The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-30

~ buAuR IL lhChluR 10 Juo uAuchuu ~ ~
in the matter OF lighting. Who Mr.. Froh-
mans stage manager Is I don't know, but
in a memory OF his productions dating
many years back I do not recall a sin lyle n
that succeeded in giving any fine sensation
OF reality. Here, in spite Of the cleverness
of the acting and the mechanism, there Is
no true illusion OF sea, sky or water. 1t is
all so much canvas and gauze. Somebody
has neglected to read a certain important
f, leaf in the book Of Belasco.
AS for Barrie's fantasy Of childhood
every seeing OF it, and l have now seen
it some half a dozen times, makes me the
more certain that it is a work Of a very
high order Of genius, and of a genius that
is quite as truly poetic as IL is ~satirical and
whimsical. I recall once v~enturing on that
most dangerous of propositions. a uni
versal negative, to the effect that the present
il not a poetical age and need not expect
a revival Of the poetic drama. Then,
as so often happens TO those h provoke
the fates, Rostand and Phillips appeared
to oonfound me. That they nave finally
put me down l do not admit, for Of recent
years the new poetic revival has deplor-
ably aged. The voice OF doubt persists.
Quite lately I have come upon a passage
in The Renascenoe OF the English Drama.
in which Henry Arthur Jones anticipated
my gloomy prediction a good dozen years;
and as he made known in his recent visit
TO us, he is still among the doubters. On
the whole / am inclined to think that this
little play for boys and girls of whatever
| q goes further toward the creation
Of a modern poetic drama than all the
works of Rostand and Phillips; and I am
only strengthened in my conviction by
the fac that, mingled inextricably with its
tenderness, its divination and it's fancy,
there is 80 much OF the spirit Of self-conscious
satire which, while it is fatal to the bolder
flights Of imagination, is the very essence
of modernity.
| am ever tempted to offer a footnote
for the benefit of future generations who
will witness the play, as Shakespearian
editors comment on the details OF Eliza
bethan folklore, though l am well aware
that in so doing / shall be as likely, in the
familiar manner of commentators, TO afford
more evidence of ignorance than Of learn
ing. Do you know the origin of the scene
in which Peter routs and Stays the lion?
There is a boyish superstition, unknown
TO the benighted fellows of my block, that
you can strike terror TO the iercest beast
that goes, not by looking him manfully
in the eye, oh no, but by looking at him
boyishly between your legs. h failing,
my informant adds, the last desperate
remedy is to fork our fingers and spit
at him.
Again the problem of The Great Divide"
Mr.. Howells once told of a youthful adj
mirer who assured him with a disciples
! fervor that he had defended him against
whole roomfuls OF his enemies. II Mr..
| Moody will pardon me. l speak from a
similar plight. One recalcitrant says that
Ruth's refusal to become reconciled to Ste
phen il preposterous. All women, even those
who have not been especially taken with
the men they marry, become much more
| closely bound in affection after the honey
moon. Ruth was spelling for her unfinished
man. You could see that by the way she
leaned against the doorjamb and apostro-
phised moonlight and the unfinished male.
When she got what she wanted it was sheer
idiocy, as we'll as black ingratitude. TO treat
him as if he were to blame. This attack
on Ruth, by the way, is from an unrepentant
spinster.
In fine contrast is an attack upon Stephen,
apparently from the other sex, though the
signature leaves the question open to a
doubt:
The opening act is incomplete. II is a
half wav measure. The bad results OF this
are twofold: The man ~forfeits his claim
to our full sympathy and never really
obtains il, while the woman appears lacking
either in sincerity or intelligence.
The man does not achieve his purpose
before his first wave OF passion subsidies.
He cools down and then takes the second
step deliberately. | don't refer to the
short change Of mood during the first act
though / don't like that, either-but to
the long delay after the marriage. This
DELAY is fatal. We can understand, and
excuse il excuse be needed, many things
done at fever heat which it is impossible to
forgive when done in cold blood-and
SteDhen finally acts in cold blood. His
act is innately vicious. 1t is all very well
to talk about nature. but a play is about
men, and Stephen is, at first, on the brute
level, and he IL a perverted brute at that,
for a normal brute does not commit rape,
and that is what Stephens act, marriage
or no marriage, amounts to. Rape, drunk
and boiling, where such a man az Stephen
would be but a straw in the storm. il con-
ceivable; bit sober and deliberate and
in cold bloOd-it is beyond the palel Then
there il not the remotest connection he
tween a masterful man. such as the woman
pictured, and a ravisher. A refined woman
might love the former; all women instinc-
tlNPIY lOHfne Lne ldIItTs Inc one ~, aIIeT
all, in tune with nature: the other il a crimi-
nal against nature. | say Stephen was at
first on the brute level, though as a matter
of fact the Stephen Of the first act never
develops into the Stephen Of the latter part
of the play. There are two Stephens. not
in the sense Of two natures struggling
within" him. but two distinct individuals.
Now, if Stephen had forced through the
ma rriage and possessed himself of the
woman all in the first wave Of passions
and then when he became sober and some
manly stirring OF Rentlaness and delicacy
toward her developed. as il would, had re-
Trained from continuing 10 force his will
on her, it seems to me the procedure would
he more in accord with nature, on the
human level, and therefore more appealing
% the svmpathies, even OF Broadway.
This handbag Of the material would
also, il seems TO me-. be more convincing
in regard 10 the woman. Even a New
England conscience would not let that
kind of mock marriage stand in the way
of freedom, if she really desired it. A
stronger reason is needed. The final act
Of possession on the part Of the man would
afford this reason.
The most significant feature OF these
opinions is that they 50 finely and com