The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-05-23

Not without reason has Mr.. George Moore
been called the English Zoia. and his earlier
novel. "A Mummer's Wife" (Brentano's
American edition., convincingly attests his
right 70 the title. Whether this is a recon-
nendation to the favor of readers depends
entirely upon ones taste in literature.
To The average American of clearly mind
a Mumrner's Wife" Will seem a distinctly
Objectionable story, despite its power and
keen analysis of character. Its author
plainly plumes himself upon a Zolaesque.
willingness 10 handle the unwholesome
truths of life in a spirit Of absolute frank
ness and unreserve. He does not hesitate
to be coarse with the coarseness of La
Terre" or Mana" He tells the tragedy of
the life of Kate EIDE. the middle-class Eng
fish woman who abandons her husband 20
become the mistress of u provincial actor
and ultimately 10 die as a drunken slattern
Of the London Sums, with a merciless tidel-
ity which leaves little to the Imagination.
1t is a queer argument which MIR. Moore
sees fit to advance in this novel. According
TO his conception OF the significance or
Kate Ede's psychic decay and final com
plete rottenness. the piteous ruin was due
to the fact of changed surroundings and an
existence in an atmosphere foreign TO her
heredity. Had she been born into the ir-
responsible bohemian world. of vagrant
players. and attuned To it by inheritance,
he would have US believe. its immortality
and lightsome disregard of the higher du-
ties imposed upon human souls would not
! have meant calamity to her. She would
, have lived cheerily. as did her frail sisters
OF the footlights. az Mr.. Moore depicts
them. and her soul would have maintained
its poise 10 the end. But she was of English
Puritan stock, and though not herself deep
ly religious. the nature which came to her
from her ancestors demanded pgopriety. the
soothing security OF q fixed and conven-
tional environment. the nerve-steady!ng
daily round of home tasks. the respect Of So
Der and commonplace folk. Surreniering
these because of her pathetic passion for
Dick Lennon. she went utterly adrift. and
the shipwreck of limitless degradation be-
came inevitable According 20 Mr.. Moore.
she was not seasoned" to the life into
which her sin precipitated her.
The tragedy thus outlined is poignant of
its own right and is made more so by
the Photographic clearness with which it is
| presented to the reader. There is no deny
ing the strength Of Mr.. Moore's work. the
potency of his imaginative gift, the ability
Of the mar to make the Creatures of his
fancy seem as if horn in the flesh. That he
has elected to till the malodorous field in
which Zola's life work was done is to be
deplored, since the stencil Of that field is
| not the normal human atmosphere. But
| the Enelish-speaking world has acknowl-
| edged his genius and. therefore. he must
be reckored with as q factor in the litera-
ture of his age. His books may not be dis
| missed as inconsequentlal, because they will
| command a hearing by virtue OF their
power. The story of Kate EIDE as told in
A Mummer's Wife IS one that compels
and ~justifies critical consideration.
Happily, the work carries with It the
seed Of its own dissolution as a permanent
Influence affecting the worlds thought. 1t
contains no reason for living. since it
teaches no logical lesson in morals to excuse
its immortality. The sin Of Kate EIDE. if