Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1891-10-09
sHAKEsPEAREAN DRAMA.
An Interesting Letter From DR.. D. F.
Wright On the Subject.

mOOleu III your contemporary Ill MS
issue of the End inst. His article is
occupied with certain stage costumes,
as well as those of the bathing surf
and the ballroom. 1t is only the
first with which l propose to concern
myself, the other two being rather
too delicate a subject for a peculiarly
modest old bachelor like myself to
handle.
The first point 1 shall establish is
that Shakespeare, at least, never in
tended to make an over liberal dis.
play of the female figure the leading
attraction of his plays. 1t must be
admitted that the assumption of
male characters by females is fro
quently resorted to by the great dra-
matists. Omitting the "Two Gentle
men of Verona" which is now never
acted, the whole number of his
comedies lin which alone this feat
ure occurs) is twelve, and in four of
these the females appear in boys
dresses. These are "The Merchant
of Venice" "As You Like It,"
"Twelfth Night" and "Cymbeline."
Now, be it remembered that the
question before us was no question at
all in Shakespeare's time, as no fe-
males at all then appeared on the
stage, the female parts being sus-
tanned by boys and young men; let
this be sufficient to relieve the obi
vine William" of all responsibility
in the matter. No doubt the boys
were so often allowed to resume the
costume habitual with them simply
because they were most at home
in it.
But the question arises whether
these four exquisite dramas need to
be banished from the stage to satisfy
any reasonable scruple. l should
look upon it as deplorable sacrifice
of much delightful poetry, if it were
50 held.
Let us consider separately each of
the plays mentioned, and we will be-
gin with the
Merchant Of Venice" In this play
all three of the female char.
acters assume the male costume, so
that it is a typical case let us see
how far the most sensitive modesty
need be offended if the costume is
made appropriate to the characters.
Portia and Nerissa appear in one
scene as doctor of Laws" and his
clerk, the official costume of which
in Shakespeare's time was volumi-
nous robe covering the whole person
and defining it less than any ordi-
nary female costume. The last lady
whom 1 saw assume the parts in
England is now, if she is still alive,
the wife of a baronet, and
a most acceptable member of the
most exalted social circles in
that country, and l do not hesitate to
say that her costume offered less
grounds for criticism than that of
nineteen twentieths of the lady spec
tators in front. AS for the part of
Jessica, she is only on the stage in
male costume for very few minutes,
and the omission of very few words
would make it unnecessary for her
to change her dress at all, but, even
if she did, as she was clipping at night
it would be quite in character for her
to cover herself with large CLOAK.
As You Like II. Rosalind, in this
play, assumes for while the male
costume, and with it the character of
a young forester, who does a little
amateur farming. l saw the part
acted (alas it was sixty years ago.
by one who was then esteemed the
most beautiful woman in England
a Miss Foote. She also, bye the bye,
was Afterwards married to a member
of the aristocracy, but the marriage
was an unfortunate one, not through
her own fault but through the vii.
lainy of her husband. l will de-
scribe her costume, which made an
indelible impression on my mind.
Her dOublet, rather longer than the
average sack coat, WAS a good deal
puff d out here and there, 50 as to re.
semble the body of female dress,
while the lower continuation covered
about as much of her person as
boys knee-pants of the present day,
only they were much fuller. The
lower part Of the legs were envel-
oped in leather CATERS appropriate to
the forest life she was supposed to be
assuming. There was nothing sug
gestive of the female figure. On the
contrary, everything in harmony
with the joyous and laughing boy
character which Miss Foote so hap
PLY personated.
Cymbeline. This play is supposed
to take place in ancient Britain, the
appropriate costume for which would
be the toga proteta, which covers
nearly as much of the figure as the