The San Francisco call., 1906-06-24

eSly departs. DOuDtleSS there was
some ancient Persian proverb declar-
ing the same truth. and Vashti know
ing 1t. met the imperial summons of
a King with the fmperious mo" Of
queenly Queen. and stayed with her
negative proudly and bravely: let di-
vorce and supplanting come Of it If it
would-as who should say. las for me
l am Vashti; let who will be Esther"
SO some of US picture her TO imagina-
ton. Beautiful. imperious. queenly.
above all. modest and womanly. Her
word. given at the behest of virtue, un-
alterable as the laws OF the Medes and
Persans. over the splendor of her
royal crown. that other crown-the
visioned Jewels Of that higher queen
illness that haloed her.
But this is just a visioned Vashti for
the magination of the minority. The
majority Will be so absorbed in the
glories Of Esther that they will be glad
TO see the divorced queen pictured as a
false and mean woman just for the
sake of contrast and to render the
splendor of Esthers supplanting her
twinge Of regret for the unfortunate
loser of royal favor. There may be
some sore az dramatic necessity in ar
ranging such contrasts, and the play
wrights just had to do 1t whether the
Bible said so or not At all events the
'Mizpah" picture of Vashti makes a
splendid foil to set of the glories of
Esther. and. indeed, one admires the
Jewish queen so much that there is
temptation to quietly submit to seeing
Nashti villfied just to more magnify
the fair fascinator of a king and the
sweet -sac,-iflcing savior of her peo-
pie.
The application of the title ''Mizpah"
to this play about Esther may have re-
a
the beautiful romantic suggestion-in
the mere mention of the name proba-
bly, fully justi1es the choosing of the
title. "Mizpah, the watch tower" which
word always runs in our minds and
hearts with the words, The Lord watch
between me and thee when we are ah-
sent one from another" has probably
been engraved on more wedding and
engagement rings than any other word
in any language. and simply to say IL or
TO write IL is TO cast spell of roman
tic mood around thousands OF lovers,
many of whom may have the word
written in their hearts though never
ever expressed on golden ring or in
letter or breathed from mouth to ear
1t is the symbol of a beautiful COM
pact that holds like a sacred bond
written or uawritten, between thou
sands of pairs Of hearts. 1t is a pretty
title for play and one to conture with
Among the many beauties OF the play
is the beauty of the bond OF loving
guardianship that existed between the
noble old Mordecai and his foster child
Esther. Many things make him mem
orable, and not the least of them is this
glimpse of his loving guardianship as
given in the words of the Bible And
Mordecai walked every day before the
court OF the women's house to know
how Esther did and what should be-
come of her"
II is a play which one would imagine
to be specially interesting to women
For one item consider the stupendous
feminine appeal there is in the gran
deur of the festival with which the
story opens. Even for fourscore and
eleven days" the fete lasted. Com
pared with that our festivals are petty
in duration and dollhouse affairs in
size and splendor. Another feminine
appeal is that this Ahasuerus ruled
from India even unto Ethiopia, over a
hundred and seven and twenty prov
inces." From of old women are in
stinctfvely drawn to men of most
power. and let us consider the vast
power of this man who demanded
obedience from Vashti. and even in the
act OF that demand found the fixed
limits OF his realm.
Another appeal is that the old Bible
story deals with the woman question so
directly and so picturesquely: "Ahasue-
rus. by the counsel of Memucan,
maketh the decree of mems sover-
eighty" To wit, of course, the SOW
ereignty of masculinity over femi-
ninity-that man shall be master in
his own house. And this said decree
was one of the laws of the Medes and
Persians, which all the world knows
are "unalterable.' Another interest is
that it gets itself completely tangled
up with the divorce question. Another,
perhaps highest interest to woman. is
that IL so dramatically deals with
woman's compassion, the willingness to
dare death for the sake of saving ones
people. 1t furnishes endless thought
on the problem OF the niceties of mod
esty and the relative duties of obedi-
ence. And added to all that il has the
still alive problem Of the race persecu-
ton Of the Jews. To men, the best
thing in the old Bible story of Esther,
as well as the most soul-satisfying
thing in the play, is that deliciously
dramatic hanging of Haman. high on
the very gallows he had planned to
give 1t to somebody else in the neck;
not elsewhere in history or histrionics
is there such a satisfying picturesque
example of a man being "hoist by his
own petard.
Katherine Gray. who plays the part
of Esther. has played in the East with
a number of good companies She has
been under Frohman's management and
she has played in company with Nat
Goodwin. The Oakland managers who
present her estimate her among the
foremost of American actresses. Her
mother lives in Oakland and is anx-
iously awaiting her coming. No doubt
there will be many who remember
through the five years of her absence
from her native State what her prom
Using talents were and VIII be desirous
of seeing what this California girl will
make Of the great character of Esther.
She will have great opportunity in
IL. for whatever else Mrs. Wilcox has
done with the other characters she
has thrown halo of glory around
Esther.
INpnRTANcE ne HEpEnITY