Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-02-21
MAKING A MELODRAMA
SOME USEFUL AND USELESS In
GRADIENTS.
A View Of the Ordinary Type of Play
as Seen in Eng
land.

From the London Sketch.
Familiarity breeds Contempt and even
an old friend may wear out his welcome.
Thus 1t is that certain orthodox stage char
acters have become too familiar, or we are
educated above their acquaintance. Now
adays, instead of, as they were wont to do
In the past, arousing an audience of earnest
enthusiasm, they too frequently incur the
laugh of derision.
Take the hero first, familiar to meIo-
drama. Ever lived such credulous and
illogical individual? He will at once be-
lieve the first stupid falsehood which any
one may speak against the woman he pro-
fesses to love best in the world, and SUBJ
sequently talk and behave like born idiot.
With his eyes open. he walks straight into
obvious traps, and. because he becomes the
victim of natural consequences, rails
against fate and becomes blasphemous.
The Inoffensive Heroine.
Your sympathy, please, for the heroine.
I have sneakiIs regard for this lady,
principally, fancy, on account of her being
made to suffer so much. She has a great
prediction for doorsteps, and isparticuIarly
fond OF wandering around bareheaded and
sparsely clothed, In Indictment weather,
with her little one" Although in state
of extreme restitution, she invariably con-
trives to walk about In swagger high-heeIed
shoes Probably she does this in remem-
brance or former aff1uence. Speaking, gen.
orally, she is most inoffensive creature
and does not knowingly do anybody any
harm; this does not, however, prevent her
from being extensively prosecuted.
Now, the villain, I, for one, will not for
give. In inconsistency he is second only
to the hero. He forces his love" upon q,
woman who plainly tells him it is not de-
sired, that, in point Of fact, her heart is
hN- hA- L.,
gets what he desires and schemes for, and
only what he invariably deserves at the
end of the chapter. With so many women
about, it is astonishing how he will ad-
here to the one who doesn't want him.
Sometimes there Is money In the case
he is usually dreadfully mercenary fndi-
vidual-and he will stop at nothing to get
at It, He is very successful at laying traps
which fall at the critical moment, and al
ways has following of creatures The
latter he Is able to pay, whether he has
money or not; 1t is one of the mysteries of
his existence. He Is very clever at chuck
ling, which usually follows something cruel
or unpleasant he may have said or done
For instance, he may have the heroine
strapped helpless over a ton of dynamite,
arranged to explode in few minutes and
Will leave her with the remark, "In a few
minutes, my lady, you will be blown to
lnolecules-Ha, ha, hav (chuckle). There's
no sense in it, but he Is largely irrespon-
sible: 1 think we can afford to leave him
to his own dirty work and passion.
The stage adventures Is one of the most
transparent frauds ever created. Yet she
works her despicable will on the hero with
the simplicity Of A 3 c. That. however, is
due to his credulity and not her ingenuity.
She spends most Of her time in smoking
cigarettes and telling silly lies that nobody
but a denizen of stageand would believe
for moment. She has always a past"
entangled usually with that of the villain,
with whom she plots. She parades her CAL
lousness and mercenary motives so promi-
nently as to become veritable living
danger signal She either comes to grief In
the end by means Of her own intrepfdity
turns virtuous through the medium of her
own bad example, or disappears, laughing
defiaptly, into intangible obscurity.
Nobody ever desires her return