Evening star., 1915-04-04


Company.
n NGELA'S business is the bust
~ ness of getting a husband, an
"a old and respected trade about
~ whose carefully concealed arts
much is nowadays being
brought to light through the modern
Photographic processes of literature
The paramount fact disclosed here
in this connection is that it is the fe-
male who originates, pursues and
achieves a marriage, whereas the MAZE
II left TO himself. is. in a manner, in
different to this particular rite of pos
session. This theory is. to be sure. con-
trary to tradition and established be-
lief. But science supports the claim,
and Bernard Shaw substantiates it.
Taking the case of Angela as one in
point. this writer elaborates the per-
fectly nice girls total preoccupation
with the notion of marriage as the nigh
sign. the only sign. of her complete
success in life He makes it clear, too,
that Angela is wasting no time on idle
thoughts about her fitness for the role
toward which she so ardently aspfres-
Nor is she throwing away hours which
TO her seem made for exciting pursuit
in the dull practice of home making
arts In one revealing day after an
other Angela grows in tetter-periect
tdelity to the nice girl that tradition.
custom prejudice. fierce denial ana
,.rass ignorance have made of each or
the brooding AngelaS who, generation
by generation. have SO much 10 90 WITH
the real complexion of the world. But
there is another side to this matter
Around Angela, in chance relation-
ships, is a group of which Mary WING
is the center. And Mary stands for the
;-Ie yrrtn nv M
turning the corner our way, open-eyeu
intelligent girls. at home with their
own hearts and souls. broad in human
interests. -.een to human neeus. NUNS
themselves consciously for what they
have to do, and marching steadily to-
ward their manifest destiny as beneh-
cent forces in changing world Inls
finely consistent and quietly humor-
Gus story, wherein modern young
man sets out in pursuit of Womaniy
woman. is surpassed only by the fdei-
ity and significance of the study that
Il evolves to what the Womanly
woman really is, after all.
PLAYS. BY Leonid Andreyeff- Trans
lated from the Russian by Clarence
L. Meader and Fred Newton Scott.
New York: Charles Scribners Sons.
Washington: Brentano's
The dramatic theory Of Leonid An
dreyeff resembles that of Maeterlinck.
since it counts the life of the soul as
. the only worthy theme Of dramatic
treatment if the drama is in any real
sense either TO represent life or to in
struct it, Now the soul lives in thought
and silences rather than in action and
sound in premonitions and provisions
of other existences. in spiritual yearn-
fngs and Unsuitable searchinGs. Ob-
viously then. in this psychological and
intellectual Interpretation of man. the
old dramatic medium OF action suited
to the life of emotion falls away use
less And Andreyeff. like Maeterllnck,
is forced to the of symbolism as
stage medium. The symbolic plays of
this volume are The Black Maskers
The Life of Man and The Sabine
Women" The chief character in each
OF the first TWO of these falls victim
TO the tragedy of his own thoughts,
the urge of his unsatisfied soul the
Sabine Women" is & satire on the po-
1itical situation of modern Russia, SYM
holized by the old Roman story of the
abduction Of the Sabine wives. BIZ
ocraphic note of Leonid Nadreyeff pre-
cedes these plays. And here. too. is an
essay by v. V. Brusyanin in analysis
Of Andreyeff's theory of the drama and
~ a discussion of his use of symbol
iSms.
BELGIAN CHRISTMAS EVE. BY Al
fred Noyes, author of THE Wine
Press" etc New York: Frederick A.
stokes Company.
II is no doubt. to keep pace with
events and. in his crusade against war.
to make speedy use of the immediate
horrors of war that Mr.. Noyes has
brought an earlier drama. "Rada." over
into the present as "a Belgian Christ
mas Eve" What he has done is to
move "R3da up from the Balkan re-
con into Belgium. The action remains
unchanged Therefore. the characters.
save fnr a shift from Rumanian to Ger.
man soldiers. are the same. Here Rada
IS wife 10 the doctor of a Belgian vii
lase Two German soldiers. one of
whom mas but just killed her husband.
are trying to hold off a band of law
less drunken German soldiers from
Rada and her twelve year-old daugh-
ter. Reaiizing that they are unable to
do THIS. Rada. TO make escape, kills
herself and little Bettine. The old
half-Wit, Nanko. whose delusion is that
1t is always Christmas eve. babb1es
contentedly from the old philosophers
during this Crusome action. From
Nanko the play gets its name and GER
tain sardonic half lights over the
scene This quick recaSt of the earlier
ent rush of feeling over the great war.
since il embodies an episode that might
easily he at home in any war. 1t ap-
pears like an entirely justifable re-
vision and enlargement of a play to
meet condition IN no wise dissimilar
from the one that originated 1t. Other
books are revised to meet demands and
why should not a poetic drama be 50 re-
vised9 one has always liked 1t that Mr.
Noyes, being poet, has not for this
reason. decided away his rights in legiti-
mate share of practical common sense
THE HARBOR: A Novel. BY Ernest
Poole. New York The Macmillan
Company.
The harbor of New York is the set
ting for Mr. Poole's novel. but 1t is also
more than this. BY its vital persona al
ity IL becomes. In effect. a character In
the story sharing honors with the
Young man who stands as the central
figure here. Living beside the harbor
from child. together the two advance,
and change in appearance and pur-
pose and use and meaning. The har-
bor in its many aspects becomes a SYM
boil of the boys life and later. SYM
boil OF the life Of man and of society.
BY means of IL in its manifold activi-
ties and changes the self-centered
youth broadens out to a comprehension
Of social meanings and demands. The
story is finely conceived as a big study
OF modern life. with its inequalities and
stresses and problems. II is carried out.
too in the same breadth Of spirit. and
in q captivatingly genial and sympa-
thetic manner. Mr.. Poole is good
deal OF a poet, an idealist besides. Upon
this basis hr has built q stirring, sane.
SOUND and interesting novel Of mod
ern life.
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