The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1916-03-25

The dramatst who goes down below the sur
face does not need TO to profanity or anv
other claptrap device. The art Of drama depends
on suggestion There are many ways OF con
NeyIng suggestion. In play dealing with the
HE OF cowboys swearing does not add to the
reality. 1t is. after ALL surface matter, Of no
real artistic interest. But there is artistic in
terest IN the use Of profanity by woman OF the
fashionable world. For her we have an illustra-
ton OF change that is taking place among men
1t IS we'll known that at the present great many
women swear, that are respected and
women that are not respected In this regard
there is a startling resemblance between the
women OF the rcd-light district and the women of
the fashionable world And even among those
women who belong between the two worlds there
Is known to be widespread OF profanity. The
truth is that swearing has become somewhat OF
a lad among women. Once women who swore
were ashamed OF the habit and INDUCED only in
private, that is, only among their intimates Now
many women swear frankly and freely with a
certain pride. They evidently regard the practice
as rather laudablc and attractive, possibly as a
sign that they arc very up-todate and knowing
And yet they must be aware that among nearly
al men their use OF swear words is exceedingly
offensive. But OF course they arc following the
example OF men, for VIC all know that in the in
timacy OF the home life, and even in the pres
ence OF children Of both sexes. men often give
themselves up to paroxysms OF profanity.
To suggest that women swear would be a per
tectly legitimate service OF the dramatst. To make
1t a motive in drama would be decidedly worth
"iiit IL IllSHt serve the purpose OF letting those
women who think it is clever to swear see lust
how repusive their habit is. But it would re-
CURE good deal OF art to perform this artistic
feat and not offend taste. For. no matter how
clever a play may be. if it ofends taste it is
almost certain to fail. In this connection it is
worth noting that there is such thing as public
taste which, at times, seems to bc~much higher
than public morals
| think it could be shown that there is less
swearing in plays nowadays than there used to be-
Both playwrlghtS and managers avoid it, the play
wrlghts because they know it is both unnecessary
and offensive, the managers because they wish to
protect their patrons Bad as it is, however, it is
not nearly so corruptng suggestions and in
nuendos, that one hears in many popular plavs
often given in conditions supposed to carry with
them not only dcccncy but refinement. There are
men that think it is clever to swear even before
women. They take kind Of pride and pleasure
in shocking. Here they give only an ext sion
OF qualities that find many other expressions van
ity, concet and arrogance, and inability to con-
troll themselves. Characters of this kind have
plenty Of color and lend themselves ideally to
stage treatment. But they can be made clear BY
good dramatist, one that really knows his busi-
ness, without the use of the swear-words
Swearing, after all, is only one of the MANY
expressions Of lack OF self-control or of good
manners or of personal tyranny On the stage
this lack be indicated in many other ways
than by the of words that divert attention
from the play itself.