Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-02-13
DAY OF MORBID
BOOKS PASSING
Cheerful Novel No Longer
Considered Bad Form by
Authorities
by ELLA WHEELER WILCOX

Copyright. 1915. by Star Company
The day of pessimistic literature and
plays has passed. For some years it
has been the tendency of those who
claim to be exponents of art for arts
sake" to leave their audiences in gloom
when the curtain fell or the book end
ed. The really cheerful novel; or play
was considered bad form.
The author who suggested wedding
bells at the close of his story was sup
posed to shut the uoor OF art in his own
face. The audience that left the thea
ter smiling gave a death blow to the
aspirations of the playwright who
hoped to be ranked as an artist.
IN ems rs idea idea was YES mGroid Ia It Is CRAFTY
In recent competition for the best
stories offered by a prominent maga-
by successful and well-known author
was declined on the. ground of Its
gloomy climax.
The play OF famous author was
ending substituted before the play was
allowed to be produced. a few morbid
present ending of the play Is inartis-
| tic, but Life, the great playwright, is
inartistlc from their point OF view.
Life does not end it's stories of human
lives in gloom and despair. We have
but TO look about us to prove this
| statement. a Jew years ago the life OF
pail of despair. Sorrow. sickness or
| poverty had befallen him, but to-day he
ls smiling, his health is restored, his
sorrow has become a memory and hope
has taken the place of despair in his
heart.
1t was only in the second act. or the
third in the long drama OF life that the
curtain fell on utter gloom. Perhaps
you have reached this act in your own
| life to-day. but it is not the end of the
| play, it is. not the last chapter In the
book.
Fate will ring the bell. the curtain
VIII go up, or the leaf Will be turned
or new incidents will change the story
| into one of hope and happiness.
hook back over the record of your
| childhood friends. 1t would be safe to
assert that not one in any score rests
under an impenetrable shadow oil
gloom. That one who has met disaster
and absolute failure you would not ST.
lect as typical of human life and ex-
Why, then, should the author or the
| his chief consideration? Why should 1t
! be considered high art to picture only
| the unhappy conditions of human eX~
| perience and the sad scenes of human
destiny?
Why should it be considered bad art
to describe happiness. success and
morality? There are many cloudy days
| in the year, but there are far more days
of sunshine than of shadow. No painter
thinks he degrades his art by painting
|
it incumbent upon him to picture only
winter and night. Why then should
the author feel that he must select the
! dark passages in human life and end
his story in cold and shadow in order
to be artistic?
| We read books and we attend plays
| for recreation of the mind. However
blase we may be in the literary or
dramatic line, our minds are neverthe-
less to some extent affected by what
Something agreeable, something help
full, something hopeful, something OPP
timistic should be given us to take
| away from the book or the theater. We
go to health resort. for recreation and
rest If we leave this resort with the
germs of malaria or typhoid fever II.
our systems we feel we have been i'm
the health commissioners to investigate
the conditions surrounding the resort.
| 1t is a subject for congratulation that
the mental health commissioners have
| been looking into the conditions, and
the results. of morbid art. However
great the genius of the writer may be
| to- day, however large the capitalization
of a periodical, there will be no sue
cess for either in the, next ten or
emanating from pen or pages breathe
hope, courage, cheer.
In the congested and high wrought
condition of the civilized world to-day
human beings are looking to the artist,
and strength to bear the burdens of
! life.
HeIpfulness, hope and courage may
be old-fashioned and inartistic e1e-
these lines to employ. but If he wishes
for success in his chosen field he must
The day Of the artistic pessimist is