Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-17
MEMORIAL TO SHAKESPEARE
OPPOSITION TO IDEA OF Ma
TIoNAL THEATER IN ENGLAND.
Bard Of Avon Immortal-Needs No
Statues-Tributes Fit for
Smaller Heroes.
Charles whipley, in National Review.

Charles whipley, in National Review.
No poet ever needed the circumstance
and trappings of worship less than Shake
speare. So rich has he always been g
fame that neither deed nor word can in
crease his store. Death brought him the
true immortality-to live on the lips and
in the minds of men. To him statues
and centenaries are as nothing They
are the proper tributes for lesser heroes.
They serve to keep green a memory fad
ing from neglect and ignorance. Beau
mont and Fletcher. Webster, Ford and
Tom Heywood-these deserve and might
receive such honor as England can rem
der them. \ monument to Shakespeare
would be an obvious irrelevance. Ii
might perhaps. give some solace to those
who devised 1t. 1t could not embellish
the poets name. fresh and fragrant to-
day as 1t was three centuries ago. Ilme
writes no wrinkle on his azure brow He
mt least has never fallen upon oblivion or
,iisrepute. His glory has known no
eclipse. The contempt of Voltaire. VINO
found him savage, low, unbrldIed ana
absurd the brutal insults of Thomas
T.ymer who thought that there was not
a monkey but understands nature better.
not a pug in Barbary that has not a tTuer
taste of things than the poet of Otheho
are bur spots upon his triumphant sun.
Ii is not easy. therefore. to understand
the solicitude of the committee Whlcn.
looking eight years ahead. would discover
the best means of celebrating the tercen-
tenary of Shakespeares death. A STATUE
wherever set up. would seem out of place
Where are the sculptors fit for SO hlsn
an enterprise? An official monument
would be no worthier than such piece
of mysterious fantasy as NJ. Rodin conse
Grated to Balzac. Nor is the experience
nf the ma Qin0 To repeat the
failure of Leicester square, the 1oiiy OF
Stratford- on-Avon, would be but TO add
to the sum of our national calamitles.
Either by wise discretion or happy
stroke of fortune, Shakespeare was able
to suppress the incidents of his life. His
features. dislimned by time. may be faint
iy imagined from Droeshout's portrait or
the bust in Stratford Church. One thing
only is certain: the majesty OF his WORKS
which needs no weak Witness, and
which will be enhanced by no monument
contrived by the wit of man.
Band of Jealous Spirits.
While the proposed statue has met with
scant encouragement. band of jealous
spirits has seen an opportunity of turn
ing the tercentenary of Shakespeare to
their own account. They have written
letters to the papers; they have called
public meeting. which was appropriately
=
nor and the other official representatives
Of English literature: and they have de-
cided, with enthusiastic unanimity. that
the best means of honoring Shakespeare
Is to establish a national theater. The
compliment which these ZealOtS propose
10 pay to Shakespeare is merely acct
Rental. Their plan was matured long
before the three hundredth anniversary
OF the poets death came within the pub
tic vision, and they are attempting. with
4 Norfa ain fndolic4cv attain the summit
OF their hopes by climbing upon Shake
speares back. 1t cannot be pretended for
q moment that national theater Will be
= fitting tribute to the genius of Shake
speare. Little as we know of him, We
can yet surnlise ii i'll suited to the prac
tical simplicity of his mind. Nor do the
projectors pretend for one moment that
the glorifcation of Shakespeare is their
sole or even their first aim. They wan,
theater. They believe that between this
year and 1915 generous citizens may be
persuaded to open their purses at the
sound of Shakespeare's name, and they
wish to lose no advantage. Their project.
then. must be considered apart from its
occasion. It's appropriateness is obvious
iy immaterial. and few will be likely to
give Il support on the fantastic ground
that thereby they are doing honor to the
memory Of Shakespeare.
What purpose the national theater
would serve is not yet clear. Doubtless
it would attempt to justify it's name and
origin by the occasional performance of
Shakespeare's plays. Doubtless 1t would
it would give a first aid to the I'M
acted. The Enacted. indeed. though they
come last on the list, are the most elo-
quent and the least dsnterested cham
pions of the scheme. Were it not for
them we should have heard LITTLE of
national theater. Shakespeare may very
well be left to take care of himself, and
he will tempt the ambition of the actor
manager until the end of time The un-
acted tempt nobody, and nothing short
of a public subsidy will remove what we
are told is a grave injustice. No sound
reason is given why one art should be
encouraged by the government while the
others perish of neglect. Poetry. worthy
the name, has no better chance than the
drama Of securing attention or reward.
But. say the Enacted, the cost of it's pro-
duction may easily be sustained either by
poet or publisher.
Question of Cash.
A play cannot be put upon the stage
without a vast expense. That this is
true is the fault of none but the man.
ayers, actors and dramatists. Reckless
extravaganza is not an inherent necessity
of the drama. 1t Is only in the last fifty
years that the true purpose of the thea
ter. the decent Interpretation of the
drama. has been utterly obscured. Today
throw the humble playwright into the
shade. Dramas are Overmounted, over
dressed and overacted. In the general
wastefulness the royalties paid to sue
cessful authors have Increased IN the
same proportion the salaries given to
successful actors. What was once a
beautiful art has been turned into reck-
less speculation, thing of syndicates
and finaHciers. The risk of production
has become 50 great that managers pre-
fer to put upon their stage the musical
comedies, which they know will amuse
an idle audience. than to encourage the
dramatist of talent whose quiet excel
lence may not hold its own against the
noisy insistence of the carpenter But
Il is not for the state to correct this
vulgarity, which has been insured by the
universal greed of the theater and at
which the dramatists themselves have
eagerly connived. II it became the fash
ion for men of letters to have their works
printed in gold upon vellum, illustrated
by the greatest painters. and adorned
with jeweled bindings. very few books
would find their way to print. Would the
word of letters be justified, therefore. in
asking the aid of the treasury? As
suredly not. The world Of letters. I hope
return to the sane and modest conduct of
its craft.
Simplicity Needed.
The dramatists. in fact. who now
clamor for help would be performing
more useful task If they insisted upon