New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-03-03
THE DRAMA-MUSJC.
TESS. AT THE FIFTH AVENUE.
MINNIE MADDERN FISKE.

4 a rovei,st M extraordinary power,-one who sees
clearly the facts Of human life, and VINO Writes Oh
them with hunor and pathos. and In s'y'e re.
,oarknble for holiness, vgor, Imagination ana
grace The novel that made him Famous Is 'a'
from the Madding Crowd" and perhaps thar WORK.
I'm originality OF conception. depth OF ieeh"s' 'p
and variety OF character, and beauty Oh iahsu"e.'
Ia the best that has proceeded from MS pe' -,
most all OF Mr.. Hardy's BOOKS anu espeo' "
"Tess human life Is portrayed In It's painfu' as
nects and tho drift Is almost exclusively trasica'
nory attributes of excellence IN those wriuhBs
might be specified. The humor. N some Vi '"e.', -
wonderfully rich. The Enshsh pea'""' -, -,
and az fine az those in Shakespeare INC W.,
edge of woman Is comprehensive anu a''" =,
fidelity with which she is drawn. In many s"u vi
,ea go. being so exact and coldly true as
almost 70 seem cruel But the pervadns aua,i'y
OF Mr. rIardy's noves,-the attrioute U, '"' A.,
transcends all others,-is their ii''l'""',v .uno,
terrible inexorable sweep OF fate. In this 'e.po
they affiliate with the great CLASSICS Oh H
and bear onward in q modern guise ana roil.a"''v
o,,,ro tho tradition Of Orestes and Lear Iess
in nartcular Is an exemplihcation OF all the ho.
rors of malignant destiny BY nature i's "eio ' =,
incarnate goodness Every nbre or hef o''"e "
nure Every impulse of her soul sets towaro v"
the And yet under the stress or circu"s.ai'e'.
under the compulson OF force and the pesui'e
q, fraud partIy through ignorance, partly through
weakness of character, partly through physeai "o
ranEement and partly through deilrium an" %
neration she Is harassed degraded ana oesPone"'
plunged into misery. goaded TO the INSANE eoi'
siou OF homicide and finally Is hanged Ior Huiue''
The story f. in way extravagaht' ~ iea'' I'M
truth A spirit OF passionate sincerity giows IN
every page OF it, and its literary art Is eNceeu'sH
beautiful For a reader 1t seems 10 SPEAK WIN 'No
awful voice of that unseen power'-tha. Hai"o'es'
dread angel of darkness and death,-with whom the
predestned OIdpus kept the Iata "Ss'' Oil" ~
appeared forever. .
All this beauty and all this frghtfu significance
vanish at once when the story OF Tess Is trans
planted 70 the stage Tho principal persons VINO
are implicated in It. and. to some extent, their re-
lations to each other. can be shown. Inc Htiho''
phere tho subtlety. the completely OF motive tne
variety of conduct, the dignity. the poetry the
feelIng-all those attributes which constitute the
essential style and the essential soul OF great
fabric of art,-are completely lost me pooh Is
tragedy The play is the love-story OF remaie III
distress. Tess is no longer Tess She has become
that old familiar figure. the woman with a past
She has been betrayed by libertine; but that cpl
sode being over she is married to a gentleman.
and when the betrayer reappears. she Kills him;
and thereafter she repairs TO Stonehenge' TOWARD
sunrise and there-although this is left 70 conJect-
ure-she is supposed to die In a perpenoicuAr at-
titude The purpose Of the novelist,-the artstic
purpose which Is as ancient as 4Ischylus' ana
which alone could Justify the presentment OF such
q theme-the purpose to arouse pity and terror
humanizng to the heart and oxating 70 the Hinu'
is completely ignored 1t Is almost comic IN
deed TO observe the ruthless precision with wnich
theatrical conventionaty OF method. employed III
the most clumsy manner. has herein marred WORK
~ genius and power. In the novel, the principal
scene IS that of the explanation between Tess and
her husband, together with the subsequent SOM
nambul!sm before their separation. In the play
those situations are useless. and they would only
be made ridiculous II they were used the part
that actually was introduced, so far from being
thotio
preston of indecacy, ill-breeding and bad taste
The great representative novels OF our language,
such books as "Vathek." "Anastasus. ivan
hoe " THE Antiquary," "Old Mortality" Harold
"Zanoni" Lorna Doone" and 1.-The Scarlet Let
ter"-cannot be adequately interpreted by any
known dramatic process. Left TO themselves. each
one OF them Is a blessing. Garbled for the stage,
and turned into something that Is neither story nor
drama any one OF them would become VeXauoh
and bore. II is much to be regretted. accordingly
that such treasures OF literary art should ever DE
disturbed by the experimental playwright Let us
ryov that q few at least of our cherished posses
sions NAV escape his devastating hand. The works
OF Thomas Hardy. II is undeniable. contain, Tor
reader dramatic elements that powerfully anect
the Imagination; but those elements dwindle, when
they are subjected TO the scrutiny OF the eye In
the thought of that poor exhausted, wretched Tess.
seeping on the ground among the giant rocks OF
stonehenge while her lover and the officers await
her waking the heart is wrung with anguish ana
the mind IS thrilled with awe. On the stage that
picture would go for nothing.
Almost every element taken from the novel went
for nothing in this presenment. The only rational
method of forming Judgment of this production
IS TO cast away all thought OF the original story
and 10 consider exclusively the substance or the
play and the manner in which that substance was
exhibited. There are four acts. The beginning OF
ect first is freshted with trivial and superhuous
pratte Three Disconnected virgins. one of them
b,bulous incommode the scene and delay the move
ment-though Of them was admirably acted by
Miss Annie Irish. The beginning OF act second is
heavily burdened with moro Of those needless per-
CONS and their untimey chatter. The scene IL a
farmyard. The heroine Of the piece has been be-
travcd by a scoundrel and has become mother
without having become WIFE Her child has died,
and she has found employment and has received
an offer OF marriage. She wishes to make her
sutton acquainted with her unfortunate experience.
She writes a confession and places 1t within his
-each-promisng to become his wife IT, after hav-
ing seen this token, he is willing to marry her.
Her mother takes away the letter and puts rose
IN f., place and thereupon the projected marriage
occurs; but on returning from church both the
husband and wife confess previous incont'nence.
and then the husband repudiates the wife and
leaves her AZ q later period believing him to be
dead and being in sore poverty and distress. she
| accepts the protection OF her betrayer. and this
| person presently treats her with great brutality.
| Her husband Unexpectedly returns. and. In her
desperation and anger, she Kills the rurlan py
whom she has been seduced and she then goes
| with her husband Stonehenge, where they are
| overtaken by the police That Is the tale and tho
dramatist has told II In crude, prollx and weari-
some manner producing no other effects than those
OF fatigue and pain. The scenic picture OF stone
| henge was pretty, but radically untrue.
The house was crowded. and Minnie Maddern
| Fiske and that admirable actor Charles Coghlan.
| were welcomed with great enthusiasm. Minnie
| Maddern Fiske long ago attracted admiring atten-
ton by reason of her blithe temperament and her
| sprlghtly demeanor. OF late years she has drifted
| into that current OF acting which, in stage lam
| guage, Is called emotional" She formerly gilt