New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-07-09
,ga unon the untouched maid

IN intoIerable outrage "po" ''0
o." =, his executioner
ennoou - ar Tosca " the passion Of vengeance
heie' ,ut q WAS consecrated oil which had
place O 49,, unon the fire. The ecstacy Of physi-
beer -, ranturs of sudden hate seemed but
cal Nv s,on Of the same nature, and Of a
the ,.a,,ed in both. beyond that which Is
ha''' ,,,,on She filled you with longings. and
inert rou with terror Whatever may be
s"e .ho nlav. the actress was penetrated with
sau ..h ~ feeling and truth OF art which she
tNe clone Impressed upon her audience. She
''''N C-,ontal remote. imaginative a creature OF
wa hr, alive glowing. forcefu, Irresistible
- he,eve when she offers her lips 70 her
,sA,s,,c Christ that he will touch them with
- and that the physical will triumph over the
,.,,ral You are surprised when 1t does not
- &c no unreality al such n crisis as this
=. !. not the moment for criticism still less for
noue. When Sindia presses his suit you see
,urnose of death in her eyes; You hear 1t in
- hord low tones OF menace with which she
ia one of the few fine lines in the play:
~ veux de mon baiser? Je m appelle la Mort;
and at the fatefu word the knife flashes out
-, buries itself IN the heart OF the hated Prince
81. stands aghast at her deed as II conscious
.x.l she Of oil women. regenerated or not. had
..r,j,ed the rikht to protect her honor at the
,rcs Of anothers life.
n,scovered by the Princes mother. sentenced.
.,,ured she meets her fate a martyr. Nomore
.,t,l visage has been seen upon the stage than
...s when she reappears after suffering all things
a.. .eath No more beautiful victory over agony
.,a aespair than when Sddartha, bringing with
a., "a the doomed woman the consultations OF
-,,g,on. owns to her that he loves her. The
.olo- comes back into the ashen white face which
,,r one last moment is illumined by a love which
.s and can have left 10 IT nothing OF the earthly.
Her .tu m aimes?" might be the expiring sigh
=, the Christian before whom the Heavens are
o,en,ne IN a vision of glory; at owe an assur-
o,cs Of everlasting bliss and the exutant cry
:. the woman whose life is hallOwed at the last
moment by the confession that he whom she
,ao,zes idolizes her. And she dies as II the JOY
n, this knowledge were more than she had
strength 10 endure
From first 10 last there was not false note.
The art was consummate. but ofrhat It is Needless
10 speak 1t has long been accepted as the
nobest in its own way which this generation has
seen: and also the most var.i,s and the most
astonishing in its Sosge. Hence II is that crit-
cisn no longer occupies Itself with processes but
with results. The art is taken for granted; the
result implies the cause. new generation has
grown UP IN England. perhaps better trained
certainly indisposed TO accept dramatic traditions
or take great reputas''',s on .raD-: a generation
somewhat dilettante, scept:cal, Indifferent pre-
ferring for the most part amusement to emotion.
But upon these younger men and women the
actress seems 10 have laid the same spell which
has wrought enchantment uron their seniors
There was no section Of last nights house which
was not stirred. There seems to be no criticism
this morning which is either hostile or cold; the
dramatic columns of the papers are wreathed
with flowers. " w. D.