The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-04-26

WIN oV<Ac0 IN w. OOusa&Sy "
Racine and AofiAre. and demand Of m
,FrsnOh that tribute Of glory which every
nation owes 70 genius. and which no wouSe
have received from those great men hsd
hs been known 10 than. This trtbute. 70
Shakespeare provoked the indignation Of
voitaire. On the appsarancs Of the mrs.
installment OF the TRANSLATION. he WROTE
Have you BY any chance read two volumes
by that wretch iIs Tournsusl, N which
he tries to make u regard shakespeere -
the only model for real tragedy There arc
already two volumes printed 81 that Snake
speare. which seemed . collection OF plays
meant for booths 1t fairs Tbsrs arc MOI
enough a6ronts. enough fools oaps. enough
pillories In France for such Q kavs 10 10
Tourneurl. The worst Of Il u that the
monster has q party In France. and. worse
than the worst, was myself the frst 10
speak Of this Shakespeare; ] was the frst
to show the French few pearls that had
found In his enormous dunghill'
voltaire remained unreIenting to the
day Of his death. The war against ths
French admirers Of Shakespeare was his
war. In one Of his last lettsrs b wrote
Shakespeare u Q savage with sparks Of
genius which shine In q horrible night
This letter was read At the Academy about
six weeks before voltaire's death, and was
accepted with gratitude Eevertheless,
the publication Of the tranalation Of Shake
spsare's plays by Is Tourneur wont on.
The third volume, which came out In ITS,
contained the names Of Ice new subscribers.
and to the Afth volume. publsbed In I'm.
another new list was appended. Tho
TRANSLATION Of Shakespeare plays,' said
Ducts Q little later, Els In everybody's
hands Mercier. the defender. Of 6hake-
spearean drama, took up his pen again TO
SCOT at the unities, ct oonndants and at
antique tragedies. Up TO. and sven after,
the French Revolution, the skirmishes oon-
tinued; but voltaire Was dcAd- and II was no
longer real war Not until the romantic
melee In 1880 did real war between the
admirers and the depreciators Of ShAke-
spears break out again, o.
Meanwhile. Shakespeare. Translated By
10 Tourneur. had been winning his way
into libraries and drawing rooms, but not
into theatres. A mere translator could not
secure for him admittance 70 the playhouse.
ERorts were made. however. In tbs latter
part Of the eighteenth century TO adapt
him to the tastes Of the day. and to render
him acceptable to Partisan audienoe.
Shakespeare adaptors were constrained
70 use great prudence 70 avoid being hisssd:
with all their discretion, they were some
times Kissed all the same. % great are the
differences between the eeniuses Of the
two nations. and 20 lacking In merit were
most Of the innovators. In French adap-
tation Of Romeo and juliet the two lovers
20 eayly forth from the abode Of death to
get married and live together happily
ever afterward. In 'Othello,' the Moore
swarthy face was whitehead. and Desdemona
did not die smothered. but was stabbed.
In the version Of Hamlet by Dvcis.
which was Q success on the French stage.
the unitiea are observed. ClaSdiss has
q conhdant. PoIoniss; the Queen has .
confdante. EsviSs. Tho 0Aost remains
nearly all the time In the side scenes, and
there Hamlet discovers II. Instead Of q
play being performed before the guilty
pair. tale b told In their presence Of how
q crime resembling their own was oom-
mittsd In London. 0phslia does not die.
and, when the curtain falls. the impression
10 left that Hswlss will marry her. Ducts
realized ths tsmsrity which be exhibited
! In attempting TO adapt ghakespesD to the
Parisian theatrs. Il trembled more than
once, I confess he wrote, Apropos Of
Lear. 'vhen bad the idsa Of showing
on the French stage . king whose reason
d dsransed.' He trsrnblsd ,also when
he ventured upon the scene OF Lody
Haebsth's somnambullsm. Lear had Q
great SUCCESS with the public, but the master
critics Of the time became moro and more
indignant ct the applause awarded to suoh
pieces. sHow.' wrote La Harpe. has
that Incredible heap Of revolving abeurditiea
and OF puerile nonsense managed to obtain
q success - great ~ that OF 'zairer Many
reasons might be given. The chief one
| 10 that our theatre Ia no longer what Il
was, q choice assembly OF more or Len
learned amateurs.' The rsbble has invaded
| the playhouse. 1T has been taught "a
enjoy q pleasure which Was not meant
for IL. All the enlightened men Of Paris
CRY out against the scandal OF such suo.
cess. 1t is even TO be noted that this play
| 10 applauded In towns, succeeded very
badly at court After Lear and
Macbeth, adaptations OF King John and
.Othello' were brought out by. Duuis
Talma played the part Of the Moor, and \
said to have been wonderful In Il. The
| piece u Galliclzed. both In structure and
| In phrase. The events all take place ir
Venice, and narrative b continually en-
ployed, each hero being followed BY Z
oonfidant. tho trainbearer Of his thoughts
Ducts had taken particular precautions Il
render the subject supportable to the public
but these did not prove sufficient, and b
had to remodel his play. A happy ending
was substituted for the one which has
given offence. The wiles OF logo are die
covered In time. and Dssdsrsose, kissina
her husband. begs him TO let her tende
fame pour Joy and peaoe into bis soul.
OtAsllo. too happy not to forgive, pardons
logo.
The first performance Of the readaptec
play took place In i7o3. A few months
later. Ducts wrote to his friend Waller
why talk to me. WALLER, Of composing
tragediesi Tragedy walks the street
II put my foot out Of doom, have bloo<
up to my ankle Ducis lived through
the Reign OF Terror. and did not die unit
1918, at the age Of -. He retaines
his passion for Shakespeare to the
end. A friend coming TO 80 him at Yer
sailies on . cold January morning, fount
him In his bedroom standing on . chair
and absorbed in arranging about the heat
Of the English dramstist an enormous