The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-07-08
BY JULIA MARLowE.

y I -.7T7
 BY JULIA MARLowE.
 Copyright, 1906. by Joseph B. Bowles) E (Julia Marlowe, though regarded as an American actress, was born In the lake country of England. She was but child of four years when her family removed to farm in,nsd in Ransas 3wsn,,s Al nafore" company and soon attracted attention by her clever acting and her rich, clear voice. Other engagements stage and studied dramatic art for three years. Reappearing as Parthenia in .Ingomar" at the Bijou theatre in New York. she won instant recognition as , a for several years longer with disap- poin tfhents of various kinds before she was accorded the high place on the such roles as Juliet, Viola. Rosalind. Barabara Frietchie, Coifnette and Mary Tudor she has won tho warmest admi- ration of the public.)
 think few people can realize. now fierce has been tho strife in regard to women on the stage and how difiicult it has been for them to convince the world at large of the importance of their hard-won position and their benefcent influence upon dramatic art I am speaking now of the past Hap piiy at the present stage of dramatic development woman's standard is as tttSH anu tct QCStitON hS e%oSht VA mans.
 It was not always so. Looking back to the age of oppression and intolert ance when in 1860 woman first appeared in dramatic representations. we Ind her entrance marked an era in dramatic advancement The first record of wo- mans appearance upon the stage IS De- cember 6 1860. The play was Shalse- speare's "Othello," and the Desdemora a txp,0 xnln hxy 0 Nya ThaF4 been considerable doubt as to whom this hcnor belongs. Some have given 1t to Anne Marshall. The more gem
 eral supposition is that Margaret Hughes deserves this right to inmor- tality. We have Pepys's authority Tor it that women appeared in Kilngrews company in London on January 5. 1851 in Beaumont and Fletcher's "Beggar's Bush.''
 Their early appearances were re- ceived with great disfavor, Dr. Do-, ran tells us that the writers of the time denounced the first actresses n, un- womanish. and graceless''--not mean ing that they were ungainly and In- feminine. but that play-acting in itseit was below their dignity. Glad l was to say.' remarked Thomas Brand, speaking of these actresses. that they were hissee. hooted and pippin- -peited from the stage SO that. I do not think they will socn be ready to try the same again" He adds that wcil-dfsposed people were righteously indignant at these women. whom Pyrnne. a riSor- ous puritan of the time, called mon sters.ys
 Notwithstanding the marked disfa- yor with which they were first re- ceived, reasonable and serlous-minded persons could not fail to see the pro- briety of Juliet and Desdemona beng acted by girls rather than boys. It would appear that immediately upon this important progressive step the artistic need for woman's appearance must have been generally felt y
 We read that soon afterward ac- tresses were in grsat demand. It was found that they not only increased the popularity of the theatre in which they performed, but that their co-operauon was indispensable to the proper pcs enta.ton of any play. They made pos sible fullness and a beauty of inter pretation which had not been dreamed of before.
 Take for a single example the wo- men of Shakespeare. They stand as vivid types of truth and beauty. They are so alive with the warmth os fem ininity that their expression by other than women Is in itself a monstrous sacrilegA. play performed by men car hardly be imagined today and the wonder IS that such an absurdity ever existed.
 The realization of the necessity of woman's cooperation with man in dra- matic achievement grew rapidly, for mems minds were at this time too high ly susceptible to advancement to re- main in ignorance of this need So it was not long before actresses were recognized and highly respected. This was so true in the case of Mrs. Better ton that when in l674 'Calista" was performed at court the actress was chosen as instructress to the prtneesses Mary and Anne, and much of the sub sequent graceful elocution and dignity of bearing of these ladies was accred- ited to Mrs. Betterton. Perhaps no finer compliment was ever paid to a woman in any walk of life than she re- eeived, for we read of her that in com pany with her distinguished husband she made her home the abiding place Of charity. hospitality and dignity. What a vast work has been accom- plished by women in the drama since then. ana what a lasting monument of art she has reared for herself In the annals of the stage, To those whose souls are flned with sacred reverence for creative genius what wealth of de- light in looking back upon thr dag zIing record of the theatre when the alIurements of Mrs. Betterton, Nell oldfe'd. Sarah Siddons. and more late- lV, Rachel, Ristori. Fanny Kemble. Charlotte Cushmaa, Helen Taucit. Ace Iaide Nelson and a host of others stand forth as irrefutable proofs of the dig nity and importance of woman's work along the lines of truly artistic ad- Vancement.
 As an evidence of her serious devo- tion to this art in particular, and as proof that 1t has absorbed her very being as no other calling ever has done one has but to offer the annals of the stage. With woman the stage has not been a fancy, nor In It's higher walks even a medium for the mere qualification of her vanity. It has been and is life devotion. an art to which she has given her best intsllec- tual and emotional self.
 Courage and perseverance have