Year: 1875

MIR. FLORENCE COMPARES AMERICAN PLAYS


WITH ENGLISH COMEDIES.


To THE EDITOR OF THE New YoRK HERALp:-


viii you allow me to say a few words regarding the
hearty good feeling manifested by the dramatic critics
of several Of prominent daes for the being Of
the drama9 have been deeply moved by the earnest
interest they suddenly taken in it, and stirred to
admiration by the sensitive indignation they havo
pressed toward aught that sayors Of vugarty 1t is
true that The Mighty Dollar is the first piece upon
which they have agreed to agree in showerng their eo
quent contempt and that am consequently compelled
TO admire them at my expense But am mag
nanimous and enjoy Joke when tells against
myself This, however, scarcely TO the purpose of
this communication. simply wish to resent the sur
of vugarty which these few delicatey nerved
have cast upon the play have waited thus long be-
cause wished to discover the sentiment of the public
this subject have found it to be quite at
with the decision of tho gentlemen to whom specially
refer. This however, is by astonishing


know of no rule of dramatic art which forbids dram
atst satirizng vulgar people His play is not essen
TALLY vulgar because the foes OF the vulgar lashed
in it If we judge the majority of comedies by this
newly set up vulgar standard but few of them will
escape the whip venture to add that in at least
instance censorious critic of this play put moro vu


garity into his bre crtque than be found by the
most careful search in the whole four of Mr. Woolfs



gauge Every character in the piece except Grace is
vulgar and she is bit OF silly sentimentaity 1t
Objected to ''lhe Mighty Dollar that Roland Vance
makes love to his former afanced while married to
other He, however, struggles against his passion and
| triumphs over himself Sir Harcourt Courtly, the
contrary attempts 10 betray another mans wife under
friends roof and even to the extent of sending
notices to the papers in the fear his anticipated DIS
graceful elopement with her may not be made known
soon enough otherwise l have never heard
any of the censors, who savage upon
| "The Mighty Dollar,' grow excited this
bit of vulgarity. Dazzle Is vulgar swindler. Mark
NEEDLE is vulgar pettfogger Charles Courtey is a
vulgar lying dun-dodging blackguard Cool is vulgar
| pander. Lady Gay is an example OF vulgar woman,
who delights in making her husband ridiculous before
everybody, and sink to AID scamp in deceivng
his father, by drawing the susceptible old fool into
supposed intrigue with her And yet we do not hear
in this of any abnormal senstiveness TO ibeing
society by presenting only vulgar people its repre-
sentatives. The screen scene, in The School for
Scandal is scandalously vulgar Lady TeaZc and the
whole scandal cotere are vulgar people Charles is
lSVulgar spendhrt Joseph is vulgar hypocrite Sir
Oliver Surface is vulgar good-natured nabob Yet, it
was never objected that the piece libel English
society because il ridcued the vulgar 'Money" deals
almost exclusively with vulgar people, 1t may be said
that if dramatist will give such pieces these the
vulgarty will be tolerated. But that is the ques
tion, which is on the contrary, whether dranatist
shall be stabbed to death by critical pens because ho
presumes to take upon himself the Office OF satirs and
TO lash the patent folles of the vulgar for one do
not think he should, and am happy TO say that tho
public think with me- W. j. FLORENCE,


Fifth Avenue Hotel