The Irish standard., 1913-11-22

with merriment, as paradox after
paradox evoked peals Of laughter. !
Mr.. Shaw. in common with many
English speakers, has adopted what
we may call, for want Of better
term, the vibrating method: there is
a constant movement Of head or hand
or foot without the wild or sprightly
gesticulation peculiar to the Celt,
Frenchman or Italian. l am told that
members Of Parliament employ the
vibrating method, which is rapidly
superseding the cold, Unconditional
style of the older Briton. Mr.. Shaw
kept going, both body and tongue, for
fully an hour and a half, and we en-
joyed him exceedingly. -
Like all men Of strong personality.
Mr.. Shaw is able to turn the attention
saying. Mr.. Shaw is not a orator in
the sense that Gladstone or Bright or
Bryan are orators; but he has never.
theless fine delivery, and his voice
modulated and pleasant can be heard
easily in the largest hall. :,
The British public has come to re.
gard Mr.. Shaw in a two-fold way; as
If he possessed double personality.
There Is the serious, tragic, earnest
Mr.. Shaw, with a definite message
and purpose and an untiring eager
ness to deliver that message-when
he speaks the British audience listens
with respectful silence. On the other
hand, there is the gay, bubbling,
quixotic Machiavellian Mr.. Shaw
smashing all the conventionalities to
make room for his comic muse-when
he declaims or extemporizes the aud:
fence fairly rocks with laughter. 1t
was our privilege to see him in the
double role, first playing the part OF
the sober. steadfast Englishman who
charitably intends to assist his Gre,
ator in managing the universe; then
like sun through broken clouds his
Celtic nature appeared, and the vale.
or rather the audience, laughed and
our hall became veritalbe house of
mirth. A..
What matters it that Shaw took
Socialism for his theme? Any other
topic would have served the purpose
as well; with Emerson and Bacon,
Shaw wants infinite range. for he is
constantly hitching his wagon to a
star, constantly taking all knowledge
for his province. 49,. a..
From years of moral juggling with
the tragic and comic sides of: life, he
is slowly yielding to the latter, and
the people who now take him serious
ly are growing fewer in numbers. |
was Jekyl-Hyde existence from the
very start, with the odds in favor OF
light comedy.
Shaw seems to be conscious of los.
ing his hold upon the more serious
classes, and at times he seefs to
make frantic efforts to win them
back. But men have laughed SO often
at what he says and writes that they
are more and more inclined to treat
him as huge literary joke, sort of
modern Falstaff, who struts on the
London boards for the amusement Of
all Corners. .-.:
Mr.. Sha~ atp;.ars not so much bent
upon cnfo. cling b. own opinions (if
he RALLY possesses any firm convic-
ton about anything) as he. is upon
plaasi II his auditors; havirg reached
that stage in the evolution Of the
actor when the galleries must be won
at any cost. The taproot of Socialism
has long been known as economic
reform or the redistribution of wealth,
SO that Gods inheritance to His peo-
pie may remain intact, instead Of
passing into the hands of few COL
lossal thieves who manage to evade
the law Of the lands, and amass mil
lions by robbing the people of their
Godgiven inheritance. If Socialism
possesses any truth or vitality, it
springs from this taproot-this viola.
ton Of elementary justice. Yet Mr..
Shaw In the course Of his address
never once touched the bottom or the
core of the economic reform move
ment which under the name Of Social
ism and other isms now agitates and
preplexes the public mind. On the
contrary, the speaker kept on the
surface Of his subject throughout, dis
porting his winged fancies and play
full paradoxes and feathery humor
much after the fashion of beautiful
bird of the Orient fitting above the
sea on a calm sunny afternoon. We
were amused and entertained all the
time, for Shaw is never wearisome;
but we left the hall with the impress
sion that his genius finds its true
home in light comedy darkened here
and there with enough of tragic color
ing to give the pleasant picture a
proper perspective. Doubtless in his
home beyond the stars the creator Of
Hamlet and Macbeth and Othello
smiles upon this purveyor to the mod
ern London stage. who claims that
he is more clever than William
Shakespeare"
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