'e
was higher nature than her husbands!"
He looked surprised at my question, and
then answered with courteous tolerance
'Assuredly! Macbeth was a weak man rem
dered ferociously cruel by the same moral
cowardice which at first restrained him
cal courage and leaning toward respecta
bility. He had no conscience, no mora
hatred of crime, but only dread of its social
consequences Remember that the first
cautious suggestion of Duncan's murder
came from him in his letter to his wife
She understood his unexpressed desire, and
though she hated the deed, she choked her
moral sense to favor her ambition and his
And, when all is said, she but 'scotched
her conscience; she could not kill it. Hell
husband possessed much less, and his first
yielding to crime slew that little utterly
He fell through weakness, she through
misdirected strength"
"And you think that Macbeth's unwill
ingness to murder Duncan Yves due solely
imagination, which enabled him to fore see
consequences to which his wife was blindp ~
"Yesl Macbeth imagined wildly only
because he feared greatly. The crime once
committed, he suffered less from the tor
lures of imagination than from the fear o.
detection. His wife suffered in both way s
and her conscience killed her. With her
ima0inatiOn was rooted in her moral sense
which was strong, though unhappily not 81
strong as her one passion while Macbeth's
round its root only in selfish personal con
siderations."
Still the. same tone, admitting of no ap
peal Evidently he expected no further re
joinder from me, and we were both silent
till the curtain rose for the second act.
1t would take too long to describe in detail
the intensity OF his enjoyment Throughout
the play His interest never tagged for ar
instant Now and then, indeed, 1t rose to Q
terrifying excitement, and, watching him
l shuddercd for its possible consequences
both to him and and to me, so great was the
sympathy some mysterious power hac
established between his brain and mine
He watched the murder scene in haggarC
agony a. if he were helpless spectator o
an actual fact, the mimic actions of thu
actors reflected and even intensified in hi:
face. When it was over he sank back GOV
ering his face with his hands, and though
lie made no sound l saw that he was over
mastered with emotion. Iwould have giveI
much to weep too, but I could only sit ani
watch him in frozen misery, not able, as hi
apparently was, entirely to forget the crowC
of strangers around US. Happily they were
all absorbed in the play, and no one noticed
either him or me. " hen he looked up AGAR
his face was wet with tears.