The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-01-22

I
carded months before. could possibly have
understood the devastating effect Of the
new lui. on our MINDS That this was
a calculated copp dc hfdtre have not TIE
slightest doubt That 1t fulfilled it, pur-
nossn cannot deny With distracted
attentions. demented imagnations and
enfeebled reasons, we made bewldered
effort r. so through the first two rcts
Talma himself would have broken down
before the famous pit Of kings If that new
suit had been in the house
Il have the greatest admiration for Mr..
shaw talents and the sinoerest esteem
for biz personal character. In any other
walk Of life than that Of dramatic author
| should expect him TO achieve high meas
ure of sucoess I understand that he has
made considerable mark AS vestrymaD
collecting dust with punctuality and super
vsing drainage with public spirited keen
meas met him in Garrick street not long
agD lin lDOsl. and noticed that he still wore
the suit which he purchased in 1897 in antiol-
patton of the royalties on You Never Can
/ Tell
There Is an old, we'll tried proverb about
the honoring Of prophet in his own
=
that his prophecy is that of other men and
other countries The voice is the voice OF G.
b $, bu, the words are the words Of
Tbscn. Nietzsche and the modern socialists
Whistler said that Wilde had the courage 81
other men convictions. Shaw has made OF
them motley. bauble and bells With which
TO dance before the British pubic and
alright it with his rreverent jests. As an
original philosopher he II nothing but
since the inimitabe clowns OF Shakespeare.
England has never tnown such breeze OF
highly mentazed spirits, such gale OF
intellectual vivscity England has re-
ect.d shaw In n humble determination not
10 be fooled into taking him seriously
America has welcomed him. suspect, In
the belief that his motley is the real thing
OF the two, America is by far nearer the
true mark, for a. a dranatist Shaw has
failed-if ne has failed-only by the mar
ruwest margin.
In only two matters, ] take It. does shaw
fal short 81 the stature OF Il master play
wright One i technical and the other
ia matter Of human appeaI-heart in
feree.. a. tho dear old phrase has II In
both III them II seems likely. he would
have vastly profted if the managers had
been Jess timid in backing him and he
moyp sincere in his attitude toward his
public.
There 4, good old managerial rule OF
thumb that, complicate a story "a you
Willard must--you must always let the
audience into the secret TO the full. Amiaoly
human as the multitude always Is, it has
the foiba of cmniscienoe In novel
it NAV III. possible TO hold the interest more
firmly by keeping the reader in doubt as
TO what things are all about An intelligent
reader will turn page after page in the mere
hope II satisfying a piqued curiosity IN
the theatre perhaps because the average
OF intelligence is low. perhaps because Of
the working OF mob psychology the donIi-
nant mood il found 10 be not the interests
of the mind. but those Of the heart Emo
ton. not curiosity. rules the day. The late
Frank Nlavo was wont to hold UP "Pudd'n
head Wilson as a model in this matter.
The peuple in the play, who bad not the
least suspicion that the white boy and the
octoroon had been changed in infancy.
were involved in complication after COM
plication But the audience had seen the
change ELECTED. and followed with en-
tire comprehension every twist in the de-
velopment A. to the hnal outcome there
was not the slightest intelligent doubt
The extraordinary interest Of the play
wa. not in the least due 10 curiosity. It
Was the result OF the popular passion for
.le riEhtiLg OF obvious wrongs. iJr tho
union " hopeles-ly loving hearts.
Tho lack OF sense Of This sort Of .ning
is one # Shaws characteristic failngs
In THE Man OF Destiny for example,
what Is the exact relationship Of the charac
ter-s Much II told IL to pioue curiosity
and in the end some of the curiosity IS salts
fed But has any one ever found out just
oho The Lddv was and shat her interest
I'm preventing the letter which compro-
missed Jose phine from reaching Ndpoleon7
doubt H. Technically the play falls into
the category Of tho G1ipus' of Sophocles
NGuoi,oa like the Grecian King, was bent
ON what lac thought work Of righteous
-elf-interest and though he did not know
II. success in il meant his own ruin
onaw'- play il OF course a wise slat, or az
best AZ he himself admits, hardly more
than a bravurl piece to display the viz
tuo-itv 81 tho two principal performers. :
But If he had let rs into his secrets at the
outset and developed his dramatic struggle
iu inll view OF the audience | cspnct help
feeling he would have raised the little play
into masterpiece Of dismatic writing
You Never Can Tell il in emiliar case
From the popular point Of view, and no
doubt as shaw conceived II, is main theme
Is the duel of sex between Valentine and
Gi91o Bu, instead Of making this thu
pivot of -he action, the informing principle
that runs with increasing purpose through
the four acts, he gives no hint Of IL in the
first ct-the two do not exchange a single
wcrd-and later merely lets it ooze TO the
surface-in spots amid much talk Of family
affairs. matters that In the theatre can
be Of only secondary interest
This technical failure is very closely
related 70 Shav's lack Of broad human
appeal. Scintillan, as is his Wit, deliciously
stimulating a. is HE topsy-turvy philosophy
II never With a single notable exception
bites into the substance Of liie-and the
drama His great champion In England.
William Archer, has called his treatment OF
love abloodless erotics.- That Shaw is
able 70 reveal 10 us on the stage the heart
II Napoleon-torn between Jealous rage
al Josephine's inhdelity and cool deter
mination not 70 lat any matter Of passion
stand between him and his smbition-may
5ell be DOUBTED Certainly the love affair