Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-08
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By the BOOkIoUer

By the BOOkI0UeF
With the publication Of his third
romance. Thornton Wilder has revealed
something of his literary philosophy in
letter to a friend. He said: 1t
seems to me that my books are about.
What is the worst thing that the worlo
can do to you, and what are the last
resources one has to oppose to 1t? In
other words, When human being Is
made to bear more than human being
can bear. what then? The Cabala' was
about three extremities, three nervous
breakdowns The Bridge asked the
question whether the intuition that lies
behind love was SUFFICIENT to justify the
desperation of living. The Woman OF
Andres asks whether paganism had any
solution for the hopeful tnqulrlng SUI
ferer, andy NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
the handful of maxims about now 10
live that entered the world with the
message OF Christ were sutilclent TO
guide one through the maze OF expert
ence." Thornton Wilder, then, is seek
ing to find out how human beings meet
their fates and what help, II any, they
obtain from religion and philosophy.
The problem is as old as humanity.
THE Woman of Andres" is in part
based on the "Andrta," a comedy OF
Terence, but is itself q tragic 1dyll.
Chrysis, the woman of Andres, is a
hetaira, an intellectual courtesan OF the
type of the famous Aspasia. She has
come from the Island of Andres, one OF
the CycladeS. to Brynos, another OF the
islands, and there, because she is a
foreigner and because of her profession,
lives the life of a summed recluse. Her
household Is composed of her young
sister, Glycerium, and an assemblage
of poor and sick derelictS whom she has
taken under her care-for her spirit is
one of Christian charity, before the
time OF Christ. The lives of ChrySlS
and Glyeerium move to swift tragedy, in
the hostile environment of Brynos. Is
tabl4shed society and the sanctity of
the family are represented by the two
leading citizens of the island, Simo and
ChremeS, and their wives. PamphiluS,
the son of Simo, represents the diSsatis-
faction with life felt by the thinker,
the dreamer. He reflects upon his ia
theirs desire that he marry and settle
down to realities and give up wander
ing and dreaming. HE was IS already,
that iS-no longer a young man. He
would soon be husband and father, a
condition he did not invest with any
glamour. He would soon be the head of
this household and this farm. He would
soon be old. Time would have flowed
by him like a sigh, with no plan made,
no rules set, no strategy devised that
would have taught him to save these
others and himself from the creeping
gray from the too-easily accepted frus-
tration."
r \ r
Beauty of style and description is
responsible for much of the pleasure
which Thornton Wilder's writing gives.
An evening scene on the harbor of
BrynoS, when Simo and Chremes meet
and discuss the future of their children.
Is an example: THE earth sighed as
1t turned in its course; the shadow of
night crept gradually along the Medi-
terranean and Asia was left in dark
ness. A fair tripping breeze ruff
fled the Aegean and all the islands of
Greece felt a new freshness at the close
of day. The happiest and one of the
least famous of the islands, Brynos,
welcomed the breeze. The evening was
long. For a time the sound of the
waves briskly slapping against the wall
of the little harbor was covered by the
chattering of women, by the shouts of
boys and by the crying of lambs. AS
tired; as the air was filled with the
clangor of the shop fronts being put
into place the boys voices ceased, and
finally only the murmur of the men in
the wineshops, playing at games with
ivory counters, mingled with the sounds
from the sea. The wineshops
stood about the roughly paved square
at the waters edge and in one of them
the five or six principal fathers of the
island sat playing. BY the time the
moon had risen, two of these, Simo and
Chremes, had outstayed their COM
panions." The use of epigrams gives
pungency to the style Of THE Woman
of Andres" Simo, warning Pamphilus
against marrying Glycerium, says: I'VE
men do not take that interest in social
discrimination, my son, but women
women with their few interests
and and so on they en-
JOY having some one to ignore or to stare
down. 1t warns them" ChremeS says
to his friend, What becomes of home
life, Simo, II women can read and
write?" The author comments, THE
customs of the islands encouraged
fathers in the luxuries of clustering and
tyranny"
John Knox, a Catholic priest until
he was 20, and after that the firebrand
of the Scotch Reformation. is an inter-
esting study in contradictions. His in
consistencies, the farm he did. the good
he did, and his general influence on
Scotland are all discussed in Edwin
Muir's biography, John Knox: Portrait
of a CalviniSt" Knox was converted
to CalviniSm by George Wishart, after
ward put to death, and by the seven
tenth chapter of the gospel of st.
John, in which he found evidence for
the doctrine of election. He immediate
ly joined in the conflicts between
Catholics and Protestants and spent
some 6me in the French galleys. Under
Edward VI he was set at liberty and
Immediately began his controversial &C
tivitieS, quarreling not only with Cath
olics, but also with dignitaries of the
new Church of England. With the
accession of Queen Mary, he took
refuge in France and from there urged
the assassination of the Queen. He was
probably responsible in this way for at
least some OF the persecution of English
Professionals. He lived and preached at
Frankfort and Geneva. With the death
of Mary and the accession of Elizabeth,
Knox returned to Scotland and soon
began his dealings with Mary, Queen
Of Scots, arguing with her. denouncing
her and all her ways, yet probably
fascinated by her. He continued TO
preach from the pulpit outside his
house even when too weak to enter II
without assistance. In summing up his
influence, Mr.. Muir says that he robbed
Scotland "of all the benefits of the
Renaissance" And His will
never relaxed, because 1t could not. II
went on, as II independent of him. when
his body was powerless and he was
lying on his deathbed; it lived in his
last gesture, the hand stubbornly up
raised as he gave up the spirit. 1t had