The sun., 1918-12-08
The Plays of Barrie

INV TIE EDITOR OF BOOKS AND THE
L Book WoELD-Sir: When opened
your paper of Sunday, November II, my
eye was naturally attracted by the cap
ton, Mr. Barrett II. Clark. At last, 1
thought, as / hurriedly glanced through
the article, aNcontroversy, 4 genuine at
tack! l well remember some years ago
when l ventured TO disagree with Mr..
Clayton Hamilton; | rather fatuously
asked him whether he objected. He laugh
ingly answered in effect that if | knew
anything about real critics | would real
lie that nothing pleaScS the critic more
than the notion that he has aroused
thought, whether that thought be in &C
cord or at variance with the critics views.
| feel flattCrci that man of Mr.. Cor
don's acute scnsbility should take my re-
view of the Barrie plays so much to heart.
II rs n critic have rutflcd certain of Mr..
Gordon's prejudiccs shall | say? for /
admit that my own notions about Barrie
are preJudiccs-l am content And were
l not the honest critic Mr. Gordon dubs
me, ! should feel equally flattered by MS
assertion that his are the pat phrases of
talk across the table" Alas, they are not
| am afraid that my fragmentary uni
versity education and my penchant toward
heavy SERIOUSNESS arc two very real bar
rlers TO my cntrucc inio the company of
Lemaitre and Walklcy, Of Huneker and
henckcn-and not the only ones I'm
fortunately my ideas on the subject Of
Barrie were well formulated long before
1 set finger to the Remington, and my
table talk, in this instance at least, bore
unmistakahlc traces Of malice prepense
Mr.. Gordon takes me to task for de-
elaring that Barrie is the supreme master
of stage direction" If Mr. Gordon means
"stage direction" literally, then we are
both wrong and | suggest that Belasco's
scripts be awarded the honors. meant
to say that Of all the dramatists whose
plays were intended to be read, Barrie's
were the most readable By. reason OF the
dramatist's comments. l still maintain
"Shavian Of the Shavians," and as he de-
clares that my statement, "far from COIL
vert!ng you 10 y JOY in Barrie and just
appreciation Of his worth, Anglers you with
his admlrer, | presume there Is no use
trying to convert him. The inveterate
Shavian is likely to admire Shaw for one
Of the things which prevent his being
great dramatist, his extra dramatic ideas.
/ have no quarrel with Mr. Shaw's ideas
or rather the ideas lie makes use of in
his plays. but these ideas are for the most
part of an age, while Barrie s--no more
original, of course, but happily fewer
are of all time
do not mean that Barrie will last for
all time, merely that the underlying
themes of Barric's plays are as old and
as Young as the world, while Stun land
lordisln. lhsenism, Socialism, Fabianism
and the problems of marriage las well as
marriage itself are doomed to pass into
oblivion. And then what remains of G.
b. s? \ few scenes and perhaps two or
three plays.
When / say HAT 'long after Nan and
Supcrm0R and The Second Mrs. Tan
qaer0y are forgotten, the coming genera
ton, unless | am sadly mistaken, will
relish the kindly humor and pathos of
The Admira5ir Crickton," I had no in
tention Of speaking OK cathcdra. | agree
with Mr.. Gordon, or rather with Alex
andre Dumas. that ''posterity knows its