Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-09-12
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY the Bookioper

N1llQeT, anu cApICeoc i've OpuilOu AL
the preface Of her book, Enter the
Actress" In the Greek and later the
Roman mythology goddesses and minor
feminine divinities played many ORA
matte parts. Apollo danced with the
MUSES. and Bacchus with the Maenads
Fifth-century Greek vases show
Maenads in flowing draperies per-
forming dramatic dances. In all the
forms Of dramatic expression which de-
yeloped into the Greek classic theater
women took active part with men. Yet
the later official Greek theater closed
its doors to woman actors. Rome fol-
lowed the example Of Greece and eX-
Guided women from the serious stage,
but there were many woman panto-
mimistsg who even impersonated men
The first woman playwright belonged
to the tenth century and was a German
nun of the Benedictine order, Hrots-
vitha of Gandersheim, who wrote six
plays which are dramatizatio OF
pious legends. THE plays OF Hrots-
vitha, after long years Of neglect, have
RECENTLY been studied with great in
terest and attention. and have even
been acted in English both in London
and New York with varying degrees OF
artistic Success" But, with the excep-
ton of Hrotsvitha, the Middle Ages
were as dark" as regards the theater
as in other ways and gave no more OPP
portunity to women than had the
classic theaters of Greece and Rome.
The Renaissance, with its liberality
of thought. did not throw open the
dramatic art to women. perhaps be-
cause of its preoccupation with classical
tradition and its aim to reproduce as
exactly as possible the arts OF Greece
and Rome. Women probably made
their initial appearance as actresses IN
the company of Andrea Beolco, known
as II RuZzante. the first Italian writer
of genuine folk comedy. With RuzZante
and his zestful, earthly dialect plays,
produced between 1920 and 1912. ana
performed, as many authorities believe
by women, real feminine characters
begin to emerge from the Latlnate
penumbra of the pseudo-classic plays.
From this time women became more
and more frequent on the stage. The
first professional actress OF whom there
is definite record was Flaminia,
Roman girl, who had achieved success
as early as 1865. Her contemporary,
sometimes her rival. sometimes her
colleague. was VincenZa Armanl, who
died young, probably from poisoning
The first actress whose dfStinctlon eX-
tended over the European stage was
Isabella Andreini, born in 1862, who
contributed to stage characters the
beautiful, vivacious. loving and Virtuous
heroine, who thereafter became typical
Among pioneer French actresses were
Marie Fairet, acting in 1915; Mile
Laporte. Mile. lie Noir, Mile. La Viii
Tiers, Mile. Baupre and Mile. Beau
chateau All except the first two OF
these acted in the plays OF Corneille
Racine and Moliere.
~
Like Eve in the Garden Of Eden, the
first English actress was a breaker OF
the law" She made her appearance, in
violation of custom. prejudice and legal
Puritan fanaticism almost completely
suppressed the stage Ianthe made her
debut at Rutland House, London, IN
1856 Ianthe belonged both TO the
Puritan and Restoration periods. Other
famous Restoration actresses were
Margaret Hughes, Ann Marshall, Mary
Saunderson Betterton, Nell Gwyn and
Peg Hughes Foremost as an actress
was Mary Betterton: most notorious
was Nell Gwyn, his majesty's mistress.
Mrs Betterton won her chief fame as
all 1llDSI pLCLSI VI E0AAdhCSPCdIC anu " 40
the first woman to act in The Tenn
pest" Measure for Measure" Much
ADO" Twelfth Night" King Lear, -
and Macbeth" Between 1861 and
1894 she acted in so different roles. by
actual record. She outlived most of her
contemporaries and made her last bow
in Dryden's Love Triumphant" at the
Theater Royal, Drury Lane, in 1898
The later chapters of Enter the Ac-
treSs" contain material more generally
familiar, concerning actresses OF later
periods. when the pioneer era was past.
Yet the book does not extend down to
the present day, nor even to the
twentieth century. In these days the
profession has become too crowded,
with greater and lesser stars and with
tinsel stars, for any book save an
encyclopedia to cover its feminine
representatives. Enter the Actress" is
a study Of beginnings and evolution.
*
Thomas Mann, whose Sketch of MY
Life" has just been translated into
English by H. T. Lowe-Porter, is prob
day. He won the Nobel prize for lit
erature for 1929, probably on the
strength of his two novels, "Budden-
brooks" and The Magic Mountain ,
His father was a Senator of the free
city of Lubbock and belonged to an old
merchant family, the prototype Of the
Buddenbrook family of Manns novel
His mother was the daughter of a Ger
man planter, settled in Brazil. and his
Creole wife. Mann was born in Lubbock
in 1875, and there lived and attended
school until he was 10. His father
had then died and he and his mother
n AHtYnfnh ha @ria
work in a fire insurance office, then
editorial work on Simplicissimus. He
soon began writing stories, and Bud
denbrooks" was published when he was
only 26. 1t is largely photographed,
of the family novel type, and follows
the fortunes, steadily declining, of a
merchant family of Lubbock through
four generations THE Magic Noun
tain" published in 1924, has its locale
in sanitarium for tubercular patients
at Davos-Platz, Switzerland The story
shows how bodily disease, long con-
tinued, gradually alters the mind, until
the whole personality and the outlook
on life are changed. The passing
events, which end with the World War,
are viewed through the distorted vision
of the Davos-Platz patients. It is a
depressing book, but fascinating in its
morbid power. In the Sketch of NV
Life" Mann tells of the Nobel prize
award, and says: 1T lay, suppose
upon my path in life" One feels that
he would accept misfortune in the same
fatalistic spirit. He lives, with his wife
and six children, in a suburb Of Mu-
mich. He loves quiet life, but is a
hard worker. At present he is at work
on historical and symbolical novel
to be called Jacob and His Sons" deal
ing with the destiny of the Hebrews,
To gather local color he has recently
Travelled in Egypt and Palestine.
X r 4
Villa Gather has arrived at the dis
tinction of being analysed in critical
volumes. VILLA Gather" by Rene Ra-
pin, is in the Modern American Writers
Series. The judgements expressed
about Villa Gathers novels are at yari-
ance with those of many readers. For
example INV Ant0nia " rs,1allv cor