New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-01-24
LITERARY CRITICISM
AND BOOK NEWS
PLAYS for the Study and Plays for the Stage he
Public Services of Andrew fiaswell
Creen-Other Book Reviews.

first Of these three deals in grim mod
ern fashion with the plucking of
widow and her children by her dead
husbands partner and a rascally law
yer with minor birds Of prey lowering
ao,,,,a roadv 70 dash in. La
Parisienne" has become famous for the
cynical truth of its opening scene, but
the criticism, made at the time OF the
plav's first performance, still holds
good. that its title is too sweeping, and
therefore a libel on the Partisan
woman-a libel made familiar by much
repetition.
Giuseppe Giacosa had long been the
most popular Of ltaly's dramatists
when he died. in 1906. skilful con
structor OF plots. master Of dialogue.
close student Of the life of mis- people
in the average. he long had the weak
ness Of lodging the final issue for the
sake Of the happy ending. IT un-
doubtedly added greatly to his popu-
larity. But in his last three plays
THE STRONGER Like Falling Leaves
and Sacred Ground"-he boldly faced
the uncompromising denOuement. The
first of these three dramas resent les
in its main idea Business Is Bust
ness" In Like Failing Leaves Gia-
eosa traces to the end the moral dis
indignation of 4 family fallen from
great riches to poverty through the
sterling honesty of its head. Sacred
Ground" is a curious and dignitied
treatment of the triangle. in which the
wife has remained true to her husband.
though loving the other man, who, in
despair. kills himself. 1t is after the
tragedy that the husbands jealousy of
his wife's secret affection. as distinct
from her conduct, brings about the
catastrophe.
OF Hjalmar BergstrOm's Karen
Borneman" and "Lynggaard & Co" ii
will suffice 10 say that they deserve a
place in this series and the attention
Of students of contemporaries drama.
This Danish playwright stands in the
front rank in his own country and on
the Continent: he has won his place
there by notable work. After the man
ner of the Continental dramatists, he
does not shy al long speeches, but he
packs them with thought and occa-
sionarly with acrid humor. OF these
two plays the first deals with Scandi-
navan frankness with woman's right
TO live her own life; in the second he
treats Of capital and labor and IN both
with the lack Of understanding be-
tween the new generation and the old.
He offers no solutions; he states and
illustrates individual cases. but lays
down the problems they illustrate
where he took them up. The transla-
tions Of all these plays are good and
the introductions truly serviceable.
The American playwrights thus far
admitted TO this Modern Drama
Series" labor under the serious handi-
cap of being mostly beginners forced to
court direct comparison with acknowl-
edged foreign masters OF their trade.
Curiously enough, two Of them have
chosen to deal with the Mephisto
theme. George Bronson Howard has
turned the subject into readable farce
in THE Red Light Of Mars; Arthur
Dawson Ficke gives us a rather alb
struse "Mr. Faustus" in blank verse.
II will never see the footlights. Me
phisto advocates Nirvana; Mr.. Faustus
seeks 10 realize the superman.