The sun., 1904-05-15
PLAYS or FALSE SENTIMENT.
IRSEN'S MORALITY AND THAT
or "EAST LYNNE"

\ Trio OF Dramas OF the tremendous.
Inane and Romantlc-silly Order
Revived-Dra natl tizations Of De Mau-
passant---"Yvette" the Most Important.
!, It "a always q pleasing, nay . soothin
feeling to be patted on the back and told
you have done very well. all things con.
sidered. AZ q critical method II has tho
com tAnanoe OF serious souls who fancy
themselves austerely academic when they
deal out good marks and bad marks to
dramatists. At ono time much In vogue,
this pedagogic and comical style has few
fepresent tatives still. That solernn person
Brunstiers. who raps ghty naturalists
over The knuckl les, is only a survival OF .
pinstesnth century schoolmaster, even
though he occupies one Of the seats Of the
mighty In the French Academy. Another
such was the late Francisque Sarcey, who,
egrsgous phllisthe that no was. taught
that the chief thing in play WA Its like
meas to Eugene Scribe mechanical puppet
booth.
( Beading the other day Henri Becque's
n,4uoEtcs Of 4 dramatic author, was de-
lighted at the iroplcsl way he aayed Sarcey.
Al dramatic critics are evil persons without
doubt; yet there are some more stupid
Shan others. And In the latter category
am fain to place myself on hearing that
am Instructive and that ! discovered
Julia Marlowe.' Now, II there is anything
moro useless on Garth than the writer who
lMstrlcts, know IL not. And II ! must
underline my meagre attempts at irony,
then 1t is better, Is 1t not, to relinquish
that dan gerous figure? did not discover
Julia Marlowe; we all knew that Robert
g. Ingersoll praised her years ago. and
dt b o pity that am compelled to say IT.
I wrote many criticisms Of the young
wonnan's Shakespearean imperson atoms,
fsn years and moro ago. Really, one must
never dare to be playful, else a stern public
records with an iron pen any statement
that deviates from the date Of the month.
! think the last piece Of any dramatic
power or literary quality in which I saw
Mis- Marlowe before last season was an
English version OF Coppee's "Pour Il Cou-
ronne." Since then I groansd over the
deeeoration Of her gifts in play last season
OF which I am happy to say that have
rOIBOUtous C&ISu6I tcCdSI Wbri NSloh
DAviss's remark about the .Saengerfest
dsjiosts question Of Miss Marlowe's artistio
improvement or decadenoe ] may b. per-
Tnitted TO tell story, since the musical
season u past
Madame Richard Strauss, the wife OF
the celebrated composer. while visiting
. society woman in this city made the as
ssrtion that her husband was the greatest
composer alive to-day simply because
there were no others. The witty lady
ssid the same thing in Lordon-per-
haps she was slyly revenging herself on
her spo lse for misrsprsea ting her in that
violin solo which occurs, IS music-mad
people know. in the Heldenleben symphony
Now. do not wish To apply this sort Of
gauge TO- Miss Mariows's art-shs has
plsnty Of competition In her own dsld-
hut y cannot refrain irorn msrvelling ct
the vital and elastic qualities Of this same
art Of hers which oan 20 successfully en-
dufs the shook Of mediocre plays one sea-
Son after another. And 1t was because
ri this that I sounded across the house,
topA my shrill little yawp Of admiration.
or. II you prefer the phrase. my petty
squeak Of appreciation, last Sunday. A.
for discovering her-Julia Marlowe dis
covered herself She plays Pcrthenia to-
morrow night at the Empire.
Il 10 . pity that Lady Audley's Secret.
with Ito ghastly murder at the we'll, was not
given during this now fast vanishing season,
for then the quartet OF the tremendous
inans and romantio-silly would have been
complete. But We heard the other three
The Two Orphan ns," Camille" and East
Lynne" At the Murray Hill Theatre last
week the idea assailed me that aEast Lynne
was well-nigh the most morbid pla y ever
compounded. And this garish, vulgar,
unreal, cruel and absurd concoction was
praised by those who claInor at Ibsen's
DOLLS House. who denounce 'Hedda
C;abler' as immoral. Well. what II Hedda
Is not a virtuous person! At least she is
interesting as q study and ten times as real
ss any Of the Dumas fts theorizing dolls.
Il ast Lynne" was never acclaimed work
OF dramatic art, though 1t Is said to point
moral lesson. Shades Of John Knox and
John Bunyan. at which point? Nothing
moro ninsy in the way OF pretext was
ever invented by fatuous woman novelist
than tho elopement Of Lady Isabel. And
her return! And her scene with the dying
hoy! Morbid? Thrice morbid, actually
horrible, especially when Ada Gray and
Clara Morris played the chief character
may be accused Of taking an old fash
ioped piece seriously, nevertheless Its spirit
s,ill informs much modern playwriting.
The immortality consists In the appeal to
false sentiment. Such Incidents may have
happened in real life. but then the master
painter, Reality. INDUCES In no such morbid
tears and ssntimentality, Two deaths make
heavy burden for one play TO carry. Nor ris
Camille despite its superior characteriza-
zion, much better than East Lynne" II
is not the ignoble woman who ia to blame
but the ignoble point OF view from which
shs ID shown us by the dramatist. II Mar
oSsvite Coulter were q paragon OF all the
housekeeping virtues, the light in which
she would be displayed by Dumas would
mako her just as ignoble, l repeat--there
Ia nothing 80 immoral in a work Of art as
false sentiment. In real life It Is ridiculous.
and what we laugh at is seldom dangerous.
Nor can much he said in favor Of The
Two Orphans 1t Ia more violently melo-