The Washington herald., 1911-05-14
HERE IS no greater fallacy dear
to the heart Of the average
American than the cherished illu-

to the heart of the average
American than the cherished ilu-
L. sion OF British insensibility TO
hurnor AS an example OF English Jour-
naustic satire we offer the appended re-
view of the play, "a Fool There Was"
culled from a recent issue OF LONDON
Optnton. The writer was James Douglas,
and his comment on this lurid drama Of
female Vampirishness Is both original ana
illuminating. Mr.. Douglas says:
The other night I saw the Vampire
vampiring in "A Fool There Was
looked round the theater and sought In
vain for q seeing eye or hearing ear
or a beating heart I gazed on the sky
scraping foreheads. of London's brainiest
playgoers. But In all those polished edi-
hces 1 failed to detect one wrinkle OF In
telligence. Not one Of those mighty in
telIects suspected that Mr.. Porter Emer-
son Browne is a great satirist. The
scarlet screams of Katharine Kaelred did
not pierce those ligneous skulls. Her
long white fingers did not squeeze one
tear of pity out of those withered eye
balls. They wept over Margaret Hal
STAINS lilies and languors, but not over
the Vampires raptures and roses. 1
alone sat sobbing and sorrowing for the
Vampire 1 alone filled my opera hat
with scalding tears Of compassion for the
Scarlet Woman
The Vampire deserves our sympathy.
She is a conscientious Vampire, and I
think she vampires beautifully. It Is not
her fault that her admirers blow out
their brains or take to drink. But every
body blames her for everything. The
Vampire is really satirical caricature
Of masculine hypocrisy. When a man
makes a fool Of himself. It Is the poor
Vampire who gets all the abuse. 1t strikes
me that it is nearly time for somebody
to say word for the Vampires. They
have been treated unjustly ever since
Adam told tales about Eve in the Gar
den Of Eden. There Is no doubt that
vampiring is a dreadful trade, but there
is an enormous demand for vampires.
Men dote on them. They are an institu-
tion. If men like to be vampired, why
blame the vampire? Why not blame the
men? But when lovely and lonely
vampire is forced to wade about in blood
nobody is sorry for her on either side
Of the footlights. Everybody means and
SAOo ONci ucE NlCllIlS, even WheQ
they are sodden with drink. No one
dreams Of plying the poor vampire who
is doomed to pass her life in the society
Of dipsomaniacs and self-murderers.
The Vampire is shockingly treated IN
drama. in fiction, and in poetry The
moment she appears the air is thick with
bricks. lake Cleopatra, one Of the lead
ing Vampires in history. Marc Antony
gets all the sympathy. Cleopatra all the
excreation. The man is a noble hero en-
slaved by a siren. The woman is only
"a rag and a bone and a hank of hair"
1t has taken us thousands Of years to
realize that there is something to be said
for the Vampire, and something to be
said against her prey. The Vampire is
supposed to be born a Vampire. We pre-
tend that she is Vampire from her
cradle But even Vampire has to serve
her apprenticeship She has to be |
taught the gentle art of vampiring Who |
teaches her? |
We do not know much about the nat
ural history OF the Vampire. We never |
see the tiny Vampires that are learning |
to toddle. We never see the tired old |
Vampires that are gaunt and gray. We
see only the theatrical Vampire, the YAM |
pire that wears red roses and crimson
plumes, that laughs long and low. that |
undulates and glides that smokes cigar |
cites, that wears shoulder straps that |
Is quite heartless, and wholly inhuman. |
Katharine kaelred IS that kind OF YAM
pire But she is a stage Vampire and
she Is there to show that there is moth |
Ing like her in real life. Yet she has |
her counterpart in our Illusions The
man is the everlasting Fool and the wo- |
.man is the everlasting vimpire. That is |
our boyish way of looking at things |
Being an incurable boy. it is also Mr. |
Ikipling's way. 1t does not occur to him |
or to US that the song could be rewritten |
thus:
fool there was and Ahe made her prlye-
Even az YOU Or l.
To . beast in his den or . bruts tu his Lair
We called him the clod who didn't csre.
But the fool. abe called lin hr hero fair,
Even ss yo0 or L
The tables are turned, you see The
Vampire is a man and the fool is q |
woman. But. you may say, there are No |
male Vampires. Vampires are always /
women. Just as angels are always men.
But why are vampires always women2
Why does Katherine Kaelred play the
Ndmplre ana not the Victim? Why
doesn't Mr.. Frank Cooper play the YAM
,pire? Well the explanation is very sim
:ple. Art has been dominated by the male
point OF view ever since the first saga
was sung or the first epic was recited
or the first statue was chiselled or the
first painting was painted. We all take
our theory Of life from art. As a rule,
we take It from novels. Although women
write novels. they still write from the
male point OF view. They have hardly
begun to fight their way towards q read
.austment OF values.
It is not easy to jump out OF the past.
We have got to scrape all our fctions
and all our poetry and all our plays.
We have got to create a new art n
which facts will not be distorted And
one Of the things we must do is to de-
stroy the Vampire theory Of woman and
the Victim theory OF man. Mrs Belloc
Lowndes. in her clever novel, "Jane Og. L
lander" surrenders to the Vampire
theory. Her hero. Gen. LinEard, Il the
lamb led to the slaughter
by the blood-suoking Vampire, Lao,
Maule. Mrs. Lowndes does not let us
see the vampire side Of Lingaro, but we
know It is there. There Is a Vampire
In every man and a Victim In every
woman Man Ia not n tame raf,bft ,vY,.