Omaha daily bee., 1908-12-27

young and was divorced in a short time.
After that she began to write.
II Fever write about people I do not
know. and rever draw a scene that is not,
except for tho dramatic element brought
out by the plot, quite commonplace" she
said in telling me of her methods. II al
ways choose a commonplace, everyday sub
joct from the middle or lower-middle class
life, and strive to keep my imagination
subservient to reason, for it is in our ordi-
nary life that real tragedy and comedy are
to be found"
Skill I'm Depicting Character.
Her men are neither the peerless heroes of
some woman's creation. nor the unmitigated
scoundrels of others. Nor does she spare
her own sex. Her women exhibit vanity,
hypocracy and a hundred petty actions
with sometimes a really noble character,
full of the spirit of self-sacrifice and
womanliness. And she can draw many
kinds of men and women with unfailing
skill-the bourgeoise. the maid-of-all work,
the washerwoman and the fine lady: the
actor, the clerk, the horsepower and the
young man of pleasure.
In order to get to the soul of a Door
seamstress she went TO a provincial town
and worked as a hand" in a dressmakinR
establishment for a few cents a day. She
fell in with their ways and accent and
soon got TO the heart Of their hard lives,
their temptations, ambitions and point of
view. In her last play, called "The Four
of Them; a Tragedy of Stupid People,"
we have in the little dressmaker such a
lifelike character that it seems as though
the girl herself had set down all the
contents of her soul, who longs. above
all, that she might become "a lady" and
m hnnAgN OVn ATDAal,v - -
in the playful. The characters who give
the piece it's title are described as ''hus-
band" wife" child" and "wife's lover"
The dressmaker. who we learn Is called
"Wladka' from the dialogue, is the best
drawn person in the piece. She works
by the day in the professors house. He
attracts her by his gentle seriousness.
She sees he is miserable because his wife
auarrels with his family and neglects
her household. The wife also carries on
a filtration with a man several years
younger than herself. who. as a student,
betrayed the deserted Wladka.
Clever Piece of Work.
Her husband discovers his wife's in
trigue and the latter dares not return
home that night. The little dressmaker
comes next morning to work. finds the
professor has not been to bed all night,
the 11-yedT-Olu 'chllu colo, starved and In
tears, and the whole house as comfort
less as a domestic catastrophe could make
IL. She makes breakfast, has the rooms
warmed and forces the professor and
child to take some food. Then the wife
comes in and the girl is driven from the
house, only to return to II as soon as the
wife goes away with her lover, as the
professor refuses to take her back OF
course Wladka does all she can to make
things comfortable for the professor. who.
too bowed down with grief 20 notice it at
first, gradually gets used TO the we'll
being and peace that now reign in his
household. One Is given TO understand
at the end of the play that the professor,
having divorced his wife. finds the dress
maker indispensable to his child and his
home and marries her.
The other characters are all good-ths
silly wife. the vain. idle boy, the serious
professor. and the child. made miserable
by her mothers frivOlities and the
fathers reproaches. But the dressmakeI
is a masterpiece. Her contempt for the
young man who led her astray and de.
serted her when she was left unprotected
and penniless whilst little more than :
child; her scornful wonder that the wtfs
; should betray such a husband for some