,books by ,brander ,matthews            
,,biographies      ,shakspere as a      
,playwright     ,moliere1 ,his ,life and
 ,his ,works  ,,essays ,,and            
,,criticisms      ,french ,dramatists of
 the #aith ,century     ,pen and ,ink1  
,essays on subjects of more or less     
importance     ,aspects of ,fiction1 and
 other ,essays     ,the ,historical     
,novel1 and other ,essays     ,parts of 
,speech1 ,essays on ,english     ,the   
,development of the ,drama              
,inquiries and ,opinions     ,the       
,american of the ,future1 and other     
,essays     ,gateways to ,literature1   
and other ,essays     ,on ,acting     ,a
 ,book ,about the ,theater              
,a ,,book                               
,,about ,,the ,,theater                 
,illustration                           
,,le ,,ballet ,,de ,,la ,,reine         
,a ,,french ,,court ,,ballet ,,in       
,,the ,,early ,,seventeenth             
,,century                               
,a ,,book                               

,,about ,,the ,,theater                 
,,by                                    
,,brander ,,matthews      ,,professor   
,,of ,,dramatic ,,literature ,,in       
,,columbia ,,university2 ,,member       
,,of ,,the ,,american ,,academy ,,of    
,,arts ,,and ,,letters                  
,illustration                           
,,new ,,york                            
,,charles ,,scribner',s ,,sons          
#aiaf                                   
,,copyright1 #aiaf1 ,,by                
,,charles ,,scribner',s ,,sons          
,published ,october1 #aiaf              
,illustration                           
,,to ,,augustus ,,thomas  ,,my ,,dear   
,,augustus3  ,let me begin by confessing
 my regret that ,i cannot overhear your 
first remark when you receive this sheaf
 of essays1 many of which are devoted to
 the subordinate subdivisions of the art
 of the stage4 ,as it is1 ,i can only   
imagine your surprise at discovering    
that this book1 which contains papers   
dealing with certain aspects of the     

theater rarely considered to be worthy  
of criticism1 is signed by the occupant 
of the earliest chair to be established 
in any ,american university specifically
 for the study of dramatic literature4  
,i fancy ,i can hear the expression of  
your wonder that a sexagenarian         
professor should turn aside from his    
austere analysis of the genius of       
,sophocles and of ,shakspere1 of        
,moliere and of ,ibsen1 to discuss the  
minor arts of the dancer and the        
acrobat1 to chatter about the conjurer  
and the negro minstrel1 to consider the 
principles of pantomime and the         
development of scene-painting4 ,but ,i  
am emboldened to hope that your surprise
 will be only momentary1 and that you   
will be moved to acknowledge that       
perhaps there may be some advantage to  
be derived from these deviations into   
the by-paths of stage history4  ,you are
 rather multifarious yourself2 like     
,cerberus1 you are three gentlemen at   
once2 you have been a reporter1 you have

 published a novel1 you have painted    
pictures1 you have delivered            
addresses--and you write plays1 too4 ,i 
think that you1 at least1 will readily  
understand how a student of the stage   
may like to stray now and again from the
 main road and to ramble away from the  
lofty temple of dramatic art to loiter  
for a little while in one or another of 
its lesser chapels4 ,and you1 again1    
will appreciate my conviction that these
 loiterings and these strollings may be 
as profitable as that casual browsing   
about in a library which is likely to   
enrich our memories with not a little   
interesting information that we might   
never have captured had we adhered to a 
rigorous and rigid course of study4 ,you
 will see what ,i mean when ,i declare  
my belief that ,i have come back from   
these wanderings with an increased      
understanding of the theory of the      
theater1 and with an enlarged           
acquaintance with its manifold          
manifestations4  ,perhaps ,i ought to   

explain1 furthermore1 that these        
excursions into the purlieus of the     
playhouse began long1 long ago4 ,i gave 
a ,punch and ,judy show before ,i was   
sixteen2 ,i performed experiments in    
magic1 ,i blacked up as ,tambo1 ,i      
whitened myself as ,clown1 ,i played the
 low-comedy part in a farce1 and ,i     
attempted the flying trapeze before ,i  
was twenty2 and ,i was not encouraged by
 the result of these early experiences  
to repeat any of the experiments after  
,i came of age4 ,i think it was as a    
spinner of hats and as the underman of a
 brothers' act that ,i came nearest to  
success2 at least ,i infer this from the
 fact--may ,i mention it without seeming
 to boast8--that with my partners in    
this brothers' act1 ,i was asked if ,i  
would care to accept an engagement with 
a circus for the summer4 ,as to the     
merits of the other efforts ,i need say 
nothing now2 the rest is silence4 ,when 
the cynic declared that the critics were
 those who had failed in literature and 

art1 he overstated his case1 as is the  
custom of cynics4 ,but it is an         
indisputable advantage for any critic to
 have adventured himself in the practise
 of the art to the discussion of which  
he is to devote himself2 he may have    
failed1 or at least he may not have     
succeeded as he could wish2 but he ought
 to have gained a firmer grasp on the   
principles of the art than he would have
 had if he had never risked himself in  
the vain effort4  ,with this brief word 
of personal explanation ,i step down    
from the platform of the preface to let 
these various essays speak for          
themselves4 ,if they have any message of
 any value1 ,i feel assured in advance  
that your friendly ear will be the first
 to interpret it4 ,and ,i remain1       
,ever yours1                            
,,brander ,,matthews4      ,,columbia   
,,university1         ,,in ,,the ,,city 
,,of ,,new ,,york4                      
,,contents                              
,,page       ,i4 ,,the ,,show ,,business

                                        
#a      ,,ii4 ,,the ,,limitations ,,of  
,,the ,,stage                           
#ag     ,,iii4 ,a ,,moral ,,from ,a     
,,toy ,,theater                         
#cg      ,,iv4 ,,why ,,five ,,acts8     
#ee       ,v4 ,,dramatic ,,collaboration
                                   #gg  
,,vi4 ,,the ,,dramatization ,,of        
,,novels ,,and ,,the ,,novelization     
,,of ,,plays                            
#ic     ,,vii4 ,,women ,,dramatists     
#aaa    ,,viii4 ,,the ,,evolution ,,of  
,,scene-,,painting                      
#abg      ,,ix4 ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,the 
,,opera                                 
#aec       ,x4 ,,the ,,poetry ,,of ,,the
 ,,dance                                
#afi      ,,xi4 ,,the ,,principles ,,of 
,,pantomime                             
#ahe     ,,xii4 ,,the ,,ideal ,,of ,,the
 ,,acrobat                              
#bja    ,,xiii4 ,,the ,,decline ,,and   
,,fall ,,of ,,negro-,,minstrelsy        
#bag     ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,utility ,,of    

,,the ,,variety-,,show                  
#bce      ,,xv4 ,,the ,,method ,,of     
,,modern ,,magic                        
#bea     ,,xvi4 ,,the ,,lamentable      
,,tragedy ,,of ,,punch ,,and ,,judy     
#bga    ,,xvii4 ,,the ,,puppet-,,play1  
,,past ,,and ,,present                  
#bhg   ,,xviii4 ,,shadow-,,pantomime1   
,,with ,,all ,,the ,,modern             
,,improvements                          
#cjc     ,,xix4 ,,the ,,problem ,,of    
,,dramatic ,,criticism                  
#cai                                    
,,illustrations      ,le ballet de la   
reine                                   
,frontispiece                           
,,facing ,,page      ,upper half of     
,plate ,no4 #a1 the ',miller and ,his   
,men'           #dj      ,a group of the
 principal characters from ,pollock's   
juvenile         drama1 the ',miller and
 ,his ,men'                             
#db      ,explosion of the mill4 ,a back
 drop in the         ',miller and ,his  
,men'                                   

#df      ,plate ,no4 #g1 the ',miller   
and ,his ,men'                          
#dh      ,lower half of ,plate ,no4 #e1 
the ',miller and ,his ,men'             
#eb      ,the ,roman ,theater at ,orange
                                  #acd  
,the multiple set of the ,french        
medieval stage                #acd      
,the set of the ,italian comedy of masks
                       #acd      ,an    
outdoor entertainment in the gardens of 
the ,pitti ,palace         in ,florence 
in the early sixteenth century          
#acf      ,the set for the opera of     
',persee' 7as performed at the ,opera   
in ,paris in the seventeenth century7   
#adj      ,a prison 7designed by        
,bibiena in ,italy in the eighteenth    
century7                                
#adj      ,the screen scene of the      
',school for ,scandal' at ,drury ,lane  
in #aggh                                
#add      ,a landscape set              
#adf      ,a set for the opera of       
',robert le ,diable'                    

#adf      ,the set of the last act of   
the ',garden of ,allah'             #adh
      ,a set for ',medea'               
#adh      ,the set of ',o,edipe-,roi'   
7at the ,theatre ,francais7             
#aej      ,the set of the ',return of   
,peter ,grimm'                          
#aej      ,scenes from ,punch and ,judy 
#bgd      ,scenes from ,punch and ,judy 
7continued7                       #bgf  
,roman puppets4 ,greek and ,roman       
puppets4 ,puppet of ,java       #bij    
,a ,sicilian marionette show            
#bib      ,a ,belgian puppet4 ,a        
,chinese puppet theater4 ,puppet figure 
representing the younger ,coquelin      
#bid      ,puppets in ,burma            
#bif      ,the puppet play of ,master   
,peter 7,italian7                       
#bif      ,a ,neapolitan ,punchinella   
#cjj      ,the broken bridge4 ,plan     
showing the construction of a           
shadow-picture theater4 ,a ,hungarian   
dancer         7a shadow picture7       
#cjh      ,shadow ,pictures4 ,the return

 from the ,bois de ,boulogne4 ,the      
ballet4 ,a regiment of ,french soldiers 
#caj      ,shadow ,picture4 ,the ,sphinx
 ,i3 ,pharaoh passing in triumph        
#cab      ,shadow ,picture4 ,the ,sphinx
 ,,ii3 ,moses leading his people out    
of ,egypt                               
#cad      ,shadow ,picture4 ,the ,sphinx
 ,,iii3 ,roman warriors in ,egypt       
#caf      ,shadow ,picture4 ,the ,sphinx
 ,,iv3 ,the ,british troops to-day      
#cah                                    
,i                             ,,the    
,,show ,,business                       
,,the ,,show ,,business                 
,i  ,at an interesting moment in        
,disraeli's picturesque career in       
,british politics he indulged in one of 
his strikingly spectacular effects1 in  
accord with his characteristic method of
 boldly startling the somewhat sluggish 
imagination of his insular countrymen2  
and in the next week's issue of ,punch  
there was a cartoon by ,tenniel         
reflecting the general opinion in regard

 to his theatrical audacity4 ,he was    
represented as ,artemus ,ward1 frankly  
confessing that ,i have no principles2  
,i'm in the show business4  ,the cartoon
 was good-humored enough1 as ,punch's   
cartoons usually are2 but it was not    
exactly complimentary4 ,it was intended 
to voice the vague distrust felt by the 
,british people toward a leader who did 
not scrupulously avoid every possible   
opportunity to be dramatic4 ,and yet    
every statesman who was himself         
possessed of constructive imagination1  
and who was therefore anxious to stir   
the imaginations of those he was        
leading1 has laid himself open to the   
same charge4 ,burke1 for one1 was       
accused of being frankly theatrical2 and
 ,napoleon1 the child of that ,french   
,revolution which ,burke combated with  
undying vigor1 never hesitated to employ
 kindred devices4 ,when ,napoleon took  
the ,imperial ,crown from the hands of  
the ,pope to place it on his own head1  
and when ,burke cast the daggers on the 

floor of the ,house of ,commons1 they   
were both proving that they were in the 
show business4 ,so was ,julius ,caesar  
when he thrice thrust aside the kingly  
crown2 and so was ,frederick on more    
than one occasion4 ,even ,luther did not
 shrink from the spectacular if that    
could serve his purpose1 as when he     
nailed his theses to the door of the    
church4  ,if the statesmen have now and 
again acted as tho they were in the show
 business1 we need not be surprised to  
discover that the dramatists have done  
it even more often1 in accord with their
 more intimate relation to the theater4 
,no one would deny that ,sardou and     
,boucicault were showmen1 with a perfect
 mastery of every trick of the showman's
 trade4 ,but this is almost equally true
 of the supreme leaders of dramatic art1
 ,sophocles1 ,shakspere1 and ,moliere4  
,the great ,greek1 the great            
,englishman1 and the great ,frenchman1  
however much they might differ in their 
aims and in their accomplishments1 were 

alike in the avidity with which they    
availed themselves of every spectacular 
device possible to their respective     
theaters4 ,the opening passage of       
',o,edipus the ,king1' when the chorus  
appeals to the sovran to remove the     
curse that hangs over the city1 is as   
potent on the eye as on the ear4 ,the   
witches and the ghost in ',macbeth1' the
 single combats and the bloody battles  
that embellish many of ,shakspere's     
plays are utilizations of the           
spectacular possibilities existing in   
that ,elizabethan playhouse1 which has  
seemed to some historians of the drama  
to be necessarily bare of all appeal to 
the senses4 ,and in his ',amphitryon'   
,moliere has a succession of purely     
mechanical effects 7a god riding upon an
 eagle1 for example1 and descending from
 the sky7 which are anticipations of the
 more elaborate and complicated         
transformation scenes of the ',black    
,crook' and the ',white ,fawn4'  ,at the
 end of the nineteenth century the two  

masters of the stage were ,ibsen and    
,wagner1 and both of them were in the   
show business--,wagner more openly and  
more frequently than ,ibsen4 ,yet the   
stern ,scandinavian did not disdain to  
employ an avalanche in ',when ,we ,dead 
,awaken1' and to introduce a highly     
pictorial shawl dance for the heroine of
 his ',doll's ,house4' ,as for ,wagner1 
he was incessant in his search for the  
spectacular1 insisting that the         
music-drama was the art-work of the     
future1 since the librettist-composer   
could call to his aid all the other     
arts1 and could make these arts         
contribute to the total effect of the   
opera4 ,he conformed his practise to his
 principles1 and as a result there is   
scarcely any one of his music-dramas    
which is not enriched by a most         
elaborate scenic accompaniment4 ,the    
forging of the sword1 the ride of the   
,valkyries1 the swimming of the singing 
,rhinemaidens1 are only a few of the    
novel and startling effects which he    

introduced into his operas2 and in his  
last work1 ',parsival1' the purely      
spectacular element is at least as ample
 and as varied as any that can be found 
in a ,parisian fairy-play or in a       
,london ,christmas pantomime4 ,and what 
is the ',blue ,bird' of ,m4             
,maeterlinck1 the philosopher-poet1 who 
is also a playwright1 but a fairy-play  
on the model of those long popular in   
,paris1 the ',pied de ,mouton1' and the 
',biche au ,bois'8 ,it has a meaning and
 a purpose lacking in its emptier       
predecessors2 but its method is the same
 as that of the uninspired manufacturers
 of these spectacular pieces4           
,,ii  ,it is not without significance   
that our newspapers1 which have a keen  
understanding of the public taste1 are  
in the habit of commenting upon         
entertainments of the most diverse      
nature under the general heading of     
,amusements4 ,it matters not whether    
this entertainment is proffered by      
,barnum and ,bailey1 or by ,weber and   

,fields1 by ,sophocles or by ,ibsen1 by 
,shakspere or by ,moliere1 by ,wagner or
 by ,gilbert and ,sullivan1 it is       
grouped with the rest of the amusements4
 ,and this is not so illogical as it may
 seem1 since the primary purpose of all 
the arts is to entertain1 even if every 
art has also to achieve its own         
secondary aim4 ,some of these           
entertainments make their appeal to the 
intellect1 some to the emotions1 and    
some only to the nerves1 to our relish  
for sheer excitement and for brute      
sensation2 but each of them in its own  
way seeks1 first of all1 to entertain4  
,they are1 every one of them1 to be     
included in the show business4  ,this is
 a point of view which is rarely taken  
by those who are accustomed to consider 
the drama only in its literary aspects1 
and who like to think of the dramatic   
poet as a remote and secluded artist1   
scornful of all adventitious assistance1
 seeking to express his own vision of   
the universe1 and intent chiefly1 if not

 solely1 on portraying the human soul4  
,and yet this point of view needs to be 
taken by every one who wishes to        
understand the drama as an art1 for the 
drama is inextricably bound up with the 
show business1 and to separate the two  
is simply impossible4 ,the theater is   
almost infinitely various1 and the      
different kinds of entertainment        
possible in it cannot be sharply        
distinguished1 since they shade into    
each other by almost imperceptible      
gradations4 ,only now and again can we  
seize a specimen that completely        
conforms to any one of the several types
 into which we theoretically classify   
the multiple manifestations of the      
drama4  ,buffalo ,bill's ,wild ,west and
 ,barnum and ,bailey's ,greatest ,show  
on ,earth might seem1 at first sight1 to
 stand absolutely outside the theater4  
,but it is impossible not to perceive   
the close kinship between the program of
 the ,barnum and ,bailey show and the   
program of the ,new ,york ,hippodrome1  

since they have the circus in common4   
,at the ,hippodrome1 however1 we have at
 least a rudimentary play with actual   
dialog and with abundant songs and      
dances executed by a charging squadron  
of chorus-girls2 and in this aspect its 
spectacle is curiously similar to the   
nondescript medley which is popularly   
designated as a summer song-show4 ,now1 
the summer song-show is first cousin to 
the so-called ,american comic opera--so 
different from the ,french opera        
comique4 ,even if it has now fallen upon
 evil days1 this ,american comic opera  
is a younger sister of the sparkling    
ballad-opera of ,gilbert and ,sullivan1 
and of the exhilarating opera bouffe of 
,offenbach1 with its libretto by        
,meilhac and ,halevy4  ,we cannot fail  
to perceive that the librettos of       
,gilbert and of ,meilhac and ,halevy are
 admirable in themselves1 that they     
would please even without the music of  
,sullivan and ,offenbach1 and that they 
are truly comedies of a kind4 ,that is  

to say1 the books of ',patience' and    
',pinafore' do not differ widely in     
method or in purpose from ,gilbert's    
non-musical play ',engaged'2 and the    
books of the ',vie ,parisienne' and the 
',diva' do not differ widely from       
,meilhac and ,halevy's non-musical play1
 ',tricoche et ,cacolet4' ',engaged' and
 ',tricoche et ,cacolet' are farces or  
light comedies1 and we find that it is  
not easy to draw a strict line of       
demarcation between light comedies of   
this sort and comedies of a more        
elevated type4 ,gilbert was also the    
author of ',sweethearts1' and of        
',charity1' and ,meilhac and ,halevy    
were also the authors of ',froufrou4'   
,still more difficult would it be to    
separate sharply plays like ',charity'  
and ',froufrou' from the social dramas  
of ,pinero and ,ibsen1 the ',benefit of 
the ,doubt1' for instance1 and the      
',doll's ,house4' ,sometimes these      
social dramas stiffen into actual       
tragedy1 the ',second ,mrs4 ,tanqueray1'

 for example1 and ',ghosts4' ,and more  
than one critic has dwelt upon the      
structural likeness of the somber and   
austere ',ghosts' of ,ibsen to the      
elevated and noble ',o,edipus the ,king'
 of ,sophocles1 even if the ,greek play 
is full of a serener poetry and charged 
with a deeper message4  ,it is a far cry
 from ,buffalo ,bill's ,wild ,west to   
the ',o,edipus' of ,sophocles2 but they 
are only opposite ends of a long chain  
which binds together the heterogeneous  
medley of so-called amusements4 ,in the 
eyes of every observer with insight into
 actual conditions1 the show business   
bears an obvious resemblance to the     
,united ,states1 in that it is a vast   
territory divided into contiguous       
,states1 often difficult to bound with  
precision2 and1 like the ,united        
,states1 the show business is1 in the   
words of ,webster1 one and indivisible1 
now and forever4 ,there is indisputable 
profit for every student of the art of  
the stage in a frank recognition of the 

fact that dramatic literature is        
inextricably associated with the show   
business1 and the wider and deeper his  
acquaintance with the ramifications of  
the show business1 the better fitted he 
is to understand certain characteristics
 of the masterpieces of dramatic        
literature4 ,any consideration of       
dramatic literature1 apart from the     
actual conditions of performance1 apart 
from the special theater for which any  
given play was composed1 and to the     
conditions of which it had1 perforce1 to
 conform1 is bound to be one-sided1 not 
to say sterile4 ,the masterpieces of    
dramatic literature were all of them    
written to be performed by actors1 in a 
theater1 and before an audience4 ,and   
these masterpieces of dramatic          
literature which we now analyze with    
reverence1 were all of them immediately 
successful when represented by the      
performers for whom they were written1  
and in the playhouses to the conditions 
of which they had been adjusted4  ,it is

 painfully difficult for the purely     
literary critic to recognize the        
inexorable fact that there are no truly 
great plays which failed to please the  
contemporary spectators for whose       
delight they were devised4 ,many of the 
plays which win success from time to    
time1 indeed1 most of them1 achieve only
 a fleeting vogue2 they lack the element
 of permanence2 they have only          
theatrical effectiveness2 and they are  
devoid of abiding dramatic value4 ,but  
the truly great dramas established      
themselves first on the stage2 and      
afterward they also revealed the solid  
qualities which we demand in the study4 
,they withstood1 first of all1 the      
ordeal by fire before the footlights of 
the theater1 and they were able         
thereafter also to resist the touchstone
 of time in the library4  ,when an      
academic investigator into the arid     
annals of dogmatic disquisition about   
the drama was rash enough to assert     
that1 from the standpoint of the history

 of culture1 the theater is only one1   
and a very insignificant one1 of all the
 influences that have gone to make up   
dramatic literature1 ,mr4 ,william      
,archer promptly pointed out that this  
was just about as reasonable as to      
declare that the sea is only one1 and a 
very insignificant one1 among the       
influences that have gone to the making 
of ships4 ,it is true1 ,mr4 ,archer     
admitted1 that there are model ships and
 ships built for training purposes on   
dry land2 but they all more or less     
closely imitate sea-going vessels1 and  
if they did not1 we should not call them
 ships at all4444 ,the ship-builder1 in 
planning his craft1 must know what      
depths of water--be it river1 lake1 or  
ocean--she will have to ply in1 what    
conditions of wind and weather she may  
reckon upon encountering1 and what speed
 will be demanded of her if she is to   
fulfil the purpose for which she is     
destined4444 ,the theater--the actual   
building1 with its dimensions1          

structure1 and scenic appliances--is the
 dramatist's sea4 ,and the audience     
provides the weather4                   
,,iii  ,since the drama is irrevocably  
related to the theater1 all the varied  
ramifications of the show business have 
their interest and their significance   
for students of the stage4 ,it is not   
too much to say that there is no form of
 entertainment1 however humble and      
however remote from literature1 which   
may not supply a useful hint or two1 now
 and again1 to the historian of the     
drama4 ,for example1 few things would   
seem farther apart than the lamentable  
tragedy of ,punch and ,judy and the     
soul-stirring plays of the ,athenian    
dramatic poets2 and yet there is more   
than one point of contact between these 
two performances4 ,an alert observer of 
a ,punch-and-,judy show in the streets  
of ,london can get help from it for the 
elucidation of a problem or two which   
may have puzzled him in his effort to   
understand the peculiarities of ,attic  

tragedy4 ,mr4 ,punch's wooden head1 for 
example1 has the same unchanging        
expression which characterized the      
towering masks worn by the ,athenian    
performers4 ,in like manner a           
nondescript hodgepodge of funny         
episodes1 interspersed with songs and   
dances1 such as ,weber and ,fields used 
to present in ,new ,york1 may be        
utilized to shed light on the           
lyrical-burlesques of ,aristophanes as  
these were performed in ,athens more    
than two thousand years ago4  ,perhaps  
even a third instance of this           
possibility of explaining the glorious  
past by the humble present may not be   
out of place4 ,a few years ago ,edward  
,harrigan put together a variety-show   
sketch1 called the ',mulligan ,guards1' 
and its success encouraged him to       
develop it into a little comic drama    
called the ',mulligan ,guards' ,picnic1'
 which was the earliest of a succession 
of farcical studies of tenement-house   
life in ,new ,york1 culminating at last 

in a three-act comedy1 entitled         
',squatter ,sovereignty4' ,in this      
series of humorous pieces ,harrigan set 
before us a wide variety of types of    
character1 ,irishmen of all sorts1      
,germans and ,italians1 negroes and     
,chinamen1 as these are commingled in   
the melting-pot of the cosmopolitan     
metropolis4 ,these humorous pieces were 
the result of a spontaneous evolution1  
and their author was wholly innocent of 
any acquaintance with the ,latin drama4 
,and yet1 as it happened1 ,harrigan was 
doing for the tenement-house population 
of ,new ,york very much what ,plautus   
had done for the tenement-house         
population of ,rome4 ,a familiarity with
 the plays of the ,latin playwright     
could not but increase our appreciation 
of the amusing pieces of the            
,irish-,american sketch-writer2 and a   
familiarity with the comic dramas of    
,harrigan could not fail to be of       
immediate assistance to us in our desire
 to understand the remote life which    

,plautus was dealing with4  ,the plays  
of the ,roman dramatist were            
deliberately adapted from the ,greek1   
and they therefore had an avowedly      
literary source1 whereas the immediate  
origin of the plays performed in ,new   
,york was only an unpretending sketch   
for a variety-show2 but both of these   
groups had the same flavor of veracity  
in their reproduction of the teeming    
life of the tenements4 ,humble as is the
 beginning of the ',mulligan ,guard'    
series1 at least as humble is the       
beginning of the improvised pieces of   
the ,italians1 the comedy of masks1     
which ,moliere lifted into literature in
 his ',etourdi1' and in his ',fourberies
 de ,scapin4' ,in the hands of the      
,italians the comedy of masks was       
absolutely unliterary1 since it was not 
even written1 and its performers were   
not only comedians1 but acrobats also4  
,and here the drama is seen to be       
impinging on the special sphere of the  
circus--just as it does again in the    

plays prepared for the ,new ,york       
,hippodrome4 ,it is more than probable  
that this improvised comedy of the      
,italians is the long development of a  
primitive semi-gymnastic1 semi-dramatic 
entertainment1 given by a little group  
of strollers1 performing in the open    
market-place to please the casual crowd 
that might collect4  ,equally           
unpretending was the origin of the      
,french melodrama1 which ,victor ,hugo  
lifted into literature in his ',hernani'
 and ',ruy ,blas4' ,it began in the     
temporary theaters erected for a brief  
season in one or the other of the fairs 
held annually in different parts of     
,paris4 ,the performances in these      
playhouses were almost exactly          
equivalent to those in our              
variety-shows2 they were medleys of song
 and dance1 of acrobatic feats and of   
exhibitions of trained animals4 ,as in  
our own variety-shows1 again1 there were
 also little plays performed from time  
to time1 at first scarcely more than a  

framework on which to hang songs and    
dances1 but at last taking on a solider 
substance1 until finally they stiffened 
themselves into pathetic pieces in three
 or more acts1 capable of providing     
pleasure for a whole evening4 ,the humor
 was direct1 and the characters were    
painted in the primary colors2 the      
passions were violent1 and the plots    
were arbitrary2 but the playwrights had 
discovered how to hold the interest of  
their simple-minded spectators1 and how 
to draw tears and laughter at will4  ,in
 fact1 the more minutely the history of 
the stage is studied1 the more clearly  
do we perceive that the beginnings of   
every form of the drama are strangely   
unpretentious1 and that literary merit  
is attained only in the final stages of 
its development4 ,dramatic literature is
 but the ultimate evolution of that     
which in the beginning was only an      
insignificant and unimportant experiment
 in the show business2 and it must      
always remain intimately related to the 

show business1 even when it climbs to   
the lonely peaks of the poetic drama4   
,whatever its value1 and however weighty
 its message1 it is still to be         
commented upon under the head of        
amusements1 for if it does not succeed  
in amusing1 it ceases to exist except in
 the library1 and even there only for   
special students4 ,it lives by its      
immediate theatrical effectiveness      
alone1 even if it can survive solely by 
its literary quality4                   
,,iv  ,those who are in the habit of    
gaging the drama by this literary       
quality only are prone to deplore the   
bad taste of the public which flocks to 
purely spectacular pieces4 ,but this    
again is no new thing1 and it does not  
disclose any decline in the ability to  
appreciate the best4 ,a century ago in  
,london1 when ,sarah ,siddons and ,john 
,philip ,kemble were in the full        
plenitude of their powers1 and when they
 were performing the noblest plays of   
,shakspere1 they were thrust aside for a

 season or two while the theater was    
given up to empty melodramatic          
spectacles like ',castle ,specter' and  
the ',cataract of the ,ganges4' ,it was 
horrifying to the lovers of the drama   
that these great actors in those great  
plays should have to give way to the    
attraction exerted on the public by a   
trained elephant1 or by an imitation    
waterfall2 but it is equally horrifying 
to be informed that the theater in      
,london for which ,shakspere wrote his  
masterpieces1 and in which he himself   
appeared as an actor1 was also used for 
fencing-matches1 and for bull-baitings  
and bear-baitings1 and that the theater 
in ,athens for which ,sophocles wrote   
his masterpieces1 and in which he may   
have appeared as an actor1 was also used
 for the annual cock-fight4  ,so strong 
is the popular appreciation of spectacle
 that the drama1 the true theater as    
distinguished from the mere show        
business1 has always to fight for its   
right to exist1 and to hold its place in

 competition with less intellectual and 
more sensational entertainments4 ,the   
playhouses of any ,american city are    
likely to have a lean week whenever the 
circus comes to town1 and perhaps the   
chief reason why the most of them now   
close in summer is to be sought not so  
much in the frequent hot spells1 as in  
the irresistible attraction exerted by  
the base-ball games4 ,the drama in      
,spain1 which flourished superbly in the
 days of ,lope de ,vega and ,calderon1  
sank into a sad decline when it had to  
compete with the fiercer delights of the
 bullfight2 and the drama in ,rome was  
actually killed out by the overpowering 
rivalry of the sports of the arena1 the 
combats of gladiators1 and the matching 
of men with wild beasts4 ,what is known 
to the economists as ,gresham's ,law1   
according to which an inferior currency 
always tends to drive out a superior1   
seems to have an analog in the show     
business4  7#aiab47                     
,,ii                        ,,the       

,,limitations ,,of ,,the ,,stage        
,,the ,,limitations ,,of ,,the ,,stage  
,i  ,few competent critics would dispute
 the assertion that the drama1 if not   
actually the noblest of the arts1 is at 
all events the most comprehensive1 since
 it can invoke the aid of all the others
 without impairing its own individuality
 or surrendering its right to be        
considered the senior partner in any    
alliance it may make4 ,poetry1 oratory1 
and music1 painting1 sculpture1 and     
architecture1 these the drama can take  
into its service1 with no danger to its 
own control4 ,yet even if the drama may 
have the widest range of any of the     
arts1 none the less are its boundaries  
clearly defined4 ,what it can do1 it    
does with a sharpness of effect and with
 a cogency of appeal no other art can   
rival4 ,but there are many things it    
cannot do2 and there are not a few      
things that it can attempt only at its  
peril4 ,some of these impossibilities   
and inexpediencies are psychologic      

subtleties of character and of sentiment
 too delicate and too minute for the    
magnifying lens of the theater itself2  
and some of them are physical1 too large
 in themselves to be compressed into the
 rigid area of the stage4 ,in advance of
 actual experiment1 it is not always    
possible for even the most experienced  
of theatrical experts to decide the     
question with certainty4  ,moreover1    
there is always the audience to be      
reckoned with1 and even old stagers like
 ,henry ,irving and ,victorien ,sardou  
cannot foresee the way in which the     
many-headed monster will take what is   
set before it4 ,when ,percy ,fitzgerald 
and ,w4 ,g4 ,wills were preparing an    
adaptation of the ',flying ,dutchman'   
for ,henry ,irving1 the actor made a    
suggestion which the authors immediately
 adopted4 ,the romantic legend has for  
its hero a sea-captain condemned to     
eternal life until he can find a maiden 
willing to share his lot2 and when at   
last he meets the heroine she has       

another lover1 who is naturally jealous 
of the new aspirant to her hand4 ,the   
young rival challenges ,vanderdecken to 
a duel1 and what ,irving proposed was   
that the survivor of the fight should   
agree to throw the body of his rival    
into the sea1 and that the waves should 
cast up the condemned ,vanderdecken on  
the shore1 since the ill-fated sailor   
could not avoid his doom by death at the
 hand of man4 ,this was an appropriate  
development of the tale2 it was really  
imaginative2 and it would have been     
strangely moving if it had introduced   
into it a ballad on the old theme4 ,but 
in a play performed before us in a      
theater its effect was not altogether   
what its proposer had hoped for1 altho  
he presented it with all his marvelous  
command of theatrical artifice4  ,the   
stage-setting ,irving bestowed upon this
 episode was perfectly in keeping with  
its tone4 ,the spectators saw the sandy 
beach of a little cove shut in by       
cliffs1 with the placid ocean bathed in 

the sunset glow4 ,the two men crossed   
swords on the strand2 ,vanderdecken let 
himself be killed1 and the victorious   
lover carried his rival's body up the   
rocks and hurled it into the ocean4     
,then he departed1 and for a moment all 
was silence4 ,a shuddering sigh soon    
swept over the face of the waters1 and a
 ripple lapped the sand4 ,then a little 
wave broke on the beach1 and withdrew1  
rasping over the stones4 ,at last a huge
 roller crashed forward and the sea gave
 up its dead4 ,vanderdecken lay high and
 dry on the shore1 and in a moment he   
staggered to his feet1 none the worse   
for his wounds4 ,but unfortunately the  
several devices for accomplishing this  
result1 admirable as they were1 drew    
attention each of them to itself4 ,the  
audience could not help wondering how   
the trick of the waves was being worked1
 and when the ,flying ,dutchman was     
washed up by the water1 it was not the  
mighty deep rejecting ,vanderdecken1    
again cursed with life1 that the        

spectators perceived1 but rather the    
dignified ,henry ,irving himself1       
unworthily tumbled about on the dust of 
his own stage4 ,in the effort to make   
visible this imaginative embellishment  
of the strange story1 its magic potency 
vanished4 ,the poetry of the striking   
improvement on the old tale had been    
betrayed by its translation into the    
material realities of the theater1 since
 the concrete presentation necessarily  
contradicted the abstract beauty of the 
idea4  ,here we find ourselves face to  
face with one of the most obvious       
limitations of the stage--that its power
 of suggestion is often greater than its
 power of actual presentation4 ,there   
are many things1 poetic and imaginative1
 which the theater can accomplish1 after
 a fashion1 but which it ventures upon  
only at imminent peril of failure4 ,many
 things which are startlingly effective 
in the telling are ineffective in the   
actual seeing4 ,the mere mechanism      
needed to represent them will often be  

contradictory1 and sometimes even       
destructive4 ,perhaps it may be         
advisable to cite another example1 not  
quite so cogent as ,irving's            
',vanderdecken1' and yet carrying the   
same moral4 ,this other example will be 
found in a piece by ,sardou1 a man who  
knew all the possibilities of the       
theater as intimately as ,irving        
himself1 and who was wont to utilize    
them with indefatigable skill4 ,indeed1 
so frequently did the ,french playwright
 avail himself of stage devices1 and so 
often was he willing to rely upon them1 
that not a few critics of our latter-day
 drama have been inclined to dismiss him
 as merely a supremely adroit theatrical
 trickster4  ,in his sincerest play1    
',patrie1' the piece which he dedicated 
to ,motley1 and which he seems himself  
to have been proudest of1 ,sardou       
invented a most picturesque episode4    
,the ,spaniards are in possession of    
,brussels2 the citizens are ready to    
rise1 and ,william of ,orange is coming 

to their assistance4 ,the chiefs of the 
revolt leave the city secretly and meet 
,william at night in the frozen moat of 
an outlying fort4 ,a ,spanish patrol    
interrupts their consultation1 and      
forces them to conceal themselves4 ,a   
little later a second patrol is heard   
approaching1 just when the return of the
 first patrol is impending4 ,for the    
moment it looks as tho the patriots     
would be caught between the two ,spanish
 companies4 ,but ,william of ,orange    
rises to the occasion4 ,he calls on his 
sea-wolves2 and when the second patrol  
appears1 marching in single file1 there 
suddenly spring out of the darkness upon
 every ,spanish soldier two fur-clad    
creatures1 who throttle him1 bind him1  
and throw him into a hole in the ice of 
the moat4 ,then they swiftly fill in    
this gaping cavity with blocks of snow1 
and trample the path level above it4    
,and almost immediately after the       
sea-wolves have done their deadly work  
and withdrawn again into hiding1 the    

first patrol returns1 and passes all    
unsuspecting over the bodies of their   
comrades--a very practical example of   
dramatic irony4  ,as it happened1 ,i had
 read ',patrie' some years before ,i had
 an opportunity to see it on the stage1 
and this picturesque scene had lingered 
in my memory so that in the theater ,i  
eagerly awaited its coming4 ,when it    
arrived at last ,i was sadly            
disappointed4 ,the sea-wolves belied    
their appetizing name2 they irresistibly
 suggested a group of trained acrobats1 
and ,i found myself carelessly noting   
the artifices by the aid of which the   
imitation snowballs were made to fill   
the trapdoor of the stage which         
represented the yawning hole in the ice 
of the frozen moat4 ,the thing told was 
picturesque1 but the thing seen was     
curiously unmoving2 and ,i have noted   
without surprise that in the latest     
revival of ',patrie' the attempt to make
 this episode effective was finally     
abandoned1 the sea-wolves being cut out 

of the play4                            
,,ii  ,in ',patrie' as in               
',vanderdecken' the real reason for the 
failure of these mechanical devices is  
that the plays were themselves on a     
superior level to those stage-tricks2   
the themes were poetic1 and any         
theatrical effect which drew attention  
to itself interrupted the current of    
emotional sympathy4 ,it disclosed itself
 instantly as incongruous1 as out of    
keeping with the elevation of the       
legend--in a word1 as inartistic4 ,a    
similar effect1 perhaps even more       
frankly mechanical1 would not be        
inartistic in a play of a lower type1   
and it might possibly be helpful in a   
frankly spectacular piece1 even if this 
happened also to be poetic in intent4   
,in a fairy-play1 a feerie1 as the      
,french term it1 we expect to behold all
 sorts of startling ingenuities of      
stage-mechanism1 whether the theme is   
delightfully imaginative1 as in         
,maeterlinck's beautiful ',blue ,bird1' 

or crassly prosaic1 as in the ',black   
,crook' and the ',white ,fawn4'  ,in    
picturesque melodrama also1 in the      
dramatization of ',ben ,hur1' for       
example1 we should be disappointed if we
 were bereft of the wreck of the ,roman 
galley1 and if we were deprived of the  
chariot race4 ,these episodes can be    
presented in the theater only by the aid
 of mechanisms far more elaborate than  
those needed for the scenes in          
',vanderdecken' and ',patrie'2 but in   
',ben ,hur' these mechanisms are not    
incongruous and distracting as were the 
simpler devices of ',vanderdecken' and  
',patrie1' because the dramatization of 
the romanticist historical novel is less
 lofty in its ambition1 less            
imaginative1 less ethereally poetic4 ,in
 ',vanderdecken' and in ',patrie' the   
tricks seemed to obtrude themselves1    
whereas in ',ben ,hur' they were almost 
obligatory4 ,in certain melodramas with 
more modern stories--in the amusing     
piece called the ',round ,up1' for      

example--the scenery is the main        
attraction4 ,the scene-painter is the   
real star of the show4 ,and there is no 
difficulty in understanding the wail of 
the performer of the principal part in a
 piece of this sort1 when he complained 
that he was engaged to support forty    
tons of scenery4 ,it's only when the    
stage-carpenters have to rest and get   
their breath that ,i have a chance to   
come down to the footlights and bark for
 a minute or two4  ,a moment's          
consideration shows that this plaintive 
protest is unreasonable1 however natural
 it may be4 ,in melodramas like the     
',round ,up' and ',ben ,hur1' as in     
fairy-plays like the ',blue ,bird1' the 
acting is properly subordinated to the  
spectacular splendor of the whole       
performance4 ,when we enter a theater to
 behold a play of either of these types1
 we expect the acting to be adequate1 no
 doubt1 but we do not demand the highest
 type of histrionic excellence4 ,what we
 do anticipate1 however1 is a spectacle 

pleasing to the eye and stimulating to  
the nerves4 ,in plays of these two      
classes the appeal is sensuous rather   
than intellectual2 and it is only when  
the appeal of the play is to the mind   
rather than to the senses that merely   
mechanical effects are likely to be     
disconcerting4  ,mr4 ,william ,archer   
has pointed out that ,ibsen in ',little 
,eyolf1' has for once failed to perceive
 the strict limitation of the stage when
 he introduced a flagstaff1 with the    
flag at first at half-mast1 and a little
 later run up to the peak4 ,now1 there  
are no natural breezes in the theater to
 flutter the folds of the flag1 and     
every audience is aware of the fact4    
,this1 then1 is the dilemma3 either the 
flag hangs limp and lifeless against the
 pole1 which is a flat spectacle1 or    
else its folds are made to flutter by   
some concealed pneumatic blast or       
electric fan1 which instantly arouses   
the inquiring curiosity of the audience4
 ,here we find added evidence in support

 of ,herbert ,spencer's invaluable      
principle of ,economy of ,attention1    
which he himself applied only to        
rhetoric1 but which is capable of       
extension to all the other arts--and to 
no one of them more usefully than to the
 drama4 ,at any given moment a spectator
 in the theater has only so much        
attention to bestow upon the play being 
presented before his eyes1 and if any   
portion of his attention is unduly      
distracted by some detail--like either  
the limpness or the fluttering of a     
flag--then he has just so much less to  
give to the play itself4  ,very rarely1 
indeed1 can we catch ,ibsen at fault in 
a technical detail of stage-management2 
he was extraordinarily meticulous in his
 artful adjustment of the action of his 
social dramas to the picture-frame stage
 of our modern cosmopolitan theater4 ,he
 was marvelously skilful in endowing    
each of his acts with a background      
harmonious for his characters2 and      
nearly always was he careful to refrain 

from the employment of any scenic device
 which might attract attention to       
itself4 ,he eschewed altogether the more
 violent spectacular effects1 altho he  
did call upon the stage manager to      
supply an avalanche in the final act of 
',when the ,dead ,awaken'2 but even this
 bold convulsion of nature was less     
incongruous than might be expected1     
since it was not exhibited until the    
action of the play itself was complete4 
,in fact1 the avalanche might be        
described as only a pictorial epilog4   
,,iii  ,the principle of sternly        
economizing the attention of the        
audience can be violated by distractions
 far less extraneous and far less       
extravagant than avalanches4 ,when      
,marmontel's forgotten tragedy of       
',cleopatra' was produced in the        
eighteenth century at the ,theatre      
,francais1 the misguided poet prevailed 
upon ,vaucanson to make an artificial   
asp1 which the ,egyptian queen coiled   
about her arm at the end of the play1   

thereby releasing a spring1 whereupon   
the beast raised its head angrily and   
emitted a shrill hiss before sinking its
 fangs into ,cleopatra's flesh4 ,at the 
first performance a spectator1 bored by 
the tediousness of the tragedy1 rose to 
his feet when he heard the hiss of the  
tiny serpent3 ,i agree with the asp6 he 
cried1 as he made his way to the door4  
,but even if ,vaucanson's skilful       
automaton had not given occasion for    
this disastrous gibe1 whatever attention
 the audience might pay to the          
mechanical means of ,cleopatra's suicide
 was necessarily subtracted from that   
available for the sad fate of ,cleopatra
 herself4 ,if at that moment the        
spectators noted at all the hissing     
snake1 then they were not really in a   
fit mood to feel the tragic             
death-struggle of the serpent of old    
,nile4 ,a kindred blunder was manifest  
in a recent sumptuously spectacular     
revival of ',macbeth1' when the three   
witches flew here and there thru the dim

 twilight across the blasted heath1     
finally vanishing into empty air4 ,these
 mysterious flittings and disappearances
 were achieved by attaching the         
performers of the weird sisters to      
invisible wires1 whereby they could be  
swung aloft2 the trick had been         
exploited earlier in the so-called      
,flying ,ballet1 wherein it was a       
graceful and amusing adjunct of the     
terpsichorean revels4 ,but in ',macbeth'
 it emptied ,shakspere's scene of its   
dramatic significance1 since the        
spectator waited for and watched the    
startling flights of the witches1 and   
admired the dexterity with which their  
aerial voyages were controlled2 and as a
 result he failed to feel the emotional 
importance of the interview between     
,macbeth and the withered croons1 whose 
untoward greetings were to start the    
villain-hero on his downward career of  
crime4  ,in this same revival of        
',macbeth' an equally misplaced         
ingenuity was lavished on the apparition

 of ,banquo's ghost at the banquet4 ,the
 gruesome specter was made mysteriously 
visible thru the temporarily transparent
 walls of the palace1 until at last he  
emerged to take his seat on ,macbeth's  
chair4 ,the effect was excellent in     
itself1 and the spectators followed all 
the movements of the ghost with pleased 
attention1 more or less forgetting      
,macbeth1 and failing to note the       
maddening effect of the apparition upon 
the seared countenance of the           
assassin-king4 ,in this revival of      
',macbeth' no opportunity was neglected 
to adorn the course of the play with    
every possible scenic and mechanic      
accompaniment2 and the total result of  
these accumulated artificialities of    
presentation was to rob one of          
,shakspere's most poetic tragedies of   
nearly all its poetry1 and to reduce    
this imaginative masterpiece to the     
prosaic level of a spectacular          
melodrama4  ,another of ,shakspere's    
tragedies has become almost impossible  

in our modern playhouses1 because the   
stage-manager does not dare to do       
without the spectacular effects that the
 story seems to demand4 ,shakspere      
composed ',king ,lear' for the bare     
platform-stage of the ,globe ,theater1  
devoid of all scenery1 and supplied with
 only the most primitive appliances for 
suggesting rain and thunder2 and he     
introduced three successive storm       
scenes1 each intenser in interest than  
the one that went before1 until the     
culmination comes in perhaps the        
sublimest and most pitiful episode in   
all tragedy1 when the mad king and his  
follower1 who is pretending to be       
insane1 and his faithful fool are       
together out in the tempest4 ,at the    
original production1 three centuries    
ago1 the three storms may have increased
 in violence as they followed one       
another2 but at best the fierceness of  
the contending elements could then be   
only suggested1 and the rain and the    
thunder were not allowed to divert      

attention away from the agonized plight 
of the mad monarch4 ,but to-day the     
three storm scenes are rolled into one1 
and the stage-manager sets out to       
manufacture a realistic tempest in      
rivalry with nature4 ,the mimic         
artillery of heaven and the simulated   
deluge from the skies which the producer
 now provides may excite our artistic   
admiration for his skill1 but they      
distract our attention from the coming  
together of the characters so strangely 
met in the midst of the storm4 ,the more
 realistically the tempest is reproduced
 the worse it is for the tragedy itself2
 and in most recent revivals the full   
effect of the painful story has been    
smothered by the sound and fury of the  
man-made storm4  ,the counterweighted   
wires which permit the figures of the   
,flying ,ballet to soar over the stage  
and to float aloft in the air1 disturb  
the current of our sympathy when they   
are employed to lend lightness to       
intangible creatures like the weird     

sisters of ,shakspere's tragedy2 but    
they have been more artistically        
utilized in two of ,shakspere's comedies
 to suggest the ethereality of ,puck and
 of ,ariel4 ,the action of the          
',midsummer ,night's ,dream' takes place
 in fairy-land1 and that of the         
',tempest' passes in an enchanted       
island1 and even if we wonder for a     
moment how the levitation of these airy 
spirits is achieved1 this temporary     
distraction of our attention is         
negligible in playful comedies like     
these with all their scenes laid in a   
land of make-believe4 ,and yet it may be
 doubted whether even the ',midsummer   
,night's ,dream' and the ',tempest1'    
fairy-plays as they are1 do not on the  
whole lose more than they gain from     
elaborate scenic and mechanical         
adjuncts4 ,they are of poetry all       
compact1 and the more simply they are   
presented1 the less obtrusive the       
scenery and the less protruded the      
needful effects1 the more the effort of 

the producer is centered upon preserving
 the ethereal atmosphere wherein the    
characters live1 move1 and have their   
being1 the more harmonious the          
performance is with the pure fancy which
 inspired these two delightful pieces1  
then the more truly successful is the   
achievement of the stage-manager4       
,,iv  ,on the other hand1 of course1 the
 scenic accompaniment of a poetic play1 
whether tragic or romantic or comic1    
must never be so scant or so barren as  
to disappoint the spectators4 ,the      
stage-accessories must be adequate and  
yet subordinate2 they ought to resemble 
the clothes of a truly well-dressed     
woman1 in that they never call attention
 to themselves altho they can withstand 
and even reward intimate inspection4    
,this delicate ideal of artistic        
stage-setting1 esthetically satisfying1 
and yet never flamboyant1 was completely
 attained in the production of ',sister 
,beatrice1' at the ,new ,theater1 due to
 the skill and taste of ,mr4 ,hamilton  

,bell4 ,the several manifestations of   
the supernatural might easily have been 
over-emphasized2 but a fine restraint   
resulted in a unity of tone and of      
atmosphere1 so subtly achieved that the 
average spectator carried away the      
memory of more than one lovely picture  
without having let his thoughts wander  
away to consider by what means he had   
been made to feel the presence of a     
miracle4  ,the special merit of this    
production of ',sister ,beatrice' lay in
 the delicate art by which more was     
suggested than could well be shown4 ,in 
the theater1 more often than not1 the   
half is greater than the whole1 and what
 is unseen is frequently more powerful  
than what is made visible4 ,in ,mr4     
,belasco's ',darling of the ,gods1' a   
singularly beautiful spectacle1 touched 
at times with a pathetic poetry1 the    
defeated samurais are at last reduced to
 commit hara-kiri4 ,but we were not made
 spectators of these several            
self-murders2 we were permitted to      

behold only the dim cane-brake into     
which these brave men had withdrawn1 and
 to overhear each of them call out his  
farewell greetings to his friends before
 he dealt himself the deadly thrust4 ,if
 we had been made witnesses of this     
accumulated self-slaughter we might have
 been revolted by the brutality of it4  
,transmitted to us out of a vague       
distance by a few scattered cries1 it   
moved us like the inevitable close of a 
truly tragic tale4  ,in the ',aiglon' of
 ,m4 ,rostand1 ,napoleon's feeble son   
finds himself alone with an old soldier 
of his father's on the battle-field of  
,wagram2 and in the darkness of the     
night1 and in the turmoil of a          
wind-storm the hysteric lad almost      
persuades himself that he is actually   
present at the famous fight1 that he can
 hear the shrieks of the wounded1 and   
the groans of the dying1 and that he can
 see the hands and arms of the dead     
stretched up from the ground4 ,this is  
all in the sickly boy's fancy1 of       

course1 and yet in ,paris the author had
 voices heard1 and caused hands and arms
 to be extended upward from the edge of 
the back drop1 thus vulgarizing his own 
imaginative episode by the presentation 
of a concrete reality4 ,not quite so    
inartistic as this1 and yet frankly     
freakish was the arrangement of the     
closet scene between ,hamlet and his    
mother1 when ,sarah-,bernhardt made her 
misguided effort to impersonate the     
,prince of ,denmark4 ,on the walls of   
the room where ,hamlet talks daggers to 
the queen there were full-length1       
life-sized portraits of her two         
successive husbands1 and when ,hamlet   
bids her look on this picture1 and on   
this1 the portrait of ,hamlet's father  
became transparent1 and in its frame the
 spectators suddenly perceived the      
ghost4 ,this is an admirable example of 
misplaced cleverness1 of the search for 
novelty for its own sake1 of the        
sacrifice of the totality of impression 
to a mere trick4  ',hamlet' is the most 

poetic of plays1 and the ',aiglon' does 
its best to be poetic1 and therefore the
 less overt spectacle there may be in   
the performance of these dramas the     
easier it will be for the spectator to  
focus his attention on the poetry       
itself4 ,even more pretentiously poetic 
than the ',aiglon' is ',chantecler1'    
upon which the ambitious author has also
 lavished a great variety of            
stage-effects--as tho he were not quite 
willing to rely for success upon his    
lyrical exuberance4 ,in ,m4 ,rostand's  
',aiglon' and ',chantecler1' as in      
,sarah-,bernhardt's ',hamlet1' there was
 to be observed a frequent confusion of 
the merely theatric with the purely     
dramatic--a confusion to be found forty 
years ago in ,fechter's ',hamlet4' ,that
 picturesque ,french actor made over the
 ,english tragedy into a ,french        
romantic melodrama2 he kept the naked   
plot1 and he cut out all the poetry4 ,he
 lowered ,shakspere's play to the level 
of the other melodramas in which he had 

won success--for instance1 ',no         
,thorofare1' due to the collaboration of
 ,dickens and ,wilkie ,collins1 or the  
earlier ',fils de la ,nuit1' acted in   
,paris long before ,fechter appeared on 
the ,english-speaking stage4  ,the ',son
 of the ,night' was a pirate bold1      
personated1 of course1 by ,fechter1 and 
in one act his long1 low1 rakish craft  
with its black flag flying1 skimmed     
across the stage1 cutting the waves1 and
 dropping anchor close to the           
footlights4 ,the surface of the sea was 
represented by a huge cloth1 and the    
incessant motion of the waves was due to
 the concealed activities of a dozen    
boys4 ,the play had so long a run that  
the sea-cloth was worn dangerously thin4
 ,at last at one performance1 a rent    
spread suddenly and disclosed a         
disgusted boy1 just as the pirate ship  
with the ,son of the ,night on its deck 
was preparing to come about4 ,fechter   
was equal to the emergency4 ,man        
overboard6 he cried1 and1 leaning over  

the bow of the boat1 he grabbed the boy 
by the collar and pulled him on deck4   
,probably very few of the spectators    
noticed the mishap1 and if they had all 
observed it1 what matter8 ,a laugh or   
two1 more or less1 during the           
performance of a prosaic melodrama1 is  
of little or no consequence4 ,a         
disconcerting accident like this in a   
play like the ',son of the ,night' does 
not cut any vital current of sympathy1  
for this is a quality to which the piece
 could make no claim4 ,but in a truly   
poetic play a mishap of this sort would 
be a misfortune in that it might        
precipitate the interest and interrupt  
the harmony of attention demanded by the
 imaginative drama itself4  7#aiab47    
,,iii                         ,a ,,moral
 ,,from ,a ,,toy ,,theater              
,a ,,moral ,,from ,a ,,toy ,,theater    
,i  ,in #ahha1 when ,william ,ernest    
,henley was hard put to it to make a    
living1 ,sir ,sidney ,colvin kindly     
recommended him for the editorship of   

the monthly ,magazine of ,art4 ,among   
the contributors whom the new editor    
called to his aid was ,robert ,louis    
,stevenson1 and among the contributions 
the latter made to the former's magazine
 was the highly characteristic and      
self-revelatory essay1 entitled ',a     
,penny ,plain and ,two ,pence ,colored1'
 now included in the volume called      
',memories and ,portraits4' ,in this    
playful paper ,stevenson makes one of   
his many returns to his boyhood1 whose  
moods he could always recapture at will 
with the assistance of that imaginative 
memory which was one of his special     
gifts1 and he was able to replevin from 
the dim limbo of things half forgotten  
his longing delight in the toy theater1 
the scenes for which and the necessary  
properties and the several characters   
themselves in their successive dresses  
were to be procured printed on very thin
 cardboard1 so that the proud possessor 
might cut them out at will4 ,if the     
youthful capitalist had accumulated     

twopence1 he could acquire these        
treasures already resplendent in their  
glowing hues2 and yet ,stevenson held   
that the lad was happier who parted with
 only a single penny1 reserving the half
 of his fortune for the purchase of the 
paints wherewith he might himself vivify
 this scenery and these properties1 and 
so cause his characters to start to     
life1 emblazoned in the bold colors     
which please the puerile mind4  ,these  
sheets of thin cardboard1 with thin     
little pamphlets containing the text of 
the pieces to be performed in the toy   
theater1 were originally known as       
,skelt's ,juvenile ,drama2 and one      
,skelt seems to have been its           
originator1 probably in the early part  
of the nineteenth century4 ,apparently  
he parted with his precious stock in    
trade to one ,park1 who passed it on in 
due season to one ,webb1 who transmitted
 it to one ,redington1 until at last it 
descended to its present owner1 one ,b4 
,pollock1 of #gc ,hoxton ,street1       

,london1 ,n4 ,stevenson affected to     
think that ,skelt's ,juvenile ,drama had
 become1 for the most part1 a memory2   
yet it survives now in the second decade
 of the twentieth century as ,pollock's 
,juvenile ,drama1 and ,mr4 ,pollock     
proclaims that he has republished some  
score plays1 and that he keeps them     
always in print1 plain and colored4 ,he 
offers1 furthermore1 to supply ,drop    
,scenes1 ,top ,drops1 ,orchestras1 ,foot
 and ,water ,pieces1 ,single ,portraits1
 ,combats--,fours1 ,sixes1 ,twelves1    
,sixteens--,fairies1 ,horse ,soldiers1  
,clowns1 ,rifles1 ,animals1 ,birds1     
,butterflies1 ,houses1 ,views1 ,ships1  
c41 plain and colored1 #a_/b;d sheet    
plain1 #a;d sheet colored4              
,illustration3 ,taken from upper half of
 ,plate ,no4 #a1 which is the title-page
 of the series1 this section of which is
 also a guide for the setting of the    
first scene in the ',miller and ,his    
,men'  ,it is from the covers of the    
book of the words of the ',miller and   

,his ,men' that this enticing           
proclamation is taken--the ',miller and 
,his ,men1' adapted only for ,pollock's 
characters and scenes1 and accompanied  
by #g ,plates characters1 #aa ,scenes1  
#c ,wings1 ,total #ba ,plates4 ,the     
persons of the drama and the scenes     
wherein that drama is played out to its 
fiery end1 are all in the bolder manner 
of the ,old ,masters1 who sought the    
broadest effects1 and who willingly     
neglected petty details4 ,how bold and  
how broad the manner and the effects can
 best be judged by an honest            
transcription from the final page of the
 book of words1 wherein the terse and   
tense dialog1 single speech clashing    
with single speech1 is accompanied by   
stage directions for the instruction of 
the ,young ,masters who are about to    
produce the sublime spectacle3          
,enter ,grindorf left hand1 plate #d4   
,enter ,karl and ,friberg1 swords drawn1
 plate #d1 followed by the      ,troops1
 right hand1 plate #g4       ,grindorf3 

,ha6 ha6 ,i have escaped you1 have ,i8  
,karl3 ,but you are caught in your own  
trap4       ,grindorf3                  
,spiller6--,golotz6 ,golotz6 ,i say6    
,count3 ,villain6 you cannot escape us  
now6 ,surrender1 or      instantly meet 
thy fate6       ,grindorf3 ,surrender6  
,i have sworn never to descend from this
      place alive6       ,enter         
,lothair1 as ,spiller1 #crd dress1 left 
hand1 plate #g4       ,grindorf3        
,spiller1 let my bride appear4          
,exit ,lothair4       ,enter ,kehnar1   
right hand1 plate #a4       ,enter      
,ravina with torch1 plate #g4           
,ravina3 ,before it is too late1 restore
 ,claudine to her      father's arms6   
,grindorf3 ,never6       ,ravina3 ,then 
,i know my course6       ,enter ,lothair
 with ,claudine1 left hand1 plate #f4   
,kehnar3 ,my child6 ,ah1 ,grindorf1     
spare her6       ,grindorf3 ,hear me1   
,count ,friberg2 if you do not withdraw 
your      followers1 by my hand she     
dies6       ,count3 ,never1 till thou   

art yielded to justice6       ,grindorf3
 ,no more--this to her heart6           
,lothair3 ,and this to thine6           
,exit ,lothair and ,claudine1 and       
,grindorf4       ,re-enter ,grindorf and
 ,lothair fighting1 plate #f1 fight and 
exit4       ,grindorf to be put on      
wounded1 plate #g4       ,re-enter      
,lothair with ,claudine1 plate #f4      
,lothair3 ,ravina1 fire the train6      
,scene changes to explosion1 ,scene #aa1
 ,no4 #i4  ,the words are striking and  
the actions are startling1 and it is no 
wonder that plate #g and scene #aa1 ,no4
 #i1 filled with joy the heart of       
,robert ,louis ,stevenson when he was a 
perfervid ,scot of fourteen4 ,in his    
manly maturity1 when he had risen to an 
appreciation of portraits by ,raeburn1  
and when he had sat at the feet of that 
inspired critic of painting1 his cousin1
 ,r4 ,a4 ,m4 ,stevenson1 he admitted    
that he had no desire to insist upon the
 art of ,skelt's purveyors4 ,those      
wonderful characters that once so       

thrilled our soul with their bold       
attitude1 array of deadly engines and   
incomparable costume1 to-day look       
somewhat pallidly1 he confessed         
regretfully2 the extreme hard favor of  
the heroine strikes me1 ,i had almost   
said with pain2 the villain's scowl no  
longer thrills me like a trumpet2 and   
the scenes themselves1 those once       
incomparable landscapes1 seem the       
efforts of a prentice hand4 ,so much of 
fault we can find2 but1 on the other    
side1 the impartial critic rejoices to  
remark the presence of a great unity of 
gusto2 of those direct claptrap appeals 
which a man is dead and buriable when he
 fails to answer2 of the footlight      
glamor1 the ready-made1 barefaced1      
transpontine picturesque1 a thing not   
one with cold reality1 but how much     
dearer to the mind6  ,illustration3 ,a  
group of the principal characters from  
,pollock's juvenile drama1 the ',miller 
and ,his ,men1' cut out and assembled as
 called for in ,scene #aj1 a part of    

which is quoted in the text             
,,ii  ,transpontine is a ,briticism for 
which the equivalent ,americanism is    
,bowery4 ,the plays which ,skelt vended 
for the enjoyment of romantic youth were
 not of his own invention1 nor were they
 the work of his hirelings2 they were   
artfully simplified condensations of    
melodramas long popular in ,london at   
the theaters on the ,surrey side of the 
,thames1 and in ,new ,york at the       
,bowery4 ,in ,french's ,standard ,drama1
 the ,acting ,edition1 to be obtained in
 yellow covers for fifteen cents1 one   
may find the ',miller and ,his ,men1' a 
,melo-,drama in ,two ,acts1 by ,f4      
,pocock1 ,esq41 author of the ',robber's
 ,wife1' ',john of ,paris1' ',hit or    
,miss1' ',magpie and the ,maid1' etc41  
with original casts1 scene and property 
plots1 costumes1 and all the stage      
business4 ,and the list of properties   
required for the final scene helps to   
elucidate what may have been cryptic in 
the dialog quoted from the compacted    

adaptation of ,skelt3       ,scene      
#d3--,slow match laid from stage in ,c4 
to mill4 ,lighted      torch for        
,ravina4 ,red fire and explosion #c ,e4 
,l4 ,h4 ,wood crash      #c ,e4 ,l4 ,h4 
,six stuffed figures of robbers behind  
mill1 ,l4 ,h4      ,eight guns1 swords1 
and belts for hussars4 ,disguise cloak  
for      ,lothair4 ,fighting swords for 
,lothair and ,wolf4 ,wolf is            
evidently another name for ,grindorf4   
,thus we see that the pleasant country  
of the ,skelts stretched from the       
,surrey side of the ,thames to the      
,bowery bank of the ,hudson1 and that   
the ,skeltic temperament was purely     
melodramatic1 its bass notes being      
transposed to adjust it to the clear    
treble of boyhood4 ,it is greatly to be 
regretted that no inquiring scholar has 
yet devoted himself to the task of      
tracing the history of ,english         
melodrama1 as ,professor ,thorndike has 
traced the history of ,english tragedy4 
,of course1 there have always been      

melodramatic plays ever since the drama 
began to assert itself as an independent
 form of art4 ,there is a melodramatic  
element in the ',medea' of ,euripides1  
as there is in the ',rodogune' of       
,corneille2 and in the ,elizabethan     
theater the so-called tragedy of blood  
is nothing if not melodramatic4 ,yet the
 special form of ,english melodrama that
 flourished in the later years of the   
eighteenth century and the earlier years
 of the nineteenth deserves a more      
careful study than it has yet received4 
,apparently it was due partly to a      
decadence of the native type of drama   
represented by ,lillo's ',george        
,barnwell1' and partly to the           
stimulation received first from the     
emotional pieces of the ,german         
,kotzebue1 and afterward from the       
picturesque pieces of the ,french       
,pixerecourt4 ,and not to be neglected  
is the influence immediately exerted on 
the popular plays of the latter part of 
the period by the romances of ,scott and

 of ,cooper4  ,altho these plays were   
devoid of literary merit1 of style1 of  
veracity of character delineation1 of   
sincerity of motive1 they were not      
without theatrical effectiveness--or    
they could never have maintained        
themselves in the theater4 ,as ,sir     
,arthur ,pinero has seen clearly1 a     
drama which was sufficiently popular to 
be transferred to the toy theaters was  
almost certain to have a sort of rude   
merit in its construction4 ,the         
characterization would be hopelessly    
conventional1 the dialog bald and       
despicable--but the situations would be 
artfully arranged1 the story told       
adroitly and with spirit4 ,in other     
words1 the compounders of these         
melodramas were fairly skilful in       
devising plots likely to arouse and to  
sustain the interest of uncritical      
audiences4 ,probably they were          
unfamiliar with ,voltaire's assertion   
that the success of a play depends      
mainly upon the choice of its story2 and

 it is unlikely that they had any       
knowledge of ,aristotle's declaration   
that plot is primarily more important   
than character2 but they accomplished   
their humble task as well as if they had
 been heartened by these authorities4   
,these ingenious and ingenuous pieces   
were none of them contributions to      
,english dramatic literature1 and they  
are not enshrined in its annals2 but    
they were effective stage-plays1        
nevertheless1 and they had1 therefore1  
an essential quality lacking in the     
closet-dramas which ,shelley and ,byron 
were composing in those same years4     
,,iii  ,in the illuminating lecture on  
,stevenson as a writer of plays         
delivered by ,sir ,arthur ,pinero in    
#aijc before the members of the         
,edinburgh ,philosophical ,institution1 
the confessions contained in ',a ,penny 
,plain and ,two ,pence ,colored' are    
skilfully employed to explain           
,stevenson's flat failure as a          
playwright4 ,many of his ardent admirers

 must have wondered why it was that he  
adventured four times into dramatic     
authorship1 only to undergo a fourfold  
shipwreck4 ,yet ,sir ,james ,barrie and 
,mr4 ,john ,galsworthy1 essayists and   
novelists at first1 as ,stevenson was1  
strayed successfully from prose fiction 
into the acted drama4 ,was not          
,stevenson as anxious for this          
theatrical triumph as any one of these8 
,was he not as richly dowered with      
dramatic power1 as inventive1 as        
responsive to opportunity1 as ready to  
master a new craft8 ,why1 then1 did he  
fail where they have succeeded8  ,for   
these baffling questions ,sir ,arthur   
,pinero has an acceptable answer4       
,stevenson was unable to establish      
himself as a play-maker1 first1 because 
he did not take the art of play-making  
seriously2 he did not put his full      
strength in it1 mind and soul and body1 
contenting himself when he was a man    
with playing at play-making as he had   
played with his toy theater when he was 

a boy4 ,the second cause of his         
disappointment as a dramatist was due to
 the abiding influence of this toy      
theater1 and to the fact that the pieces
 he attempted were planned in rivalry   
with the ',miller and ,his ,men1' and   
therefore that they were hopelessly out 
of date before they were conceived4     
7,there is a third reason1 not mentioned
 by ,sir ,arthur1 and yet suggesting    
itself irresistibly to any one who knew 
the editor of the ,magazine of ,art     
personally2 all four of ,stevenson's    
attempts at play-writing were made in   
collaboration with ,henley1 who was the 
least equipped by temper and by         
temperament for the practise of         
dramaturgy47        ,scene ,,ii         
,,pollock',s ,,scenes ,,in ,,the        
,,miller ,,and ,,his ,,men4 ,no4#i      
,illustration3 ,london4 ,published by ,b
 ,pollock1#gc ,hoxton ,street ,hoxton   
,explosion of the mill4 ,a back drop in 
the ',miller and ,his ,men1' ,scene ,,ii
  ,yet even if ,stevenson had worked    

alone1 and even if he had taken the new 
art seriously1 he could never have won a
 place among the playwrights until he   
had fought himself free from the sinuous
 coils of ,skeltery4 ,in his youth he   
had saved his pence to purchase the     
accessories of ,skelt's ,juvenile ,drama
 with boyish delight in the acquisition 
of things longed for to be possessed at 
last4 ,when he had purchased plate #g   
and scene #aa1 ,no4 #i1 he thought they 
were his possessions4 ,but1 of a truth1 
he was their possession1 even if he did 
not know his slavery4 ,as a man he was  
subdued to what he had worked in as a   
boy2 and when he wanted to write plays  
of his own1 he had no freedom to follow 
the better models of his own day2 he was
 a bondman to ,skelt1 a thrall to ,park1
 a minion to ,webb1 a chattel to        
,redington and to ,pollock4 ,what am ,i8
 he asked in his self-revelatory essay1 
humorously exaggerating1 no doubt1 yet  
subconsciously stating the exact truth2 
,what am ,i8 ,what are life1 art1       

letters1 the world1 but what my ,skelt  
has made them8 ,he stamped himself upon 
my immaturity4 ,and the impression was  
then so deep that it could not be       
effaced in maturity4 ,the boy in        
,stevenson survived1 instead of dying   
when the man was born4  ,the art of     
play-writing1 like the art of           
story-telling1 and1 indeed1 like all the
 other arts1 demands both a native gift 
and an acquired craft4 ,its basic       
principles are the same ever since the  
drama began2 but its immediate methods  
vary at different times and in different
 countries4 ,while every artist must say
 what it is given him to say1 he can say
 it acceptably only by acquiring the    
method of speech employed by his        
immediate predecessors4 ,however        
original he may prove himself at the    
end1 in the beginning he can only       
imitate the methods and borrow the      
processes and avail himself of the      
practises which the elder craftsmen are 
employing successfully at the moment    

when he sets himself to learn their     
trade4 ,he must--to use the apt term of 
the engineers--he must keep himself     
abreast of state of the art4 ,this is   
what the great dramatists have ever     
done2 ,sophocles follows in the         
footsteps of ,a,eschylus1 as ,shakspere 
emulates ,marlowe and ,kyd1 and as      
,moliere went to school to the adroit   
and acrobatic ,italian comedians4 ,these
 great dramatists were perfectly content
 to begin by taking over the patterns   
devised by their immediate predecessors 
in play-making1 even if they were soon  
to enlarge these patterns and so modify 
them to suit their even larger needs4   
,illustration3 ,,pollock',s ,,characters
 ,,in ,,the ,,miller ,,and ,,his ,,men4 
,plate #g  ,plate ,no4 #g1 complete as  
published1 ready to be cut out and put  
into use in the toy theater  ,now1 the  
state of the art when ,stevenson turned 
to the theater was in accord with the   
picture-frame stage of to-day1 with a   
single set to the act1 and without the  

soliloquies and the confidential asides 
to the audience which may then have been
 proper enough on the apron-stage of the
 eighteenth and early nineteenth        
centuries4 ,even in the lower grade of  
playhouse1 where rude and crude         
melodramas were performed1 the method   
and the manner of the ',miller and ,his 
,men' had long departed4 ,the pleasure  
that melodrama can give is perennial2   
but its processes vary in accord with   
the changing conditions of the theater4 
,the door was open for ,stevenson to    
write melodrama1 if he preferred that   
species of play1 and if he desired to   
varnish it with literature as he was to 
varnish the police-novel or             
mystery-story in the ',wrecker4' ,but if
 he sought to do this1 he was bound to  
inform himself as to the state of the   
art at the instant of composition4 ,if  
he shut his eyes to the changed         
conditions of the theater since the     
',miller and ,his ,men' had won a wide  
popularity in the playhouse1 then he    

made an unpardonable blunder1 for the   
battle was lost before he could deploy  
his forces4 ,he might have been         
forewarned by the failure of ,charles   
,lamb in a like attempt4 ,when ,lamb's  
,elizabethan imitation ',john ,woodvil' 
was rejected for ,drury ,lane by ,john  
,philip ,kemble as not consonant with   
the taste of the age2 its exasperated   
author cried3 ,hang on the age6 ,i'll   
write for antiquity6 ,but those who     
write for antiquity cannot complain if  
they do not delight their               
contemporaries4 ,it is to his           
contemporaries1 and not to antiquity or 
to posterity1 that every true dramatist 
has appealed4                           
,,iv  ,and as ,stevenson might have     
taken warning from the sad fate of      
,lamb1 so he might have found his profit
 in considering the happy fortune of    
,victor ,hugo1 who also had a taste for 
melodrama4 ,when the leader of the      
,french romanticists felt that it was   
incumbent upon him to conquer the       

theater which the classicists held as   
their last stronghold1 he was swift to  
consider the state of the art4 ,he      
sought immediate success upon the stage1
 and the most successful plays of that  
period in ,france were the melodramas of
 ,pixerecourt1 and of his followers1 and
 therefore ,hugo sat himself down to spy
 out the secrets of their craft4 ,he    
made himself master of their methods1   
and he put together the striking and    
startling plots of ',hernani' and ',ruy 
,blas' in strict accord with their      
formulas1 certain that he could varnish 
with literature their melodramatic      
actions4 ,so glittering was his varnish1
 so brilliant was his metrical rhetoric1
 so glowing were his golden verses1 that
 he blinded the spectators and kept the 
most of them from peering beneath at his
 arbitrary and artificial skeleton of   
supporting melodramatic structure4      
,to-day1 after fourscore years1 we can  
see just what it is that ,hugo did2 and 
his plays1 superb as they are in their  

lyric adornment1 stand revealed as frank
 melodramas1 lacking sincerity of motive
 and veracity of character drawing4 ,but
 when ,hugo wrote them they were in     
,kemble's phrase consonant with the     
taste of the age1 and the best of them  
have not yet worn out their welcome in  
the theater4  ,stevenson did not heed   
the warning of ,lamb1 and he did not    
profit by the example of ,hugo4 ',deacon
 ,brodie' was born out of date2 so was  
',admiral ,guinea'2 and all the varnish 
of literature which the two             
collaborators applied externally and    
with loving solicitude availed naught4  
,it is due to his entanglement in the   
strangling coils of ,skeltery that      
,stevenson did not take the drama       
seriously4 ,he seemed to have looked at 
it as something to be tossed off lightly
 to make money in the interstices of    
honest work4 ,in his stories1 long and  
short1 he strove for effect1 no doubt1  
but he was bent also on achieving       
sincerity and veracity4 ,in his plays he

 made little effort for either sincerity
 or veracity1 so far at least as his    
plot was concerned2 and he thought he   
could lift these concoctions to the     
level of literature by the polish of his
 dialog1 and by qualities applied on the
 outside instead of being developed from
 the inside4 ,he seems to have believed 
that in the drama1 at least1 he could   
attain beauty by constructing his       
ornament instead of by ornamenting his  
construction1 ignoring or ignorant of   
the fact that in the drama1 the         
construction1 if only it be solid       
enough1 and four square to all the winds
 that blow1 needs no ornament and is    
most impressive in its stark simplicity4
  ,in his boyhood ,goethe had also      
played with a toy theater1 and it was a 
puppet-show piece which first called his
 attention to the mighty theme of his   
supreme poem2 but the great ,german     
poet1 captivated as he may have been by 
his youthful experience1 was able in his
 manhood to free himself from its       

shackles4 ,he came in time to have a    
profound insight into the principles of 
dramatic art1 and of the dramaturgic    
craft4 ,in his old age he talked about  
the theater freely and frequently to    
,eckermann2 and there are few of his    
utterances which do not furnish food for
 reflection4 ,here is one of them3      
,writing for the stage is something     
peculiar2 and he who does      not      
understand it had better leave it alone4
 ,every one thinks      that an         
interesting fact will appear interesting
 on the      boards--nothing of the     
kind6 ,things may be very pretty to     
read1      and very pretty to think     
about2 but as soon as they are put      
upon the stage the effect is quite      
different2 and that which      has      
charmed us in the closet will probably  
fall flat on the      boards4444        
,writing for the stage is a trade that  
one must      understand1 and requires a
 talent that one must possess4 ,both    
are uncommon1 and where they are not    

combined1 we have scarcely      any good
 result4  ,that ,stevenson had the      
native gift of the dramatist is         
undisputable1 and ,sir ,arthur ,pinero  
in his lecture was able to make this    
clear4 ,but writing for the stage is    
also a trade that one must acquire2 and 
when ,stevenson sought to acquire it he 
apprenticed himself to ,skelt not to    
,sardou1 to ,redington and ,pollock1 not
 to ,augier and ,dumas4  7#aiad47       
,illustration3 ,grindoff and banditti   
carousing4 ,lower half of ,plate ,no4   
#e1 ,pollock's characters in the        
',miller and ,his ,men'  ,p4,s4--,after 
the publication of this paper in        
,scribner's ,magazine1 a friendly reader
 in ,great ,britain was kind enough to  
copy out for me this ,skeltian lyric1   
which appeared in the ,london ,fun in   
#ahfh1 and which was probably rimed by  
,henry ,s4 ,leigh3  ,,an ,,early ,,stage
      ,ah me6 since first1 long1 long   
ago1       ,i learned to love the       
,british stage1     ,it has--or ,i      

have--altered so1       ,it scarce      
receives my patronage6     ,where are   
the villain's spangled tabs1       ,his 
cloak1 his ringlets1 and his belt8      
,where are his scowls1 his growls1 his  
stabs1       ,as shown of old by ,park  
and ,skelt8      ,once was ,i manager   
myself1       ,and played the ',miller  
and his ,men'2     ,my company--ah1     
happy elf6       ,i had no trouble with 
them then--     ,they never sulked1     
forgot their lines1       ,threw up     
their parts1 or asked for gelt--        
,for as the reader p'r'aps divines--    
,i got them all of ,park and ,skelt4    
,i stuck them on1 and cut them out1     
,i painted them with colors bright2     
,i scattered tinsel-specks about1       
,and made them things of beauty1 quite--
     ,not joys forever--ne'ertheless1   
,they've vanished just as snowflakes    
melt4     ,none can restore the bliss1  
,i guess1       ,i once derived from    
,park and ,skelt4      ,how ,i revered  
the artist's skill       ,who did my    

heroes represent--     ,with scowls the 
very soul to thrill--       ,with one   
leg straight and one leg bent6     ,i   
loved his ladies full of grace1         
,and on their beauties fondly dwelt3--  
,my first pictorial love could trace    
,her pedigree to ,park and ,skelt4      
,ah me6 'tis many a year since ,i       
,those dear old plates--a penny plain   
,and two-pence colored--did espy2       
,i ne'er shall see their like again6    
,the world's with disappointment rife1  
,and ,i have far too often felt         
,that actors now are less like life     
,than those ,i bought of ,park and      
,skelt6                                 
,,iv                               ,,why
 ,,five ,,acts8                         
,,why ,,five ,,acts8                    
,i  ,in the eighteenth century1 both in 
,england and in ,france1 every stately  
and ponderous tragedy and every         
self-respecting comedy obeyed the       
obligation imposed by long tradition and
 duly stretched itself out to the full  

measure of five acts1 no more and no    
less4 ,it felt bound thus to distend    
itself1 even tho its theme might be far 
too frail for so huge a frame1 and even 
tho the unfortunate author often found  
himself at his wit's end to piece out   
his play's end4 ,any one who has had    
occasion to read widely in the works of 
the eighteenth century playwrights      
cannot fail to feel abundant sympathy   
for the harassed poet who plaintively   
called on ,parliament to pass a law     
abolishing fifth acts altogether4 ,this 
unduly distressed dramatist was an      
,englishman2 but about the same time a  
,frenchman1 weary of contemplating the  
frequent emptiness of the contemporary  
tragic stage1 sarcastically remarked    
that1 after all1 it must be very easy   
not to write a tragedy in five acts4    
,yet if tragedy was to be written at    
all1 it had to have five acts1 since a  
smaller number would not seem           
proportionate to a truly tragic subject4
 ,but why five acts8 ,why has five the  

number sacred to the tragic muse8 ,why  
did even the comic muse demand it8 ,why 
does ,george ,meredith1 discussing      
comedy1 declare that five is dignity    
with a trailing robe2 whereas one1 or   
two1 or three acts would be short       
skirts1 and degrading4 ,why not three   
acts1 or seven8 ,why was it that any    
other number of acts was unthinkable--or
 at least never thought of8  ,questions 
like these seem to have floated before  
the mind of the ,abbe d',aubignac1      
writing in the seventeenth century1 and 
he came very near putting to himself the
 query which serves as a title for this 
chapter4 ,poets have generally agreed   
that all ,drammas regularly should have 
neither more nor less than ,five ,acts2 
and the ,proof of this is the general   
observation of it2 but for the ,reason1 
,i do not know whether there be any     
founded in ,nature4 ,rhetorick has this 
advantage over ,poetry in the ,parts of 
,oration1 that the ,exord1 ,narration1  
,confirmation and ,peroration are       

founded upon a way of discoursing       
natural to all ,men4444 ,but for the    
,five ,acts of the ,drammatick ,poem1   
they have not been framed upon any sound
 ground4  ,that the division of a drama 
into five parts was accepted in every   
civilized country as the only possible  
division1 seems very strange indeed1    
when we consider that there is really no
 artistic justification for it1 nor any 
logical necessity4 ,like every other    
work of art a play ought to have a      
single subject1 a clearly defined topic2
 in other words1 it ought to have ,unity
 of ,action4 ,there is no denying that  
some of the greatest artists have1 now  
and again1 been tempted to deal with two
 themes at the same time1 combining     
these as best they could in a single    
work at the risk of leaving us a little 
in doubt as to their intention2 but in  
the immense majority of acknowledged    
masterpieces the interest is carefully  
centered in a single object4 ,in these  
masterpieces the action is single and   

unswerving1 sweeping forward            
irresistibly to its inevitable end4     
,if1 therefore1 we accept the ,unity of 
,action as a general rule1 binding upon 
all artists1 we can hardly deny that the
 most obviously natural arrangement for 
the story is to set it forth in one act1
 without any intermission or subdivision
 whatsoever--a single action in a single
 act4 ,yet it is the play in three acts 
which we are bound to recognize at once 
as possessing the ideal form1 since it  
enables the dramatist to set apart the  
three divisions1 which ,aristotle       
declared to be essential to a           
well-constructed tragedy--the beginning1
 the middle1 and the end--each presented
 in an act of its own4 ,to put a play   
into more than three acts is possible   
only by halving one or another of these 
three essential parts4 ,in a four-act   
play1 the beginning may be split into   
two acts2 and in a five-act play the    
middle may also be subdivided4  ,the    
logic of the three-act form1 and the    

convenience of it also1 are so obvious  
that ever since the tyranny of the      
,procrustean framework in five acts was 
abolished in the middle years of the    
nineteenth century1 practical           
playwrights of all countries have       
favored it more and more4 ,the young    
,dumas used it in his later plays1 and  
so did ,ibsen1 that consummate master of
 stagecraft1 emancipated from empty     
traditions1 but profiting shrewdly by   
every available device of his immediate 
predecessors4 ,if the four-act form is  
also popular to-day1 this seems to be   
because the modern dramatist1 intending 
a play in three acts1 finds himself     
forced by sheer press of matter1 to     
subdivide one of the essential members1 
as ,sir ,arthur ,pinero had to do in the
 ',second ,mrs4 ,tanqueray' and ,mr4    
,henry ,arthur ,jones in the ',liars4'  
,even the opera1 which liked the larger 
framework of five acts when ,scribe was 
writing librettos for ,halevy and       
,meyerbeer1 is now content with only    

three1 since ,wagner revealed his skill 
as a librettist4  ,it is true that      
,freytag1 in his sadly old-fashioned    
treatise on ',technic of the ,drama1'   
accepted without cavil the five-act     
form1 and even attempted to justify it  
by asserting that there are in fact five
 divisions of a tragic action4 ,he      
symbolized the arrangement of a drama in
 a pyramidal structure1 declaring that  
it ascends from the ,introduction to the
 ,climax1 and then descends to the      
,catastrophe4 ,obviously these are only 
different terms for the beginning1 the  
middle1 and the end4 ,but he vainly     
imagined two other members1 the ,rise1  
which intervenes between the            
,introduction and the ,climax1 and the  
,fall1 which he inserted between the    
,climax and the ,catastrophe4           
,obviously1 again1 this is an           
explanation after the event2 and it     
seems to have its origin solely in his  
acceptance of the five-act form4 ,and   
,freytag was forced to abandon his own  

theory when he considered honestly      
certain of the masterpieces of the      
modern drama4 ,he admitted it to be     
impossible that the single acts should  
correspond entirely to the five great   
divisions of the action4 ,he asserted   
that in the ,rising ,action1 the first  
stage was usually in the first act1 the 
last sometimes in the third2 of the     
,falling ,action the beginning and the  
end were sometimes taken in the third   
and fifth acts4 ,yet he failed to see   
that if he made this admission1 he cut  
the ground from under his feet1 and that
 there was no longer any acceptable     
reason for his insistence upon the      
five-act form4  ,freytag had no doubt at
 all as to the necessity of the division
 into five acts4 ,he received it with   
blind faith1 as tho it had been         
prescribed by divine authority4 ,yet if 
he had chosen to explore the early      
history of the drama in his own tongue1 
he would have found ,hans ,sachs        
sometimes extending his plays into six  

acts1 and even into seven4 ,and if he   
had cared to consider the drama of the  
,spaniards he would have seen that the  
most of the plays of ,calderon are in   
three acts--a division which the great  
dramatic poet of ,spain had taken over1 
as he had taken over so much else1 from 
his masterful predecessor1 ,lope de     
,vega4 ,in his interesting and          
illuminating little treatise on the art 
of writing plays1 ,lope de ,vega gave   
the credit of establishing the three-act
 form to ,virues4 ,plays had previously 
been written in four acts2 as ,lope puts
 it pleasantly3 ,the drama had gone on  
all fours1 like a child1 and truly it   
was then in its infancy4  ,freytag      
ignored or was ignorant of ,hans ,sachs 
and ,calderon4 ,his mind was fixed on   
,goethe and on ,schiller1 altho his     
vision also included ,shakspere1 upon   
whom the two ,german poets had more or  
less modeled themselves4 ,the tradition 
of the five-act form might not obtain in
 the earliest ,german drama1 as it did  

not obtain in the ,spanish2 but it was  
firmly established in the later ,german 
drama1 in the ,english1 and in the      
,french4 ,it is easy to see that the    
later ,germans derived it from the      
,french and the ,english2 but where did 
the ,french and the ,english get it8    
,where could they get it8 ,no such      
division existed in the medieval drama1 
in the mysteries and in the             
miracle-plays1 out of which the drama of
 every modern language has been         
developed4 ,no such division existed in 
the ,greek drama1 which has served as a 
standard and as a stimulus to the drama 
of every modern literature4 ,a ,greek   
tragedy was represented without any     
intermission in a single1 long unbroken 
act2 and if a sequence of three plays   
was sometimes performed1 one after      
another1 on the same day1 and dealing   
with successive periods of the same     
story1 this trilogy might suggest a     
division into three parts4 ,nor is any  
hint of the duty of dividing a tragedy  

into five parts to be discovered        
anywhere in ,aristotle4                 
,,ii  ,and yet we must go back to the   
,greek theater if we want to see why it 
is that the ',femmes ,savantes' of      
,moliere and the ',school for ,scandal' 
of ,sheridan are each of them in five   
acts4 ,but it is not from a ,greek that 
we get the law that this division was   
obligatory on all self-respecting       
dramatists2 it is from a ,roman1 writing
 at a time when the drama of his own    
language had been ousted from the stage 
by pantomimic spectacle and by          
gladiatorial combat4 ,it is ,horace1    
who1 in his epistle on the art of       
poetry1 declares the necessity of five  
acts3      ,ne brevior1 neu sit quinto  
productior actu     ,fabula quae posci  
vult et spectata reponi4  ,sir ,theodore
 ,martin rendered this in an ,english   
rimed couplet1 which does not completely
 convey the meaning of the two ,latin   
lines1 but which will serve to show the 
rigidity of the rule laid down by the   

,roman poet3      ,five acts a play must
 have1 nor more nor less1     ,to keep  
the stage and have a marked success4    
,but this still leaves us groping in the
 dark4 ,why did ,horace declare this    
law8 ,what warrant had he8 ,what put the
 idea into his head8 ,these are         
questions answered by a ,french scholar1
 ,m4 ,weil2 in one of his ingenious and 
learned ',etudes sur le ,drame          
,antique1' he explains that ,horace     
derived much of his theory of the poetic
 art from the ,alexandrian critics1 and 
more particularly from the writings of a
 certain ,neoptolemus of ,parium4       
,probably the ,alexandrian authors of   
tragedy had been led to adopt a division
 into five acts by following the example
 of ,euripides1 whose practise was not  
uniform1 but who tended to reduce to    
four the number of the lyric odes in his
 tragedies1 thus separating the purely  
dramatic passages into five parts4  ,in 
,athens the drama had been slowly       
evolved out of the tragic songs2 and in 

the surviving tragedies of ,a,eschylus1 
the earliest of the three great dramatic
 poets of ,greece1 we discover that the 
choral odes are more abundant than the  
dialog which carries on the plot4 ,in   
the extant plays of his mighty          
successor1 ,sophocles1 the drama is seen
 emerging triumphant1 but the lyrical   
passages are still frequent and         
important4 ,in the later pieces of      
,euripides1 the third and most modern of
 the ,attic tragedians1 we note that the
 drama has almost wholly disengaged     
itself from the lyric out of which it   
sprang4 ,in ,a,eschylus and in          
,sophocles the number of choral odes and
 the number of episodes1 of purely      
dramatic passages in dialog1 is never   
fixed1 varying from play to play as the 
plot might demand4 ,but in ,euripides   
the choral odes are more detached from  
the drama2 beautiful in themselves1 they
 seem to exist rather for their own sake
 than in any integral relation to the   
play itself4 ,and apparently ,euripides 

was far more interested in his play1 in 
his plot1 and in his characters1 than in
 these extraneous lyric passages1 so he 
reduced them to the lowest possible     
number1 generally to four1 serving1 so  
to speak1 as exquisite interact music1  
separating the pathetic play into five  
episodes in dialog4  ,the ,alexandrian  
tragedians came long after ,euripides1  
and to their sophisticated taste his    
pathetic and emotional plays appealed   
far more than the austerer and manlier  
masterpieces of his two great           
predecessors4 ,apparently they accepted 
his form as final2 they may even have   
left out the choruses altogether2 and   
then their tragedies had five separate  
episodes--in other words1 five acts4 ,it
 is these lost ,alexandrian tragedies1  
composed in the decadent days of the    
,greek drama1 which seem to have served 
as the model for ,seneca1 the eloquent  
rhetorician--even tho he frequently took
 over the theme and often more or less  
of the structure of certain of the      

dramas of ,euripides4  ,the tragedies of
 ,seneca are to be considered rather as 
dramatic poems than as poetic dramas1   
since they were intended not really for 
performance by actors1 in a theater1    
before an audience1 but for recitation  
by a single elocutionist in a private   
house--much as a professional reader of 
our own time might recite unaided a more
 or less dramatic poem by ,shelley or   
,byron or ,browning4 ,coming long after 
,horace1 ,seneca unhesitatingly accepted
 all of the restrictions insisted upon  
by the ,latin lyrist--including the     
purely academic limitation of the number
 of speakers taking part in any dialog  
to three1 a limitation absolutely absurd
 in a poem not intended for actual      
acting and not forced to conform to the 
accidental conditions of the ,attic     
stage4 ,obeying also the other rule     
which he found in ,horace's codification
 of the laws of dramatic poetry1 the    
,hispano-,roman rhetorician was careful 
always to cut up his play into five     

parts4 ,but he saw his profit in        
retaining the chorus1 since this could  
be made to serve as the appropriate     
mouthpiece for the elaborate passages of
 elocutionary splendor in which he      
delighted4  ,it is not to be wondered at
 that the ,italian scholars of the      
,renascence followed the precept of     
,horace and the practise of ,seneca4    
,they were far more at home in ,latin   
than they were in ,greek2 and they could
 hardly help reading into the literature
 of ,athens what they were already      
familiar with in the authors of ,rome4  
,to them ,seneca was as imposing as     
,sophocles1 and ,horace was almost as   
weighty as ,aristotle4 ,so it is that   
,scaliger and ,minturno prescribe five  
acts1 and that ,castelvetro 7always more
 practical in his point of view7 points 
out that poets seem to have found the   
five-act form most suitable4 ,when an   
,italian scholar-poet turned from       
criticism to creation1 the tragedies he 
conscientiously composed obeyed all the 

rules1 and his dramatic poems were as   
academic as those of ,seneca1 in that   
they were intended not for production by
 professional actors in a regular       
theater before spectators who had paid  
their way in1 but only for an occasional
 performance by the author himself      
assisted by a few of his friends before 
a little group of cultivated admirers of
 antiquity1 contemptuous of the real    
public4 ,these soulless dramatic poems1 
devised for declamation by amateurs     
before a gathering of dilettants1 are   
now perceived to be merely literary     
curiosities1 having little connection   
with the real drama made for the regular
 theater and its myriad-minded body of  
playgoers4  ,just as the ,italian       
dramatic poems were imitations of       
,seneca1 so the ,french dramatic poems1 
composed a little later1 were imitations
 of these ,italians1 and also of        
,seneca1 more or less indirectly4 ,they 
were the imitations of an imitation1    
aping the outward form of the drama1 but

 empty of all genuine dramatic spirit1  
artificial in passion and high-flown in 
rhetoric4 ,and there are early ,english 
attempts at this same sort of academic  
tragedy1 more imitative still1 since we 
can see in them the commingled influence
 of the ,french and of the ,italians    
immediately1 and also of the remoter    
,seneca1 whom they revered as the       
exemplar of true tragedy4 ,such a play  
is ',gorboduc1' belauded by the         
scholarly ,sidney--and even on one      
occasion acted1 by main strength4 ,in   
all of these imitations1 ,english and   
,french and ,italian1 we find the       
stately chorus abounding in lofty       
rhetoric2 and we find also1 and always1 
the division into five acts4 ,but in the
 folk-theater1 which the scholar-poets  
scorned1 and out of which the living    
drama was to be developed1 there is no  
trace of any division into acts4 ,in the
 mysteries and the miracle-plays1 and in
 the chronicle-plays which grew out of  
them1 there are numberless episodes1    

each complete in itself1 and never      
combined artificially into acts4 ,the   
composer of any one of these folk-dramas
 conceived his story as a continuous    
narrative shown in action2 and he gave  
no thought to the number of divisions1  
of episodes1 of separate scenes1 or of  
acts that it might seem to have4        
,,iii  ,tragedy has ever been held to be
 more elevated than comedy and more     
worthy2 and comedy has continually      
accepted the conditions appropriate to  
tragedy4 ,since the dignity of tragedy  
demanded a division into five acts1     
comedy was also subjected to the same   
rule2 and this was done in spite of the 
fact that the plays of ,plautus and     
,terence 7composed long before ,horace  
codified his advice to intending poets7 
were not divided into acts1 if we may   
judge by the earliest of the surviving  
manuscripts4 ,so it is that we find the 
scholarly authors of the two earliest of
 ,english comedies1 ',ralph ,roister    
,doister' and ',gammer ,gurton's        

,needle1' knowing what was expected of  
them1 and giving the five-act form to   
both of these amusing plays4 ,but these 
two comedies1 almost contemporary as    
they are with the academic and          
undramatic tragedy of ',gorboduc1' are  
far superior to it in adaptability for  
actual performance4 ,they are not       
intended only to be recited2 they can be
 acted easily and profitably4 ,as we    
analyze them we see that the structural 
complexity may be derived from the comic
 dramas of ,plautus and ,terence1 but   
that the inner spirit is that of the    
,english folk-theater1 of the robust    
medieval farce-writers1 of the unknown  
humorist who has left us the laughable  
and veracious scene of ,mak and the     
,shepherds4  ,scholars as they were1 the
 authors of these two comedies did not  
scorn the primitive plays of the plain  
people of their own time4 ,they did not 
despise the unpretending folk-drama     
which was then pleasing the populace2 in
 fact1 they took stock of it1 and found 

their profit in so doing4 ,they saw that
 to be raised up to the level of        
literature it needed only to be         
chastened and stiffened4 ,they accepted 
the living tradition of play-making as  
it came down to them1 and in accord with
 this tradition they wrought their      
humorous fantasies1 adding the higher   
polish and the more adroit plot which   
they had learned to appreciate in the   
,latin comic dramatists4 ,they accepted 
the native play1 bare as it was1 and    
they enriched it by bestowing on it as  
much as it could carry of the finer art 
of the ,romans4 ,thus it is that the    
authors of ',ralph ,roister ,doister'   
and of ',gammer ,gurton's ,needle' may  
have pointed out the path of progress to
 the author of the ',comedy of ,errors1'
 whereas the authors of ',gorboduc1'    
contemptuously rejecting the            
folk-theater of their own day1 and idly 
copying the classicist imitations of the
 ,italians1 thereby relinquished        
whatever direct influence they might    

have had upon the growth of tragedy in  
,england4  ,both ',ralph ,roister       
,doister' and ',gammer ,gurton's        
,needle' were probably written for      
performance by college boys1 and they   
have not a little of the brisk          
heartiness and of the broad horse-play  
to which we are accustomed in the       
college pieces of to-day4 ,it was for   
performance at court that ,lyly wrote   
the most of his plays1 which lack the   
vivacity and the liveliness             
distinguishing the two college comic    
dramas1 but which yet reveal a far      
better understanding of the drama than  
was possessed by the authors of         
',gorboduc4' ,lyly again is careful to  
divide his plays into five acts4 ,but   
his contemporaries ,greene and ,peele1  
writing solely for the professional     
playhouses1 were bound by none of the   
rules which might be expected in college
 or at court4 ,whatever their own       
scholarly equipment1 when they wrote for
 the professional players1 they followed

 unhesitatingly the traditions of the   
contemporary theater4 ,as playwrights   
they were the direct heirs of the       
anonymous and ignorant devisers of the  
medieval drama4 ,they had a story to set
 on the stage2 they chose a succession  
of more or less effective episodes1 and 
they carelessly cast these into dialog1 
with little thought of form or of       
construction4 ,never do their plays     
contain matter enough for five full     
acts2 and we may be certain that no such
 framework was ever in the mind of      
either of these dramatic poets4 ,in the 
original editions of their pieces we    
find no separation into acts and scenes2
 and if this needless and misleading    
subdivision is found in later editions  
it is the doing of misguided editors4   
,in what is accepted as the earliest    
edition of ,kyd's ',spanish ,tragedy1'  
the most widely popular of all the      
pre-,shaksperian plays1 the text is     
actually divided into four acts4 ,but   
this division is not structural2 it is  

almost accidental1 as tho it was an     
afterthought1 inserted at the last      
moment into the copy intended for the   
printer1 and never in the mind of the   
playwright himself when he was preparing
 the prompt-book for the actors2 and    
,shakspere1 who followed ,kyd in more   
ways than one1 apparently followed him  
in this also4 ,in the folio edition of  
his plays1 published after his death1 a 
division into five acts has been made2  
but the task has not been accomplished  
any too skilfully--for example1 the     
second act of ',king ,john' has but     
eighty lines1 and here the division is  
into four acts only4 ,the suggestion has
 been proffered that it was1 perhaps1   
left to the printers to do1 the         
influence of ,ben ,jonson having been   
powerful enough to establish the theory 
that a self-respecting dramatist would  
never fail to cast his tragedies in the 
five-act form4 ,it is to be noted also  
that no division into acts is to be     
found in the quarto editions published  

in ,shakspere's lifetime2 and this is   
very significant since these quartos    
seem to have been piratical copies from 
shorthand notes taken surreptitiously in
 the theater1 thus recording the actual 
conditions of performance4  ,it may be  
doubted whether ,shakspere conceived his
 plays in accordance with any such      
subdivisions4 ,some of them1 the        
',comedy of ,errors' for one1 which can 
be acted in the space of an hour and a  
quarter1 are far too slight for so huge 
a framework4 ,on the other hand1 the    
several appearances of ,chorus punctuate
 ',henry ,v' into five divisions1       
apparently an intentional conformity to 
the ,horatian rule4 ,of course1 there   
were generally several intermissions in 
the ,elizabethan performance of a play1 
altho the resulting divisions were not  
necessarily five2 and it is noteworthy  
that ,shakspere makes ,jaques declare   
that man's life had seven acts4         
,,iv  ,the fact is that ,shakspere was a
 professional playwright1 and that he   

had no merely academic theories4 ,in    
composing his plays he followed         
unhesitatingly the principles that had  
guided his immediate predecessors4 ,he  
was seeking ever to give the playgoing  
public what it had been accustomed to   
enjoy in the theater1 better in degree1 
no doubt1 but the same in kind4 ,like   
these predecessors1 he kept to the      
traditions inherited from the medieval  
mysteries2 and he thought in terms1 not 
of acts and of scenes1 as a modern      
playwright is forced to do1 but of a    
continuous narrative shown in action4   
,in doing so he resembles ,herodotus1   
whose history has also been cut up by   
later editors1 dividing it into nine    
books1 altho1 as ,professor ,bury has   
reminded us1 such divisions had not yet 
come into fashion in the historian's own
 day4 ,there is no reason to suppose    
that ,shakspere would have approved of  
the attempt of the editors of the folio 
to subdivide his plays1 each into five  
acts4 ,there is every reason to suppose 

that he would have been greatly annoyed 
if he could have foreseen the way in    
which later editors have chosen further 
to chop up the acts into an infinity of 
scenes4  ,nowadays1 we have been so     
accustomed to read ,shakspere in one or 
another of the trim and tidy modern     
editions1 with a wanton division into   
acts and into scenes1 each of which     
indicates a change of place1 and each of
 which seems to suggest a change of     
scenery1 that it is only by a resolute  
effort of the will that we are able to  
shake off the prepossessions derived    
from this unfortunate and confusing     
presentation of his text4 ,probably even
 to-day a majority of those who enjoy   
reading ,shakspere would be surprised to
 be told that there is no warrant       
whatever for these alleged changes of   
scene1 and for these superabundant      
subdivisions of his story4 ,many of     
these readers would be taken aback by   
the unexpected discovery that all this  
cutting up of ,shakspere's text was the 

work of his commentators1 with ,rowe at 
the head of the procession4 ,some of    
these readers would feel as tho they    
were deprived of a precious possession1 
if they had only an edition in which all
 this useless machinery was swept away4 
,and yet this is just the edition which 
is demanded by the present state of     
,shaksperian scholarship1 and which is  
now made possible by our new            
understanding of the ,elizabethan       
theater1 with its rude platform thrust  
out into the yard1 so different from our
 modern theaters1 in which the stage is 
withdrawn behind a picture-frame4 ,the  
,tudor platform-stage is wholly unlike  
the picture-frame stage of to-day2 but  
it is very like the pageant1 or the     
scaffold on which the mysteries and     
miracle-plays were presented4 ,it was to
 the simple conditions of his           
semi-medieval theater that ,shakspere   
adjusted himself1 rude as those         
conditions may now appear to us who are 
accustomed to the sumptuous             

picturesqueness of our own luxuriant    
playhouses4  ,in accepting the theater  
as he found it1 and in availing himself 
of all its possibilities1 such as they  
were1 ,shakspere showed his usual common
 sense4 ,only by striving to reconstruct
 for ourselves in our mind's eye1 as it 
were1 the playhouse where he plied his  
trade and earned his living1 can we come
 to any adequate appreciation of his    
art1 of his craftsmanship as a          
playwright1 of his dramaturgic skill4   
,and in any honest effort to understand 
how his mighty dramas were originally   
produced by himself and by his fellow   
actors in the round ,o of the wooden    
,globe ,theater1 unroofed and unlighted 
except by the dingy daylight of northern
 ,europe1 we need always to keep fast in
 our mind the fact that all             
preconceptions are false that may be    
derived from our memory of latter-day   
performances in theaters of a type which
 the ,elizabethan dramatists could not  
foresee1 and of which the conditions are

 often the exact opposite of those they 
accepted without hesitation4 ,that is to
 say1 the most profitable way to        
reconstruct mentally the ,tudor         
playhouse is to banish from our minds   
every impression made by our modern     
theater1 with its elaborate complexity1 
and to study out for ourselves the      
simple circumstances of performance in  
the ,middle ,ages4 ,and as a first step 
toward the proper standpoint1 we must   
cast out our traditional belief that    
,shakspere always accepted the          
classicist formula of five acts1        
proclaimed by ,horace1 and employed by  
,seneca4 ,that he did use it in one or  
two plays seems indisputable1 and he may
 very well have employed it in a few    
others1 but there is no reason to       
suppose that he would have submitted    
himself any more willingly to the rule  
of five acts than he did to the rule of 
the three unities4  ,it may be doubted  
also whether not a few dramatists1      
writing later than ,shakspere1 would not

 have done well to claim the liberty he 
and ,lope de ,vega chose to exercise at 
will4 ,racine1 for one1 had sadly to    
stretch his ',athalie' to fill out the  
five-act framework which he had blindly 
accepted1 altho he had earlier limited  
',esther' to three acts4 ,schiller1 for 
another1 would have gained a swifter    
compactness for his play if he had left 
out the needless fifth act of his       
',william ,tell' and rolled his fourth  
act into his third4 ,victor ,hugo had to
 manufacture a fourth act for his ',ruy 
,blas1' so slightly related to his main 
story that it was cut out of the        
,english adaptation acted by ,fechter   
and ,booth4 ,ibsen1 it may be added1    
composed his first tragedy1 ',catiline1'
 in three acts1 altho it was in blank   
verse1 thus early revealing his         
characteristic independence of          
tradition4  7#aijg47  ,p4 ,s4--,since   
this paper was written ,i have found two
 opinions as to the number of acts a    
play ought to have which were unknown to

 me when ,i undertook the discussion4   
,the first is in the ',dasarupa1' the   
,hindu treatise on the craft of         
play-making3 ,there are five stages of  
the action which is set on foot by those
 that strive after a result3 ,beginning1
 ,effort1 ,prospect of ,success1        
,certainty of ,success1 ,attainment of  
the ,result4  ,the second is in the     
commentary made by ,robert ,louis       
,stevenson during his methodical perusal
 of the dramas of the elder ,dumas4     
,after reading ',henri ,,iii et sa      
,cour1' ,stevenson declares that here in
 ,dumas's first piece is the cloven     
foot2 a fourth act that has no part or  
lot in the play2 a fourth act that is a 
mere incubus and interruption--that     
takes the eye off the action1 and       
between two spirited and palpitating    
scenes interjects a damned sermon on the
 history of ,france4 ,poor ,tribonian   
had a sore job to make up the fifty     
books of the ,pandects2 what was that to
 the labor of a dramatist bent on       

filling his five acts8 ,i go as far as  
this3 the natural division of the normal
 play is four3 ,act ,i1 exposition2 ,act
 ,,ii1 the problem produced2 ,act ,,iii1
 the problem argued2 ,act ,,iv1 the way 
out of it4  7#aiaf47                    
,v                           ,,dramatic 
,,collaboration                         
,,dramatic ,,collaboration              
,i  ,it is a significant fact that      
whenever and wherever the drama has     
flourished most abundantly and most     
luxuriantly1 we are certain to find a   
tendency to collaboration1 to the       
partnership of two authors in the       
composition of one play4 ,in ,england in
 the spacious days of good ,queen ,bess1
 there is not only the famous           
association of ,beaumont and ,fletcher1 
but also a host of other more or less   
temporary combinations1 ,fletcher with  
,shakspere and ,massinger1 ,dekker with 
,ben ,jonson and with ,middleton4 ,in   
,spain ,lope de ,vega joined forces with
 ,montalvan and with others4 ,in ,france

 in the seventeenth century ,moliere1   
once at least called to his aid         
,corneille and ,quinault2 and in ,france
 again in the nineteenth century we find
 ,augier working with ,sandeau and with 
,foussier1 ,scribe working with         
,legouve1 and with a score of others1   
while ,dumas the elder was encompassed  
by a cloud of collaborators1 and ,dumas 
the younger was willing on more than one
 occasion to join various writers in the
 plays which he included in the separate
 volumes of his works1 called by him the
 ',theatre des ,autres4' ,then also in  
,france there was the long-continued    
alliance of ,meilhac and ,halevy1 to    
which we owe ',froufrou' and the ',grand
 ,duchess of ,gerolstein'2 and there was
 also the almost equally interesting    
association of ,,mm4 ,caillavet and de  
,flers4 ,sardou had one ally in the     
composition of ',divorcons1' and another
 in the composition of ',madame ,sans   
,gene4' ,in ,great ,britain in recent   
years we have seen ,sir ,james ,barrie  

and ,sir ,arthur ,pinero unite in       
writing a book for music2 ,mr4 ,bennett 
and ,mr4 ,knoblauch unite in writing    
',milestones'2 ,mr4 ,granville ,barker  
and ,mr4 ,laurence ,housman unite in    
writing ',prunella4' ,and in the ,united
 ,states there was a score of years ago 
the steady collaboration of ,mr4        
,belasco with the late ,h4 ,c4 ,de      
,mille1 to which we owe the ',charity   
,ball' and the ',wife'2 and more        
recently ,mr4 ,belasco also has         
collaborated with ,mr4 ,john ,luther    
,long in writing ',madame ,butterfly1'  
and the ',darling of the ,gods4' ,mr4   
,augustus ,thomas was once the partner  
of ,mr4 ,clay ,greene2 ,mr4 ,bronson    
,howard composed one of his latest      
plays1 ',peter ,stuyvesant1 ,governor of
 ,new ,amsterdam1' in association with  
another ,american man of letters2 and   
,mr4 ,booth ,tarkington and ,mr4 ,harry 
,leon ,wilson were the co-authors of the
 ',man from ,home' and of half a dozen  
other pieces4  ,while this prevalence of

 the practise of collaboration in       
periods of dramatic productivity is     
significant1 it is equally significant  
that there is no corresponding          
prevalence of the practise of           
collaboration in novel-writing4 ,true it
 is that there are certain fairly       
well-known partnerships in the history  
of prose fiction--that of               
,erckmann-,chatrain1 in ,french1 for    
instance1 and that of ,besant and ,rice 
in ,english4 ,true it is that ,dickens  
and ,wilkie ,collins were joint authors 
of ',no ,thorofare1' and that ,mark     
,twain and ,charles ,dudley ,warner were
 joint authors of the ',gilded ,age4'   
,true it is also1 that novels have been 
written not only by two partners1 but by
 what can fairly be described as a      
syndicate of associated authors1 the    
',king's ,men' by four1 ',six of ,one   
and ,half a ,dozen of the ,other' by    
six1 and the ',whole ,family' by twelve 
7including ,mr4 ,howells and ,mr4 ,henry
 ,james1 ,mrs4 ,mary ,e4 ,wilkins       

,freeman1 and ,doctor ,henry van ,dyke74
 ,these freakish conglomerates are      
sporadic only2 they seem to be little   
better than literary stunts2 and even   
the union of two writers in the         
production of a single novel is far less
 frequently to be observed than the     
union of two writers in the production  
of a single play4 ,the former is        
unusual1 whereas the latter seems to be 
so common as to excite no comment4      
,now1 there must be a reason for this   
difference4 ,if the playwrights find it 
advantageous to double up1 and the      
novelists do not discover any profit in 
putting on double harness1 there ought  
to be some evident explanation4 ,when we
 consider more carefully the essentially
 different conditions of the art of     
prose fiction and the art of            
play-writing1 it is not difficult to    
perceive fairly obvious reasons for the 
varying procedure of the practitioners  
of these rival arts1 which may seem so  
much alike1 but which are really so very

 different in their methods and in their
 possibilities4  ,the ,french critic    
,joubert once asserted that to make in  
advance an exact and detailed plan is to
 deprive one's intellect of all the     
pleasures of novelty and chance meeting 
during its execution2 it is to make this
 execution insipid1 and in consequence  
impossible1 in works calling for        
enthusiasm and imagination4 ,this is an 
overstatement--but it is not a          
misstatement--of a principle of         
composition which is fundamentally sound
 in the writing of prose fiction1 but   
which is fundamentally unsound in the   
writing of plays4 ,the drama demands a  
well-built story1 artfully put together1
 while a novel need not have a coherent 
and compact plot4 ,some great novels1   
,fielding's ',tom ,jones' for one1 and  
,turgenef's ',smoke' for another1 have  
each of them a beautifully articulated  
structure1 and so has ,mr4 ,howells's   
',rise of ,silas ,lapham1' to take a    
later example4 ,but other great novels  

are frankly more or less haphazard in   
their movement1 the ',pickwick ,papers1'
 for instance1 and ',tartarin on the    
,alps1' and ',huckleberry ,finn4' ,and  
it is not too much to say that only a   
very few novels attain to the severity  
of structure1 the regularity of action1 
the straightforward1 unswerving movement
 which we discover in the dramas of a   
corresponding rank1 and which can be    
achieved only by making in advance the  
exact and detailed plan that ,joubert   
held to be fatal in works calling for   
enthusiasm and imagination4  ,of course1
 the drama can utilize enthusiasm and   
imagination quite as often and quite as 
abundantly as can prose fiction1 but it 
must use these precious gifts with a    
discretion which is not imposed upon its
 rival4 ,in a novel enthusiastic        
imagination may lure the story-teller   
into a host of by-paths not foreseen by 
him when he set out on his journey2 and 
while he is adventuring himself in these
 by-paths1 he may chance to encounter   

characters of a diverting or an         
appealing personality1 whom it may amuse
 him to delineate1 and whom the readers 
of his book will be glad to welcome4    
,but in a drama the story-teller is     
debarred from these wanderings from the 
straight and narrow road1 and he must1  
perforce1 control his enthusiastic      
imagination1 compelling it to do its    
work within the rigid limits of the     
artfully devised framework of the plot4 
,in other words1 character is           
all-important in prose fiction1 and the 
ultimate fame of the novelist depends   
upon his power of endowing his creatures
 with life1 and upon his ability to let 
them obey the laws of their being before
 our eyes4 ,this must the playwright    
also achieve2 but he has the added duty 
of relating his characters intimately to
 the main action of his drama4 ,now1 the
 novelist is under no obligation of this
 sort2 he appeals not to a crowd seated 
before a stage1 but to the solitary     
reader in the study2 and experience     

shows that solitary readers do not      
insist upon the solidity of structure in
 a novel which the same individuals     
desire and demand when they betake      
themselves to the theater4 ,the         
novel-reader may be satisfied by        
characters who do not know their own    
minds1 and who are merely exhibited and 
put through their paces1 without having 
any vital relation to the story1 even if
 there is anything which can fairly be  
called a story--and in some novels of   
high repute1 in ,sterne's ',sentimental 
,journey1' for example1 and in ,anatole 
,france's ',histoire ,contemporaine1'   
each of them extending over several     
volumes1 there is little or no story1 no
 main thread1 no pretense of a plot4    
,,ii  ,here1 then1 is the fatal         
difference between a novel and a play2 a
 novel may have a plot1 but a plot is   
not necessary1 and it can get along with
 a minimum of story2 whereas a play must
 have a plot1 skilfully articulated1    
even if the skeleton is beautifully     

covered2 it must have a story peopled by
 persons knowing their own minds1 a     
story set in action by a dominating     
will1 which determines the successive   
episodes of the action4 ,as the making  
of a plot1 as the putting together of a 
supporting skeleton of action1 calls for
 dexterity of workmanship1 for ingenuity
 of resource1 for adroitness of         
construction1 for the most careful      
consideration of the means whereby the  
end is to be obtained1 two heads are    
often better than one1 because the      
partners have to talk the thing out to  
its uttermost details before they decide
 upon the straight line which is the    
shortest distance between two points4   
,the technic of play-making is more     
exacting than the technic of            
novel-writing1 and it requires          
imperatively the exact and detailed plan
 which ,joubert held to be hampering to 
enthusiasm and imagination4 ,scott1 for 
example1 as he tells us himself1 began  
more than one of his novels not knowing 

what he was going to put into it1 and   
not knowing from day to day1 as he was  
writing1 what his ultimate goal would   
be4 ,but no playwright1 however         
happy-go-lucky in his tendencies1 has   
ever dared to begin a play before he    
knew with absolute certainty how he     
intended to end it4 ,in the drama we    
insist upon a straightforward and       
unswerving action2 the end is implied in
 the beginning1 and the beginning is    
only what that end makes necessary4  ,as
 the technic of the drama is exacting1  
it needs to be acquired by a period of  
apprenticeship2 and here is another of  
the indisputable advantages of          
collaboration4 ,the more inexperienced  
of the two collaborators is taken into  
the studio1 so to speak1 of the more    
expert1 and he thereby learns the       
secrets of stage-craft in the best      
possible way1 by applying them under the
 direction1 or at the suggestion and by 
the advice1 of an older practitioner1 to
 whom they have become so familiar that 

they are a second nature1 as it were4   
,collaboration is the best conceivable  
school for young playwrights4 ,it is    
impossible to overestimate the influence
 of ,scribe's multiplied collaborations 
upon the drama of ,france in the        
mid-years of the nineteenth century2 and
 almost as potent1 because almost as    
wide-spread1 was the influence of the   
many collaborations of the elder ,dumas4
 ,most of those who were the temporary  
partners of ,scribe and ,dumas were     
subdued to their more powerful          
associate1 and contributed little or    
nothing beyond their fundamental        
suggestions for the several plays1 and  
their incidental suggestions as to      
details of the working-out4 ,that is to 
say1 most of the plays signed by ,scribe
 and ,dumas in partnership with others  
have a close similarity to the plays    
they signed alone4 ,but from this       
generalization we may except ',adrienne 
,lecouvreur' and ',bataille de ,dames1' 
in which ,scribe had ,legouve for a     

partner1 and in which we find a greater 
richness of character delineation than  
in any of the pieces that ,scribe       
composed alone1 as we find also a       
greater dexterity of construction than  
in any of the pieces that ,legouve      
composed alone4  ,to the fact that      
',milestones' was written by ,mr4       
,arnold ,bennett and ,mr4 ,edward       
,knoblauch in conjunction1 and to the   
friendly discussion due to their working
 together1 we may credit the superior   
stage-effectiveness of this play over   
the ',kismet1' which ,mr4 ,knoblauch    
wrote alone1 and over the ',great       
,adventure1' for which ,mr4 ,bennett was
 solely responsible4 ,to the composition
 of ',milestones' each of these two     
authors1 the ,american and the          
,englishman1 brought his special        
qualifications1 each of them not only   
stimulating but supplementing the other4
 ,so we find the most famous ,french    
comedy of the nineteenth century1 the   
',gendre de ,m4 ,poirier1' a better     

piece of work1 more equably balanced    
than any play written alone by either   
,augier or ,sandeau4  ,it is scarcely   
necessary to say that there is little   
profit in a partnership for play-making 
when both of the associates are equally 
inexpert1 or when they were both        
possessed of wrong notions about the art
 of the drama4 ,in the former case we   
have the blind leading the blind1 and   
the most lamentable example of this is  
the long forgotten ',ah ,sin1' which    
,bret ,harte and ,mark ,twain combined  
to compose that ,c4 ,t4 ,parsloe could  
impersonate the ,heathen ,chinee4 ,in   
the latter case we have not only the    
blind leading the blind1 but a          
perverseness in going the wrong way1    
intensified by the complete sympathy    
between the two associates2 and the most
 lamentable example of this is the      
',deacon ,brodie' of ,robert ,louis     
,stevenson and ,william ,ernest ,henley1
 who not only were ignorant of the      
modern technic of the drama1 but who    

ignored it of set purpose1 deliberately 
going up a blind alley despite the plain
 sign that there was no thorofare4      
,,iii  ,yet ,stevenson1 at least1       
perceived clearly enough what ought to  
be the more evident advantages of       
collaboration1 that it focused two minds
 together on the stuff1 thus producing  
an extraordinarily greater richness of  
purview1 consideration1 and invention4  
,collaboration will probably always     
produce a greater richness of invention1
 since each of the partners is likely to
 stimulate the other1 their two minds   
striking sparks like flint and steel4   
,but it can produce a greater richness  
of consideration only when each is      
willing both to yield and to oppose4    
,neither must yield too easily2 each of 
them must stand out for his own         
suggestions2 and each of them must      
insist on weighing and measuring the    
suggestions of his ally4 ,if they are   
too sympathetic1 if their two hearts    
beat as one1 then the advantage of their

 having two heads is diminished4 ,if the
 two partners always think alike1 then  
there will be no greater richness of    
purview4  ,when a play composed by two  
of his friends failed to find the       
success on the stage which had been     
anticipated for it1 ,mr4 ,augustus      
,thomas made the shrewd remark that the 
two authors had probably been too polite
 to each other--that is to say1 that    
they had not insisted upon criticising  
the successive suggestions made by each 
in turn4 ,on the other hand1 the        
collaborators must be broad-minded      
enough not to resent this necessary     
criticism4 ,like any other partnership1 
collaboration is a ticklish experiment1 
and it can be profitable only when the  
two partners are willing to give and    
take4 ,they need more than usual        
self-control2 they must be able1 each of
 them1 to preserve his own self-respect 
while full of regard for the            
self-respect of the other4 ,it is not   
surprising that the long collaborations 

of ,erckmann-,chatrain and of ,meilhac  
and ,halevy finally came to a sudden end
 because of an abrupt quarrel4 ,that    
disagreement is likely to arise out of  
the discussions inherent in any         
profitable literary partnership is      
evidenced by a retort credited to the   
younger ,dumas1 who was a rather        
authoritative partner1 and who did not  
always succeed in keeping on good terms 
with those whose plays he had bettered4 
,a friend once suggested a theme for a  
play1 and invited the collaboration of  
,dumas4 ,but why should ,i wish to      
quarrel with you8 was answer of the     
witty dramatist4  ,perhaps the most     
remarkable instance of self-control in  
all the long history of collaboration is
 that of ,theodore ,barriere1 the author
 of the once-famous play called the     
',marble ,heart1' one of the latest of  
whose pieces 7adapted by ,augustin ,daly
 as ',alixe'7 was composed in           
collaboration with his mother-in-law6   
,sometimes the breach between the two   

partners is postponed until after the   
play is completed and produced4 ,charles
 ,reade and ,tom ,taylor joined forces  
in the composition of the long-popular  
comedy called ',masks and ,faces1' and  
after it had established itself upon the
 stage1 ,charles ,reade took its plot   
and its characters and utilized them in 
his charming novel1 ',peg ,woffington1' 
and as he had taken the liberty of thus 
making a private profit out of the      
property of the partnership1 it is not  
to be wondered at that ,tom ,taylor was 
distinctly displeased4 ,but ,charles    
,reade1 altho he collaborated with ,tom 
,taylor1 with ,paul ,merritt1 and with  
,dion ,boucicault1 was more or less     
deficient in the courtesy and           
consideration that a man ought to       
possess to fit him for partnership4     
,when he allied himself with ,dion      
,boucicault in the writing of the novel 
of ',foul ,play1' the collaborators     
quarreled so violently that they felt   
themselves justified in preparing rival 

dramatizations of the story they had    
written in conjunction1 so that ,london 
playgoers had the opportunity of        
choosing between two different          
theatrical adaptations of the same tale4
  ,when the two partners are courteous  
to each other but not too yielding1 when
 they are sympathetic but not too much  
alike in their characteristics and      
qualifications1 when each of them       
supplements the weaker points of the    
other1 then collaboration ought to      
result in plays of more variety of      
invention1 and of more ingenuity of     
construction than is likely to be       
possessed by the average play due to a  
single mind4 ,this much must be         
admitted2 and it is the final           
justification for collaboration4 ,but   
altho these partnerships in play-making 
spread abroad a knowledge of the        
principles of the art1 and altho they   
raise the probable value of the average 
play1 it must be admitted also1 and with
 equal frankness1 that the possibilities

 of collaboration are sharply limited4  
,no single one of the mightiest         
masterpieces of dramatic literature1    
ancient and modern1 is to be credited to
 collaboration2 and the only possible   
exception to this sweeping statement    
would be urged by the critics who hold  
that the ',gendre de ,m4 ,poirier' of   
,augier and ,sandeau is the masterpiece 
of ,french comedy in the nineteenth     
century4 ,those who have climbed to the 
loftiest height of dramatic art have    
always done so alone1 sustained by      
enthusiasm and supported by imagination4
 ,in spite of the greater richness of   
purview1 consideration1 and invention   
that collaboration undoubtedly bestows1 
the man of surpassing genius1 the great 
master of the drama1 ,sophocles or      
,shakspere or ,moliere1 works best      
alone4 ,it is true that he may now and  
again take to himself an ally1 as       
,shakspere condescended to the          
assistance of ,fletcher in ',henry      
,,viii1' and as ,moliere invoked the aid

 of ,corneille in ',psyche1' but it is  
true also that these plays1 written in  
collaboration by ,shakspere and by      
,moliere1 are not the plays which       
establish and confirm their fame4       
,indeed1 these plays are not even among 
the more important pieces of ,shakspere 
and ,moliere1 and the reputation of the 
authors would be no lower if these plays
 had never come into existence4  ,it is 
by the comedies and tragedies which     
,shakspere wrote alone that the         
,elizabethan stage is made glorious1 and
 not by the dramatic romances that go   
under the joint names of ,beaumont and  
,fletcher4 ,it is by the lyrical        
melodramas of which ,victor ,hugo was   
sole author that we recall the          
,romanticist revolt in the ,french      
theater in #ahcj1 and immediately       
thereafter1 and not by the perfervidly  
passionate pieces that the elder ,dumas 
put together in partnership with a group
 of now-forgotten auxiliaries4 ,it is by
 the comedies that ,augier and the      

younger ,dumas wrote1 each of them      
expressing himself in his own fashion1  
that the drama of ,france is illumined a
 score or more years later1 and not by  
the comedies in the composition of which
 ,scribe had the aid of an army of      
allies4  ,in any period of abundant     
fertility we can observe growing        
together at the same time from the soil1
 a fairly large number of trees rising  
above the underbrush1 and we can also   
perceive here and there a tree of       
conspicuous eminence towering above     
these clumps of average height4 ,in the 
luxuriant forest of the drama many of   
the trees of average height may be      
ticketed with two names1 but the        
monarchs of the wood1 those whose tops  
lift themselves high above their        
neighbors--these will be found to bear  
only single signature4  7#aiad47        
,,vi                      ,,the         
,,dramatization ,,of ,,novels ,,and     
,,the ,,novelization ,,of ,,plays       
,,the ,,dramatization ,,of ,,novels     

,,and                        ,,the      
,,novelization ,,of ,,plays             
,i  ,in ,professor ,bliss ,perry's      
admirably suggestive ',study of ,prose  
,fiction1' he devotes one chapter to a  
careful consideration of the essential  
distinctions between prose fiction and  
the drama1 in which he makes it plain   
that the novel and the play are not     
merely two different modes of           
communicating the same fact or truth1   
because the different modes of          
presentation really result in the       
communication of a different fact4      
,professor ,perry declares that the     
field of the dramatist is marked off    
from that of the novelist by the nature 
of the artistic medium which each man   
employs1 and he asserts that the choice 
of a medium for presenting his story and
 projecting his characters depends      
wholly upon the personality and training
 of the artist and the nature of the    
fact or truth that he wishes to convey  
to the public4 ,and he sums up by       

insisting that a novel is typically as  
far removed from a play as a bird is    
from a fish1 and that any attempt to    
transform one into the other is apt to  
result in a sort of flying-fish1 a      
betwixt-and-between thing--capable1     
indeed1 of both swimming and flying1 but
 good at neither4 ,in other words1 a    
dramatized novel or a novelized play is 
an attempt to breed an amphibious       
creature which1 as the ,irishman once   
defined it1 can't live on the land1 and 
dies in the water4  ,the difference     
between the novel and the play is due to
 the inexorable fact that one is        
intended to be read alone in the study1 
and that the other is intended to be    
seen on the stage by a crowd2 it ought  
to be obvious to all who care to        
consider the question1 and yet there are
 many who fail to grasp the distinction1
 deceived by the illusive but           
superficial similarities between the two
 forms1 each of which contains a story  
carried on by characters who take part  

in dialogs4 ,and as a result of this    
failure to apprehend the vital          
differences between the two types of    
story-telling1 the narrative to be      
perused and the action to be witnessed1 
our theaters have long been invaded by  
dramatized novels1 and our book-stores  
are now being besieged by novelized     
plays4 ,in many cases1 if not in most of
 them1 the motive for the transformation
 is simply commercial2 and in view of   
the immediate gain to be garnered1 the  
artistic disadvantages of the procedure 
are overlooked4 ,if hundreds of         
thousands of readers have found pleasure
 in following the footsteps of a        
fascinating heroine thru the pages of a 
prose fiction1 it is possible always    
that hundreds of thousands of spectators
 may be lured to behold her adventures  
when they are set forth anew in a       
stage-play4 ,and if a compelling plot   
has drawn audiences night after night   
into the theater1 it is possible again  
that this plot may attract book-buyers  

in equal numbers when it is retold in a 
narrative for the benefit of those      
remote from the playhouse1 or reluctant 
to risk themselves within its portals4  
,managers are ready to tempt the        
novelist with the hope of a second crop 
of fame and fortune1 and publishers     
dangle the same golden bait before the  
eyes of the dramatist4  ,altho this     
effort to kill two birds with one stone 
is more frequent of late than it used to
 be1 it is not at all new--indeed it    
existed before the rise of prose        
fiction4 ,the dramatic poets of ,greece 
borrowed episodes from the earliest epic
 poets4 ,centuries later ,shakspere laid
 violent hands on ,italian tales and on 
,english romances4 ,on the other hand1  
while it must be admitted that the      
dramatizing of novels has been far more 
prevalent in the past than the          
novelizing of plays1 this latter        
practise1 suddenly popular in the       
twentieth century1 was not unknown in   
the centuries that preceded ours4 ,for  

example1 ,le ,sage levied upon the      
,spanish playwrights for many of the    
characters and the situations he needed1
 for his rambling1 picaresque novels1   
',gil ,blas' and its sister stories4    
,another illustration can be found in   
,england earlier than any in ,france2   
and before the play of ',pericles1'     
which ,shakspere seems to have edited   
and improved1 was printed and perhaps   
even before it was performed1 it was    
novelized by an obscure writer named    
,wilkins1 who was very probably the     
author of the original version of the   
straggling piece that ,shakspere        
revised4 ,thru the long years prose     
fiction and the drama have struggled    
with each other for the favor of the    
public1 and each of them has always been
 willing to borrow from its rival       
whenever it found material fitted for   
its own special purpose4                
,,ii  ,but altho the dramatizing of     
novels was less uncommon a century or   
two ago than the novelizing of plays1   

neither was frequent and neither of them
 was in any way prohibited by law4 ,that
 is to say1 the novel and the play were 
held to be so different that the        
novelist could not prevent the dramatist
 from borrowing his stories1 and the    
playwright could not forbid the writer  
of prose fiction from taking over his   
plots4 ,even the dramatizing of novels  
was so uncommon that the earlier        
story-tellers were not moved to protest 
when they saw their fictions employed by
 the playwrights2 in fact1 they were    
often inclined to accept this as a      
compliment to their original invention4 
,marmontel1 for instance1 in the preface
 to a late edition of his ',moral       
,tales1' pointed with pride to the fact 
that one of these prose narratives had  
been turned into a play1 and suggested  
complacently that there were other      
stories in his collection worthy of the 
same fate4 ,tennyson borrowed the story 
of his ',dora' from ,miss ,mitford2 and 
,charles ,reade had no scruple in making

 a play out of ,tennyson's poem4 ,it    
must be admitted that ,reade's attitude 
was rather inconsistent1 for he writhed 
in pain when one of his own novels was  
cut into dialog and put on the stage    
without his permission1 and yet he      
himself made plays out of novels by     
,anthony ,trollope and by ,mrs4 ,frances
 ,hodgson ,burnett without asking their 
leave1 and without heed to their        
subsequent protests against his         
high-handed proceeding4 ,apparently1    
when he was the aggressor he thought    
that he was doing a service to his      
victims4  ,when ,reade was guilty of    
this offense against the developing     
literary morals of the nineteenth       
century1 he was probably within his     
legal rights1 since the ,british law had
 not then advanced to the point of      
recognizing the author's complete       
ownership of the fiction he had created4
 ,this defect has been remedied at last1
 and in the existing copyright and      
stage-right legislation of ,great       

,britain and the ,united ,states authors
 are assumed to reserve to themselves   
every privilege which they do not       
specifically deprive themselves of2 and 
they need no longer announce that they  
desire to retain all rights for their   
own profit4 ,both in the ,british code  
and in the ,american the novelist has   
now the sole privilege of making a play 
out of his story1 and the dramatist has 
the sole privilege of making a novel out
 of his play4 ,dramatization is a word  
of respectable antiquity1 and the       
corresponding word1 novelization1 has   
now been legally recognized as a        
distinctive term4 ,the authors had felt 
a wrong when others could legally make  
money out of a plot they had invented2  
and they asserted a moral right to      
control their own works whatever might  
be the form of presentation4 ,the       
progress of legal reform was slow1 as it
 usually is1 but it was also certain4   
,the moral right has now become a legal 
right of which the original author may  

avail himself or not1 as he pleases4 ,he
 may1 if he chooses1 dramatize his own  
novel and novelize his own play2 or1 if 
he prefers1 he can sell the permission  
to rehandle his material to a           
professional playwright or to a         
professional storyteller4               
,,iii  ,there is one peculiar           
distinction between the novel and the   
play which ,professor ,bliss ,perry did 
not emphasize4 ,a novel may please long1
 and please many when it is only a study
 of character1 like the ',crime of      
,sylvestre ,bonnard' of ,m4 ,anatole    
,france1 or when it is only the record  
of a series of adventures and           
misadventures passing before the eyes of
 the chief personage1 like the          
',huckleberry ,finn' of ,mark ,twain4 ,a
 play1 on the other hand1 is likely to  
fail to please audiences in the theater 
unless it sets before the spectators a  
clearly defined struggle1 a conflict of 
desires1 a stark assertion of the human 
will4 ,that is to say1 the drama must   

deal with a struggle1 and the novel need
 not4 ,the drama must be dynamic and the
 novel may be static--if these          
scientific terms may be employed without
 pedantry4 ,therefore1 while any play   
may be novelized1 with more or less     
chance of pleasing its new public1 if   
the task is skilfully accomplished1 only
 those novels can be successfully       
dramatized which happen to present an   
essential struggle and to display the   
collision of contending volitions4 ,any 
dramatization of the ',crime of         
,sylvestre ,bonnard' or of ',huckleberry
 ,finn1' of ',gil ,blas' or of the      
',pickwick ,papers1' is foredoomed to   
failure1 for these prose fictions do not
 contain the stuff out of which a vital 
play could be made4 ,but ',jane ,eyre1' 
for example1 and the ',tale of ,two     
,cities1' and ',uncle ,tom's ,cabin' do 
possess this necessary dramatic element1
 and they can be made into plays with a 
prospect of pleasing audiences in the   
theater4  ,even when the novel chances  

to have the essential struggle which the
 drama demands1 the task of adapting it 
to the stage is not so easy as the      
non-expert supposes4 ,at first sight it 
may seem as if there ought to be very   
little difficulty in turning a novel    
into a play4 ,there is a story          
ready-made1 situations in abundance1 and
 characters endowed with the breath of  
life4 ,yet as a matter of fact1 it is   
harder to make a play out of a novel    
than it is to write an original play4   
,the immediate danger before the        
theatrical adapter is that he may be    
tempted to serve up the story merely as 
a panorama of successive episodes       
instead of casting out resolutely       
everything1 however good in itself1     
which does not bear directly upon the   
fundamental conflict4 ,this is one      
reason why the novelist had better leave
 the work of dramatization to an        
experienced playwright1 who will        
ruthlessly omit many an episode that the
 story-teller could not bring himself to

 discard4 ,in fact1 it is hard even for 
the expert adapter to disentangle the   
special situations of a novel which     
alone are available in a play1 and he is
 often tempted to retain much that he   
had better leave out4  ,perhaps it is   
not too daring a paradox to suggest that
 a prose fiction is most likely to be   
made into a good play when the          
playwright has not read the book he is  
dramatizing1 but has only been told the 
story1 so that he is free to handle the 
situations afresh in accord with the    
conditions of dramatic art1 and free to 
discard the special developments chosen 
by the novelist in accord with the very 
different conditions of narrative art4  
,the best version of ,mrs4 ,henry       
,wood's ',east ,lynne' is the ,french   
play1 ',miss ,multon1' by ,adolphe      
,belot and ,eugene ,nus2 and neither of 
the ,french collaborators knew any more 
about the ,english novel than its bare  
story1 which was told to one of them by 
a ,french actress1 who could read       

,english4 ,now and again a clever       
playwright1 even when he has the        
disadvantage of complete familiarity    
with the novel1 can break loose from it 
and yet preserve its full flavor2 and   
this is what ,mr4 ,george ,m4 ,cohan was
 able to do in the play wherein he      
presented the leading characters of ,mr4
 ,george ,randolph ,chester's           
',get-,rich-,quick-,wallingford' in a   
set of situations very different from   
those in the original story4  ,thus we  
see that only a few novels are really   
fit to be dramatized1 and that even     
these are often dramatized ineffectively
 because the playwright has followed the
 story-teller too closely instead of    
putting the plot back into solution1 so 
to speak1 and letting it recrystallize  
in dramatic form4 ,the novelizer has a  
larger liberty since every play contains
 a story and characters capable of being
 transferred to prose fiction4 ,but his 
task has its equivalent danger1 and the 
writer of the narrative may be content  

merely to tread in the footsteps of the 
dramatist1 and to do no more than write 
out more amply the dialog and the stage 
business1 instead of reconceiving the   
plot afresh to tell it more in accord   
with the divergent principles of the art
 of prose fiction4 ,the limitations of  
time to the two hours' traffic of the   
stage compel the dramatist to extreme   
compression2 his dialogs must be far    
compacter and more pregnant than is     
becoming in the more leisurely novel1   
where the author can take all the time  
there is4 ,moreover1 the playwright     
often does no more than allude to       
episodes which it would profit the      
novelist to present in detail to his    
readers2 and the adroit novelizer will  
be quick to seize upon hints of this    
sort to amplify into chapters containing
 interesting material for which the     
original play supplied only the most    
summary suggestion4                     
,,iv  ,the novelizing of plays is       
frequent and profitable in ,america in  

these early years of the twentieth      
century2 and it had been attempted      
infrequently even in the seventeenth    
century4 ,yet only one of these         
novelized plays has succeeded in winning
 an honorable place for itself in prose 
fiction4 ,this is the charming tale of  
theatrical life in the eighteenth       
century1 ',peg ,woffington1' which      
,charles ,reade made out of the comedy  
of ',masks and ,faces1' written by him  
in collaboration with ,tom ,taylor4     
,reade took the liberty of novelizing   
this comedy without asking ,taylor's    
permission1 and even without consulting 
his collaborator2 and all the comment   
that need be made is that the procedure 
was truly characteristic of ,reade's    
lordly attitude toward others--an       
attitude taken by him on many other     
occasions4 ,but whatever injustice he   
did to his fellow worker1 he did none to
 the joint product of their invention2  
he transmuted a play into a novel with  
due appreciation of the demands of the  

other art1 and he produced a fascinating
 tale with a fascinating heroine1 which 
has been read by thousands who have had 
no suspicion that ,peg ,woffington had  
originally figured in a comedy4         
,charles ,reade was able to accomplish  
this feat because he was more skilful as
 a novelist than as a dramatist1 altho  
he fancied himself rather as a maker of 
plays than as a writer of stories4 ,more
 than once did he attempt to repeat this
 early success in winning two prizes    
with the same horse4 ,he took the       
',pauvres de ,paris' of ,brisebarre and 
,nus--the same play which ,dion         
,boucicault had adapted as the ',streets
 of ,new ,york'--and made a version     
which he called ',gold1' under which    
name it had a few performances4 ,he had 
materially modified the ,french plot in 
his ,english play2 and he got still     
further away from ,brisebarre and ,nus1 
when he novelized ',gold1' and called it
 ',hard ,cash1' a matter-of-fact        
romance4 ,later he dramatized this novel

 of his1 and the resulting play did not 
bear any close resemblance to the       
',pauvres de ,paris4'  ,reade also      
collaborated a few years later with     
,henry ,pettitt in a piece called       
',singleheart and ,doubleface1' which he
 promptly proceeded to novelize--again  
without consulting his partner4 ,for    
this indelicacy1 swift vengeance        
followed1 as the ,british novel1 being  
then unprotected by copyright in the    
,united ,states1 was immediately        
dramatized by ,messrs4 ,george ,h4      
,jessop and ,william ,gill4 ,it may be  
noted here casually that another of     
,reade's romances1 ',white ,lies1'      
afterward dramatized by him1 had been   
originally novelized from a ,french play
 called the ',chateau de ,grantier1'    
written by ,auguste ,maquet 7the ally of
 ,dumas in the ',three ,guardsmen' and  
',monte ,cristo'74 ,it is not a little  
surprising that a man like ,reade1 who  
prided himself on his originality1 and  
who even went so far as to accuse       

,george ,eliot of stealing his thunder1 
should have been willing to call so     
frequently on the aid of collaborators1 
and to derive so much of his material   
from foreign sources4  ,the only other  
author who has ventured to turn a play  
into a novel1 and then back into a play 
varying widely from the original piece1 
is ,sir ,james ,barrie1 and what he did 
was not quite what ,reade had done4 ,sir
 ,james wrote a charming story1 called  
the ',little ,white ,bird1' and he found
 in his own prose fiction part of the   
material out of which he was moved later
 to make a charming play1 called ',peter
 ,pan4' ,for reasons best known to      
himself1 but deplored by all who are    
interested in the progress of the       
,english drama1 ,sir ,james ,barrie has 
chosen to publish only a few of his     
comedies4 ,yet he met the demands of a  
multitude of readers by borrowing from  
his fantastic piece a part of the       
material which he made into a delightful
 tale1 called ',peter ,pan in           

,kensington ,gardens4' ,these successive
 rehandlings of an idea1 first in prose 
fiction1 then in dramatic form1 and     
finally again in prose fiction1 were    
possible only to a novelist who was also
 a dramatist--to an author who had      
mastered the secrets of two different   
methods of story-telling1 the method of 
the theater and the method of the       
library4                                
,v  ,the novelist-dramatist of this type
 is a comparatively new figure in       
literature4 ,formerly there was a sharp 
line of cleavage between the man who    
wrote novels and the man who wrote      
plays1 altho one or the other might be  
lured on occasion into a sporadic raid  
into the territory of the other4 ,during
 three-quarters of the nineteenth       
century prose fiction reigned supreme in
 every modern literature except that of 
,france1 and the novelists were rather  
inclined to look down on the            
playwrights1 and to dismiss the drama as
 an inferior form1 likely to be         

absolutely superseded by prose fiction4 
,but toward the end of the century there
 began to be visible signs of an        
awakening interest in the drama1 and    
also of a slackening interest in prose  
fiction4 ,the novelists of the twentieth
 century1 so far from holding the drama 
to be an inferior form1 are discovering 
that it is at least a more difficult    
form1 and therefore artistically more   
attractive4 ,as a result of this        
discovery not a few novelists have      
turned playwrights1 taking the pains to 
learn the principles of the more        
dangerous art of play-making4 ,sir      
,james ,barrie in ,england1 ,m4 ,paul   
,hervieu in ,france1 ,herr ,sudermann in
 ,germany1 and ,signor d',annunzio in   
,italy may not have abandoned altogether
 the prose fiction in which they first  
won fame1 but at least they now devote  
the major part of their energies to the 
drama4 ,it may be recalled that ,clyde  
,fitch began his literary career as a   
writer of short stories1 and that ,mr4  

,bernard ,shaw originally emerged to    
view as the author of a novel4  ,on the 
other hand1 it must be noted as         
significant that the playwrights are not
 tempted to turn novelists2 they seem to
 be satisfied with their own art as the 
more exacting1 and therefore the more   
interesting4 ,m4 ,rostand and ,m4       
,maeterlinck1 ,sir ,arthur ,pinero and  
,mr4 ,henry ,arthur ,jones1 ,mr4        
,william ,gillette and ,mr4 ,augustus   
,thomas have not been lured from the    
drama into prose fiction4 ,the novel is 
a loose form which makes only lax       
demands on its practitioners1 and which 
does not require an artist always to do 
his best4 ,the play has a severe        
technic1 and it tolerates no            
carelessness of construction4 ,the more 
gifted a story-teller may be1 and the   
more artistic1 the more probable it is  
that in the immediate future he will    
seek to express himself in the drama1   
even if he is also moved now and again  
to return to the easier path of prose   

fiction4  ,and this raises another      
interesting point4 ,now that the drama  
is rising again into rivalry with prose 
fiction1 is not the playwright who      
allows his piece to be novelized a      
traitor to his cause8 ,is he not1 in    
fact1 confessing that he esteems the    
play inferior to the novel8 ,apparently 
this is the attitude taken by the more  
prominent dramatists of the day2 most of
 them publish their plays to be read1   
and few of them allow these plays to be 
novelized--altho they might find a      
superior profit if they descended to    
this4 ,it is an unfortunate fact that   
the public which is eager to read prose 
fiction is not so eager to read the     
drama4 ,in the dearth of dramatic       
literature in our language during the   
nineteenth century1 the public lost the 
habit of reading plays1 a habit         
possessed by the public of the          
eighteenth century before the vogue of  
the novel had been established in       
consequence of the overwhelming         

popularity of ,scott1 followed speedily 
by that of ,dickens and ,thackeray4     
,yet there are signs that the general   
reader is slowly recovering the ability 
to find pleasure in the perusal of a    
play4 ,the social dramas of ,ibsen have1
 most of them1 been performed here and  
there in the theaters of ,great ,britain
 and the ,united ,states2 but they have 
been read by thousands who have had no  
opportunity to see them on the stage4   
,so it is with the plays of ,mr4        
,bernard ,shaw1 most of which have also 
appeared in our playhouses4 ,so it is   
with the plays of ,m4 ,maeterlinck1 only
 a few of which have been produced in   
the ,american theater4 ,in time1 it     
seems highly probable that the reading  
public will extend as glad a welcome to 
a play by ,mr4 ,galsworthy or by ,mr4   
,booth ,tarkington as to one of their   
novels4 ,but this happy state can be    
brought about only if the dramatists    
resolutely refrain from novelizing their
 plays themselves1 and from authorizing 

novelization by others4  7#aiac47       
,,vii                                   
,,women ,,dramatists                    
,,women ,,dramatists                    
,i  ,to some of the more ardent         
advocates of the theory that women are  
capable of rivaling men in every one of 
the arts it is a little surprising1 not 
to say disconcerting1 that there are so 
few female playwrights4 ,the drama is   
closely akin to the novel1 since it is  
another form of story-telling2 and in   
the telling of stories women have been  
abundantly productive from a time       
whereof the memory of man runneth not to
 the contrary4 ,and as performers on the
 stage women have achieved indisputable 
eminence2 in fact1 acting is probably   
the earliest of the arts 7as possibly it
 is still the only one7 in which women  
have won their way to the very front    
rank2 and in the nineteenth century     
there were two tragic actresses1 ,mrs4  
,siddons and ,rachel1 certainly not     
inferior in power and in elevation to   

the most distinguished of tragic actors4
 ,why is it1 then1 that women           
story-tellers have not thrust themselves
 thru the open stage door to become more
 effective competitors of the men       
playwrights8  ,before considering this  
question1 it may be well to record that 
women playwrights have appeared         
sporadically both in ,french literature 
and in ,english4 ,in ,france ,madeleine 
,bejart1 whose sister ,moliere married1 
was credited with the authorship of more
 than one play2 and in the last hundred 
years ,george ,sand and ,mme4 de        
,girardin brought out comedies and      
dramas1 several of which succeeded in   
establishing themselves in the repertory
 of the ,comedie-,francaise4 ,in        
,england at one time or another plays of
 an immediate popularity were produced  
by ,mrs4 ,aphra ,behn1 ,mrs4 ,centlivre1
 and ,mrs4 ,inchbald2 and in ,america   
,mrs4 ,bateman's ',self1' and ,mrs4     
,mowatt's ',fashion' held the stage for 
several seasons1 while few of recent    

successes in the ,new ,york theaters had
 a more delightful freshness or a more  
alluring fantasy than ,mrs4 ,gates's    
',poor ,little ,rich ,girl1' and few of 
them have dealt more boldly with a      
burning question than ,miss ,ford's     
',polygamy4' ,these examples of woman's 
competence to compose plays with        
vitality enough to withstand the ordeal 
by fire before the footlights are       
evidence that if there exists any       
prejudice against the female dramatist  
it can be overcome4 ,they are evidence1 
also1 that women are not debarred from  
the competition2 and fairness requires  
the record here that1 when ,mr4         
,winthrop ,ames proffered a prize for an
 ,american play1 this was awarded to a  
woman4  ,but to grant equality of       
opportunity is not to confer equality of
 ability1 and when we call the roll of  
the dramatists who have given luster to 
,french literature and to ,english1 we  
discover that this list is not enriched 
by the name of any woman4 ,the fame of  

,george ,sand is not derived from her   
contributions to dramatic literature1   
and the contributions of ,mrs4 ,behn1   
,mrs4 ,centlivre1 and ,mrs4 ,inchbald1  
of ,mrs4 ,bateman and ,mrs4 ,mowatt1    
entitle them to take rank only among the
 minor playwrights of their own         
generations2 and to say this is to say  
that their plays are now familiar only  
to devoted specialists in the annals of 
the stage1 and that the general reader  
could not give the name of a single     
piece from the pen of any one of these  
enterprising ladies4 ,in other words1   
the female playwrights are so few and so
 unimportant that a conscientious       
historian of either ,french or ,english 
dramatic literature might almost neglect
 them altogether without seriously      
invalidating his survey4 ,perhaps the   
only ,english titles that are more than 
mere items in a barren catalog are ,mrs4
 ,centlivre's ',wonder' and ,mrs4       
,cowley's ',belle's ,stratagem'2 and the
 ,french pieces of female authorship    

which might protest against exclusion   
are almost as few--,mme4 de ,girardin's 
',la ,joie fait ,peur1' and ,george     
,sand's ',marquis de ,villemer' and     
',mariage de ,victorine4'  ,indeed1 the 
women playwrights of the past and of the
 present might be two or three times    
more numerous than they are1 and two or 
three times more important without even 
treading upon the heels of the male     
play-makers4 ,this is an                
incontrovertible fact2 yet it is equally
 indisputable that as performers in the 
theater women are competitors whom men  
respect and with whom they have to      
reckon1 and that as story-tellers women 
are as popular and as prolific as men4  
,and here we are brought back again to  
the question with which this inquiry    
began3 ,why is it then that women have  
not been as popular and as prolific in  
telling stories on the stage8 ,why      
cannot they write a play as well as they
 can act in it8  ,one answer to this    
question has been volunteered by a woman

 who succeeded as an actress1 and who   
did not altogether fail as a dramatic   
poetess1 altho she came in later life to
 have little esteem for her earlier     
attempts at play-writing4 ,it is in her 
',records of a ,girlhood' that ,fanny   
,kemble expressed the conviction that it
 was absolutely impossible for a woman  
ever to be a great dramatist1 because   
her physical organization was against   
it4 ,after all1 it is great nonsense    
saying that intellect is of no sex4 ,the
 brain is1 of course1 of the same sex as
 the rest of the creature2 beside the   
original female nature1 the whole of our
 training and education1 our inevitable 
ignorance of common life and general    
human nature1 and the various           
experiences of existence from which we  
are debarred with the most sedulous     
care1 is insuperably against it--that   
is1 against the possibility of a really 
searching tragedy1 or of a really       
liberal comedy ever being composed by a 
woman4 ,to this rather sweeping denial  

of the dramaturgic gift to women ,fanny 
,kemble added an apt suggestion1 that   
perhaps some of the manly1 wicked       
queens1 ,semiramis1 ,cleopatra1 could   
have written plays--but they lived their
 tragedies instead of writing of them4  
,,ii  ,at first sight it may seem as if 
one of ,fanny ,kemble's assertions--that
 no woman can be a dramatist because of 
her inevitable ignorance of life and of 
the experiences of existence from which 
she is debarred--is disproved by the    
undeniable triumphs of women in acting1 
and by the indisputable victories won by
 women in the field of prose fiction1   
achieved in spite of these admitted     
limitations4 ,but on a more careful     
consideration it will appear that as an 
actress woman is called upon only to    
embody and to interpret characters      
conceived by man with the aid of his    
wider and deeper knowledge of life4 ,and
 when we analyze the most renowned of   
the novels by which women have attained 
fame1 we discover that the best of these

 deal exclusively with the narrower     
regions of conduct1 and with the more   
restricted areas of life with which she 
is most familiar as a woman1 and that   
when she seeks to go outside her        
incomplete experience of existence she  
soon makes us aware of the gaps in her  
equipment4  ,one of the strongest       
stories ever written by a woman is the  
',jane ,eyre' of ,charlotte ,bronte2 and
 the inexperience of the forlorn and    
lonely spinster is almost ludicrously   
made manifest in her portrayal of       
,rochester1 a superbly projected figure1
 not sustained by intimate knowledge of 
the type to which he belongs4 ,charlotte
 ,bronte knew ,jane ,eyre inside and    
out2 but she did not know even the      
outside of ,rochester4 ,because women   
are debarred with the most sedulous care
 from various experiences of existence  
they can never know men as men can know 
women4 ,this is the basis for the shrewd
 remark that in dealing with affairs of 
the heart men novelists rarely tell all 

they know1 whereas women novelists are  
often tempted to tell more than they    
know4 ,even women like ,george ,eliot   
and ,george ,sand1 who have more or less
 broken out of bounds1 are still more or
 less confined to their individual      
associations with the other sex2 and    
they lack the inexhaustible fund of     
information about life which is the     
common property of men4  ,women have    
most satisfactorily displayed their     
special endowment for fiction not in    
what must be called the dramatic novel1 
not in soul-searching studies like the  
',scarlet ,letter' and ',anna           
,karenine1' but rather in less solidly  
supported inquiries into the            
interrelation of character and social   
convention1 as in ',pride and           
,prejudice' and ',castle ,rackrent4' ,it
 would be unfair to assert that ,maria  
,edgeworth and ,jane ,austen are        
superficial2 yet it is not unfair to say
 that they do not explore deeply1 and   
that they do not deal with what         

,stevenson called the great passionate  
crises of existence1 when duty and      
inclination come nobly to the grapple4  
,this is the essential struggle of the  
drama2 and the authoress of ',jane      
,eyre' sought to present it boldly1 even
 if she was handicapped by insufficient 
information2 and this essential struggle
 was what ,charlotte ,bronte herself    
missed in ,jane ,austen3 ,the passions  
are perfectly unknown to her2 she       
rejects even a speaking acquaintance    
with that stormy sisterhood4 ,what sees 
keenly1 speaks aptly1 moves flexibly1 it
 suits her to study2 but what throbs    
fast and full1 tho hidden1 what the     
blood rushes thru1 what is the unseen   
seat of life1 and the sentient target of
 death--this ,miss ,austen ignores4     
,jane ,austen spent her great gift on   
the carving of cherry-stones1 laboring  
with exquisite art to lift into         
temporary importance the eternally      
unimportant2 and ,charlotte ,bronte1 in 
her ampler endeavor1 was ever hampered  

by inadequacy of knowledge4 ,george     
,eliot1 with wider opportunity than     
either of these predecessors1 profited  
by both of them and borrowed their      
processes in turn2 she was broader than 
they were1 and bolder in her attack on  
life2 her effort is more strenuously    
intellectual than theirs1 and therefore 
a little fatiguing1 and this is perhaps 
why her vogue seems now to be           
evaporating slowly4 ,and when all is    
said1 no one of these clever            
story-tellers really attains to an      
altitude of accomplishment where she can
 fairly be considered as a competitor of
 the mighty masters of prose fiction4   
,no woman novelist is to be ranked among
 the supreme leaders1 worthy to stand by
 the side of ,cervantes and ,fielding1  
,balzac and ,tolstoi4 ,the merits of the
 women novelists are many and they are  
beyond cavil2 but no one of them has yet
 been able to handle a large theme      
powerfully and to interpret life with   
the unhasting and unresting strength    

which is the distinguishing mark of the 
mightier masters of fiction4            
,,iii  ,furthermore1 we find in the     
works of female storytellers not only a 
lack of largeness in topic1 but also a  
lack of strictness in treatment4 ,their 
stories1 even when they charm us with   
apt portraiture and with adroit         
situation1 are likely to lack solidity  
of structure4 ',castle ,rackrent1' an   
illuminating picture of human nature in 
a special environment1 is a straggling  
sequence of episodes2 ',pride and       
,prejudice' is almost plotless1 when    
considered as a whole2 and ',romola' is 
ill-proportioned and misshapen4 ,no     
woman has ever achieved the elaborate   
solidity of ',tom ,jones1' the superb   
structure of the ',scarlet ,letter1' or 
the simple unity of ',smoke4' ,and here 
we come close to the most obvious       
explanation of the dearth of female     
dramatists--in the relative incapacity  
of women to build a plan1 to make a     
single whole compounded of many parts1  

and yet dominated in every detail by but
 one purpose4  ,the drama demands a     
plot1 with a beginning1 a middle1 and an
 end1 and with everything rigorously    
excluded which does not lead from the   
beginning thru the middle to the end4   
,the novel refuses to submit itself to  
any such requirement2 it can make shift 
to exist without an articulated         
skeleton4 ,there is little or no plot1  
there is only a casual succession of    
more or less unrelated incidents in     
',gil ,blas' and ',tristram ,shandy1' in
 the ',pickwick ,papers1' and in        
,huckleberry ,finn4' ,the novel may be  
invertebrate and yet survive1 whereas   
the play without a backbone is          
dead--which is biologic evidence that   
the drama is higher in the scale of     
creation than prose fiction4  ,the      
novel1 as practised in ,english1 is the 
perfect paradise of the loose end1 so   
,mr4 ,henry ,james once pointed out1    
whereas the play consents to the logic  
of but one way1 mathematically right1   

and with the loose end as gross an      
impertinence on its surface and as grave
 a dishonor as the dangle of a snippet  
of silk or wool on the right side of a  
tapestry4 ,the action of a story may be 
what its writer pleases1 and he can     
reduce it to a minimum or embroider it  
at will with airy arabesques of         
incessant digression2 but the plot of a 
play must be a straight line1 the       
shortest distance between two points1   
the point of departure and the point of 
arrival4 ,and it is because of this     
imperative necessity for integrity of   
construction that the drama is more     
difficult than prose fiction4 ,since a  
part of our pleasure in any art is      
derived from our consciousness of the   
obstacles to be overcome by the artist1 
and from our recognition of the skill   
displayed by him in vanquishing them1 we
 have here added evidence in behalf of  
the belief in the artistic superiority  
of the play over the novel merely as a  
form of expression4  ,the drama may be  

likened to the sister art of            
architecture in its insistent demand for
 plan and proportion4 ,a play is a poor 
thing1 likely to expire of inanition1   
unless its author is possessed of the   
ability to build a plot which shall be  
strong and simple and clear1 and unless 
he has the faculty of enriching it with 
abundant accessories in accord with a   
scheme thought out in advance and       
adhered to from start to finish4 ,with  
this constructive skill women seem to be
 less liberally endowed than men2 at    
least1 they have not yet revealed       
themselves as architects1 altho they    
have won a warm welcome as decorators--a
 subordinate art for which they are     
fitted by their superior delicacy and by
 their keener interest in details4 ,much
 of the pervasive charm of many of the  
cleverest novels of female authorship   
lies in the persistent ingenuity with   
which the lesser points of character1 of
 conduct1 and of manners are presented4 
,in ,jane ,austen1 in ,maria ,edgeworth1

 and often also in ,george ,eliot1 we   
are delighted by little miracles of     
observation1 and by little triumphs in  
the microscopic analysis of subtle and  
unsuspected motives4 ,but in these very 
books1 the story1 however felicitously  
decorated1 is not sustained by a severe 
architectural framework4 ,and it is this
 firm certainty of structure that the   
drama imperatively demands4  ,in other  
words1 women seem to be less often      
dowered than men with what ,tyndall     
called scientific imagination1 with the 
ability to put together a whole in which
 the several parts are never permitted  
to distend a disproportionate space4    
,this scientific imagination is         
essential to the playwright2 and the    
novelist is fortunate if he also        
possesses it1 altho it is not essential 
to him4 ,a novel may be only a          
straggling succession of episodes2 a    
play must have fundamental unity4 ,a    
novelist may fire with a shot-gun and   
bring down his bird on the wing1 whereas

 a playwright needs a rifle to arrest   
the charging lion4  ,it is a significant
 fact that only once was ,george ,sand  
really triumphant as a dramatist1 and   
that this single success was won by the 
secret aid of the cleverest of          
contemporary playwrights4 ,she was      
passionately devoted to the theater2 she
 had many intimate friends among the    
stage-folk2 she delighted in private    
theatricals2 and she wrote a dozen or   
more plays1 several of them dramatized  
from her own stories4 ,the sole play    
which held its own on the stage in      
rivalry with the best work of ,augier   
and ,dumas fils was the ',marquis de    
,villemer1' and it owed its more        
fortunate fate to the gratuitous and    
unacknowledged collaboration of ,dumas  
fils4  ,for the author of the ',mariage 
de ,victorine1' the author of the ',dame
 aux ,camelias' had a high esteem1 which
 he took occasion to express more than  
once in his critical papers2 and she    
regarded him with semi-maternal         

affection1 often inviting him to join   
the little parties at ,nohant4 ,on one  
of his visits he heard her say that she 
was intending to dramatize the ',marquis
 de ,villemer1' but that she did not    
quite see her way to compact its        
leisurely action in conformity with the 
rigid restrictions of the stage4 ,that  
evening he borrowed a copy of the novel 
to take up to his own room2 and the next
 morning when he came down to the late  
breakfast1 he laid before her half a    
dozen sheets of paper1 whereon she found
 a complete scenario for her guidance1  
an adroit division of her novel into    
acts and scenes1 needing only to be     
clothed with dialog4 ,with his intuitive
 understanding of the principles of     
play-making1 and with his masterly power
 of construction1 he had solved her     
problems for her and made it easy for   
her to write the play4  ,here is an     
unexampled kind of collaboration1 since 
the invention of the story1 the creation
 of the characters1 the dialog to be    

spoken--these were all due to ,george   
,sand alone2 but the concentrating of   
the interest1 the heightening of the    
personages of the narrative to adjust   
themselves to the perspective of the    
theater1 the serried and irresistible   
momentum of the action--these were the  
contribution of ,dumas1 a freewill      
offering to his old friend4 ,the piece  
that she wrote was hers and hers alone1 
and yet it had a dramatic vitality      
lacking in all her other plays1 because 
a man had intervened at the right moment
 to provide the architectural framework 
which the woman could not have bestowed 
upon it1 however felicitous she might be
 in the decoration4                     
,,iv  ,thus it is that we can supply two
 answers to the two questions posed at  
the beginning of this inquiry3 ,why is  
it that there are so few women          
playwrights8 ,and why is it that the    
infrequent plays produced by women      
playwrights rarely attain high rank8    
,the explanation is to be found in two  

facts3 first1 the fact that women are   
likely to have only a definitely limited
 knowledge of life1 and1 second1 the    
fact that they are likely also to be    
more or less deficient in the faculty of
 construction4 ,the first of these      
disabilities may tend to disappear if   
ever the feminist movement shall achieve
 its ultimate victory2 and the second   
may depart also whenever women submit   
themselves to the severe discipline     
which has compelled men to be more or   
less logical4  7#aiae47                 
,,viii                      ,,the       
,,evolution ,,of ,,scene-,,painting     
,,the ,,evolution ,,of                  
,,scene-,,painting                      
,i  ,only recently have students of the 
stage seized the full significance of   
the fact that dramatic literature is    
always conditioned by the circumstances 
of the special theater for which it was 
designed4 ,they are at last beginning to
 perceive that they need to know how a  
play was originally represented by      

actors before an audience and in a      
theater to enable them to appreciate    
adequately the technical skill of the   
playwright who composed it4 ,the        
dramatist is subdued to what he works   
in2 and he can accomplish only that     
which is possible in the particular     
playhouse for which his pieces were     
destined4 ,for the immense open air     
auditorium of ancient ,athens1 with its 
orchestra leveled at the foot of the    
curving hillside whereon thousands of   
spectators took their places1 the       
dramatic poet had to select a simple    
story and to build massively4 ,for the  
unadorned platform of the ,tudor        
theater1 with its arras pendent from the
 gallery above the stage1 and with its  
restless groundlings standing in the    
yard1 the playwright was compelled to   
heap up swift episodes violent with     
action4 ,for the eighteenth-century     
playhouse1 with its apron projecting far
 beyond the line of the curtain1 the    
dramatist was tempted to revel in ornate

 eloquence and in elaborate wit4 ,and   
nowadays the dramatic author utilizes   
skilfully all the manifold resources of 
the twentieth-century picture-frame     
stage1 not only to give external reality
 to the several places where his story  
is supposed to be laid1 but also to lend
 to these stage-sets the characteristic 
atmosphere demanded by his theme4       
,merely literary critics1 secluded in   
their studies1 intent upon the poetry of
 a play and desirous of deducing its    
philosophy1 rarely seek to visualize a  
performance on the stage1 and they are1 
therefore1 inclined to be disdainful of 
the purely theatrical conditions to     
which its author has had1 perforce1 to  
adjust his work4 ,as a result they      
sometimes misunderstand the dramatic    
poet's endeavors1 and they often        
misinterpret his intentions4 ,on the    
other hand1 purely theatrical critics   
may be inclined to pay too much         
attention to stage-arrangements1        
stage-business1 and stage-settings1 and 

even on occasion to disregard the       
dramatist's message and his power of    
creating character to consider his      
technic alone4 ,and yet it can scarcely 
be denied that the theatrical critics   
are nearer to the proper method of      
approach than the literary critics who  
neglect the light which a careful       
consideration of stage-conditions and of
 stage-traditions may cast upon the     
masterpieces of the drama4  ,since all  
these masterpieces of the drama were    
devised to be heard and to be seen      
rather than to be read1 the great       
dramatic poets have always been         
solicitous about the visual appeal of   
their plays4 ,they have ever been       
anxious to garnish their pieces with the
 utmost scenic embellishment and the    
utmost spectacular accompaniment of the 
special kind that a play of that        
particular type could profit by4 ,in    
view of the importance of this scenic   
embellishment and of its influence upon 
the methods of the successive           

playwrights1 there is cause for wonder  
that we have no satisfactory attempt to 
tell the history of the art of the      
scene-painter as this has been developed
 thru the long ages4 ,the materials for 
this narrative are abundant1 even if    
they still lie in confusion4 ,certain   
parts of the field have been surveyed   
here and there2 but no substantial      
treatise has yet been devoted to this   
alluring investigation4 ,the scholar who
 shall hereafter undertake the task will
 need a double qualification2 he must   
master the annals of painting in        
,renascence ,italy1 and later in ,france
 and in ,england1 and he must           
familiarize himself with the            
circumstances of the theater at the     
several periods when the art of the     
scene-painter made its successive steps 
in advance4  ,it is partly because we   
have no manual covering the whole field 
that we find so many unwarranted        
assertions in the studies of the        
scholars who confine their criticism to 

a single period of the development of   
the drama4 ,partly also is this due to  
the fact that we are each of us so      
accustomed to the theaters of our own   
century and of our own country that we  
find it difficult not to assume similar 
conditions in the theaters of other     
centuries and other countries4 ,thus the
 ,shaksperian commentators of the early 
eighteenth century seem not to have     
doubted that the ,english playhouse in  
the days of ,elizabeth was not unlike   
the ,english playhouse in the days of   
,anne2 and as a result they cut up the  
plays of ,shakspere into acts and into  
scenes1 each supposed to take place in a
 different spot1 in accord with the     
eighteenth-century stage practise1 and  
absolutely without any justification    
from the customs of the ,tudor theater4 
,this was the result of looking back and
 of believing that the late             
sixteenth-century stage must have       
resembled the early eighteenth-century  
stage4 ,we are now beginning to see     

that1 in any effort to recapture the    
methods of the ,elizabethan theater1 we 
must first understand the customs of the
 medieval stage1 and then look forward  
from that point4 ,of all places in the  
world the playhouse is1 perhaps1 the    
most conservative1 and the most         
reluctant to relinquish anything which  
has proved its utility in the past and  
which is accepted by the public in the  
present2 and many of the peculiarities  
of the ,tudor theater are survivals from
 the medieval performances4  ,there are 
still to be found classical scholars who
 accept the existence of a raised stage 
in the theater of ,dionysus at ,athens1 
and even of painted scenery such as we  
moderns know2 and they find support in  
the assertion of ,aristotle that among  
the improvements due to ,sophocles was  
the introduction of scenery4 ,but what  
did the ,greek word in the text of      
,aristotle which is rendered into       
,english as scenery really mean8 ,at    
least1 what did it connote to an        

,athenian8 ,something very different1 we
 may be sure1 from what the term scenery
 connotes to us4 ,certainly1 the        
physical conditions of the stageless    
,attic theater precluded the            
possibilities of painted scenes such as 
we are now familiar with4 ,that there   
were no methods of representing         
realistically1 or even summarily1 the   
locality where the action is taking     
place is proved by the detailed         
descriptions of these localities which  
the dramatic poet was careful to put    
into the mouths of his characters       
whenever he wished the audience to      
visualize the appropriate background of 
the action4 ,we may be assured that the 
dramatists would never have wasted time 
in describing what the spectators had   
before their eyes4 ,ibsen and ,rostand  
and d',annunzio are poets1 each in his  
own fashion1 but their plays are devoid 
of all descriptions of the special      
locality where the action passes--that  
task has been spared them by the labors 

of the modern scene-painter working upon
 their specific directions4  ,as there  
was no scenery in the ,greek theater so 
there was little or none in the ,roman4 
,m4 ,camille ,saint-,saens once         
suggested that certain airy scaffoldings
 in the ,pompeian wall-paintings were   
perhaps derived from scenic accessories4
 ,but this seems unlikely enough2 and   
the surviving ,latin playhouses have a  
wide and shallow stage closed in by a   
sumptuous architectural background1     
suggesting the front of a palace with   
three portals1 often conveniently       
utilized as the entrances to the        
separate dwellings of the several       
characters4 ,again1 we may infer the    
absence of scenery from the elaboration 
with which ,plautus1 for one1 localizes 
the habitations of his leading          
characters4 ,in ,rome1 as in ,athens1   
some kind of a summary indication of    
locality1 some easily understood symbol1
 may have been employed2 but of         
scene-painting1 as we moderns know the  

art1 there is not a trace4              
,,ii  ,it is not until we come to the   
mysteries of the ,middle ,ages that we  
find the beginnings of the modern art1  
and even here it is only a most         
rudimentary attempt that we can         
discover4 ,the mystery probably         
developed earliest in ,france1 as it    
certainly flourished there most         
abundantly2 and the ,french represented 
the dramatized ,bible story on a long1  
shallow platform1 at the back of which  
they strung along a row of summary      
indications of certain necessary places1
 beginning with ,heaven on the          
spectator's left1 and ending with ,hell 
on his right1 and including the ,temple1
 the house of the high priest and the   
palace of ,herod4 ,these necessary      
places were called mansions1 and they   
served to localize the action whenever  
this was deemed advisable1 the front of 
the platform remaining a neutral ground 
which might be anywhere4 ,but these     
mansions do not prove the existence of  

scene-painters2 they were very slight   
erections1 a canopy over an altar       
serving to indicate the ,temple1 and a  
little portico sufficing to represent a 
palace2 and they were probably built by 
house-carpenters and painted by         
housepainters1 just as any boat which   
might be called for would be constructed
 by the shipwrights4  ,illustration3    
,the ,roman ,theater at ,orange ,from   
the model at the ,paris ,opera          
,illustration3 ,the multiple set of the 
,french medieval stage ,from the model  
in the ,dramatic ,museum of ,columbia   
,university  ,illustration3 ,the set of 
the ,italian comedy of masks  ,and as we
 need not assume the forming of a guild 
of scene-painters because of these      
mansions which performed some of the    
functions of our modern scenery1 so also
 we must not assume it because the      
medieval artisans invented a variety of 
elaborate spectacular devices1 flying   
angels1 for example1 and roaring flames 
from ,hell-,mouth4 ,even in the         

stageless and sceneless ,attic theater1 
there had been many mechanical effects  
of one kind or another1 especially in   
the plays of ,euripides--the soaring    
dragon-chariot of ,medea1 for instance1 
and the similar contrivance whereby a   
god might descend from the skies4       
,mechanical tricks even when they are   
most ingenious1 do not imply the aid of 
the scene-painter2 and even to-day they 
are the special task of the             
property-man1 or of the master-mechanic1
 altho the scene-painter's aid may be   
invoked also to make them more          
effective4 ,that there were             
property-makers in the ,middle ,ages    
admits of no doubt1 and also highly     
skilled artificers delighting in the    
daring ingenuity of their inventions4   
,there were abundant properties1 it may 
be noted1 on the ,elizabethan stage1    
well-heads1 thrones1 and arbors2 and    
,henslow's diary records payment for a  
variety of such accessories4 ,but there 
is not in that invaluable document a    

single entry indicating any payment for 
anything equivalent to the work of the  
scene-painter4  ,adroit as were the     
,french mechanics who prepared the      
abundant spectacular effects of the     
medieval mysteries1 they were surpassed 
in skill by the ,italian engineers of   
the ,renascence1 who lent their aid to  
the superb outdoor festivals wherein the
 expanding artistic energy of the period
 was most magnificently displayed4      
,leonardo da ,vinci did not disdain to  
design machines disclosing a surprising 
fertility of resource4 ,it was from     
those outdoor spectacles of the         
,italians that the ,french court-ballets
 are directly descended1 and also the   
,english masks1 which demanded the      
collaboration of ,inigo ,jones and ,ben 
,jonson4 ,but at first the ,italians got
 along without the aid of the yet unborn
 scene-painter1 and the inventions of   
the engineer were carried out by the    
mechanic and the decorator4 ,even as    
late as the seventeenth century a       

magnificent spectacle presented in the  
garden of the ,pitti ,palace in         
,florence relied mainly upon the        
ingenious engineer and scarcely at all  
upon the scene-painter4 ,it seems       
probable that it is here in ,italy in   
the ,renascence1 and at first as an     
accompaniment of the outdoor spectacle1 
or of its indoor rival1 that the art of 
the actual scene-painter had its birth4 
,the engineers required the aid of the  
artists--indeed1 in those days1 when    
there was little specialization of      
function1 the engineers were almost     
always artists themselves1 capable of   
their own decoration4  ,illustration3   
,an outdoor entertainment in the gardens
 of the ,pitti ,palace in ,florence in  
the early sixteenth century ,from a     
contemporary print  ,in time there would
 be necessary specialization1 and after 
a while certain artists came to devote  
themselves chiefly to scene-painting1   
finding their immediate opportunity in  
the decoration of the operas1 which then

 began to multiply4 ,the opera has      
always been aristocratic1 expensive1 and
 spectacular1 and it continued the      
tradition of the highly decorated       
open-air festivals4 ,in fact1 it        
improved upon this tradition1 in so far 
as that was possible1 and it achieved a 
variety of mechanical effects scarcely  
less complicated than those which charm 
our eyes to-day in ',rheingold' and     
',parsifal4' ,thirty years ago the late 
,charles ,nuitter1 the archivist of the 
,paris ,opera and himself a librettist  
of wide experience1 drew my attention to
 ,sabbatini's ',practica di fabricar    
scene e machini ne' teatri' 7published  
in #afch71 and he assured me that the   
resources of the ,opera did not go      
beyond those which were at the command  
of the ,italians three centuries        
earlier4 ,they could do then1 he        
asserted1 almost everything that we can 
do now here at the ,opera4 ,for example1
 they could bring a ship on the stage   
under full sail4 ,we have only one      

superiority over them3 we have abundant 
light now1 we have electricity1 and they
 were dependent on candles and lamps4   
,yet even in ,italy in the ,renascence  
the most popular form of the drama1 the 
improvised play which we call the       
comedy-of-masks1 was performed in a     
traditional stage-setting representing  
an open square1 whereon only the        
back-cloth seems to have been the work  
of the scene-painter1 the sides of the  
stage being occupied by four or more    
houses1 two or three on each side1 often
 consisting of little more than a       
practicable door with a practicable     
window over it1 not made of canvas1 but 
constructed out of wood by the          
carpenter1 with the solidity demanded by
 the climbing feats of the athletic     
comedians and by their acrobatic        
agility4 ,the traditional set of the    
comedy-of-masks conformed to that       
recommended for the comic drama by      
,serlio1 in his treatise on             
architecture1 published in #aede2 but it

 may be noted also that ,serlio's       
suggested set for the tragic drama was  
not dissimilar even if it were          
distinctly more dignified4              
,,iii  ,the opera seems to have been the
 direct descendant of the court-ballet1 
known in ,england as the mask1 as that  
in its turn was derived from the        
open-air spectacle of the ,italian      
,renascence1 such as survived in        
,florence in the seventeenth century4   
,in the beginning the court-ballets of  
,france1 like the masks of ,england1    
were not given in a theater with a stage
 shut off by a proscenium arch1 but in  
the ball-room or banqueting-hall of a   
palace4 ,one end of this spacious       
apartment1 often but not always provided
 with a raised platform1 served as the  
stage whereon one or more places1 a     
mountain1 for instance1 and a grotto1   
were represented1 at first by the       
decorated machines of the artistic      
engineers only1 but afterward by the    
canvas frames of scene-painters4 ,the   

action of the court-ballets or of the   
masks was not necessarily confined to   
this stage1 so to call it4 ,the         
spectators were ranged along the walls  
and under the galleries 7if there were  
any71 leaving the main part of the hall 
bare2 and the performers descended      
frequently into this area1 which was    
kept free for them1 and which was better
 fitted for their dances and processions
 and other intricate evolutions than the
 scant and cluttered stage4  ,a         
twentieth-century analog to this        
sixteenth-century practise can be seen  
in the spectacle presented in our modern
 three-ringed circuses--the             
',cleopatra1' for example1 which was the
 opening number on the ,barnum and      
,bailey program not long ago1 where the 
,roman troops and the ,egyptian populace
 came down from the stage and paraded   
around the arena4 ,bacon in his essay on
 ',masques1' used the word scenery as   
tho he meant only decorated scaffolds1  
perhaps movable2 and his expression of  

desire for room to be kept clear implies
 the use of the body of the hall for the
 maneuvers of the performers4 ,ludovic  
,celler1 in his study of ',mise en scene
 au dix-septieme siecle' in ,france1    
shows that the action of the            
court-ballet was sometimes intermitted  
that the spectators could join in the   
dancing1 as at an ordinary ball4 ,in the
 earlier ,italian open-air festivals1   
and in the earlier ,french court-ballets
 there was not even a proscenium sharply
 separating the stage from the rest of  
the hall2 but in ,england by the time of
 ,inigo ,jones the advantage of a       
proscenium had been discovered1 and we  
have more than one of the sketches which
 that skilful designer devised for his  
masks4 ,but even then this proscenium   
was not permanent and architecturally   
conventionalized2 it was invented afresh
 for every successive entertainment1 and
 it was adorned with devices peculiar to
 that particular mask4 ,inigo ,jones had
 also advanced to the use of actual     

scenery1 that is to say1 of canvas      
stretched upon frames and then painted4 
,mr4 ,hamilton ,bell believes it        
possible that the invention of grooves  
to sustain wings and flats may be       
ascribed to ,inigo or to his assistant  
and successor1 ,webb4  ,even in the     
,italian opera1 where all the scenery   
was due to the brush of the             
scene-painter1 there was for a long     
while a formal and monotonous           
regularity4 ,whether the set was an     
interior or an exterior1 a public place 
or a hall in a palace1 the arrangement  
was rectangular1 with a drop at the back
 and a series of wings on either side   
equidistant from one another4 ,this     
stiff representation of a locality is   
preserved for us nowadays in the        
toy-theaters which we buy for our       
children1 altho it is now seen on the   
actual stage only in certain acts of    
old-fashioned operas4 ,it lingers also  
in the variety-shows1 where it is the   
proper setting for many items of their  

miscellaneous programs4  ,altho the     
,italians had discovered perspective    
early in the ,renascence they utilized  
it on the stage timidly at first1       
bestowing this rectangular regularity   
upon all their sets1 both architectural 
interiors or exteriors and rural scenes1
 in which rigid wood-wings receded1     
diminishing in height to a landscape    
painted on the drop at the back1 thus   
leaving the whole stage free for the    
actors4 ,not until the end of the       
seventeenth century did an ,italian     
scene-painter1 ,bibiena1 venture to     
abandon the balanced symmetry of the    
square set1 and to slant his perspective
 so as to present buildings at an acute 
angle1 thereby not only gaining a       
pleasing variety1 but also enlarging    
immensely the apparent spaciousness of  
the scene1 since he was able to carry   
the eyes of the spectator into vague    
distances1 and to suggest far more than 
he was able to display4 ,this advance   
was accompanied by a more liberal use of

 stairways and platforms--practicables  
as the stage-phrase is--that is to say1 
built up by the carpenters so that the  
actors could go from one level to       
another4 ,hitherto flights of steps and 
balconies had been only painted1 not    
being intended for actual use by the    
performers4  ,illustration3 ,the set for
 the opera of ',persee' 7as performed at
 the ,opera in ,paris in the seventeenth
 century7  ,illustration3 ,a prison     
7designed by ,bibiena in ,italy in the  
eighteenth century7  ,a similar         
development took place also in the      
landscape scenes2 the foreground was    
raised irregularly1 so that the persons 
of the play might climb up4 ,practicable
 bridges were swung across torrents1 and
 the earlier formality of pastoral      
scenes began to disappear4 ,apparently  
the scene-painters were influenced at   
this time by the landscape-painters1    
more especially by ,poussin4 ,the       
interrelation of painting and           
scene-painting1 each in turn affecting  

the other1 is far closer than most      
historians of art have perceived4 ,it is
 not unlikely1 for example1 that        
,gainsborough and ,constable1 who were  
the fathers of the ,barbizon men1 had   
been stimulated by the stage-pictures of
 ,de ,lutherbourg4 ,david ,garrick      
profited by the innovating art of ,de   
,lutherbourg1 a pupil of ,vanloo1 who   
came to ,england in #agga4 ,apparently  
it was ,de ,lutherbourg who invented    
raking-pieces--as the scene-painters    
term the low fragments of scenery which 
mask the inclines of mounds4 ,to him    
also is credited the first use of       
transparent scenes to reproduce the     
effect of moonlight upon water1 and to  
suggest the flames of volcanoes4 ,thus  
to him must be ascribed the beginnings  
of that complicated realism by which our
 latter-day scene-painters are enabled  
to create an appropriate atmosphere for 
poetic episodes4                        
,,iv  ,the next step in advance1 and one
 of the most important in the slow      

development of the scene-painter's art1 
took place in ,france early in the      
nineteenth century1 and simultaneous    
with the romanticist movement1 which    
modified the aims and ambitions of the  
artists as much as it did those of the  
poets4 ,the severe stateliness of the   
stage-set which was adequate for the    
classicist tragedies of ,racine and     
,voltaire1 generally a vague interior of
 an indefinite palace1 stiff and empty1 
was hopelessly unsuitable for the fiery 
dramas of ,victor ,hugo and the elder   
,dumas4 ,an even greater opportunity for
 spectacular regeneration was afforded1 
in these same early decades of the      
nineteenth century1 by the bold and     
moving librettos which ,scribe          
constructed for ,meyerbeer and ,halevy  
at the ,opera1 and for ,auber at the    
,opera-,comique4 ,the exciting cause of 
the scenic complexities that we find in 
,wagner's music-dramas can be discovered
 in these librettos of ,scribe's1 from  
',robert the ,devil' to the             

',africaine4' ,for one act of ',robert  
the ,devil1' that in which the spectral 
nuns dance among the tombs under the    
rays of the moon1 ,ciceri invented the  
most striking and novel setting yet     
exhibited on any stage--a setting not   
surpassed in poetic glamor by any since 
seen in the theater1 altho its eery     
beauty may have been rivaled by one     
scene in the ',source1' a ballet        
produced also at the ,opera forty-five  
years ago--a moon-lit tarn in a         
forest-glade1 with half-seen sylphs     
floating lightly over its silvered      
surface4 ,this exquisitely poetic set   
was imported from ,paris to ,new ,york  
and inserted in the brilliant spectacle 
of the ',white ,fawn4'  ,the ample      
effect of these scenes was made possible
 only by the immense improvement in the 
illumination of the stage due to the    
introduction of gas4 ,up to the first   
quarter of the nineteenth century the   
stage-decorator had been dependent upon 
lamps--a few of these arranged at the   

rim of the curving apron which jutted   
out into the auditorium far beyond the  
proscenium1 and a few more hidden here  
and there in the flies and wings4 ,early
 in the nineteenth century gas          
supplanted oil2 and a little later than 
the middle of the century gas was       
powerfully supplemented by the calcium  
light4 ,toward the end of the century   
gas in its turn gave way to the far more
 useful electric light1 which could be  
directed anywhere in any quantity1 and  
which could be controlled and colored at
 will4 ,it was ,henry ,irving1 more     
especially in his marvelous mounting of 
a rather tawdry version of ',faust1' who
 revealed the delicate artistic         
possibilities of our modern facilities  
for stage illumination4  ,in ,france the
 romanticist movement of ,hugo was      
swiftly succeeded by the realistic      
movement of ,balzac1 who was the        
earliest novelist to relate the leading 
personages of his studies from life to a
 characteristic background and to bring 

out the intimate association of persons 
and places4 ,from prose fiction this    
evocation of characteristic surroundings
 was taken over by the drama2 and a     
persistent effort was made to have the  
successive sets of a play suggestive and
 significant in themselves1 and also    
representative of the main theme of the 
piece4 ,the actors were no longer       
dependent upon the float1 as the        
footlights were called2 they did not    
need to advance out on the apron to let 
the spectators follow the changing      
expression of their faces1 and in time  
the apron was cut back to the line of   
the proscenium1 and the curtain rose and
 fell in a picture-frame which cut the  
actors off from their proximity to the  
audience--a proximity forever tempting  
the dramatic poet to the purely         
oratorical effects proper enough on a   
platform4  ,when the modern play calls  
for an interior this interior now takes 
on the semblance of an actual room4     
,apparently the box-set1 as it is       

called1 the closed-in room with its     
walls and its ceiling1 was first seen in
 ,england in #ahda1 when ',london       
,assurance' was produced2 but very      
likely it had earlier made its          
appearance in ,paris at the ,gymnase4   
,to supply a room with walls of a       
seeming solidity1 with doors and with   
windows1 appears natural enough to us1  
but it was a startling innovation       
fourscore years ago4 ,when the ',school 
for ,scandal' had been originally       
produced at ,drury ,lane in #agge1 the  
library of ,joseph ,surface1 where ,lady
 ,teazle hides behind the screen1 was   
represented by a drop at the back1 on   
which a window was painted1 and by wings
 set starkly parallel to this back-drop 
and painted to represent columns4 ,there
 were no doors2 and ,joseph and         
,charles1 ,sir ,peter and ,lady ,teazle1
 walked on thru the openings between the
 wings1 very much as tho they were      
passing thru the non-existent walls4 ,to
 us1 this would be shocking2 but it was 

perfectly acceptable to ,english        
playgoers then2 and to them it seemed   
natural1 since they were familiar with  
no other way of getting into a room on  
the stage4  ,illustration3 ,the screen  
scene of the ',school for ,scandal' at  
,drury ,lane in #aggh ,from a           
contemporary print  ,the invention of   
the box-set1 of a room with walls and   
ceilings1 doors and windows1 led        
inevitably to the appropriate furnishing
 of this room with tangible tables and  
chairs4 ,even in the eighteenth century 
the stage had been very empty2 it was   
adorned only with the furniture actually
 demanded by the action of the drama2   
and the rest of the furniture1 bookcases
 and sideboards1 chairs and tables1 was 
frankly painted on the wings and on the 
back-drop by the side of the painted    
mantelpieces1 the painted windows1 and  
the painted doors4 ,in the plays of the 
twentieth century characters sit down   
and change from seat to seat2 but in the
 plays produced in ,england and in      

,france before the first quarter of the 
nineteenth century all the actors stood 
all the time--or at least they were     
allowed to sit only under the stress of 
dramatic necessity--as in the fourth act
 of ',tartuffe1' for instance4 ,in all  
of ,moliere's comedies there are        
scarcely half a dozen characters who    
have occasion to sit down2 and this     
sitting-down is limited to three or four
 of his more than thirty pieces4        
,nowadays every effort is made to       
capture the external realities of life4 
,sardou was not more careful in         
composing his stage-sittings in his     
fashion than was ,ibsen in prescribing  
the scenic environment that he needed4  
,the author's minute descriptions of the
 scenes where the action of the ',doll's
 ,house' and of ',ghosts' passes prove  
that ,ibsen had visualized sharply the  
precise interior which was1 in his mind1
 the only possible home for the         
creatures of his imagination4 ,and ,mr4 
,belasco has recently bestowed upon the 

winning personality of his ',peter      
,grimm' the exact habitation to which   
that appealing creature would return in 
his desire to undo after death what in  
life he had rashly commanded4           
,v  ,while the scene-painter of our time
 is most often called upon to realize   
the actual in an interior and to delight
 us with a room the dominant quality of 
which is that it looks as tho it was    
really lived in by the personages we see
 moving around in it1 he is not confined
 to those domestic scenes4 ,there are   
other plays than the modern social      
dramas2 and these other plays make other
 demands upon the artist4 ,on occasion  
he has to supply a gorgeous scenic      
accompaniment for the ,roman and        
,egyptian episodes of ',antony and      
,cleopatra1' to suggest the blasted     
heath where ,macbeth may meet the weird 
sisters1 and to call up before our      
delighted eyes the placid charm of the  
,forest of ,arden4 ,the awkward and     
inconsistent sky-borders1 strips of     

pendent canvas wholly unsatisfactory as 
substitutes for the vast depths of the  
starry heavens1 he is able to dispense  
with by lowering a little the hangings  
at the top edge of the picture-frame1   
and by thus limiting the upward gaze of 
the spectators1 so that he can forgo the
 impossible attempt to imitate the      
changing sky4 ,he can achieve an effect 
of limitless space1 as in the last act  
of the ',garden of ,allah' 7which brings
 before us the endless vision of        
,sahara71 by the use of a cyclorama     
background1 the drop being suspended    
from a semicircular rod which runs      
around the top of the stage1 shutting in
 the view absolutely1 and yet yielding  
itself to a representation of sand and  
sky meeting afar off on the faint       
horizon4  ,illustration3 ,a landscape   
set ,designed by ,p4 ,fontanesi in      
,italy in the eighteenth century        
,illustration3 ,a set for the opera of  
',robert le ,diable' ,at the ,paris     
,opera  ,in the past half-century1 and  

more especially since the improvement of
 the electric light1 scene-painting has 
become very elaborate and very          
expensive4 ,instead of being kept in its
 proper place as the decoration of the  
drama1 as a beautiful accessory of the  
action1 it has often been pushed to the 
front1 so as to attract attention to    
itself1 and thereby to distract         
attention from the play which it was    
supposed to illuminate4 ,sometimes      
,shakspere has been smothered in        
scenery1 and sometimes the art of the   
actor has been subordinated to the art  
of the scene-painter4 ,now1 it must be  
admitted that nothing is too good for   
the masterpieces of the drama1 and that 
,sophocles no less than ,shakspere ought
 to be presented to the public with all 
the pomp that his lofty themes and his  
marvelous workmanship may demand4 ,but  
the plays of the mighty dramatic poets  
ought not to be used merely as pegs on  
which to hang gorgeous apparel4 ,after  
all1 the play's the thing2 and whenever 

the scene-painter and his invading      
partner1 the stage-manager1 are prompted
 to oust the drama from its             
pre-eminence1 and to substitute an      
exhibition of their accessory arts1 the 
result is a betrayal of the playwright4 
,a well-known ,british art critic once  
told me that when the curtain rose at a 
certain ,london revival of ',twelfth    
,night1' and disclosed ,olivia's garden1
 he sat entranced at the beauty of the  
spectacle before his eyes1 with its     
subtle harmonies of color1 so entranced1
 indeed1 that he found himself          
distinctly annoyed when the actors came 
on the stage and began to talk4 ,for the
 moment1 at least1 he wished them away1 
as disturbers of his esthetic delight in
 the lovely picture on which his eyes   
were feasting4 ,but even a stage-setting
 as captivating as this might very well 
be justified if it had been employed to 
fill a gap in the action1 and to        
buttress up the interest of an episode  
where the dramatist had allowed the     

appeal of his story to relax4 ,perrin1  
the manager of the ,comedie-,francaise  
thirty years ago1 declined to produce a 
,french version of ',othello' because he
 found a certain dramatic emptiness in  
the scenes at ,cyprus at the opening of 
the second act1 which he felt he would  
have to mask by the beauty of           
spectacular decoration1 too costly an   
expedient in his opinion for the        
finances of the theater just then4      
,illustration3 ,the set of the last act 
of the ',garden of ,allah' ,from the    
model in the ,dramatic ,museum of       
,columbia ,university  ,illustration3 ,a
 set for ',medea' ,designed by ,herr    
,gustav ,lindemann  ,it was ,perrin1    
however1 who produced the ,french       
version of the ',o,edipus the ,king' of 
,sophocles1 and who bestowed upon it a  
single set of wonderful charm and power1
 at once dignified1 appropriate1 and    
beautiful in itself4 ,it represented an 
open space between a temple and the     
palace of the ill-fated ,o,edipus1 with 

an altar in the center1 and with the    
profile of another temple projected     
against the distant sky and relieved by 
the tall1 thin outline of poplar-trees4 
,the monotony of this rectangular       
architectural construction was avoided  
by placing all the buildings on a slant1
 the whole elevation of the temple being
 visible on the left of the spectators1 
whereas only a corner of the colonnade  
of the palace on the right was          
displayed4 ,this set at the             
,theatre-,francais was the absolute     
antithesis of the original scenic       
surroundings in the theater of ,dionysus
 more than two thousand years ago1 when 
the masterpiece of ,sophocles had been  
performed in the open-air orchestra1    
with only a hut of skins or a temporary 
wooden building to serve as a background
 for the bas-reliefs of the action4  ,so
 elaborate1 complicated1 and costly have
 stage-sets become in the past          
half-century1 that there are already    
signs of the violent reaction that might

 be expected4 ,mr4 ,gordon ,craig1 an   
artist of remarkable individuality1 has 
gone so far as to propose what is almost
 an abolition of scene-painting4 ,he    
seeks to attain effects of massive      
simplicity by the use of unadorned      
hangings and of undecorated screens1    
thus substituting vast spaces for the   
realistic details of the modern         
scene-painter4 ,no doubt1 there are a   
few plays for which this method of      
mounting would be appropriate           
enough--,m4 ,maeterlinck's ',intruder1' 
for one1 and his ',sightless' for       
another1 plays which are independent of 
time and space1 and in which the action 
appears to pass in some undiscovered    
limbo4 ,as yet the advanced and         
iconoclastic theories of ,mr4 ,craig    
have made few adherents1 the most       
notable being the ,german1 ,professor   
,reinhardt1 who lacks ,mr4 ,craig's fine
 feeling for form and color1 and who is 
continually tempted into rather ugly    
eccentricities of design1 being         

apparently moved by the desire to be    
different from his predecessors rather  
than by the wish to be superior to them4
                                        
,,vi  ,interesting as are ,mr4 ,craig's 
suggestions1 and wellfounded as may be  
his protest against the excessive       
ornamentation to which we are too prone 
nowadays1 there is no reason to fear    
that his principles will prevail4 ,the  
art of the scene-painter is too welcome1
 it is too plainly in accord with the   
predilections of the twentieth century1 
for it to be annihilated by the fiat of 
a daring and reckless innovator4 ,it    
will be wise if the producers should    
harken to ,mr4 ,craig's warnings and    
curb their tendency to needless         
extravagance2 but we may rest assured   
that a return to the bareness of the    
,attic theater or of the ,english       
theater in the time of the ,tudors is   
frankly unthinkable now that the art of 
scene-painting has been developed to its
 present possibilities4 ,in fact1 the   

probability is rather that the          
scene-painters will continue to enlarge 
the boundaries of their territory and to
 discover new means and new methods of  
delighting our eyes by their evocations 
of interesting places4  ,illustration3  
,the set of ',o,edipe-,roi' 7at the     
,theatre ,francais7  ,illustration3 ,the
 set of the ',return of ,peter ,grimm'  
,from the model in the ,dramatic ,museum
 of ,columbia ,university  ,perhaps they
 would be more encouraged to go on and  
conquer new worlds if there was a wider 
recognition of the artistic value of    
their work4 ,altho ,de ,lutherbourg and 
,clarkson ,stanfield won honorable      
positions in the history of painting by 
their easel-pictures1 the art of        
scene-painting does not hold the place  
in the public esteem that many of its   
practitioners deserve4 ,theophile       
,gautier1 often negligible as a critic  
of the acted drama1 was always worth    
listening to when he turned to pictorial
 art2 and he was frequent in praise of  

the scene-painters of his time and of   
scene-painting itself as a craft of     
exceeding difficulty and of inadequate  
appreciation4 ,probably one reason why  
the scene-painter has not received his  
due meed of praise is because his work  
is not preserved4 ,it exists only during
 the run of the play which it decorates4
 ,when the piece disappears from the    
boards1 the scenes which adorned it     
vanish from sight4 ,they linger only in 
the memory of those who happened to see 
this one play--and even then1 in fact1  
only in the memory of such spectators as
 have trained themselves to pay         
attention to stage-pictures4 ,for the   
scene-painter there is no ,luxembourg2  
still less is there any ,louvre4 ,as    
,gautier sympathetically declared1 it is
 sad to think that nothing survives of  
those masterpieces destined to live a   
few evenings only1 and disappearing from
 the washed canvas to give place to     
other marvels1 equally fugitive4 ,how   
much invention1 talent1 and genius may  

be lost--and not always leaving even a  
name6  ,it is pleasant to know that at  
the ,opera in ,paris a formal order of  
the government has for now a            
half-century prescribed the preservation
 of the original models--the little     
miniature sets which the scene-painter  
submits for the approval of the manager 
and the dramatist before he begins work 
upon the actual scene4 ,these models are
 always upon the same scale1 and in the 
gallery connected with the library of   
the ,opera a dozen of these models are  
set up to be viewed by visitors4 ,of    
course no tiny model1 however cleverly  
fashioned1 can give the full effect of  
the scene which has been conceived in   
terms of a huge stage2 and yet the      
miniature reproductions do not betray   
the scene-painter as much as an         
engraving or a photograph often betrays 
the painter4 ,whatever its limitations1 
and they are obvious enough1 the        
collection of models at the ,opera is at
 least an attempt to retard the oblivion

 that ,theophile ,gautier deplored1 and 
to provide for the scene-painter a      
substitute1 however inadequate1 for the 
,louvre and the ,luxembourg4  7#aiab47  
,,ix                           ,,the    
,,book ,,of ,,the ,,opera               
,,the ,,book ,,of ,,the ,,opera         
,i  ,a few years ago ,punch had a       
satirical drawing representing a        
,british matron conveying a bevy of     
youthful daughters to the ,french play  
in ,london4 ,to a friend who called her 
attention to the rather risky atmosphere
 of the very ,parisian comedy which they
 were about to behold1 the worthy mother
 promptly explained that she was not    
bringing her daughters to see the play  
itself2 she was bringing them to see    
only the acting4 ,probably a great many 
opera-goers would make a similar        
explanation if they were asked whether  
they were interested in the book of the 
opera or only in the music4 ,they would 
be likely to protest that they cared    
little or nothing for the libretto1 and 

that they were attracted solely by the  
score4 ,but1 as a matter of fact1 the   
opera-goers who might make this reply   
would be self-deceived4 ,whether they   
are aware of it or not1 they are        
unlikely to be attracted to any opera   
unless it happens to have an interesting
 story1 built up into a coherent and    
captivating plot4 ,when the libretto is 
unintelligible or uninteresting1 the    
most delightful music fails to allure   
them into the opera-house4 ,this is one 
of the reasons why the ',magic ,flute1' 
which contains much of ,mozart's most   
beautiful melodic invention1 is so      
rarely heard in our opera-houses1 and   
why it is so sparsely attended when it  
is presented4 ,the libretto of the      
',magic ,flute' is dull and ineffective1
 and even ,mozart's genius proved unable
 to overcome this initial handicap4     
,the ordinary opera-goer is likely to   
treat the libretto with calm contempt4  
,he is prone to assert that nobody cares
 about the words1 and he does not       

reflect that behind and beneath the     
words is the supporting structure of the
 story4 ,after all1 an opera is a play1 
it is a music-drama1 and the plot is as 
important in a play the words of which  
are to be sung as in a play the words of
 which are to be spoken4 ,true it is1 of
 course1 that in an opera the words may 
not be heard distinctly1 and perhaps    
they need not be seized with certainty1 
since the emotion they set forth is more
 amply conveyed by the music4 ,but the  
musician cannot express emotion         
musically1 unless there is emotion for  
him to express1 unless he has characters
 immeshed in a series of situations     
which evoke vivid and contrasting       
sentiments for him to translate into    
music4 ,as the music-drama is a drama1  
it must obey the laws of the drama2 it  
must represent a conflict of contending 
desires2 it must be carried on by       
characters firm of purpose and resolute 
in achieving their several aims4 ,these 
characters must be sharply              

individualized and boldly contrasted2   
and the story in which they take part   
must be at once strong and simple1      
calling for no elaborate explanation and
 moving forward steadily and            
irresistibly4 ,it must have a lyric     
aspect1 lending itself naturally to     
song2 and it ought also to afford       
opportunity for the spectacular effects 
appropriate to the large stage of the   
opera-house4  ,so contemptuous of the   
libretto is the ordinary opera-goer that
 he rarely inquires as to the name of   
the author of the book1 altho he is     
generally familiar with the name of the 
composer of the score4 ,he may or he may
 not be aware that ,wagner was his own  
librettist1 and quite possibly he       
supposes that it is the ordinary custom 
of the composers to write the words for 
their own music4 ,he knows that         
',carmen' was composed by ,bizet1 and   
that the ',huguenots' was composed by   
,meyerbeer2 but he would be greatly     
puzzled if he was asked to name the     

librettists of these two operas1 the    
adroit playwrights who devised the      
skeletons of dramatic action which      
sustained the composers and provided    
them with ample opportunities for the   
exercise of their melodic gift4 ,as a   
matter of fact1 the book of ',carmen'   
was written in collaboration by two of  
the most distinguished ,french          
dramatists of the nineteenth century1   
,meilhac and ,halevy1 the authors of    
',froufrou' and of the librettos of     
,offenbach's ',belle ,helene1' ',grand  
,duchess of ,gerolstein1' and           
',perichole4' ,and the book of the      
',huguenots' was the work of the master 
stage-craftsman1 ,scribe1 the author of 
',adrienne ,lecouvreur' and of the      
',ladies' ,battle1' and of countless    
other plays performed in every modern   
language1 and in all the countries of   
the world4  ,bizet wrote other operas   
besides ',carmen1' and if these other   
operas have vanished from the stage1 the
 reason may be that the librettos to    

which they were composed were not as    
ingenious and not as interesting as the 
book of ',carmen4' ,one of these        
forgotten operas of ,bizet's was a      
dramatization of the ',fair ,maid of    
,perth1' and another was called the     
',pearl ,fisher'2 but neither of these  
books was devised by ,meilhac and       
,halevy4 ,and ,scribe was not only the  
librettist of the ',huguenots' and of   
the ',africaine' for ,meyerbeer2 he also
 wrote the books of ',fra ,diavolo' and 
of ',crown ,diamonds' for ,auber1 the   
book of the ',dame ,blanche' for        
,boieldieu1 and the book of the ',juive'
 for ,halevy4 ,indeed1 it is evident    
that ,wagner himself as a librettist    
must be considered as a direct disciple 
of ,scribe2 certainly his book of the   
',flying ,dutchman' has its points of   
resemblance with the books ,scribe      
invented for ',robert the ,devil1' and  
for the ',prophet4' ,even the libretto  
of ,wagner's ',master-,singers of       
,nuremberg1' altho it is far richer in  

tone than any of ,scribe's librettos for
 ,auber1 is constructed in accord with  
principles already applied by the       
,french playwright4 ,in fact1 the       
influence of ,scribe is patent thruout  
the long history of opera in the        
nineteenth century2 he was not only the 
most prolific of librettists himself1   
but the operatic formula he devised was 
borrowed by the best of the librettists 
who followed him4 ,scribe was not the   
writer of the books of ',faust1' or of  
',romeo et ,juliet1' or of ',aida1' but 
all these librettos were carefully built
 in accord with the principles that he  
had practised for half a century4       
,,ii  ,probably the average opera-goer  
is contemptuous of the libretto1 because
 he thinks it is an easy task to write  
the mere words of an opera4 ,to him1 no 
doubt1 the opera lives by its music1 and
 by its music alone4 ,but there is      
really no warrant for this              
uncomplimentary attitude4 ,an opera is a
 music-drama1 and if it is to achieve   

success1 wide-spread and long-lasting1  
its drama must be as effective as its   
music4 ,experience proves that1 so far  
from being as easy as it seems1 the     
construction of a satisfactory libretto 
is really a difficult feat1 to be       
achieved only by an expert in           
stage-craft4 ,it is no task to be       
confided to an amateur play-maker1 to a 
mere lyrist1 ignorant of the art of the 
theater4 ,first of all1 a satisfactory  
book must contain the skeleton of a good
 play2 and1 second1 this must be the    
special kind of play which will not only
 inspire the musician1 but afford him a 
succession of special opportunities for 
the exercise of his own art4 ,the book  
of an opera must be a good play2 and    
more than once have we seen a libretto  
deprived of its music and written out   
again in prose for production in        
non-musical theaters4 ',carmen' is one  
example of this transformation4 ,the    
late ,sir ,henry ,irving was so taken   
with ,wagner's ',flying ,dutchman' that 

he had it made over into a play for his 
own acting--',vanderdecken4'  ,the book 
of an opera must be a good play1 and    
therefore not a few successful operas   
have been composed on plots which had   
already won approval as plays on the    
stage4 ,indeed1 many modern composers   
are so convinced of the necessity that  
librettos shall be attractive in        
themselves that they are continually    
borrowing popular plays to deck with    
melody4 ',salome' and ',pelleas et      
,melisande1' ',madam ,butterfly' and    
',cavalleria ,rusticana1' the ',boheme' 
and the ',tosca' were all successful    
without music before they were set to   
music to win a second success4 ,the book
 of ,verdi's ',rigoletto' is based on   
,victor ,hugo's drama1 ',le ,roi        
s',amuse'2 and oddly enough it was the  
operatic libretto1 rather than the      
original poetic drama1 which suggested  
the ,english play on the same theme1    
,tom ,taylor's blank-verse drama1 the   
',fool's ,revenge4' ,another of ,verdi's

 librettos was borrowed from ,hugo's    
',hermani'1 while his ',traviata1' as we
 all know1 is taken from the play of the
 younger ,dumas1 long popular in        
,america as ',camille4' ,two of ,verdi's
 latest operas had ,shaksperian themes1 
',otello' and ',falstaff4'  ,it is      
instructive to note1 so an ,american    
musical critic once asserted1 that of   
all ,gounod's dozen operas1 the only two
 which have survived are the two which  
are derived from ,goethe's ',faust' and 
from ,shakspere's ',romeo and ,juliet'2 
and he added a reminder that in these   
operas the music owes its success not   
only to the aid derived from its        
associations with a favorite play1 but  
also in part to the fact that the       
composer's creative imagination was     
fertilized by the splendid opportunities
 for dramatic composition offered by    
these plays4 ,gounod was moved by the   
joys and woes of ,margaret and of       
,juliet1 and it is only under the       
influence of deep feeling that such     

masterworks can be created4 ,when       
,gounod set to music a poetic play by   
,goethe1 and when ,verdi set to music a 
group of characters created by          
,shakspere1 the composers might well be 
inspired by the poets2 and they were    
thus aided to attain the utmost of which
 they are capable as musicians4  ,but it
 may be doubted whether any musician    
could find any really helpful           
inspiration in dramas of vulgar         
violence1 such as the ',tosca' of       
,sardou1 and the ',salome' of ,oscar    
,wilde2 and it is extremely improbable  
that the operas composed to such        
unworthy themes will be able to achieve 
any durable popularity4 ,in plots of so 
coarse a character there is neither     
beauty nor poetry1 and the vogue of     
music-dramas having subjects so debased 
is likely to be fleeting4 ,on the other 
hand1 there was both poetry and beauty  
in the original plays of ',madam        
,butterfly' and ',cavalleria            
,rusticana1' and we need not be         

surprised if the operas composed on     
these themes prove to have a long life  
in the musical theaters4 ,we may even go
 further and suggest that there was a   
haunting and ethereal grace about       
,maeterlinck's ',pelleas et ,melisande' 
which seemed almost to demand           
translation into the sister art of      
music4  ,the two most effective ,french 
comedies of the eighteenth century1 the 
',barber of ,seville' and the ',marriage
 of ,figaro1' supplied librettos1 one   
for ,rossini and the other for ,mozart4 
,we may be sure that sooner or later    
some other composer1 ,italian or        
,american or ,german1 will be tempted to
 undertake an opera based on ,fulda's   
',two ,sisters1' in which there could   
not help being a very effective part for
 the prima donna4 ,and sooner or later  
again some musician with an appreciation
 of humor and sentiment will be moved to
 take for his libretto the comedy of    
',masks and ,faces1' by ,charles ,reade 
and ,tom ,taylor1 generally known by the

 name of its fascinating heroine1 ,peg  
,woffington4 ,no doubt there are not a  
few other modern plays in which         
composers will discover musical         
possibilities4                          
,,iii  ,the key to an understanding of  
the importance of the libretto lies in  
the term ,wagner used to describe the   
art-work of the future2 he called this a
 music-drama4 ,the exclusive lover of   
music is tempted to look down on opera  
because its music is contaminated with  
drama2 and for a similar reason1 the    
exclusive lover of the drama is not     
attracted to opera because the drama is 
there more or less sacrificed to the    
music4 ,but there are many opera-goers  
who best relish music and the drama when
 they are presented in conjunction4 ,in 
a music-drama of the highest type1 in   
,wagner's ',tannhaueser1' for example1  
the music and the drama are ,siamese    
twins2 they were brought forth at a     
single birth4 ,each helps the other1 and
 neither calls upon the other for any   

undue sacrifice4 ,they can be enjoyed   
together better than they can be enjoyed
 apart1 since each depends upon the     
other2 and united they stand or fall4   
,mr4 ,h4 ,t4 ,finck was not overstating 
the case when he insisted that the ideal
 opera is one in which the book and the 
score are each of them of absorbing     
interest1 and yet make a doubly deep    
impression when heard together4 ,the    
stories of ',faust' and of ',carmen' and
 of ',lohengrin' are delightful in      
themselves1 merely to read2 and a       
musical expert can find pleasure in     
playing the music from them on the      
piano4 ,yet how much more effective they
 are when we hear and see music and play
 together on the stage4 ,and then the   
same writer goes on to point out that   
the best libretto is one which tells its
 story to the eye1 as in the case of    
',carmen1' for example4 ,no one with    
eyes to see can fail1 for instance1 to  
follow the career of ',carmen1' from her
 flirtation with the young officer to   

the scene before the bullring where he  
stabs her4  ,it was an acute ,french    
dramatic critic who once asserted that  
the skeleton of every good play is a    
pantomime1 and the assertion is more    
emphatically true when applied to the   
skeleton of a libretto4 ,indeed1 as the 
words are rarely heard distinctly1 and  
as they are often in a foreign language1
 there is double need of a story so     
clear and so straightforward that it can
 be caught by the eye alone from the    
actions and gestures and facial         
expressions of the performers without   
the aid of the actual words4 ,but the   
inventing and the constructing of a plot
 of this seemingly simple effectiveness 
is a task of extraordinary              
difficulty--if we may judge by the      
infrequency of its achievement4 ,and    
undoubtedly it is this difficulty which 
has led so many musicians to compose    
their scores to books only slightly     
altered from plays which had already an 
attested popularity in the theater4 ,by 

so doing it has seemed to them that they
 were minimizing the risk of finding    
their music handicapped by an           
ineffective story4 ,the danger in this  
case lies in the temptation to set to   
music any play which may chance to be   
successful without considering          
sufficiently whether it is really worthy
 of the composer's labor4  ,there is    
another disadvantage also in this       
snatching at successful plays to serve  
as opera-librettos4 ,most successful    
plays nowadays deal with modern life1   
and they may owe much of their success  
to the skill with which the dramatist   
has been able to seize the external     
aspects of reality4 ,now1 it is an      
interesting question whether a realistic
 piece of this sort can ever supply an  
entirely satisfactory book for an opera1
 since music is emotional and           
idealizing4 ,to many persons the opera  
seems singularly unreal1 strangely      
remote from actual life4 ,such persons  
are shocked that ,tristan1 for instance1

 should sing for half an hour when he is
 dying from physical weakness4 ,tolstoy 
sided with those who take this attitude1
 and he had no difficulty in showing up 
the absurd unreality of an operatic     
performance1 if one insists upon        
applying to it the standard of our      
ordinary existence1 since we do not     
burst into song ordinarily to express   
our every-day desires4 ,of course1 there
 would be no great difficulty in showing
 up the absurd unreality of every other 
art1 if the same standard is insisted   
upon4 ,no art can justify itself for a  
moment unless we are willing to admit   
the essential conventions which alone   
permit it to exist4  ,tolstoy might as  
well have pointed out that sculpture is 
ridiculous1 since no human being is ever
 all of one color1 body and clothes1 as 
a statue must be1 whether it is made of 
marble or of bronze4 ,he could have     
declared that painting is equally untrue
 to the mere facts of life1 since it    
represents nature absolutely without    

motion1 as when it depicts a field of   
waving corn which does not really wave  
but stands fixed forever4 ,if ,tolstoy  
or any one else refuses to accept the   
conventions of any art1 there is no     
possible reply1 except to make it clear 
to him that he is thereby depriving     
himself of the delight which that art   
can give4 ,a departure from the mere    
fact underlies every art2 and it is only
 because of that departure that the art 
exists4 ,by convention1 that is to say1 
by tacit agreement between the artist   
and the public1 the artist is allowed to
 deny certain of the facts of life in   
order to provide the public with the    
specific pleasure which only his art can
 afford4  ,in the ,shaksperian drama the
 underlying convention is that the      
persons of the play belong to a race of 
people who always express themselves    
poetically in ,english blank verse4 ,in 
opera this necessary agreement requires 
us to concede the existence of men and  
women to whom song is the natural means 

of communicating all their sentiments   
and all their thoughts4 ,if we are      
willing to accept this implied contract1
 then there is no absurdity in          
,tristan's singing with his dying       
breath1 since he belongs to a race of   
creatures who have no other method of   
speech4 ,if we are unwilling to be      
parties to this agreement1 if we deny   
the existence of any such creatures1    
then there is nothing for us to do but  
to keep out of the opera-house4 ,it was 
this convention which ,tolstoy rejected1
 and by this rejection he refused the   
enjoyment which the opera can give to   
those who are satisfied to accept its   
conditions4                             
,,iv  ,but there is no denying that the 
imperative operatic convention requires 
us to admit a very violent departure    
from the facts of life as we all know   
them4 ,we are now so accustomed to blank
 verse in ,shakspere's plays1 tragic and
 comic1 that we accept it almost without
 noticing it4 ,by long habit1 we have   

come to consider blank verse as natural 
in a poetic play1 especially when that  
play sets before us heroic figures of   
the remote past4 ,and here is the danger
 in the operas which have been composed 
on books made out of modern popular     
pieces1 more or less realistic in their 
atmosphere4 ,the naturalness of the men 
and women in these plays of to-day tends
 to draw attention to the unnaturalness 
of their customary use of song to       
express their emotions4  ,this danger   
,wagner skilfully avoided in his later  
music-dramas derived from the           
,nibelungen myth4 ,he set before us     
shadowy creatures involved in strange   
intrigues far back in the legendary past
 and wholly devoid of any modern or     
realistic suggestion4 ,as ,tristan and  
,siegfried and ,brunhild are all        
idealized persons1 taking part in poetic
 fictions1 we are willing enough to     
accept their exclusive use of song2 and 
we recognize at once the artistic       
inconsistency of ,tolstoy's protest4 ,to

 beings so remote from our daily life1  
from our ordinary experience1 the       
standard of fact cannot fairly be       
applied4 ,we acknowledge the full right 
of such creatures to dwell eternally in 
the land of song alone4  ,but we are    
perhaps a little less willing to make   
this acknowledgment when we find the    
composer asking us to believe that men  
and women of our own time and of our own
 country1 the characters of the ',girl  
of the ,golden ,west1' for example1 or  
even some of those of ',madam           
,butterfly1' should eschew the plain    
prose of ordinary speech and insist on  
discussing their love-affairs in the    
obviously unnatural medium of song4     
,that is to say1 there is a striking    
incongruity between musical expression  
and the realistic characters of most    
modern plays4 ,we enjoy the opera partly
 because it is not natural1 not real1 in
 the ordinary meaning of these words2   
and if the plot and the people are      
aggressively modern and matter-of-fact1 

our attention is necessarily called to  
the unnaturalness of their incessant    
vocalization4 ,a certain remoteness from
 real life1 even a certain vaporous     
intangibility as to time and place1 seem
 to be a helpful element in our         
enjoyment of a music-drama4  ,perhaps it
 is due to this remoteness1 to this     
unreality1 that the opera-goer is       
willing enough to have a story end      
unhappily1 altho the playgoer is now    
likely to be painfully affected by a    
tragic ending4 ,whatever the reason1 it 
is a fact that most of our popular plays
 end merrily in a church1 while most of 
our popular operas end sadly in a       
churchyard4 ,the calculation has been   
made that out of twoscore operas sung in
 ,new ,york at the two opera-houses a   
season or so ago1 only half a dozen     
ended happily2 the large majority of    
them culminated in the death of the hero
 or of the heroine or of both together4 
,music is a sister of poetry1 and we    
need not wonder that the musicians are  

likely to prefer the opera-book which   
has a tragic catastrophe4  7#aiaj47     
,x                        ,,the ,,poetry
 ,,of ,,the ,,dance                     
,,the ,,poetry ,,of ,,the ,,dance       
,i  ,the ,greek of old was wise in his  
generation and poetic as was his habit1 
when he imagined nine muses and when he 
feigned that each of them was to watch  
over a separate art1 and to inspire     
those who might strive to excel in this4
 ,it is true that nowadays we cannot    
help feeling that the sister-muses of   
,tragedy and of ,comedy have been a     
little derelict to their duty1 if they  
are really responsible for all the plays
 of our time1 not a few of which seem to
 be sadly lacking in inspiration4 ,but  
of late another of the sacred nine      
appears to have aroused herself out of  
her lethargy and to have awakened to a  
fuller realization of her opportunity4  
,at least1 there are many evidences now 
visible in the ,united ,states that     
,terpsichore has been attending strictly

 to business1 and sending out travelers 
with many diverse specimens of her      
wares4 ,indeed1 there has probably never
 been a time when so many different     
varieties of the dance have been on     
exhibition before the ,american people4 
,it was once remarked by a shrewd       
observer that there were only three     
kinds of dancing1 the graceful1 the     
ungraceful1 and the disgraceful4 ,and in
 the ,united ,states we have had        
presented to us in the past few years   
specimens of all three kinds4  ,in the  
middle of ,september1 #aiaj1 the        
,playground ,association of ,america    
held an outdoor session in ,van         
,cortlandt ,park1 in ,new ,york1 and    
three hundred persons1 mostly children1 
took part in the exercises4 ,the most   
interesting feature of the program was a
 series of national folk-dances executed
 by boys and girls from the public      
schools4 ,new ,york is the huge         
melting-pot where all nationalities of  
,europe meet to be fused into           

,americans2 and these children were1    
most of them1 executing the dances of   
the countries their parents had come    
from--dances for which they had1        
therefore1 a traditional and hereditary 
predilection4 ,german girls in the      
costumes of the ,rhine1 gave a peasant  
dance to the simple tune of ',ach1 du   
lieber ,augustin'2 and colored children1
 in perfect rhythm1 moved thru a reel to
 the music of the ',suwanee ,river4'    
,the wild ,hungarian czardas was carried
 off with a splendid swing by men and   
women born on the banks of the ,danube2 
and an ,irish quartet displayed their   
agility and their precision of          
time-keeping in a four-handed           
country-dance4 ,and at the end1 all the 
participants in the several national    
dances took part in a general           
harvest-dance4 ,this was an effective   
spectacle1 possible only here in        
,america1 where representatives of many 
peoples come to mingle1 even tho each of
 them retains a sentiment of loyalty to 

the old home it has left forever4  ,here
 in the open air1 in a public park1 at  
this meeting of the ,playground         
,association1 there was this joyous and 
wholesome revival of the folk-dances of 
a dozen different races2 and at the same
 time1 in one or another of half a score
 of the theaters of the great city1     
ill-trained and half-clothed women were 
vainly capering about the stage in      
doubtful efforts to suggest the         
,oriental contortions of ,salome4 ,these
 were1 most of them1 consciously and    
deliberately inartistic1 appealing      
directly to the baser instincts and to  
the lower curiosities of man4 ,nothing  
could have been in sharper contrast with
 the folk-dances of the foreign-born    
children1 which were gay and healthy and
 spontaneous4 ,the exercises in the park
 were examples of the kind of dancing   
which cannot help being graceful1 while 
most of the performances in the theaters
 were specimens of the kind of dancing  
which can fairly be described as        

ungraceful1 even if they cannot all of  
them be dismissed as disgraceful4 ,while
 the folk-dances of the children would  
fill the heart with a pure delight1 the 
sorry spectacle presented in some of the
 theaters was not to be witnessed       
without a certain loss of self-respect2 
it recalled the gross pantomimes of the 
later ,roman theater1 righteously       
denounced by the ,fathers of the        
,church4  ,yet it is only just to record
 that in other theaters there were then 
other spectacles to make amends for     
these sorry exhibitions4 ,there were    
several interesting attempts to recall  
the severe beauty of ,greek dancing4    
,lithe figures with free and floating   
draperies sought to recapture the       
irreclaimable charm that lives for us in
 the lovely ,tanagra figurines1 or that 
flits elusively around the sides of     
,attic vases4 ,ambitious efforts were   
made by one dancer and by another to    
translate into step and posture and     
gesture the intangible poetry of        

,shelley and the haunting music of      
,mendelssohn4 ,unfortunately1 the result
 was rarely commensurate with the       
effort2 and1 in fact1 a complete success
 was not possible4 ,the muse of dancing 
has no right to endeavor to annex the   
territory of her sisters1 who are       
charged with the care of poetry and     
music4 ,the several arts are strongest  
when each remains strictly within its   
own limitations4 ,for example1          
program-music is not yet assured of its 
welcome1 and program-dancing is far more
 difficult to follow with complete      
comprehension4  ,and there was a further
 defect in these efforts to revive the  
classic dances and to devise more modern
 interpretations of poetry and music4   
,success1 if possible at all1 would be  
possible only to a highly trained       
performer1 mistress of every device of  
the terpsichorean art and elaborately   
schooled in pantomimic expression4 ,now1
 it is not unfair to say that no one of 
the performers of these so-called       

classic dances had undergone this severe
 schooling4 ,no one of them had the     
lightness1 the ease1 the perfect mastery
 of method1 the floating grace of the   
true dancer1 who has been taught from   
childhood1 until all the tricks of the  
craft are second nature4 ,without this  
arduous training any one who attempts an
 ambitious display can scarcely fail to 
reveal instantly the lamentable fact    
that she is not mistress of the technic 
of the art she has undertaken to        
practise4 ,she does not know how to get 
her effects2 she does not even know what
 effects are possible4 ,she is almost   
certain to appear amateurish1 and she is
 likely to seem awkward also1 not to say
 ungainly4 ,as ,pope put it tersely3    
,those move easiest who have learned to 
dance4  ,these well-meant attempts to   
link dancing with poetry and music could
 be entirely satisfactory only to those 
who have given little consideration to  
dancing as an art1 or who have small    
opportunity to see any really beautiful 

dancing4 ,there is no wonder that any   
effort to spiritualize dancing1 to give 
it a soul1 to elevate it to the lofty   
level of the lyric1 should be welcomed  
by those who have been disgusted by the 
ugly and vulgar high-kicking of the     
so-called pony ballets4 ,the acrobatic  
contortions of these athletic performers
 were wholly without charm1 as          
unalluring as they were violent4 ,and   
equally unacceptable are the frequent   
exhibitions of toe-dancing1 sheer       
gymnastic feats1 difficult1 indeed1 but 
essentially uninteresting4 ,of a truth1 
these pony ballets on the one hand1 and 
these toe-dancers on the other1 are     
exponents of eccentricity4 ,what they   
accomplish lies outside the true art of 
dancing4 ,it is not inspired by         
,terpsichore1 and the saddened muse must
 veil her face when she is forced to    
behold these crude exhibitions of       
misplaced energy4                       
,,ii  ,the true art of dancing is       
entirely free from all apparent effort4 

,no matter how difficult may be the feat
 that is accomplished1 it must seem     
easy4 ,every gesture must be expressive1
 every movement must be beautiful1 every
 step must have ease and lightness and  
grace4 ,forty years ago and more1 the   
',black ,crook' brought to ,america     
three or four dancers trained in the    
best schools of ,europe--,bonfanti and  
,betty ,rigl1 ,rita ,sangalli and       
,morlacchi4 ,one of this quartet1 ,rita 
,sangalli1 was afterward the chief      
dancer at the ,paris ,opera1 where she  
was followed in time by ,rosita ,mauri1 
a dancer who added beauty of face and of
 form to a masterly accomplishment4     
,they were all gifted pantomimists2 they
 had all of them the perfection of      
technic2 they were all of them capable  
of the most varied difficulties of the  
art2 and they all of them vanquished    
these difficulties with unobtrusive     
ease4 ,they had attained to that        
perfection of art1 when the art itself  
is hidden1 and when only the consummate 

result is visible4 ,each of them had    
absolute certainty of execution1 and    
each of them could float across the     
stage the embodiment of grace1 exquisite
 in its ethereal delicacy4  ,for those  
whose memories cannot recall the        
haunting remembrance of the days that   
are gone there is abundant compensation 
in the opportunity which has been       
afforded of late to behold the dancing  
of ,mlle4 ,genee and of ,mlle4 ,pavlova4
 ,they are1 at least1 the equal of any  
of their predecessors1 and it may be    
doubted whether ,taglioni or ,fanny     
,elssler surpassed them in mastery4     
,they are the perfection of effortless  
ease2 altho they suggest only the       
lightness of the butterfly1 they have   
the steel strength of the gymnast4      
,behind their marvelous and bewildering 
accomplishment there is a native gift1  
rich and full2 and there is also the    
utmost rigor and perseverance in        
training4 ,what they are able to do with
 seeming spontaneity and with apparent  

freedom is the result of indefatigable  
industry and of merciless labor4  ,but  
tho this schooling sustains them1 it is 
never paraded--indeed1 it is scarcely   
perceived4 ,there is not the faintest   
suggestion of hard work about their     
performances2 there is nothing that     
hints at effort2 their art is able to   
conceal itself absolutely1 and to       
delight us only with the perfect result 
of their long apprenticeship4 ,capable  
of the most obstinate feats of strength 
and of agility1 ,mlle4 ,genee and ,mlle4
 ,pavlova never show off2 they are never
 guilty of parading a difficulty for its
 own sake1 and their conquest of        
technical obstacles serves only to      
support and intensify the continuous    
suggestion of aerial elevation and of   
ineffable lightness4 ,it is to be noted1
 also1 that as they scorn the task of   
the mere gymnast1 they do not wear the  
scant costume of the acrobat2 they are  
enveloped in ample draperies1 which fall
 into lines of beauty with every        

movement4  ,nothing more exquisite than 
their dancing has ever been seen on the 
,american stage4 ,theirs is the dancing 
which is graceful--which1 indeed1 is    
grace itself4 ,here is the art at its   
utmost possibility1 purged of all its   
dross4 ,when they are floating          
effortless thru space we cannot help    
recalling the possibly apocryphal       
anecdote which records the visit of     
,emerson and ,margaret ,fuller to the   
theater to see ,fanny ,elssler4 ,they   
gazed with increasing delight1 until at 
last ,margaret ,fuller could not contain
 her enthusiasm4 ,she turned and said3  
,ralph1 this is poetry6 ,to which the   
philosopher is said to have responded3  
,margaret1 this is religion6            
,perfection is always rare1 and there is
 now only one ,mlle4 ,genee1 and only   
one ,mlle4 ,pavlova1 as there was only  
one ,rosita ,mauri a quarter of a       
century ago4 ,it is a pity that the     
,danish dancer has had to appear here in
 an ordinary musical show and not in a  

framework more worthy of her and of her 
art1 and better fitted to display it4   
,she has revealed herself only in two or
 three entrees de ballet1 as the ,french
 term them--incidental dances2 and she  
has not yet been seen here in a ballet  
d'action1 a complete story told in      
pantomime4 ,it was the poet1 ,francois  
,coppee1 who devised the plot of the    
',korrigane' for ,rosita ,mauri2 and he 
had had ,theophile ,gautier as a        
predecessor in the preparation of a     
ballet-libretto4 ,all those who are     
interested in every manifestation of the
 art of the drama1 must find pleasure in
 the ballet d'action1 with its adroit   
commingling of dance and pantomime2 it  
gives a delight possible to no other    
form of the drama2 and at its best it is
 more closely akin to pure poetry4      
,being her own manager1 ,mlle4 ,pavlova 
has been seen in a series of ballets    
more appropriate to her extraordinary   
gifts than those in which ,mlle4 ,genee 
has been permitted to appear4           

,,iii  ,there was one scene of the      
',source1' a ballet popular at the      
,opera in ,paris during the exhibition  
of #ahfg1 which must linger in the      
memory of all who had the good fortune  
to behold it--a scene so beautiful that 
it was borrowed for the ',white ,fawn1' 
which was the successor of the ',black  
,crook' here in the ,united ,states4 ,it
 represented a silvery glade in the lone
 forest1 with a mysterious lake1 on the 
surface of which the spirits of the     
springtime came forth to disport        
themselves4 ,it was a vision of airy    
grace and of haunting legend2 and it is 
only one example of the poetic          
possibilities of the contribution of    
dance and pantomime in a coherent story4
 ,it may be well to recall the fact that
 the plots of these ballets d'action are
 often strong enough to enable them to  
serve as the basis of a libretto for an 
opera4 ,it was a ballet of ,scribe's1   
for example1 which was taken for the    
book of the ',somnambula'2 and the book 

of the favorite opera ',martha' began   
its existence as a libretto for a       
ballet4  ,while the ballet d'action     
affords the fullest opportunity for the 
perfect art of dancers like ,rosita     
,mauri and ,adeline ,genee and ,anna    
,pavlova1 there are other forms not to  
be despised4 ,twenty-five years ago the 
,italian ,marenco brought out his       
stupendous ',excelsior1' which was taken
 from ,italy to ,paris1 then to ,new    
,york1 and finally to ,london4          
',excelsior' was an allegorical ballet2 
it represented the conflict of light and
 darkness1 of progress and superstition1
 of invention and reaction4 ,it filled a
 whole evening with spectacle and       
glitter and movement4 ,it lacked the    
poetic simplicity of the ',source' and  
of the ',korrigane'2 but it had other   
qualities of its own4 ,what set it apart
 from all the ballets that had gone     
before was the subordination of the     
individual terpsichorean artist to the  
main body4 ,marenco employed the best   

dancers to be found in ,italy1 no doubt1
 but he did not rely on them so much as 
on the intricate and ingenious handling 
of the crowds of lesser dancers1 by whom
 they were surrounded4  ,the novelty of 
',excelsior' and of the two or three    
gigantic ,italian spectacles which were 
patterned upon it--',messalina' and     
',sieba'--lay in the maneuvering of the 
masses1 in the extraordinary skill with 
which squadrons of figures were made to 
charge across the stage and combine and 
melt into one another most unexpectedly 
and most delightfully4 ,the whole stage 
was a blaze of artfully contrasted      
colors1 and it was filled with a riot of
 motion and of glitter4 ,and ,marenco   
made use of male dancers far more       
abundantly than any of his predecessors1
 utilizing them to wear the more somber 
colors1 to suggest a sterner vigor1 and 
to emphasize a bolder contrast4 ,he was 
responsible also for another novelty1   
often employed by others since2 he      
increased the height of his swerving    

lines of dancers1 now and again1 by     
mounting some of the figures on stands1 
and by putting revolving globes and     
iridescent banners into the hands of the
 men in the background4  ,it is the     
method of ,marenco in ',excelsior' which
 has been followed in the often pleasing
 ballets of the ,hippodrome in ,new     
,york4 ,really good soloists are now    
very scarce1 even in ,milan and in      
,vienna1 long the nurseries of the      
ballet2 and there seem to be none too   
many even in ,petrograd1 which has      
preserved and improved upon the         
traditions of ,paris and ,milan4 ,and in
 the absence of accomplished soloists1  
the deviser of the ballets at the       
,hippodrome has been compelled to get   
along without them as best he could4 ,he
 has been forced to rely on the         
maneuvering of masses of girls1         
possessed of only a rudimentary         
instruction in the elements of the      
terpsichorean art4 ,in other words1 he  
has had to make up in quantity for the  

absence of quality4 ,but he has at his  
disposition an immense stage1 across    
which he could set his squadrons        
marching and gliding and glittering4 ,he
 could not count on the skill of his    
principals who were not expert enough to
 demand the attention of the spectators2
 but he could seek striking effects of  
light and color in the costumes1 as he  
moved his masses to and fro and as he   
swung them together4 ,if only there had 
been a little better training for the   
more prominent performers1 the ',four   
,seasons' would have been a most        
artistic entertainment1 in spite of the 
absence of any single dancer of real    
distinction4                            
,,iv  ,the dearth of remarkable dancers 
is due to the inexorable fact that      
dancing is the most arduous of all the  
arts2 its technic is the most difficult 
to acquire4 ,indeed1 this technic can be
 acquired only in early youth1 when the 
muscles are flexible and when they can  
be supplied at will4 ,it is early in her

 teens that a dancer must begin her     
training if she aspires to eminence in  
the art4 ,this training is very severe1 
and it must never be relaxed4           
,rubinstein used to say that if he      
omitted his practise for a single day he
 noticed it in his playing2 if he       
omitted it two days his enemies found it
 out2 and if he omitted it three days   
even his friends discovered it4 ,the    
apprentice dancer can never omit a      
single day of hard and uninteresting    
toil4 ,incessant application1 during all
 the long years of youth1 is the price  
the ambitious beginner must pay for the 
mastery of her art4 ,she can have no    
vacations2 she can have few relaxations2
 she must keep herself constantly in    
training2 she must be prepared to       
surrender many of the things which make 
life worth living4 ,and it is no wonder 
that so few have the courage to         
persevere1 and that there is only one   
,rosita ,mauri1 only one ,adeline       
,genee1 and only one ,anna ,pavlova in a

 quarter of a century4 ,it is no wonder 
that the inventor of terpsichorean      
spectacles nowadays finds himself       
compelled to get along as best he can   
without a satisfactory soloist and to   
rely rather on his handling of a mass of
 inadequately trained dancers4  ,but    
even if the highly accomplished soloist1
 absolute mistress of all the           
possibilities of the art1 is very rare1 
there are certain forms of dancing which
 do not demand this ultimate skill and  
which call for little more than grace   
and ease and charm1 combined with a     
knowledge of the simpler steps4 ,for    
example1 the ,spanish ,carmencita1 whose
 portraits by ,mr4 ,sargent and by ,mr4 
,chase now hang in the ,luxembourg in   
,paris and in the ,metropolitan ,museum 
in ,new ,york--,carmencita was not a    
skilful dancer2 she had undergone no    
inexorable schooling2 she glided thru   
only a few elementary movements4 ,but   
she made no effort2 she did not pretend 
to what was not in her power2 she was   

simple and unaffected4 ,her charm was   
not in her singing or in her dancing2 it
 was in her personality1 in the alluring
 and exotic suggestion of her           
individuality4  ,nor could anybody      
venture to assert that ,miss ,kate      
,vaughan and ,miss ,letty ,lind were    
dancers in the same class with ,mauri1  
,genee1 and ,pavlova2 but then they did 
not pretend to be4 ,they knew only a few
 steps of obvious simplicity1 and they  
displayed no unexpected dexterity4 ,but 
the skirt-dance as they performed it was
 a memory of delight1 with its grace and
 its ease1 with its perfect rhythm and  
with the swish of its clinging          
draperies4 ,it had a fascination of its 
own1 quite different from the           
fascination of the more poetic and      
ethereal ballet-dancing of ,rita        
,sangalli and ,rosita ,mauri4 ,it was   
not of the stage exactly1 but almost of 
the drawing-room4 ,it gave the same     
pleasure which we felt when we were     
privileged to behold a court minuet led 

by the late ,mrs4 ,g4 ,h4 ,gilbert1 who 
had been a dancer in the days of her    
youth4 ,there is one perfect beauty of  
the best ballet-dancing and there are   
other beauties of different kinds in the
 skirt-dancing of the two ,englishwomen 
and in the languorous swaying of the    
,spanish gipsy4  ,beauty of yet another 
order there was in an exhibition which  
was called a dance1 perhaps because     
there was no other word for it1 but     
which demanded no skill with the feet   
and which necessitated rather strength  
in the arms4 ,this was the luminous     
dance of ,miss ,loie ,fuller1 when she  
swirled voluminous and prolonged        
draperies in lights that came from above
 and from below1 and from both          
sides--lights that changed by exquisite 
gradations from one tint to another1 the
 figure of the dancer spinning around1  
now slowly and now swiftly1 while her   
arms weaved fantastic circles in the    
air1 revealing unexpected combinations  
of color1 controlled by perfect taste4  

,this may not have been dancing1 by any 
strict definition of the word1 but it   
was decorative1 artistic1 imaginative1  
and inexpressibly beautiful4 ,it        
supplied a glimpse of unsuspected       
delight2 and probably ,terpsichore would
 not disdain to claim it for her own1   
however vigorously she might repel the  
suggestion that she had any             
responsibility for the violence of the  
toe-dances1 for the vulgarity of the    
pony ballet1 or for the ungainly        
caperings which pretend to recapture the
 free movements of the ,greeks4         
7#aiaj-aiae7                            
,,xi                        ,,the       
,,principles ,,of ,,pantomime           
,,the ,,principles ,,of ,,pantomime     
,i  ,in his suggestive study of ancient 
and modern drama1 ,m4 ,emile ,faguet    
dwells on the fact that the drama is the
 only one of the arts which can employ  
to advantage the aid of all the other   
arts4 ,the muses of tragedy and comedy  
can borrow narrative from the muse of   

epic poetry and song from the muse of   
lyric poetry4 ,they can avail themselves
 of oratory1 music1 and dancing4 ,they  
can profit by the assistance of the     
architect1 the sculptor1 and the        
painter4 ,they can draw on the          
co-operation of all the other arts      
without ceasing to be themselves and    
without losing any of their essential   
qualities4 ,this was seen clearly by    
,wagner1 who insisted that his          
music-dramas were really the art-work of
 the future1 in that they were the      
result of a combination of all the arts4
 ,quite possibly the ,greeks had the    
same idea1 since ,athenian tragedy has  
many points of similarity to ,wagner's  
music-drama2 it had epic passages and a 
lyric chorus set to music2 it called for
 stately dancing against an             
architectural background4  ,but altho   
the muses of the drama may invoke the   
help of their seven sisters1 they need  
not make this appeal unless they choose4
 ,they can give their performances on a 

bare platform1 or in the open air1 and  
thus get along without painting and     
architecture4 ,they can disdain the     
support of song and dance and music4    
,they can concentrate all their effort  
upon themselves and provide a play which
 is a play and nothing else4 ,and this  
is what ,ibsen has done in his somber   
social-dramas4 ',ghosts1' for example1  
is independent of anything extraneous to
 the drama4 ,it is a play1 only a play1 
and nothing more than a play4  ,yet it  
is possible to reduce the drama to an   
even barer state than we find in        
,ibsen's gloomy tragedy in prose4       
,ibsen's characters speak2 they reveal  
themselves in speech2 and it is by words
 that they carry on the story4 ,a story 
can be presented on the stage1 however1 
without the use of words1 without the   
aid of the human voice1 by the          
employment of gesture only1 by pure     
pantomime4 ,no doubt1 the drama makes a 
great sacrifice when it decides to do   
without that potent instrument of       

emotional appeal1 the human voice2 and  
yet it can find its profit1 now and     
then1 in this self-imposed deprivation4 
,certain stories there are1 not many1   
and all of them necessarily simplified  
and made very clear1 which gain by being
 bereft of the spoken word and by being 
presented only in the pantomime4 ,and   
these stories1 simple as they must be1  
if they are to be apprehended by sight  
alone without the aid of sound1 are1    
nevertheless1 capable of supporting an  
actual play with all the absolutely     
necessary elements of a drama4  ,in his 
interesting and illuminating volume on  
the ',theory of the ,theater1' ,mr4     
,clayton ,hamilton has a carefully      
considered definition of a play4 ,he    
asserts that a play is a story devised  
to be presented by actors on a stage    
before an audience4 ,perhaps it might be
 possible to amend this by saying in a  
theater1 instead of on a stage1 since we
 are now pretty certain that there was  
no stage in the ,greek theater when     

,sophocles was writing for it4 ,but this
 is but a trifling correction1 and the  
definition as a whole is excellent4 ,it 
includes every possible kind of dramatic
 entertainment1 ,greek tragedy and      
,roman comedy1 medieval farce and modern
 melodrama1 the music-drama of ,wagner  
and the problem-play of ,ibsen1 the     
summer song-show and the college boy's  
burlesque4 ,obviously it includes the   
wordless play1 the story devised to be  
presented on a stage and before an      
audience by actors who use gesture only 
and who do not speak4  ,in forgoing the 
aid of words the drama is only reducing 
itself to its absolutely necessary      
elements--a story1 and a story which can
 be shown in action4 ,it is not quite   
true that the skeleton of a good play is
 always a pantomime1 since there are    
plays the plot of which cannot be       
conveyed to the audience except by      
actual speech4 ,yet some of the greatest
 plays have plots so transparent that   
the story is clear1 even if we fail to  

hear what the actors are saying4 ,it has
 been asserted that if ',hamlet1' for   
example1 were to be performed in a      
deaf-and-dumb asylum1 the inmates would 
be able to understand it and to enjoy   
it4 ,they would be deprived of the      
wonderful beauty of ,shakspere's verse1 
no doubt1 and they would scarcely be    
able even to guess at the deeper        
significance of the philosophy which    
enriches the tragedy2 but the story     
would unroll itself clearly before their
 eyes so that they could follow the     
succession of scenes with adequate      
understanding4  ,with his customary     
shrewdness and his usual gift of        
piercing to the center of what he was   
engaged in analyzing1 ,aristotle more   
than four thousand years ago saw the    
necessity of a neatly articulated plot4 
,if you string together a set of        
speeches1 he said1 expressive of        
character and well finished in point of 
diction and thought1 you will not       
produce the essential tragic effect     

nearly so well as with a play1 which1   
however deficient in these respects1 yet
 has a plot and artistically constructed
 incidents4 ,no broader statement than  
this could be made as to the            
all-importance of the story itself--and 
pantomime is a story and nothing else1 a
 story capable of being translated by   
the actions of the performers1 without  
the aid of speech4 ,nor need we suppose 
that a play without words is necessarily
 devoid of poetry4 ,there may be poetry 
in the set of speeches expressive of    
character and well finished in point of 
thought and diction2 but there may be   
poetry also in the theme itself1 in the 
actual story4 ',romeo and ,juliet1' for 
example1 is fundamentally poetic in its 
theme1 and it retains its poetic quality
 even when it is made to serve as the   
libretto of an opera1 as it would also  
retain this if it should be stripped    
bare to be presented in pantomime4  ,in 
a recent work on the ',essentials of    
,poetry1' ,professor ,william ,a4       

,neilson has made this clear3 ,many a   
drama is a genuine poetic creation1     
altho it may be simple to the point of  
baldness in diction and exhibit the     
fundamental qualities of poetry only in 
the characterization and in the         
significance1 proportion1 and           
verisimilitude of the plot4 ,that is to 
say1 the drama can use two kinds of     
poetry1 that which is internal and      
contained in the plot1 and that which is
 external and confined to the language4 
,it can employ            jewels        
five-words long1     ,that on the       
stretched forefinger of all ,time       
,sparkle forever4  ,but it can also     
attain poetry without the use of superb 
and sonorous phrases and solely by its  
choice of theme4 ,this is what the poets
 have often felt1 and as a result       
,french lyrists1 like ,theophile        
,gautier and ,francois ,coppee1 have not
 disdained to compose librettos for     
pantomimic ballets1 ',giselle' and the  
',korrigane4' ,one of the most          

successful of the recent ,russian       
ballets was simply a representation of  
,gautier's poetic fantasy1 ',one of     
,cleopatra's ,nights1'                  
,,ii  ,perhaps because the pantomime    
contains only the essential element of  
the drama--action--it has always been a 
popular form of play2 and it appears    
very early in the history of the        
theater4 ,indeed1 it seems to be the    
sole type of play achievable by         
primitive man--if we may judge from     
observations made among savages who are 
still in the earlier periods of social  
development4 ,gesture precedes speech1  
and a pantomime was possible even before
 a vocabulary was developed4 ,in the    
,aleutian ,islands1 for example1 the    
pantomime is the only form of play      
known4 ,one of the little plays of the  
islanders has been described4 ,it was   
acted by two performers only1 one       
representing a hunter1 and the other a  
bird4 ,the hunter hesitates but finally 
kills the bird with an arrow2 then he is

 seized with regret that he has slain so
 noble a bird2 whereupon the bird       
revives and turns into a beautiful woman
 who falls into the hunter's arms4 ,this
 is the simplest of stories1 but it     
lends itself to effective acting2 it is 
capable of being interpreted adequately 
by means of gesture alone2 and it is    
just the kind of play which would appeal
 to an ,aleutian audience1 being wholly 
within their experience and their       
apprehension4  ,pantomime flourished in 
,rome and in ,constantinople in the     
sorry years of the decline and fall of  
the empire2 and it was then low and     
lascivious4 ,a great part of the fierce 
hostility to the theater displayed by   
the ,fathers of the ,christian ,church  
was due to the fact that the only drama 
of which they had any knowledge was     
pantomime of a most objectionable       
character1 offensive in theme and even  
more offensive in presentation4 ,with   
the conversion of the empire to         
,christianity1 pantomimes of this type1 

appealing only to lewd fellows of the   
baser sort1 was very properly           
prohibited4 ,but pantomime of another   
type sprang up in the ,middle ,ages in  
the ,christian churches to exemplify and
 to make visible to the ignorant        
congregations1 certain episodes of      
sacred history4 ,in the ,renascence     
dumb-shows were represented before      
monarchs1 at their weddings and at their
 stately entrances into loyal cities4   
,and dumb-shows were often employed in  
the ,elizabethan stage1 sometimes as    
prologs to the several acts1 as in      
',gorboduc1' for example1 and sometimes 
within the play itself1 as in ',hamlet4'
  ,in the eighteenth century pantomime  
had a double revival1 in ,france and in 
,england4 ,in ,france1 ,noverre elevated
 the ballet d'action1 that is to say1   
the story told in pantomime and adorned 
with dances4 ,sometimes these ballets   
d'action were in several acts1 relying  
for interest on the simple yet ingenious
 plot1 and only decorated1 so to speak1 

with occasional dances4 ,from ,noverre  
and from ,france the tradition of the   
pantomime with interludes of dancing1   
spread at first to ,italy and ,austria1 
and later to ,russia4  ,in ,england the 
development of pantomime was upon       
different lines1 due to the influence of
 the ,italian comedy-of-masks1 with its 
unchanging figures of ,pantaleone1      
,columbina1 and ,arlecchino4 ,these     
figures were still further simplified2  
and to ,pantaloon1 ,columbine1 and      
,harlequin there was added the          
characteristically ,british figure of   
the ,clown4 ,the most famous            
impersonator of the clown was ,grimaldi1
 whose memoirs were edited by ,charles  
,dickens4 ,the mantle of ,grimaldi fell 
upon an ,american1 ,g4 ,l4 ,fox1 whose  
greatest triumph1 in the late sixties1  
was in a pantomime called               
',humpty-,dumpty'--the riming prolog of 
which was written by ,a4 ,oakey ,hall   
7then ,tweed's mayor of ,new ,york74 ,g4
 ,l4 ,fox and his brother1 ,c4 ,k4 ,fox 

7who was the inventor of the comic      
scenes71 had been preceded in ,america  
by a family of ,french pantomimists     
known as the ,ravels2 and they were     
followed by the family known as the     
,hanlon-,lees1 who had originally been  
acrobats1 and who appeared in a ,french 
play1 in which the other characters     
spoke while the ,hanlon-,lees expressed 
themselves only in gesture4 ,here again 
,scribe had been before them1 with his  
libretto for the opera of ',masaniello1'
 in which there is a principal part for 
a pantomimic actress1 ,fenella4 ,and    
when the great ,french actor1 ,frederic 
,lemaitre1 had lost his voice by        
overstrain1 ,dennery wrote a play for   
him1 the ',old ,corporal1' in which he  
appeared as a soldier of ,napoleon's    
,old ,guard1 who had been stricken dumb 
during the retreat from ,russia4  ,this 
exploit of ,frederic ,lemaitre's is not 
as extraordinary as it seems4 ,a truly  
accomplished actor ought to be able to  
forgo the aid of speech4 ,even in our   

modern plays gesture is more significant
 than speech4 ,to place the finger on   
the lips is more effective than to say  
,hush6 ,the tendency of the modern drama
 on our amply lighted picture-frame     
stage is to subordinate the mere words  
to the expressive action4 ,in ,mr4      
,gillette's ',secret ,service1' for     
example1 the impression is sometimes    
made rather by gesture than by speech2  
and a large portion of the most         
effective scene1 that where the hero is 
wounded while he is sending a telegraph 
message1 is presented in pantomime with 
little assistance from actual dialog4   
,similar effects are to be found in many
 of ,mr4 ,belasco's plays1 especially in
 the ',darling of the ,gods4' ,in all   
good acting the gesture precedes the    
word2 and often the gesture makes the   
word itself unnecessary1 because it has 
succeeded in conveying the impression   
and in making the full effect by itself1
 so that the spoken phrase lags         
superfluous4                            

,,iii  ,in ,france in the final decades 
of the nineteenth century there was a   
wide-spread revival of interest in      
pantomime1 where the art had been       
dormant since the days of ,deburau4 ,a  
society was formed for its              
encouragement1 and a host of little     
wordless plays was the result4 ,the most
 ambitious effort was the ',enfant      
,prodigue1' a genuine comedy in three   
acts1 by ,m4 ,michel ,carre1 with music 
by ,m4 ,alfred ,wormser4 ,this wordless 
play on the perennially attractive theme
 of the ,prodigal ,son proved to be the 
modern masterpiece of pantomime4 ,it was
 limpidly clear in its story2 it was    
ingeniously put together in its plot2 it
 combined humor and pathos2 and it was  
devoid of the acrobatic features and of 
the slap-stick fun which have generally 
been considered the inevitable          
accessories of pantomime4 ,we had       
brought before us the dull and prim home
 life of old ,pierrot and of his wife1  
and we were made to behold the          

impatience of young ,pierrot with this  
prim dullness4 ,we saw the ,prodigal rob
 his father and go forth in search of   
pleasure4 ,in the second act we were    
witnesses of the sad results of the     
pleasure young ,pierrot had sought      
superabundantly1 and we discovered that 
he had spent his money and that he was  
capable of descending to marked cards to
 win more gold to satisfy the caprices  
of the woman who had fascinated him4 ,we
 saw his return with his ill-gotten     
gains after his charmer had been tempted
 to go off with a wealthier man4 ,and in
 the third act we were taken back to the
 home of his broken-hearted parents2 and
 we witnessed the ,prodigal's return1   
poverty-stricken1 disenchanted1 and     
reformed4 ,his mother takes him to her  
arms2 but his father is obdurate4 ,then 
we hear the fife and drum afar off1 and 
young ,pierrot1 if he has lived         
unworthily for himself1 can at least die
 worthily for his country4 ,so the old  
father relents and bestows his blessing 

on the erring son as the boy goes forth 
to war4  ,the art of the ',enfant       
,prodigue' was at once delicate and     
firm2 and its popularity was not        
confined to ,france4 ,here was a true   
play1 moving to tears as well as to     
laughter1 holding the interest by a     
human story of universal appeal4 ,it was
 taken across the ,channel from ,paris  
to ,london1 and from ,london it was     
taken across the ocean to ,new ,york4   
,augustin ,daly1 always on the alert for
 novelty1 brought it out at his own     
theater1 first with his own company1 and
 then a little later with a ,french     
company4 ,excellent as was the          
performance of the ,french company1 two 
characters were as well sustained by the
 ,american company4 ,charles ,leclercq  
appeared as old ,pierrot1 and he had had
 in his youth experience in pantomime in
 ,england4 ,mrs4 ,g4 ,h4 ,gilbert       
appeared as ,mrs4 ,pierrot1 and in her  
youth she had been a ballet dancer1 and 
had taken part in pantomimes4 ,to these 

two performers the principles of the art
 of gesture were perfectly familiar2 and
 it was a constant delight to follow the
 dexterity and the adequacy of their    
gestures4 ,but ,miss ,rehan1 who        
appeared as the ,prodigal ,son1 had had 
no pantomimic experience1 and she was   
not able to acquire the art offhand4 ,in
 dozens of dramas she had revealed      
herself as an actress1 not only of great
 personal charm1 but also of great      
histrionic skill4 ,merely as an actress 
she was incomparably superior to the    
impersonator of the ,prodigal ,son in   
the ,french company2 but merely as a    
pantomimist she was inferior4 ,more than
 once she appeared as if she wanted to  
speak1 failing because she was deprived 
of voice4 ,her gestures seemed like     
afterthoughts2 they lacked spontaneity  
and inevitability4 ,she suggested at    
moments that she was a poor dumb boy    
gasping for words4  ,now1 the convention
 underlying pantomime is that we are    
beholding a story carried on by a race  

of beings whose natural method of       
communicating information and ideas is  
gesture--just as the convention of opera
 is that we are beholding a story       
carried on by a race of beings whose    
natural method of communicating         
information and ideas is song4 ,no such 
races of beings ever existed2 but we    
must admit the existence of such races  
as a condition precedent to our         
enjoyment of pantomime and of opera4    
,the spectators must accept the art as  
it is1 and the performers must refrain  
from any suggestion that they would     
speak if they could4 ,this underlying   
convention was viciously violated in    
,professor ,reinhardt's overpraised     
',sumurun1' when the ,hunchback gives a 
shriek of horror as he sees the woman he
 loves in the arms of another man4 ,it  
is viciously violated again in the same 
play when ,sumurun and two attendants   
are heard singing4 ,if ,sumurun can     
sing1 why can she not speak8 ,if the    
,hunchback can shriek and sob audibly1  

why is he ordinarily reduced to mere    
gesture8  ',sumurun' was provided with a
 plot devised by ,herr ,freksa1 and with
 music composed by ,herr ,hollaender2   
and it was produced by ,professor ,max  
,reinhardt4 ,the story was a little     
complicated1 and it lacked the          
transparent simplicity of the ',enfant  
,prodigue1' as it lacked also the broad 
humanity of the ,french piece4 ,its     
chief claim to attention was that it is 
an amusing spectacle1 sensual as well as
 sensuous4 ,its humor had a ,teutonic   
heaviness in marked contrast with the   
,gallic lightness of the ',enfant       
,prodigue4' ,professor ,reinhardt sought
 eccentricity rather than originality1  
queerness rather than beauty4 ,his      
effort was directed to the achieving of 
something unexpected and something      
different rather than to the attaining  
of something good in itself1 or of      
something poetic4 ,esthetically1        
musically1 dramatically the ,german     
pantomime was pitiably inferior to the  

,french2 and yet so potent and so       
permanent is the appeal of the wordless 
play that ',sumurun' pleased a host of  
younger playgoers1 not old enough to be 
able to recall the ',enfant ,prodigue'  
or ',humpty-,dumpty1' the ,hanlon-,lees1
 or the ,ravels4                        
,,iv  ',sumurun1' like the ',enfant     
,prodigue1' was supported by its music1 
which sustained the gestures and which  
sometimes suggested more than gesture   
alone can do4 ,in the ',enfant          
,prodigue1' for example1 one of the most
 amusing scenes is that in which the    
elderly rich man tenders his affections 
to the charmer who has fascinated the   
,prodigal ,son4 ,she insists upon       
marriage4 ,it would be difficult to     
convey this idea in pure pantomime4 ,so 
she points to the fourth finger of the  
left hand1 and the orchestra plays the  
familiar ,wedding ,march1 thus instantly
 conveying the idea4 ,when she goes off 
to get her bonnet1 the elderly suitor   
repeats her gesture1 and the orchestra  

repeats the ,wedding ,march1 whereupon  
he winks and shakes his head1 giving us 
clearly to understand that his          
intentions are strictly dishonorable4   
',sumurun' is rather a spectacle than a 
play2 and therefore it makes            
comparatively little use of the         
conventionalized gestures which may be  
described as the accepted vocabulary of 
pantomime1 and which have been developed
 by the followers of ,noverre in ,france
 and in ,italy4 ,this vocabulary of     
gesture is only a codification of the   
signs which we naturally make--shaking  
the head for no1 nodding for yes1 and   
laying a finger on the lips for hush6   
,the basis of any such vocabulary must  
be the series of gestures by the aid of 
which man has always expressed his      
emotions4 ,this is why the traditional  
gestures of theatrical pantomime do not1
 and indeed cannot1 differ greatly from 
any natural sign language4 ,the         
universality of this pantomimic         
vocabulary was curiously evidenced forty

 years ago when ,morlacchi1 the ,italian
 dancer1 married ,texas ,jack1 the      
,american scout4 ,she had been trained  
in pantomime at ,la ,scala1 in ,milan1  
and he had acquired the sign language of
 the ,plains ,indians4 ,and they found  
that they could hold converse with each 
other in pantomime1 she using the       
,italian-,french gestures and he        
employing the gestures of the redskins4 
7#aiab47                                
,,xii                          ,,the    
,,ideal ,,of ,,the ,,acrobat            
,,the ,,ideal ,,of ,,the ,,acrobat      
,i  ,when ,huckleberry ,finn went to the
 circus he sneaked in under the tent    
when the watchman was absent4 ,he had   
money in his pocket1 but he feared that 
he might need this4 ,i ain't opposed to 
spending money on circuses1 he          
confessed1 when there ain't no other    
way1 but there ain't no use in wasting  
it on them4 ,in spite of the fact that  
he had not paid for his seat1 and that  
he was thereby released from the        

necessity of getting his money's worth1 
he declared cheerfully that it was a    
real bully circus4 ,it was the          
splendidest sight that ever was1 when   
they all come riding in1 two and two1 a 
gentleman and a lady1 side by side1 the 
men just in their drawers and           
undershirts1 and no shoes nor stirrups1 
and resting their hands on their thighs1
 easy and comfortable 444 and every lady
 with a lovely complexion1 and perfectly
 beautiful1 and looking like a gang of  
real sure-enough queens4444 ,and then1  
one by one1 they got up and stood1 and  
went a-weaving around the ring so gentle
 and wavy and graceful1 the men looking 
ever so tall and airy and straight1 with
 their heads bobbing and skimming along1
 away up there under the tent roof1 and 
every lady's rose-leaf dress flapping   
soft and silky around her hips1 and she 
looking like the most loveliest parasol4
  ,however much ,huck was impressed by  
the ,grand ,entry1 he seems to have been
 more pleased by the surprising act1    

traditionally known as ',pete ,jenkins1'
 and never better described than by     
,mark ,twain's youthful hero4 ,and by   
and by a drunk man tried to get into the
 ring--said he wanted to ride2 said he  
could ride as well as anybody that ever 
was4 ,they argued and tried to keep him 
out1 but he wouldn't listen1 and the    
whole show came to a standstill4 ,then  
the people began to holler at him and   
make fun of him4444 ,so then the        
ring-master he made a little speech1 and
 said he hoped there wouldn't be no     
disturbance1 and if the man would       
promise he wouldn't make no more        
trouble1 he would let him ride1 if he   
thought he could stay on the horse4444  
,the minute he was on the horse he began
 to rip and tear and jump and cavort    
around 444 the drunk man hanging onto   
his neck1 and his heels flying in the   
air every jump4444 ,but pretty soon he  
struggled up astraddle and grabbed the  
bridle1 a-reeling this way and that2 and
 the next minute he sprung up and stood6

 and the horse a-going like a house     
afire1 too4 ,he just stood there1       
a-sailing around as easy and as         
comfortable as if he warn't ever drunk  
in his life--and then he begun to pull  
off his clothes and sling them4 ,he shed
 them so thick they kind of clogged up  
the air1 and altogether he shed         
seventeen suits4 ,and then1 here he was1
 slim and handsome1 and dressed the     
grandiest and prettiest you ever saw1   
and he lit into that horse and made him 
hum--and finally skipped off and made   
his bow and danced off to the           
dressing-room1 and everybody just       
a-howling with pleasure and             
astonishment4 ,then the ring-master1 he 
see how he had been fooled1 and he was  
the sickest ring-master you ever see1 ,i
 reckon4 ,why1 it was one of his own    
men6 ,he had got up that joke all out of
 his own head1 and never let on to      
nobody6  ,yet in this enjoyment of a    
practical joke1 dear to every boy's     
heart1 ,huck did not fail to note that  

the skilful rider who had pretended to  
be intoxicated1 stood up at last1 slim  
and handsome4 ,even ,huck ,finn1        
neglected son of the town-drunkard1 was 
quick to respond to the appeal of the   
supple and well-proportioned figure of  
the rider after the superimposed        
clothing had been discarded1 just as he 
had felt the attraction of the varied   
colors and the graceful evolutions of   
the ,grand ,entry4 ,at bottom1 it was   
the beauty of the display that he       
appreciated most keenly4 ,by the side of
 this passage from ,mark ,twain's       
masterpiece may be set a passage from   
,mr4 ,hamlin ,garland's best story1     
',rose of ,dutcher's ,coolly1' in which 
we find recorded the impressions of a   
girl of about the same age1 the daughter
 of a hard-working ,wisconsin farmer4   
,rose had never seen a circus before1   
and even the morning street parade fired
 her imagination4  ,on they came1 a band
 leading the way4 ,just behind1 with    
glitter of lance and shine of helmet1   

came a dozen knights and fair ladies    
riding spirited chargers4 ,they all     
looked strange and haughty1 and         
sneeringly indifferent to the cheers of 
the people4 ,the women seemed small and 
firm and scornful1 and the men rode with
 lances uplifted1 looking down at the   
crowd with a haughty droop in their     
eyelids4 ,rose did not laugh at the     
clown jigging by in a pony-cart1 for    
there was a face between her and all    
that followed--the face of a bare-armed 
knight1 with brown hair and a curling   
mustache1 whose proud neck had a curve  
in it as he bent his head to speak to   
his rearing horse4444 ,his face was     
fine1 like pictures she had seen4  ,in  
the afternoon ,rose attended the        
performance in the tent and sat in a    
dream of delight as the band began to   
play4444 ,then the music struck into a  
splendid gallop and out from the        
curtained mysteries beyond1 the knights 
and ladies darted1 two by two1 in glory 
of crimson and gold1 and green and      

silver4 ,at their head rode the man with
 the brown mustache4 ,a little later six
 men dressed in tights of blue and white
 and orange ran into the ring1 and her  
hero led them4 ,he wore blue and silver1
 and on his breast was a rosette4 ,he   
looked a god to her4 ,his naked limbs1  
his proud neck1 the lofty carriage of   
his head1 made her shiver with emotion4 
,they all came to her1 lit by the white 
radiance2 they were not naked1 they were
 beautiful4444 ,they invested their     
nakedness with something which exalted  
them4 ,they became objects of luminous  
beauty to her1 tho she knew nothing of  
art4 ,to see him bow and kiss his       
fingers to the audience was a revelation
 of manly grace and courtesy4 ,when at  
last the show was over and ,rose went   
out into the open air1 it seemed strange
 to see the same blue sky arching the   
earth2 things seemed exactly the same1  
and yet ,rose had grown older4 ,she had 
developed immeasurably in those few     
hours4 ,as they looked back at the      

tents1 ,rose knew that something sweet  
and splendid and mystical was passing   
out of her life after a few hours' stay 
there4 ,her feeling of loss was none the
 less real because it was indefinable to
 her4  ,she never saw this acrobat      
again1 and after a little while she knew
 that she did not want to see him4 ,he  
lingered in her memory1 a vision from   
another world than any she had ever     
dreamed--a world of heroic romance and  
of lofty idealism4 ,she began to live   
for him1 her ideal4 ,she set him on high
 as a being to be worshiped1 as a man   
fit to be her judge4 ,in the days and   
weeks which followed she asked herself3 
',would he like me to do this8' ,when   
the sunset was very beautiful1 she      
thought of him4444 ,vast ambitions began
 in her4444 ,she would do something     
great for his sake4444 ,in short1 she   
consecrated herself to him as to a king1
 and seized upon every chance to educate
 herself to be worthy of him4 ,and while
 her soul was thus expanding under the  

influence of this poetic idealization of
 a manly figure revealed to her only for
 two or three hours1 all unconsciously  
she patterned her movements upon his4   
,she walked with a free stride1 and her 
body came to have the easy carriage of  
the athlete4 ,later1 when ,rose had     
matured into a beauty of her own1 she   
confessed to an elder woman this        
sentimental awakening in her early      
girlhood2 and it became evident to her  
friend that the beautiful poise of the  
head1 and supple swing of the girl's    
body was in part due to the suggestion  
of the man's perfect grace4             
,,ii  ,to the realistic imagination of  
the boy1 ,huck1 the circus was a        
fleeting spectacle of beauty2 and to the
 romantic imagination of the girl1      
,rose1 it lingered long as a dream of   
poetry4 ,young ,americans1 both of them1
 living in these modern days when the   
human form1 male and female1 is         
decorously dissembled and disguised by  
ugly and complicated garments1 they had 

been allowed by the exceptional freedom 
of the circus to recapture something of 
the frank and innocent delight of the   
,greeks in the beauty of the body1 in   
its beauty merely as a body1 and not as 
the habitation of the mind and the soul4
 ,alert as the ,greeks were to admire   
the deeds of the mind--no race ever more
 so--they were no less keen in their    
appreciation of the things of the body4 
,they were glad to crown the poet for   
his lyric conquest1 but they bestowed   
the laurel wreath also on the athlete   
who had won to the front in the race4   
,the lofty nobility of their tragedy    
testifies to the clarity of their       
intelligence2 and the supreme power of  
their sculpture is evidence of their    
loving study of the human body1 bearing 
itself in beauty1 clad in few and       
flowing garments which allowed the eye  
to follow the free play of the muscles4 
,it is only in the circus or the        
gymnasium or the swimming-pool that we  
moderns are permitted to behold what was

 a daily spectacle to the ,greeks2 and  
it is because the circus preserves for  
us this occasional privilege that it    
deserves to survive4 ,the jocularities  
of the clowns1 the intricate evolutions 
of the trained animals1 the golden      
glitter of the gorgeous cavalcades--all 
these are but the casual accompaniments 
of the essential privilege of the circus
 to present to us a succession of men   
and women1 with their bodies in perfect 
condition1 to exhibit to us that purely 
physical beauty which we are ever in    
danger of overlooking or even           
forgetting4 ,these acrobats1 slim and   
handsome1 as ,huck ,finn found them1 in 
their shirts and drawers1 may display   
their daring and their grace1 standing  
on a circling steed or swinging from a  
flying trapeze1 revolving on a          
horizontal bar or building themselves up
 into human pyramids on the bark of the 
arena2 but1 except for the sake of      
variety1 the way in which they may      
choose to exhibit their skill and to    

show themselves is unimportant4 ,what is
 important is that we may have the      
shifting spectacle of the human body in 
the highest condition of physical       
efficiency1 delighting our eyes by      
obedience to the everlasting laws of    
beauty4  ,while the ,greeks had far more
 opportunities than are vouchsafed to us
 moderns to behold the human body       
exhibiting its strength and its skill in
 graceful play1 we have the advantage   
that many of the most effective         
exercises are latter-day inventions4 ,it
 seems unlikely that the ,athenians and 
the ,spartans1 even tho they were       
horsemen1 had attained to the art of    
bareback riding2 they may have          
bestraddled a saddleless steed1 but they
 had not learned how to stand on his    
back1 and to turn somersets in time with
 the stride of the horse4 ,it is1 of    
course1 possible that they were familiar
 with this1 but no sculpture and no     
vase-painting1 no anecdote in the works 
of the prose-writers1 and no line of the

 lyrists survives to authorize us to    
believe it4 ,and it is fairly certain1  
also1 that they lacked the horizontal   
bar1 which affords limitless            
possibilities to the adventurous acrobat
 of our own times1 both when it is      
erected singly and when it is combined  
in sets of three1 either fixed in the   
arena or raised aloft in the air to     
produce the appearance of a remoter     
ethereality4  ,the trapeze has a name of
 ,greek origin1 and it was possibly     
known to the ,greeks4 ,but the ,greeks  
did not foresee the full possibilities  
of the trapeze1 since its most startling
 utilization1 the feat known as the     
,flying ,trapeze1 was invented by the   
,french acrobat1 ,leotard1 only a little
 later than the middle of the nineteenth
 century4 ,the ,flying ,trapeze is the  
ultimate achievement of acrobatic art1  
and it demands the utmost combination of
 skilful strength and of easy grace4 ,it
 was a feat that the ,greeks would have 
appreciated and enjoyed1 since it       

demanded and disclosed the perfection of
 physical courage and of physical skill4
 ,of late1 the ,flying ,trapeze has been
 complicated and doubled in difficulty  
by the introduction of a second         
performer1 who at first makes the leap  
simultaneously with his partner1 and    
afterward separates from him and springs
 thru the air to the trapeze which his  
associate has just abandoned1 the pair  
thus floating past each other in        
mid-air4 ,in this more elaborated form  
the task is more perilous1 no doubt1 and
 far less easy of accomplishment2 but it
 cannot be achieved with quite the same 
graceful mastery as when a single       
performer seems to glide ethereally from
 bar to bar1 as tho it was impossible   
for him to fall or to fail to catch his 
almost invisible support4 ,this graceful
 mastery was the most marked            
characteristic of ,leotard1 the original
 inventor of the ,flying ,trapeze2 and  
it may be doubted whether any of those  
who have followed the path he traced    

thru the air1 and who have vanquished   
difficulties beyond those which he      
conquered1 have been able to outdo him  
in the abiding essential of grace4      
,,iii  ,the overcoming of difficulty is 
one of the elements of the pleasure     
which we take in any art1 and part of   
our enjoyment of a sonnet1 for example1 
must be ascribed to the apparent ease   
with which the poet is able to express  
his thought1 amply and completely1      
within the rigid limitations of his     
fourteen lines1 with their prescribed   
arrangement of five or six rimes4 ,but  
our delight is diminished if we are made
 conscious of the effort it has cost the
 artist to attain his aim4 ,many a later
 performer on the ,flying ,trapeze let  
us see that the feats he is attempting  
are so difficult that they cannot be    
accomplished without obvious effort4    
,that is to say1 we are made aware that 
the acrobat is exhibiting a stunt1 and  
this is bad art4 ,difficulty overcome is
 worth while only when it is overcome   

seemingly without any strain1 and when  
art is sufficient to conceal itself4    
,however difficult the artist's         
achievement may be1 its charm is doubled
 if he can make it appear to be easy4   
,it happens that ,i am able to bring his
 personal testimony to the fact that    
this was the principle which always     
governed ,leotard himself4 ,when the    
,french gymnast paid his only visit to  
the ,united ,states1 more than forty    
years ago1 he used to practise in a     
gymnasium which ,i also frequented4 ,he 
spoke no ,english1 and ,i had a little  
school-boy ,french1 so that a certain   
intimacy sprang up4 ,one day ,leotard   
asked me to swing a trapeze for him1 and
 he sprang off and caught it with a     
single hand1 and then as the second     
trapeze returned he twisted and grasped 
the first trapeze again with one hand4  
,this evoked from me an immediate       
exclamation of astonishment and         
admiration at the startling conquest of 
difficulty1 and it was followed by the  

natural question why so extraordinary a 
feat had never been exhibited in public4
 ,leotard explained that the leaps from 
trapeze to trapeze with the aid of one  
hand only must be lopsided1 since the   
body is inevitably more or less twisted1
 and he added that as there was an      
unavoidable and ungraceful wrenching of 
the person1 he had determined never to  
exhibit this feat in public1 difficult  
as it might be4  ,but altho ,leotard was
 not willing to perform in public with  
only one hand1 it was a most invaluable 
exercise in private4 ,his ability to    
accomplish his leaps thus handicapped   
gave him a redoubled confidence when he 
was using both of his hands4 ,that he   
was right in resisting the temptation to
 startle the spectators by a stunt of   
surprising difficulty is beyond         
question4 ,it could not be made to seem 
easy1 and it could not be accomplished  
with grace4 ,therefore it was not fit   
for exhibition1 even tho ,leotard might 
feel sure that he could do it without   

risk of failure4 ,here the ,french      
acrobat revealed himself as bound by the
 eternal principles which underlie all  
the arts1 that of the acrobat no less   
than those of the painter and the poet4 
,there is lack of art in the            
performances of many acrobats of        
remarkable skill1 who attempt feats     
which they are not always certain of    
achieving4 ,indeed1 they are sometimes  
willing to profit by this very          
uncertainty4 ,they fail the first time  
of trying1 and even the second1 and     
these failures serve the purpose of     
advertising to the spectators the       
difficulty of the task they have        
undertaken4 ,then the third time1 or the
 fourth1 they succeed1 whereupon they   
reap the unworthy reward of applause    
from the unthinking4  ,the artist should
 never let us see his failures4 ,if he  
is not certain that he can perform what 
he promises1 then he had better refrain 
from the attempt4 ,it was in the same   
winter that ,leotard was in ,new ,york1 

in the late sixties of the nineteenth   
century1 that the ,hanlon ,brothers paid
 one of their welcome visits to         
,america4 ,the ,hanlons they were then1 
and they were acrobats pure and simple1 
altho later1 when they called themselves
 the ,hanlon-,lees1 they had become     
pantomimists4 ,as acrobats they held    
fast to the same principles which       
governed ,leotard in his performances4  
,they insisted upon certainty of        
execution2 they never failed to perform 
the feat they set out to accomplish1 and
 to perform it successfully the first   
time they attempted it4 ,and no matter  
how difficult the feat might be1 or how 
novel or how effective1 if they could   
not attain absolute certainty of        
execution1 they refrained from setting  
it before the public4 ,i was told at the
 time that there were two or three      
surprising and alluring exercises which 
the ,hanlons had invented themselves1   
which they practised laboriously and    
faithfully all that winter1 and which   

they wisely refrained from ever putting 
on their program because they were never
 able to assure themselves of a         
uniformly successful result4 ,they could
 do any one of these feats four times   
out of five1 but the fifth time there   
would be a miscalculation of energy1 and
 the attempt would have to be repeated4 
,and they were unwilling to let the     
public witness any performance of theirs
 which was not perfect in its execution4
                                        
,,iv  ,here again the modern acrobat1   
who is guided by a real feeling for his 
art1 is in accord with the principles   
which the ,greeks obeyed4 ,in ,attic    
tragedy1 for example1 there are no      
exhibitions of violence1 no scuffles1   
and no assassinations1 and this is not  
so much because the ,greeks shrank from 
scenes of blood1 as some critics have   
vainly contended1 but rather because the
 actors in the ,attic drama were raised 
on thick boots and were topped by       
towering masks1 which made it almost    

impossible for them to take part in     
episodes of vigorous action1 in         
hand-to-hand struggles1 in murders      
before the eyes of the spectators1      
without danger of displacing the mask1  
and thereby distracting the attention of
 the audience from the immediate purpose
 of the dramatic poet4 ,what could not  
be done gracefully the ,greeks refrained
 from attempting4 ,the exhibition of    
difficulty for the sake of difficulty1  
still more the failure to accomplish a  
stunt for the sake of calling attention 
to its difficulty--these things the     
,greeks abhorred4 ,they would as surely 
have disapproved of the misguided       
artifices of the acrobats who make a    
practise of failing once or twice in    
order to multiply the immediate effect  
of their ultimate success as they would 
reprove the exhibition of a difficulty  
conquered for its own sake4 ,it is only 
in the best acrobatic performances that 
we moderns are privileged to perceive   
what was a constant delight to the      

,greeks--the beauty of the human form1  
in its finest physical perfection1      
certain of its strength and easy in its 
grace4  7#aiab47                        
,,xiii                          ,,the   
,,decline ,,and ,,fall ,,of             
,,negro-,,minstrelsy                    
,,the ,,decline ,,and ,,fall ,,of       
,,negro-,,minstrelsy                    
,i  ,of all the varied and manifold     
kinds of theatrical entertainment       
negro-minstrelsy is the only one which  
is absolutely native to these ,states1  
and the only one which could not have   
come into existence anywhere else in the
 civilized world4 ,here in ,america     
alone has the transplanted ,african been
 brought into intimate contact with the 
transplanted ,european4 ,other nations  
may have disputed our claim to the      
invention of the steamboat and the      
telegraph1 but negro-minstrelsy is as   
indisputably due to ,american           
inventiveness as the telephone itself4  
,here in the ,united ,states it had its 

humble beginnings2 here it expanded and 
flourished for many years2 from here it 
was exported to ,great ,britain1 where  
it established itself for many seasons2 
from here it has made sporadic          
excursions into ,france and into        
,germany2 and here at last it has fallen
 into a decline and a degeneracy and a  
decay which seem to doom it to a speedy 
extinction4 ,its life was little longer 
than that vouchsafed to man1 threescore 
years and ten1 for it was born in the   
fifth decade of the nineteenth century1 
and in the second decade of the         
twentieth it lingers superfluous on the 
stage1 with none to do it reverence4    
,time was when the negro minstrels held 
possession of three or four theaters in 
the single city of ,new ,york1 and when 
a dozen or more troops were traveling   
from town to town2 and now they have    
long ago surrendered their last hall in 
the metropolis1 and only a solitary     
company winds its lonely way from       
theater to theater thruout the ,united  

,states4 ,the few surviving             
practitioners of the art are reduced to 
the presentation of brief interludes in 
the all-devouring variety-shows1 or to  
the impersonation of sparse negro       
characters in occasional comedies4 ,the 
,skidmore ,guards1 who paraded so gaily 
at ,harrigan and ,hart's1 are disbanded 
now these many years2 ,johnny ,wild of  
joyous memory is no more1 and ,sweatnam1
 bereft of his fellows in sable         
drollery1 is seen only in a chance      
comedy like ',excuse ,me1' or the       
',county ,chairman4' ,george ,christy   
and ,dan ,emmett and ,dan ,bryant have  
gone and left only fading memories of   
their breezy songs1 their nimble dances1
 and their flippant quips4 ,edwin       
,forrest and ,edwin ,booth blacked up   
more than once1 ,joseph ,jefferson and  
,barney ,williams besmeared themselves  
with burnt cork on occasion2 but it is  
not by these darker episodes in their   
artistic careers that they are now      
recalled1 and the leading actors of     

to-day think scorn of                   
negro-minstrelsy--whenever they deign to
 give it a thought4 ,and yet it must be 
noted frankly that when ,the ,lambs     
wanted to raise money for their new     
club-house1 they did not disdain the art
 of the negro minstrel1 and more than   
twoscore of them went forth to conquer1 
willingly disguised in the uniform      
blackness assumed long ago by ,george   
,christy and ,dan ,bryant4  ,it is to be
 hoped that some devoted historian will 
come forward before it is too late and  
tell us the history of this very special
 form of theatrical art1 the only one   
indigenous to our soil4 ,indeed1 now    
that our ,american universities are     
paying attention to the drama1 what more
 alluring theme for the dissertation    
demanded of all candidates for the      
doctorate of philosophy than an inquiry 
into the rise and fall of               
negro-minstrelsy8 ,in the late ,laurence
 ,hutton's conscientious and            
entertaining volume on the ',curiosities

 of the ,american ,stage1' there is a   
chapter in which the subject is treated 
historically1 altho the chronicler      
wasted much of his precious space in    
considering the succession of sable     
characters in the regular               
drama--,shakspere's ,othello1           
,southerne's ,oroonoko1 ,bickerstaff's  
,mungo1 ,boucicault's ,pete 7in the     
',octoroon'71 ,uncle ,tom1 ,topsy1      
,eliza1 and their companions 7in the    
undying dramatization of ,mrs4 ,stowe's 
story74 ,these were all parts in plays  
wherein white characters were prominent4
 ,the first performer of a              
song-and-dance1 that is of a sketch in  
which the darky performer was sufficient
 unto himself1 and was deprived of any  
support from persons of another         
complexion1 seems to have been ,jim     
,crow ,rice--the title of whose lively  
lyric survives in the name bestowed upon
 the cars reserved for colored folk on  
certain ,southern railroads4 ,rice found
 his pattern in an old negro who did a  

peculiar step after he had sung to a    
tune of his own contriving3      ,wheel 
about1 turn about2         ,do jus' so3 
,an' ebery time ,i turn about1          
,i jump ,jim ,crow4  ,rice carried ,jim 
,crow to ,england1 and he made a        
specialty of dandy darkies4 ,but he was 
not the discoverer of negro-minstrelsy1 
as we know it1 altho he blazed the trail
 for it4 ,indeed1 it was quite probably 
due to the influence of ,rice and his   
darky dandies that the negro minstrels  
confined their efforts to the imitation 
of the town negro rather than of the    
plantation negro1 the field-hand of the 
,uncle ,remus type4 ,rice first         
impersonated ,jim ,crow in the late     
twenties1 and it was in the middle of   
the thirties that he went to ,england4  
,and it was in the early forties that   
,dan ,emmett1 ,frank ,brower1 ,billy    
,whitlock1 and ,dick ,pelham happened to
 meet by accident in a ,new ,york       
boarding-house1 and amused themselves   
with songs accompanied by the banjo1 the

 tambourine1 and the bones4 ,pleased by 
the result of their exercises1 they     
appeared together at a benefit1 and     
negro-minstrelsy was born4 ,at first    
there was no differentiation into       
,interlocutors and ,end-men2 they all   
took an equal share in the more or less 
improvised dialog2 they sang1 and they  
played1 and they danced the ',essence of
 ,old ,virginny4'  ,probably ,emmett    
began early to provide new tunes for    
them4 ,he was the composer of ',old ,dan
 ,tucker' and the ',boatman's ,dance1'  
of ',walk ,along1 ,john1' and ',early in
 the ,morning1' and one walk-around     
which he devised in the late fifties for
 ,bryant's ,minstrels1 ',dixie1' was    
introduced by ,mrs4 ,john ,wood into a  
burlesque1 which she was playing in ,new
 ,orleans1 just before the outbreak of  
the ,civil ,war4 ,the sentiment and the 
tune took the fancy of the ardent       
,louisianans1 and they carried it with  
them into the ,confederate army1 where  
it soon established itself as the       

war-song of the ,south4 ,and then when  
,richmond had fallen at last1 ,lincoln  
ordered the bands of the victorious army
 to play ',dixie1' with the wise        
explanation that as we had captured the 
,southern capital1 we had also captured 
the ,southern song4 ,and ',dixie1' which
 had begun life so humbly as a          
walk-around in a minstrel-show in ,new  
,york1 bids fair to survive indefinitely
 as the musical testimony to the fact   
that the cruel war is over1 and that    
these ,states are now one nation4       
,,ii  ,it was only a year or two after  
the quartet of ,emmett1 ,brower1        
,whitlock1 and ,pelham had shown the    
possibilities of the new form of        
amusement that troops of negro minstrels
 began to supply an entire evening's    
amusement4 ,the regulation ,first ,part 
was devised with its curving row of     
vocalists1 instrumentalists1 and        
comedians4 ,the dignified ,interlocutor 
took his place in the middle of the     
semicircle1 and uttered the time-honored

 phrase3 ,gentlemen1 be seated4 ,we will
 commence with the overture4 ,bones     
captured the chair at one end1 and      
,tambo pre-empted that on the other2 and
 they began their wordy skirmish with   
the ,middleman1 in which that pompous   
presiding officer always got the worst  
of it4 ,this device for immediate and   
boisterous laughter1 this putting down  
of the ,middleman by the ,end-man1 the  
negro minstrels appear to have borrowed 
from the circus1 where the clown is also
 permitted always to discomfit the stiff
 and stately ring-master4  ,but altho   
the minstrels may have taken over this  
effective trick from the circus1 with   
which some of the earlier performers had
 had intimate relations1 the trick      
itself is of remote antiquity4 ,the     
side-splitting colloquy of the ,end-man 
with the ,middleman may be exactly like 
the interchange of merry jests between  
the clown and the ring-master1 yet it is
 far older than the modern circus4 ,it  
existed in ,paris1 for example1 in the  

sixteenth century1 when the quack doctor
 was accompanied by his jack-pudding4   
,many of the dialogs heard on the       
,pont-,neuf between ,mondor and ,tabarin
 have been preserved1 and the method is 
precisely that of the dialogs between   
ring-master and clown1 ,interlocutor and
 ,end-man1 even to the persistent       
repetition of the question which        
contains the catch4 ,master1 ,tabarin   
would begin1 can you tell me which is   
the more generous1 a man or a woman8    
,and the quack doctor would solemnly    
reply3 ,ah1 ,tabarin1 that is a question
 which has been greatly debated by the  
philosophers of antiquity1 and they have
 been unable to decide which is truly   
the more generous1 a man or a woman4    
,then ,tabarin would briskly retort3    
,never mind the old philosophers4 ,i can
 tell you4 ,and with great contempt the 
ponderous quack doctor would return3    
,what1 ,tabarin1 do you mean to say that
 you can tell us which is the more      
generous1 a man or a woman4 ,tabarin    

promptly responded that he could4 ,then1
 asked ,mondor1 pray do so4 ,which is   
the more generous1 a man or a woman8    
,and thereupon1 to the great disgust of 
,mondor1 ,tabarin would proffer his     
ribald explanation4 ,unfortunately the  
explanation he gave is frankly too      
ribald to be given here1 for nowadays we
 are more squeamish than the idlers who 
gathered around the quack doctor's      
platform in ,paris three or four        
centuries ago4 ,the dialogs of ,mondor  
and ,tabarin were brief enough1 but they
 often made up for their brevity in     
their breadth4  ,this kind of           
catch-question was known in ,england1   
under ,elizabeth1 as selling a bargain1 
and it is not infrequent in the plays of
 the time4 ,it will be found more than  
once in earlier plays of ,shakspere2 for
 example1 when his clowns 7as the       
low-comedy characters were then called7 
were allowed to run on at their own     
sweet will4 ,not a little of the dialog 
of the two ,dromios is closely akin in  

its method to the interchange of        
question and answer between the         
,interlocutor and the ,end-man4 ,we may 
be sure this method of evoking laughter 
was employed also by the improvising    
comedians of the ,italian               
comedy-of-masks1 with which             
negro-minstrelsy has other points of    
resemblance4 ,it must have been popular 
with the wandering glee-men of the rude 
,middle ,ages2 and now that             
negro-minstrelsy is disappearing and now
 that our circuses have burgeoned into  
three rings under a tent too vast for   
any merely verbal repartees1 it has not 
departed from among us1 since it still  
survives as the staple of the so-called 
sidewalk conversationalists who swap    
personalities in our superabundant      
variety-shows4  ,we do not know with    
historic certainty how soon the ,first  
,part crystallized into the form which  
has long been traditional--the opening  
overture1 the catch-questioning of      
,end-man and ,middleman1 the comic songs

 of ,bones and ,tambo in turn1 the      
sentimental ballads by the              
silver-throated vocalists1 and the      
concluding walk-around4 ,the rest of the
 evening's entertainment never took on  
any definite framework1 altho the final 
item on the program was likely to be a  
piece of some length1 often a burlesque 
of a serious drama then popular1 and    
this little play enlisted the whole     
strength of the company4 ,between the   
stately ,first ,part and the more       
pretentious terminating sketch1 the     
minstrels presented a variety of acts in
 which the several members exhibited    
their specialities4 ,a clog-dance was   
always in order--altho the mechanical   
precision of this form of saltatorial   
exercise was wholly foreign to the      
characteristics of the actual negroes   
whom the minstrels were supposed to be  
representing4 ,a stump-speech was       
certain of a warm reception--altho this 
again departed from the true negro      
tradition1 and1 in fact1 often          

degenerated into frank burlesque1 wholly
 unrelated to the realities of life4    
,sketches1 like those which ,rice had   
earlier composed for his own acting1    
were likely to have a little closer     
relation to the genuine darky4  ,yet    
here again the negro minstrel was not   
avid of overt originality4 ,he was      
willing to find his profit in the past  
and to translate into negro dialect any 
farce1 however ancient1 which might     
contain comic situations or humorous    
characters that could be twisted to suit
 his immediate purpose4 ,he seized upon 
the ingenious plots of certain of the   
pantomimes brought to ,america from     
,france half a century ago by the       
,ravels4 ,and on occasion he went1      
unwittingly1 still further afield for   
his prey4 ,there is in print1 in a      
collection of so-called ,ethiopian      
drama1 an amusing sketch1 entitled the  
',great ,mutton ,trial'2 and the remote 
source of this is to be sought in the   
oldest and best farce which has survived

 in ,french literature4 ',maitre ,pierre
 ,pathelin' is now acted occasionally by
 the ,comedie-,francaise in ,paris1 in a
 version which preserves its original   
flavor2 but in the eighteenth century an
 adaptation1 made by ,brueys and        
,palaprat1 and called the ',avocat      
,pathelin1' was popular4 ,it was this   
later perversion which served as the    
basis of an ,english farce1 entitled the
 ',village ,lawyer1' and the ',great    
,mutton ,trial' is simply the ',village 
,lawyer' transmogrified to suit the     
bolder and more robust methods of the   
negro minstrels4                        
,,iii  ,and here we may discover the    
real reason why negro-minstrelsy failed 
to establish itself4 ,it neglected its  
opportunity to devote itself primarily  
to its own peculiar field--the humorous 
reproduction of the sayings and doings  
of the colored man in the ,united       
,states4 ,to represent the negro in his 
comic aspects and in his sentimental    
moods was what the minstrels pretended  

to do2 but the pretense was often only a
 hollow mockery4 ,even the musical      
instruments they affected1 the banjo and
 the bones1 were not as characteristic  
of the field-hand1 or even of the town  
darky1 as the violin4 ,indeed1 the bones
 cannot be considered as in any way     
special to the negro2 they were familiar
 to ,shakspere's ,bottom1 who declared3 
,i have a reasonable good ear in music2 
let us have the tongs and the bones4    
,and the wise recorder of the words and 
deeds of ,uncle ,remus asserted that he 
had never listened to the staccato      
picking of a banjo in the negro-quarters
 of any plantation4  ,i have seen the   
negro at work1 so ,harris once stated1  
and ,i have seen him at play2 ,i have   
attended his corn-shuckings1 his dances1
 and his frolics2 ,i have heard him give
 the wonderful melody of his songs to   
the winds2 ,i have heard him give       
barbaric airs to the quills 7that is to 
say1 to the ,pan-pipes72 ,i have heard  
him scrape jubilantly on the fiddle2 ,i 

have seen him blow wildly on the bugle1 
and beat enthusiastically on the        
triangle2 but ,i have never heard him   
play on the banjo4 ,mr4 ,george ,w4     
,cable thereupon came forward with his  
evidence to the effect that1 altho the  
banjo was to be found occasionally on a 
plantation1 it was far less frequently  
seen than the violin4 ,it will be noted 
that ,harris was speaking of the        
,georgian negro1 and that ,mr4 ,cable   
was talking about the negro in          
,louisiana2 and perhaps the true habitat
 of the banjo is to be found farther    
north and near to the border ,states4   
,at any rate1 there is a footnote to one
 of ,thomas ,jefferson's ',notes on     
,virginia' 7published in #aghd71 which  
informs us that the instrument proper to
 the slaves of the ,old ,dominion is the
 banjar1 which they brought hither from 
,africa1 and which is the origin of the 
guitar1 its chords being precisely the  
four lower chords of the guitar4  ,now  
and again some one negro minstrel did   

make a serious study of a negro type2   
such a performer was ,j4 ,w4            
,mc,andrews1 the ,watermelon ,man4 ,but 
the most of them were content to be     
comic without any effort to catch the   
special comicality of the darky2 and    
sometimes they strayed so completely    
from the path as to indulge in songs in 
an alleged ,irish brogue or in a        
dislocated ,german dialect4 ,now1       
nothing could well be conceived more    
incongruously inartistic than a white   
man blacked up into the semblance of a  
negro1 and then impertinently caroling  
an impudent ,irish lyric4 ,yet the      
general neglect of the opportunities for
 a more accurate presentation of negro  
characteristics is to be seen in the    
strange fact that the minstrels failed  
to perceive the possible popularity of  
rag-time tunes1 and failed also to put  
the cake-walk on the stage4 ,even at the
 height of its vogue in the mid years of
 the nineteenth century1                
negro-minstrelsy did not occupy its own 

field1 and did not try to raise therein 
the varied flowers of which they had the
 seed4  ,instead of cultivating the     
tempting possibilities which lay before 
them1 and devoting themselves to a      
loving delineation of the colored people
 who make up a tenth of our population1 
they turned aside to devote themselves  
to the spectacular elaboration of their 
original entertainment4 ,the clog-dances
 became most intricate and more         
mechanical--and thereby still more      
remote from the buck-and-wing dancing of
 the real negro4 ,the ,first ,part was  
presented with accompaniments of        
,oriental magnificence and of variegated
 glitter4 ,the chorus was enlarged2 the 
musicians were multiplied2 the ,end-men 
operated in relays2 and at last the     
bass-drum which towered aloft over      
,haverly's ,mastodon ,minstrels bore the
 boastful legend3 #dj4 ,count ,them4    
#dj4 ,and when the suspicious spectator 
obeyed this command1 he discovered to   
his surprise that the vaunt was more    

than made good since he had a full view 
of at least half a dozen performers in  
addition to the promised twoscore4  ,at 
the apex of his inflated prosperity     
,haverly invaded ,germany with his      
mastodonic organization2 and one result 
of his visit was probably still further 
to confuse the ,teutonic misinformation 
about the ,american type1 which seems   
often to be a curious composite         
photograph of the red men of ,cooper1   
the black men of ,mrs4 ,stowe1 and the  
white men of ,mark ,twain and ,bret     
,harte4 ,and it was reported at the time
 that another and more immediate result 
of this rash foray beyond the boundaries
 of the ,english-speaking race was that 
,haverly was1 for a while1 in danger of 
arrest by the police for a fraudulent   
attempt to deceive the ,german public1  
because he was pretending to present a  
company of negro minstrels1 whereas his 
performers were actually white men6  ,it
 should be recorded that while the vogue
 lasted1 there did come into existence  

sundry troops of minstrels whose members
 were all of them actually colored men1 
altho they conformed to the convention  
set by those whom they were imitating   
and conscientiously disguised themselves
 with burnt cork1 to achieve the sable  
uniformity temporarily attained by the  
ordinary negro minstrels4 ,perhaps the  
most obvious parallel of the blacking up
 of veritable colored men to follow the 
example of the white men who pretended  
to imitate the negro is to be found in  
the original performance of ',as ,you   
,like ,it1' on the ,elizabethan stage1  
when the shaven boy-actor who           
impersonated ,rosalind disguised himself
 as a lad1 and then had to pretend to   
,orlando that he was a girl4            
,,iv  ,for the decline and fall of      
negro-minstrelsy it is easy to find more
 than one sufficient explanation4 ,first
 of all1 it may have been due to its    
failure to devote itself lovingly to the
 representation of the many             
peculiarities of the negro himself4     

,second1 it is possible that            
negro-minstrelsy had an inherent and    
inevitable disqualification for enduring
 popularity1 in that it was exclusively 
masculine and necessarily deprived of   
the potent attractiveness exerted by the
 members of the more fascinating sex4   
,and in the third place1 its program was
 rather limited and monotonous1 and     
therefore negro-minstrelsy could not    
long withstand the competition of the   
music-hall1 of the variety-show1 and of 
the comic musical pieces1 which         
satisfied more amply the exactly similar
 taste of the public for broad fun      
commingled with song and dance4         
,whatever the precise cause may be1     
there is no denying that                
negro-minstrelsy is on the verge of     
extinction1 however much we may bewail  
the fact4 ,it failed to accomplish its  
true purpose1 and it is disappearing1   
leaving behind it little that is worthy 
of preservation except a few of its     
songs4 ,this1 at least1 it has to its   

credit--that it gave ,stephen ,collins  
,foster the chance to produce his simple
 melodies4 ,perhaps we might even       
venture to assert that the existence of 
negro-minstrelsy is justified by a      
single one of these songs--by ',old     
,folks at ,home1' which has a wailing   
melancholy and an unaffected pathos1    
lacking in the earlier and more         
saccharine ',home1 ,sweet ,home1' which 
the ,english composer1 ,bishop1 based on
 an old ,sicilian tune4 ,after ,foster  
came ,root and ,work1 and ',my ,old     
,kentucky ,home' was succeeded by       
',tramp1 ,tramp1 ,tramp1 the ,boys ,are 
,marching1' and by ',marching thru      
,georgia'--which last lyric now shares  
its popularity only with ',dixie' as a  
musical relic of the ,civil ,war4  ,it  
would be pleasant to know whether it was
 one of ,foster's songs1 and which one  
it may have been that once touched the  
tender heart of ,thackeray4 ,i heard a  
humorous balladist not long since1 the  
novelist recorded1 a minstrel with wool 

on his head1 and an ultra ,ethiopian    
complexion1 who performed a negro ballad
 that ,i confess moistened these        
spectacles in a most unexpected manner4 
,they have gazed at dozens of           
tragedy-queens dying on the stage and   
expiring in appropriate blank verse1 and
 ,i never wanted to wipe them4 ,they    
have looked up1 with deep respect be it 
said1 at many scores of clergymen       
without being dimmed1 and behold6 a     
vagabond with a corked face and a banjo1
 sings a little song1 strikes a wild    
note1 which sets the heart thrilling    
with happy pity4  7#aiab47              
,,xiv                      ,,the        
,,utility ,,of ,,the ,,variety-,,show   
,,the ,,utility ,,of ,,the              
,,variety-,,show                        
,i  ,in an advertisement issued by one  
of the huge department stores of ,new   
,york not long ago1 the assertion was   
made that the house had on sale all the 
new novelties4 ,a purist in language    
might be moved to protest that this     

proclamation was plainly tautological1  
because it is the essential quality of  
every novelty to be new4 ,but even a    
purist in language1 if he happens also  
to be an honest observer of things as   
they are1 would be forced to admit that 
his supercilious cavil had only a       
superficial justification1 since1 as a  
matter of fact1 there are many novelties
 which are not new1 and which1 indeed1  
are venerably ancient4 ,it was ,solomon1
 superabundantly married1 and therefore 
in an excellent position to acquire     
wisdom1 who declared that there is      
nothing new under the sun4 ,wireless    
telegraphy is only a development of the 
signaling by beacon-fires1 which was    
practised by the ,greeks and which they 
employed to convey immediately to       
,greece the glad tidings of the fall of 
,troy2 and moving-pictures are only an  
ingenious amplification of the zoetrope 
of our childhood4  ,the amusement-parks 
which sprang up all over the ,united    
,states in the early part of the        

twentieth century1 in imitation of those
 at ,coney ,island1 bear an undeniable  
resemblance to the ,foire ,saint        
,laurent and to the other fairs of      
,paris in the sixteenth and seventeenth 
centuries1 and even the loud-voiced     
crier who proclaims the merits of the   
several side-shows1 and who is now known
 as a barker1 bears a name which is only
 a translation of that given to his     
forbears two hundred years ago in       
,france--aboyeur4  ,the so-called       
cabaret-shows1 prevalent in the larger  
cities of the ,united ,states in the    
winter of #aiaa-aiab1 were hailed as the
 very latest form of amusement1         
combining as they did the solid         
pleasures of the table with the ethereal
 delights of song-and-dance2 and yet    
,froissart is a witness that something  
very like the cabaret-show was known in 
the ,middle ,ages1 and ,gibbon has      
recorded its existence nearly a thousand
 years earlier1 at the court of         
,theodoric4 ,indeed1 the ,romans1 and   

the ,greeks before them1 had employed   
performers of one sort or another to    
relieve the monotony of their banquets4 
,gaditanian dancers were popular thruout
 the wide realm of ,rome1 almost two    
thousand years before ,carmencita came  
from ,cadiz to warble and caper at      
midnight in the studios of ,american    
painters1 just before and just after the
 guests had enjoyed the refreshments    
provided by their artistic hosts4  ,as  
the cabaret-show is only another form of
 the well-known vaudeville supper1 it   
must be relegated to the class of       
novelties which are not new4 ,and       
vaudeville itself is only the long      
familiar variety-show4 ,it may now be   
called by a new name1 and many of those 
who do not look behind a label may      
accept it as a new thing2 nevertheless  
it is very old1 indeed4 ,the name       
vaudeville is an absurd misnomer1 like  
so many other terms due to our habit of 
careless borrowing from other tongues4  
,in ,french vaudeville originally       

designated a kind of topical song1      
bristling with pointed gibes at the     
follies of the moment2 and then in time 
it took on another meaning1 when it was 
used to describe a light and lively     
farce interspersed with occasional      
lyrics set to old-fashioned tunes4 ,it  
is impossible to say just how and why   
this ,french word1 which had two        
distinct meanings in its own language1  
should have been imported into ,english 
to characterize improperly a form of    
amusement which we had long known by the
 admirably exact name of variety-show4  
,the ,french themselves call their own  
type of variety-show1 at which          
refreshments are served1 a cafe-concert4
 ,their nickname for it is a beuglant1 a
 place where there is howling--which    
seems to imply that they do not expect  
too much melody from the singers1 who   
appear at these performances4 ,in       
,england an establishment of this kind  
is called a music-hall2 and it was more 
than half a century ago that ,planche   

described their blatant lyrics set to   
brazen tunes as most music-hall1 most   
melancholy4  ,whatever its name may be  
in the different parts of the world1 the
 entertainment is much the same4 ,the   
most frequent item on the program is the
 comic song1 often accompanied by a     
rudimentary dance4 ,sometimes it is in  
the martial staccato of ,paulus's ',en  
revenant de la revue' which boosted     
,general ,boulanger into a furious but  
fleeting political popularity4          
,sometimes it is the coonful melody of  
',under the ,bamboo ,tree' or ',dinah1  
the ,moon am ,shining4' ,sometimes it is
 an almost epileptic lyric1 like        
',tarara-boom-de-ay4' ,sometimes a      
singer of a more delicate art1 like     
,yvette ,guilbert1 ventures upon songs  
of a more subtly sentimental appeal4    
,there may be a swift succession of     
solos1 male singers and female          
alternating1 those of the most fame     
appearing latest1 as is the practise in 
the first part of the ,parisian open-air

 cafe-chantant1 the ,alcazar or the     
,ambassadeurs4 ,there may be duets or   
trios or quartets1 serious or comic1    
decorously unadorned or diversified by  
dancing4 ,there may be songs to be      
interpreted by half a dozen performers1 
accompanied by more or less dramatic    
action1 like the ',mulligan ,guards1'   
which was the simple germ wherefrom     
sprouted the long series of more and    
more elaborate ,harrigan and ,hart      
plays1 delineating with keen insight and
 with sympathetic humor the manifold    
aspects of tenement-house life in ,new  
,york1 and possessing a rich flavor of  
fun curiously akin to that which amuses 
us in the plays wherein ,plautus had    
sketched the tenement-house life in     
,rome two thousand years ago4  ,while   
the song and the song-and-dance and the 
song-and-parade may be the staple of the
 entertainment1 the variety-show        
justifies its name by the medley of     
other exhibitions it presents4 ,it      
delights in the dance unaccompanied by  

the song2 and in some of the ,english   
music-halls1 the ,alhambra and the      
,empire in ,london1 the ballet is the   
foremost attraction1 providing an       
opportunity for the display of her      
dainty art to so exquisite a dancer as  
,mlle4 ,genee4 ,in ,new ,york it is now 
a refuge for the waifs and strays of    
vanishing negro-minstrelsy4 ,it is ready
 to welcome the wandering conjurer and  
the strolling juggler4 ,it extends its  
hospitality to the acrobat1 single or in
 groups1 throwing flipflaps on the      
stage1 flying thru the air on a trapeze 
or diving into the water in a tank4 ,it 
acts as host to the trainer of          
performing animals1 dogs and cats1 seals
 and elephants4 ,it lends its stage to  
the puppet-show performer1 to the       
sidewalk conversationalist1 and to the  
ventriloquist1 with his pair of stolid  
figures seemingly seated uncomfortably  
on his knees and actually supported by  
his hands1 while his adroit fingers     
manipulate their mechanical mouths4  ,of

 late1 the variety-show has accepted the
 aid of the exhibitors of               
moving-pictures1 just as the exhibitors 
of moving-pictures have invoked the     
casual assistance of song-and-dance     
teams and of other vaudeville performers
 to relieve the strain on the eyes of   
their spectators4 ,and the introduction 
of the cinematograph1 or the bioscope1  
or whatever it may be called1 is1       
perhaps1 the only real novelty in our   
latter-day variety-show4 ,all the other 
performers are presenting feats of a    
kind known to our remote ancestors1 even
 if these feats are now more skilfully  
presented4 ,animals were put thru their 
paces hundreds of years ago2 and        
performing dogs and educated bears      
figure frequently in the illuminations  
which decorate many a medieval          
manuscript4 ,there were tight-rope      
dancers in ,alexandria and in           
,byzantium2 there were contortionists in
 ,rome and in ,greece1 and the          
flexibility of these latter is preserved

 for us in the vase-paintings which have
 been replevined from the ashes of      
,pompeii and the lava of ,herculaneum4  
,quintillian tells us of the wonderful  
feats of certain performers on the stage
 in his day1 with balls1 and of other   
jugglers whose dexterity is such that   
one might suppose the things which they 
throw from them to return of their own  
accord1 and to fly wheresoever they are 
commanded4 ,the art of modern magic has 
enlarged its boundaries by the aid of   
the modern sciences of mechanics and    
physics1 but elementary sleights-of-hand
 were known to a remote antiquity1 and  
savages always had their medicine-men   
and their marabouts1 workers of         
primitive wonders to strike awe into the
 souls of their unsophisticated         
beholders4 ,the variety-show may have   
the variety it vaunts itself as         
possessing2 but to novelty it can lay   
little claim4                           
,,ii  ,the constituent elements of the  
variety-show as we know it to-day have  

existed since a time whereof the memory 
of man runneth not to the contrary--to  
use the old legal phrase4 ,the appeal of
 almost every one of these elements and 
of the variety-show as a whole is ever  
to the eye and to the ear1 to the senses
 rather than to the emotions2 and to the
 intellect it appeals even more         
infrequently4 ,its primary purpose is to
 afford a kaleidoscopic succession of   
contrasted amusements for the benefit of
 those who are easily satisfied by      
glitter of spectacle1 by incessant      
movement1 and by violent music4 ,it is  
the ideal entertainment for that        
redoubtable entity1 the ,tired ,business
 ,man1 who checks his brains with his   
overcoat1 and who resents having to     
witness anything in the theater which   
might make him think4 ,not only does the
 variety-show flourish because it is    
exactly adjusted to the unintellectual  
and purely sensational likings of the   
,tired ,business ,man and to the similar
 tastes of his fit mate1 who is fatigued

 because her life is idle and empty1 but
 for his benefit also1 and for hers the 
summer song-show and the alleged comic  
opera and the misnamed review have been 
called into existence4 ,indeed1 it is   
obvious enough that most of our summer  
song-shows and many of our comic operas 
and reviews are1 in reality1 only more  
or less disguised variety-shows4  ,with 
facts as they are1 there is never any   
excuse for quarreling4 ,the ,tired      
,business ,man is a fact2 and it is only
 fair that what he demands shall be     
supplied by caterers to the cravings of 
the populace4 ,but even tho his name is 
legion1 the ,tired ,business ,man is to 
be accepted only with contemptuous      
toleration4 ,he is to be endured only so
 long as he does not insist on imposing 
his likings upon others who have a more 
delicate perception1 and who are willing
 to bring their brains with them when   
they take their places in the theater4  
,even in the variety-show which seems   
often to exist only for the pleasure of 

those who still linger in what one of   
,george ,eliot's wise characters aptly  
called a puerile state of culture1      
nevertheless1 we can now and again      
discover signs of a longing for         
something less void of purpose than mere
 spectacle4 ,for example1 it was in a   
variety-show that ,mr4 ,belasco's finely
 imaginative dramatization of ,mr4      
,long's ',madame ,butterfly' was set    
before the ,american public several     
years prior to its being adorned by the 
pathetic music of ,puccini for the      
benefit of opera-goers4  ,in fact1 it is
 well to remember that the opera comique
 of the ,french had its humble origin in
 the theater of the ,parisian fairs1    
where also we can discover the rude     
beginnings of that crude form of        
melodrama which ,victor ,hugo lifted    
into literature in ',hernani' and ',ruy 
,bias1' casting the cloth-of-gold of his
 splendid lyricism over the arbitrarily 
articulated skeleton of his violent     
action4 ,it was an old negro-minstrel   

act1 representing the rehearsal of an   
amateur band1 that the ,hanlon-,lees    
borrowed to amplify into a              
rough-and-tumble pantomime for          
performance in a variety-show in ,paris2
 and this knockabout sketch proved to be
 the stepping-stone which enabled them  
soon to achieve the fantastic           
eccentricity of their ',voyage en       
,suisse1' performed in real theaters1   
first in ,paris and then in ,new ,york1 
to the joy of all who could appreciate  
the perfection of their art as          
pantomimists4 ,and1 once again1 it was  
in a variety-show of the lowest class   
that ,denman ,thompson first appeared as
 ',josh ,whitcomb ,among the ,female    
,bathers1' a vulgar episode of          
indelicate humor1 wherein1 however1 was 
contained the germ of that perennially  
popular play1 the ',old ,homestead1'    
which gave a pure pleasure to countless 
thousands of theater-goers1 season after
 season1 for at least a quarter of a    
century4  ,when we look back over the   

long annals of the variety-show we      
cannot escape the conclusion that here  
is its real opportunity1 its true       
function1 and its necessary             
justification4 ,for the most part1 it   
supplies a purely sensational amusement 
for the unthinking2 and yet it is       
continually serving as a nursery for the
 actual theater4 ,it is thus seen to be 
a proving ground for the seeds of widely
 different dramatic species--opera      
comique and melodrama in ,france1 the   
ballet d'action in ,england1 the rural  
play in the ,united ,states4 ,it is not 
always conscious of its possibilities1  
nor does it always improve them to best 
advantage4 ,normally it provides an     
entertainment appealing mainly to the   
senses1 often empty1 and often          
unsatisfying because of its monotony4   
,but on occasion it is capable of       
grasping at higher things1 and of       
encouraging artists who will sooner or  
later outgrow its limitations and       
transfer their activities to the        

theaters wherein audiences are more     
eager for veracity of character         
portrayal4                              
,,iii  ,on one side the variety-show    
intersects the ring of the circus and   
the curving line of the ,first ,part of 
negro-minstrelsy1 while on the other it 
impinges on the sphere of the more      
literary drama4 ,its existence is       
evidence that the show business is      
always the show business1 no matter how 
manifold and dissimilar its             
manifestations may seem to be4 ,the men 
and women who have grown up in the      
regular theaters are a little inclined  
to be scornfully jealous of the less    
highly esteemed performers in the       
variety-show1 even if they themselves   
are occasionally tempted by the lure of 
high pay for hard work to condescend to 
vaudeville engagements4 ,no doubt1 the  
bill of fare set before us more often   
than not in the variety-show justifies  
this attitude on the part of the high   
priests of the more legitimate drama2   

yet they ought to be broad-minded enough
 to recognize merit wherever it may be  
found4 ,the late ,john ,gilbert1 best of
 ,sir ,peter ,teazles1 and of ,sir      
,anthony ,absolutes1 was not a little   
provoked by the praise bestowed upon    
,harrigan and ,hart and their associates
 by ,mr4 ,howells and by other critics  
of the acted drama1 who relished the    
peculiar flavor of ',squatter           
,sovereignty' and its companion plays4  
,gilbert was puzzled to discover any    
reason why any criticism whould be      
wasted on pieces which pretended to be  
little more than variety-show sketches4 
,but ,joseph ,jefferson1 a far more     
versatile comedian than ,john ,gilbert1 
was swift to discern merit1 and he was  
wholly free from toplofty condescension 
toward other forms of the histrionic art
 than that in which he was himself      
pre-eminent--perhaps1 because in his    
youth he had often appeared as a        
burlesque actor1 an experience which he 
gladly admitted to have been very       

valuable to him4 ,after ,jefferson had  
gone to see one of the nondescript      
pieces at ,weber and ,fields's          
music-hall1 joyous spectacles commingled
 of song and dance1 of eccentric        
character and of sheer fun1 he was loud 
in his praise of the histrionic art     
displayed here and there in the course  
of the performance1 declaring without   
hesitation that one episode1 in which   
the two managers took part1 was simply  
the finest piece of comic acting he had 
seen that whole winter4 ,probably the   
ordinary playgoers1 who had flocked to  
be amused by this loose-jointed piece1  
took a somewhat apologetic attitude     
toward the pleasure they had received2  
and probably they supposed that their   
pleasure at the entertainment offered to
 them was due mainly to the pervading   
bustle and dazzle of the kaleidoscopic  
show4 ,but ,jefferson had a keener      
insight into the practise of the art he 
adorned2 and he recognized at once the  
sheer histrionic skill which lent the   

illusion of life to the fantastic       
impossibility of the humorous situation4
  ,jefferson1 one may venture to assert1
 would not have been surprised if he had
 learned that an ,american university   
professor of dramatic literature1       
whenever he came to discuss the         
lyrical-burlesques of ,aristophanes1 was
 in the habit of sending his whole class
 to ,weber and ,fields that his students
 might see for themselves the nearest   
modern analog to the robust fantasies of
 the great ,greek humorist4             
,aristophanes was a many-sided genius2  
as a lyric poet of ethereal elevation he
 must be set by the side of ,shelley2 as
 a keen satirist of contemporary fads   
and foibles he must be compared with    
,rabelais2 and as a fun-maker pure and  
simple1 as a comic playwright1 willing  
and able to evoke unexpected laughter by
 ludicrous antics1 he reveals an        
undeniable likeness to the adroit       
devisers of the hodgepodge of humorous  
episodes represented with contagious    

humor by ,weber and ,fields4 ,and the   
heterogeneous pieces which used to be   
produced by the two performers who      
devote themselves to the dislocation of 
the ,english language were outgrowths of
 the variety-show1 from which1 indeed1  
the two performers themselves were      
graduates4  ,it is this aspect of the   
variety-show1 its supplying of          
opportunities for artistic development  
to ambitious performers1 and its own    
spontaneous generation of dramatic forms
 capable of being lifted into           
literature--it is this aspect of the    
variety-show which would be emphasized  
by any competent writer undertaking to  
narrate its long and involved history4  
,that no one has yet written a history  
of the variety-show is as surprising as 
that no one has yet written a history of
 negro-minstrelsy4 ,the materials for   
such a book are accessible and abundant1
 since there are already richly         
documented accounts of the fairs of     
,paris and of ,london1 in which the     

variety-show flourished centuries ago4  
,there are accounts of the ,english     
concert-halls as they now exist and of  
the ,french cafe-concerts4 ,the         
historian will also be aided by the     
various treatises on the ballet1 and on 
the circus1 and on the puppet-show1 with
 all of which forms of entertainment the
 variety-show has always had intimate   
relations4  ,it may be that the future  
historian will be moved to point out the
 superficial likeness between the       
variety-show and the ,sunday issues of  
certain ,american newspapers4 ,these    
,sunday newspapers are really           
magazines--that is to say1 they occupy a
 position midway between journalism and 
literature1 just as the variety-show    
occupies a position midway between the  
circus and the theater4 ,the magazine   
pages of these ,sunday newspapers set   
before their readers a very variegated  
bill of fare2 they provide photographs  
of recent events--which are the         
equivalent of the moving-pictures of the

 variety-show2 they contain             
short-stories--which are1 in narrative1 
what the brief plays of the variety-show
 are in dialog and action2 they abound  
in anecdotes and in comic sayings--which
 are closely akin to the utterances of  
the sidewalk conversationalists of the  
variety-show4 ,and the variety-show     
itself is like journalism1 in that it is
 a modern combination of elements of the
 remotest antiquity1 for altho the      
actual newspaper is only two or three   
centuries old1 there were always        
channels by which news was conveyed to  
the eager public4 ,the men of ,athens   
nearly two thousand years ago were glad 
to hear and to tell some new thing1 and 
their wants were supplied1 even if there
 was in classical antiquity and in the  
,middle ,ages no organization faintly   
anticipating the marvelous machinery for
 collecting and distributing information
 possessed by the newspapers of the     
twentieth century4  7#aiab47            
,,xv                         ,,the      

,,method ,,of ,,modern ,,magic          
,,the ,,method ,,of ,,modern ,,magic    
,i  ,autobiography1 said                
,longfellow--altho the remark does not  
seem especially characteristic of this  
gentle poet--is what biography ought to 
be4 ,and in the long list of alluring   
autobiographies1 from ,cellini's and    
,cibber's1 from ,franklin's and         
,goldoni's1 there are few more          
fascinating than the ',confidences of a 
,prestidigitator' of ,robert-,houdin4 ,a
 hostile critic of ,robert-,houdin's    
career has recorded the fact--if it is a
 fact--that ,robert-,houdin once        
confided to a fellow magician that his  
autobiography had been written for him  
by a clever ,parisian journalist2 and it
 must be admitted that not a few amusing
 ,french autobiographies have not been  
the children of their putative          
parents--for instance1 the memoirs of   
,vidocq1 the detective4 ,yet this is not
 as damaging an admission as it may seem
 at first sight since the clever        

,parisian journalist may have been      
little more than the amanuensis of the  
prestidigitator1 hired only to give     
literary form to the actual             
recollections of his employer4 ,such a  
proceeding would not deprive            
,robert-,houdin's autobiography by its  
authenticity4 ,it remains a classic1    
beloved by all who joy in the delights  
of conjuring4 ,unfortunately the hostile
 critic has gone further in his attack  
upon ,robert-,houdin's reputation1 and  
he has succeeded in showing that the    
renowned ,french conjurer claimed as his
 own invention not a few illusions which
 had been already exhibited by his      
predecessors in the art of deception4   
,yet this unjustified boasting does not 
invalidate ,robert-,houdin's title to be
 considered the father of modern magic4 
,even if he was treading in the path of 
those who had gone before1 he attained  
at last to a consistent theory of the   
art1 far in advance of that held by     
earlier magicians4 ,many of his marvels1

 and perhaps more than one of the most  
striking of them1 may have been but     
improvements upon effects originally    
contrived by others2 yet every          
succeeding generation can rise only by  
standing upon the shoulders of the      
generations that went before1 and it is 
justified in availing itself of all that
 these earlier generations may have     
discovered and invented4 ,robert-,houdin
 tells us himself that he was greatly   
indebted to the ,comte de ,grisy1 whose 
stage-name was ,torrini4 ,in fact1      
,robert-,houdin might be called a pupil 
of ,torrini1 as ,mr4 ,john ,s4 ,sargent 
is a pupil of ,carolus ,duran4 ,it was  
upon ,torrini's dignified simplicity as 
a magician that ,robert-,houdin modelled
 his own unpretending presentation of   
his feats of magic4 ,apparently it was a
 famous conjurer named ,frikell1 who    
first discarded the cumbersome and      
glittering array of apparatus which used
 to be displayed on the stage to dazzle 
the eyes of the spectators2 but this    

discarding of obtrusive paraphernalia   
was not deliberate1 being due only to   
the accidental destruction of ,frikell's
 stage-furniture by fire1 whereby the   
performer was suddenly forced to rely   
upon the less complicated experiments1  
which could be exhibited without        
extraneous aid4 ,the abandoning of overt
 apparatus1 which ,frikell was forced   
into by misfortune1 ,robert-,houdin     
adopted as an abiding principle4 ,he    
kept his stage as unencumbered as       
possible1 altho1 of course1 he brought  
forward from time to time the special   
objects necessary for the illusions he  
was about to exhibit4  ,not only did he 
perform on a stage which was intended to
 resemble a drawing-room1 he also       
eschewed any other costume than that    
appropriate to a drawing-room4 ,earlier 
performers had not hesitated to deck    
themselves in ,oriental apparel or in   
the flowing garb of a medieval magician4
 ,robert-,houdin was always modern and  
never medieval2 and he adopted this     

attitude deliberately4 ,he was the first
 to formulate the fundamental principle 
of the modern art of magic--that a      
conjurer should be an actor playing the 
part of a magician4 ,one of the foremost
 exponents of modern magic1 ,mr4        
,maskelyne1 notes that many conjurers   
strive only to play the part of some    
other conjurer2 and it might be added   
that there are not a few who fail       
entirely to see the necessity for       
playing a part and who content          
themselves with a purposeless display of
 their misplaced dexterity4 ,but the    
masters of the art are men like ,robert 
,heller and ,buatier da ,kolta1 who were
 accomplished comedians1 each in his own
 fashion1 and who presented a succession
 of little plays--for a truly good      
experiment in magic is really a         
diminutive drama4  ,it may be brief and 
simple--a play in one act2 or it may be 
prolonged and complicated--a play in    
three or five acts4 ,but like any other 
play it ought to possess a central idea 

and to have a definite plot4 ,it should 
tend straight toward its single         
conclusion1 which must be the logical   
development of all that has gone before2
 that is to say1 it must possess what   
the critics of the drama term ,unity of 
,action4 ,it should have a beginning1 a 
middle1 and an end1 in accord with      
,aristotle's requirement for a tragedy4 
,it must work up to its culmination with
 a steadily increasing intensity of     
interest4 ,it must contain nothing not  
directly contributory to the startling  
climax which is its surprising and      
satisfying conclusion4 ,it must not     
digress or dally in by-paths1 however   
entertaining these may be in themselves1
 but push onward to its inevitable      
finish4 ,it is only by conceiving of    
every one of his successive experiments 
as a play1 complete in itself and       
governed by the inexorable laws of the  
drama1 that the magician can rise to the
 summit of his art4 ,he is a conjurer   
and a comedian at the same time1 making 

his dexterity the servant of his drama1 
and never for a single moment allowing  
this dexterity to force itself upon the 
attention of the audience4 ,indeed1 the 
one thing he ought to conceal is his    
possession of any special gift in       
manipulation4 ,he should keep his       
audience ever guessing as to the method 
of his apparent miracles4               
,,ii  ,it is because ,robert-,houdin was
 seemingly the first conjurer to adopt  
these principles as his irrefragable    
code of procedure that he is to be      
accepted as the father of modern magic4 
,he never allowed himself to parade his 
skill in manipulating coins and cards at
 the risk of distracting the attention  
of the spectators from the central and  
culminating effect around which he had  
constructed his plot4 ,no doubt1 he     
possessed dexterity in abundance1 but it
 was subordinate to his dramatic intent4
 ,no doubt1 again1 some of the devices  
he used had sometimes been employed by a
 long succession of his predecessors in 

conjuring4 ,as a matter of course he    
availed himself of all sorts of mere    
tricks1 of ingenious sleights1 and of   
artful apparatus that the conjurers who 
went before him had devised for their   
own use long before he was born4 ,an    
experiment in magic--to use the term    
that ,mr4 ,maskelyne prefers1 is not a  
mere trick--or at least it ought not to 
be4 ,it is not the exhibition of a      
device or of a sleight or of an adroit  
mechanical apparatus4 ,rather is it a   
coherent whole1 direct in its           
development1 no matter how many         
subtleties of concealment and deception 
it may employ in the course of its      
accomplishment4  ,most amateurs in the  
art of magic1 and also only too many    
professional performers1 place their    
reliance mainly upon the trick          
itself--the deceptive manipulation or   
the novel apparatus--and are satisfied  
to get out of it what they can4 ,they   
invent new methods of changing a card or
 of making coins pass into a box1       

overlooking the fact that these         
inventions are valueless except as they 
may be utilized to facilitate the       
execution of one of those larger feats  
which only are fairly to be entitled    
experiments in magic1 and which are     
distinguished always by the direct      
simplicity and the straightforward unity
 of their plots4 ,in fact1 an experiment
 in magic must aim at that totality of  
effect1 that perfect subordination of   
the minor means to the major end1 which 
,poe insisted upon as the dominant      
characteristic of the true short-story4 
,and this totality of effect can be     
achieved only by the rigorous exclusion 
of everything which in any way          
contradicts that central idea out of    
which the true short-story must always  
be developed4 ,unity and totality1 and a
 rigorous obedience to what ,herbert    
,spencer called the ,principle of       
,economy of ,attention--these are the   
essential elements in the presentation  
of a worthy experiment in magic4  ,an   

intimate friend of the late ,alexander  
,hermann1 the last of a long line of    
,hermanns who have been eminent in the  
history of the art1 has asserted that   
,alexander ,hermann was wont to insist  
that the conjurer must possess three    
qualifications for the practise of his  
profession4 ,the first of these is      
dexterity2 the second is dexterity2 and 
the third is also dexterity4 ,now1 there
 is a sense in which this assertion is  
true2 but it may be easily              
misapprehended4 ,a conjurer needs to be 
dexterous1 altho more than one master of
 modern magic1 notably ,robert ,heller1 
has not been pre-eminent in the         
possession of this qualification4 ,a    
moderate degree of dexterity is         
essential1 and perhaps more than a      
moderate degree2 but dexterity is not   
the prime requisite1 which is rather the
 dramatic instinct1 or1 perhaps1 it had 
better be called the dramaturgic        
imagination1 that can hit on a new idea 
and build it up into a plot1 and thus   

devise an experiment in magic completely
 satisfactory to the artistic sense4    
,what the master of the magic art never 
forgets is that dexterity is not an end 
in itself2 it is only one of the means  
by the aid of which the marvel may be   
wrought4 ,there are1 to-day1 performers 
of a surpassing skill in the            
manipulation of cards and coins1 capable
 of feats which would have been the     
despair of ,robert-,houdin and of       
,robert ,heller2 and some of them are so
 enamored of their own dexterity that in
 their eagerness for its exhibition they
 lose sight of unity and totality4 ,as a
 result of this lapse from the loftier  
standards of their art they present a   
disconcerting huddle of sleights of hand
 until the amazed spectators lose all   
sense of progression1 as these          
bewildering effects tumble over one     
another without any attempt at climax4  
,such a performance is an empty display 
of difficulty conquered for its own     
sake2 it is only a sequence of stunts2  

it is mere vanity and vexation of       
spirit4 ,it is like the favorite ,scotch
 dish1 the haggis1 which is said to     
supply only confused feeding4  ,it is   
always interesting to note how the      
principles of the arts have a certain   
relation1 and how we can constantly     
discover parallels in two wholly        
different fields4 ,this abuse of        
dexterity in the art of modern magic is 
closely akin to the abuse of toe-dancing
 in the art of the ballet4 ,as the      
conjurer ought to have dexterity at his 
command to serve when it is needed1 so  
the accomplished ballet-dancer ought to 
be able to walk on her toes1 when this  
feat will fit into the scheme of the    
special dance she has undertaken to     
perform4 ,but for a dancer to confine   
herself to the executing of a series of 
difficult steps involving nothing more  
than toe-dancing is to circumscribe the 
range of her art and to accept as the   
end what ought to be only the means4    
,here again1 we have a frank            

substitution of a single stunt for the  
larger liberty accorded by a more       
intelligent understanding of the true   
principles of the art4 ,the excessive   
toe-work of the dancer1 like the        
excessive dexterity of the conjurer1 is 
at bottom only what boys call showing   
off2 and in the long run even boys tire 
of this4 ,to descend to showing off is  
equivalent to the blunder common in bad 
architecture1 when we cannot help seeing
 that the artist has gone afield to     
construct his ornament1 instead of      
concentrating his effort on ornamenting 
his construction4  ,so far from         
permitting himself ever to show off1 or 
to invite attention to his own skill1   
the master of modern magic is careful   
always to conceal as far as possible the
 method by which he accomplishes his    
wonders4 ,he utilizes at will and in    
conjunction ingenious apparatus and     
manual dexterity1 without ever calling  
the attention of the spectators to      
either4 ,he refrains even from turning  

up his sleeves or from passing for      
special examination any of the objects  
he is employing1 while taking care to   
let it be seen accidentally that these  
objects are really above suspicion4     
,like the playwright constructing a     
play1 the composer of an experiment in  
magic must ever keep in mind his        
audience2 and he must strive always to  
foresee the exact impression he is      
making upon the spectators4 ,like the   
playwright1 the modern magician must so 
build up each of his experiments that it
 seizes the attention of the spectators 
early1 that it arouses their interest1  
that it holds this interest unrelaxed to
 the end1 and that at last it satisfies 
while it surprises4 ,this can be        
achieved only when all the elements of  
the experiment1 the idea itself1 the    
plot1 the dexterous devices1 and the    
ingenious apparatus which may be        
necessary1 are all so combined and      
controlled and harmonized as to leave on
 the memory of the audience a clear and 

consistent impression--indeed1 an       
impression so sharp that a majority of  
those who witnessed the experiment could
 describe it the next day4  ,it is the  
disadvantage of the empty display of    
dexterity for its own sake that fails to
 leave this definite deposit in the     
memory2 and the spectators are quite    
unable to recall the central effect4    
,this is generally because there was1 in
 fact1 no central effect for them to    
seize1 the performer having scattered   
his efforts1 as tho he were using a     
shot-gun instead of hitting the         
bull's-eye with a single rifle-shot4    
,the master of the art is careful to    
economize the attention of his audience1
 to focus it1 so to speak1 and to       
arrange his sequence of effects so      
adroitly that1 however multifarious and 
even complicated may be the means       
whereby he is achieving his object1 the 
result is attained so directly and so   
simply that it can be apprehended by the
 spectators readily and instantly4 ,the 

experiment has been exhibited as tho it 
were the easiest thing in the world1    
even if it is at the same time perceived
 to be the most impossible to account   
for4 ,to arrive at this result the      
performer must preserve an absolute     
simplicity of manner2 he presents       
himself as a gentleman amusing himself  
by amusing other gentlemen1 who have    
come together at his invitation to be   
amused4                                 
,,iii  ,a gentleman amusing other       
gentlemen--that should be the ideal2 and
 this ideal not only forbids any foolish
 clowning and any trivial buffoonery on 
the part of the performer1 but it       
prohibits also any attempt on his part  
to incite the gentlemen he is amusing to
 laugh at any one of their own number   
who may have been kind enough to lend a 
hat or a watch1 or to come up on the    
stage as a volunteer assistant by       
request4 ,nothing is cheaper1 and       
nothing is in worse taste1 than for the 
performer to make personal remarks about

 any member of his audience or to hold  
any one of the spectators up to         
ridicule4 ,the conjurer is a comedian   
playing the part of a modern magician1  
but he is not a low-comedian1 ready to  
get a laugh at any price and at the cost
 of any one else4 ,he may be as pleasant
 as he can1 and even as humorous1 but he
 can preserve his own self-respect only 
by having due regard to the self-respect
 of all those who have gathered to enjoy
 his performance4 ,readers of           
,robert-,houdin's memoirs will remember 
how one of the old-school performers    
used to advertise that he would ,eat a  
,man ,alive1 and how he sprinkled flour 
and pepper and salt all over the hapless
 creature who volunteered to be         
devoured1 and then proceeded to bite the
 finger of the disgusted and unfortunate
 victim4 ,this is most tolerable and not
 to be endured4  ,if a demand were to be
 made for a list of the books likely to 
be the most useful to those who desire  
to master the principles of the art of  

modern magic1 one would have to begin by
 recommending the preliminary perusal of
 the autobiography of ,robert-,houdin1  
from which a host of useful hints may be
 gleaned4 ,the ,frenchman tells us1 for 
instance1 how he once showed off before 
,torrini and exhibited his manipulative 
skill over a pack of cards1 making a    
needless display of dexterity1 designed 
to dazzle the eyes of the spectators2   
and how ,torrini pointed out the        
futility and the disadvantage of this4  
,then it would be well to consult the   
invaluable series of volumes on modern  
magic by ,professor ,hoffman wherein the
 various tricks and sleights and        
apparatus are described and illustrated4
 ,these books contain what may be called
 the raw material of the art1 the       
processes which the magician can employ 
at will in building up his larger       
experiments in magic1 each of which     
should be a complete play in itself4    
,finally1 when the student has found out
 how tricks can be done1 he would do    

well to turn his attention to ',our     
,magic1' by ,mr4 ,maskelyne and his     
associate1 ,mr4 ,david ,devant4 ,and    
from this logical treatise he can learn 
how experiments in magic ought to be    
composed4 ,it is from this admirable    
discussion of the basic principles of   
modern magic that several of the points 
made in this essay have been borrowed4  
,mr4 ,devant calls attention to the fact
 that new tricks are common1 new        
manipulative devices1 new examples of   
dexterity1 and new applications of      
science1 whereas new plots1 new ideas   
for effective presentation1 are rare4   
,he describes a series of experiments of
 his own1 some of which utilize again1  
but in a novel manner1 devices long     
familiar1 while others are new both in  
idea and in many of the subsidiary      
methods of execution4 ,one of the most  
hackneyed and yet one of the most       
effective illusions in the repertory of 
the conjurer1 is that known as the      
,rising ,cards4 ,the performer brings   

forward a pack of cards1 several of     
which are drawn by members of the       
audience and returned to the pack1      
whereupon at the command of the magician
 they rise out of the pack1 one after   
the other1 in the order in which they   
were drawn4 ,in the oldest form in which
 this illusion is described in the books
 on the art of magic1 the pack is placed
 in a case supported by a rod standing  
on a base2 and the secret of the trick  
lies in this rod and its base4 ,the rod 
is really a hollow tube1 and the base is
 really an empty box4 ,the tube is      
filled with sand1 on the top of which   
rests a leaden weight1 to which is      
attached a thread so arranged over and  
under certain cards as to cause the     
chosen cards to rise when it descends   
down the tube2 and in putting the cards 
into the case the conjurer releases a   
valve at the bottom of the tube1 so that
 the sand might escape into the box1    
whereby the weight is lowered1 the      
thread then doing its allotted work1 and

 the cards ascending into view1 no      
matter how far distant from them the    
performer may be standing when he       
achieves his miracle4  ,it seems likely 
that the invention of this primitive    
apparatus may have been due to the fact 
that some eighteenth-century conjurer   
happened to observe the sand running out
 of an hour-glass1 and set about to find
 some means whereby this escape of sand 
could be utilized in his art4 ,the      
hollow rod1 the escaping sand1 and the  
descending weight have long since been  
discarded2 but the illusion of the      
,rising ,cards survives and is now      
performed in an unending variety of     
ways4 ,the pack may be held in the hand 
of the performer1 without the use of any
 case2 or it may be placed in a glass   
goblet2 or it may be tied together with 
a ribbon and thus suspended from cords  
that swing to and fro almost over the   
heads of the spectators1 and however    
they may be isolated1 the chosen cards  
rise obediently when they are bidden4   

,the original effect subsists1 even tho 
the devices differ4  ,it was left for   
,mr4 ,devant to give a new twist to this
 old illusion4 ,for a full pack of      
playing-cards he substituted ten cards  
two or three times larger than          
playing-cards1 and with the ten numerals
 printed or painted in bold black4      
,these pasteboards are given for        
examination1 and so is a case into which
 they fit4 ,after they have been duly   
inspected they are put into the case    
which is hung from chains4 ,a clean     
slate is also shown1 and wrapped up and 
given to a spectator to hold4 ,then     
three members of the audience are       
invited to write each a number composed 
of three figures1 and these three       
numbers are added by a fourth spectator4
 ,the total is found to be written on   
the slate2 and then at the behest of the
 performer the cards containing the     
figures of this total rise in proper    
sequence out of the case4 ,it may be    
noted that the writing on the slate is  

also an old and well-worn device1 and so
 is the method of making sure that the  
total of the three numbers written by   
different persons shall agree with that 
already concealed on the slate4 ,yet    
these three familiar effects are here   
united in a refreshingly novel          
experiment in magic1 being now fitted   
into a new plot4 ,the devices themselves
 are old enough1 but ,mr4 ,devant is    
entitled to full credit for the new     
combination4                            
,,iv  ,the fundamental principles which 
,robert-,houdin accepted and which he   
seems to have taken over from ,torrini1 
,messrs4 ,maskelyne and ,devant have    
elucidated in their philosophic         
disquisition1 and yet in one particular 
their practise is not yet level with    
their preaching4 ,before ,robert-,houdin
 and ,frikell1 or at least before       
,torrini1 and even after these three    
artists had set a better example1 the   
majority of conjurers filled the stage  
with gaudy apparatus and insisted on its

 blazing with an unnecessary prodigality
 of lights4 ,one magician in the middle 
of the nineteenth century came forward  
on a stage absolutely dark1 and suddenly
 fired a pistol1 thereby lighting two   
hundred candles arranged in pyramids    
behind him4 ,another hung his stage with
 black velvet and adorned it with       
skulls4 ,torrini and ,robert-,houdin    
made an approach to the unadorned       
simplicity of an actual drawing-room1   
altho ,robert-,houdin seems to have     
permitted himself a long shelf at the   
back of his stage on which his various  
automatic figures were assembled        
awaiting their summons to take part in  
the program4 ,even ,messrs4 ,maskelyne  
and ,devant are satisfied with a        
stage-setting which is frankly only a   
stage-setting--as stagy1 in fact1 as the
 ordinary scenery to be seen in a       
variety-show4  ,now1 it may be admitted 
that a nondescript set of this sort1    
vaguely ,oriental1 with arches and      
curtains1 and somewhat suggestive of    

comic opera1 may not be inappropriate   
when any one of the bolder illusions is 
to be presented--the ,box ,trick or the 
,aerial ,suspension1 the ,mystic        
,cabinet or the ,talking ,sphinx4       
,indeed1 a special set of scenery is    
often actually necessary for the        
presentation of marvels depending mainly
 on optics or mechanics4 ,but for the   
first part of the program1 when the     
performer appears in ordinary           
evening-dress1 and when he is presenting
 himself as a gentleman in a            
drawing-room1 amusing other gentlemen1  
by means of experiments in magic1 every 
one of which may be likened to a little 
play1 why should not the stage-set be   
that of a drawing-room1 or of a         
bachelor's study1 as accurately         
reproduced as similar rooms are         
reproduced in the modern comedies of    
,mr4 ,henry ,arthur ,jones and ,mr4     
,augustus ,thomas8 ,the set accepted by 
,messrs4 ,maskelyne and ,devant is      
devoid of the actuality of a real room2 

it is fantastically stagy1 and therefore
 it lacks both veracity and dignity4    
,sooner or later some modern magician1  
in advance over his rivals1 will take   
this final step1 and the curtain will   
rise on a stage with a box-set          
realistically reproducing a handsome    
room1 with all its decorations and      
hangings and furniture in harmony1      
,jacobean in style1 or ,chippendale1 as 
the performer's preference may be4      
,there will be chairs and tables in     
their proper places2 there will be      
book-cases1 and window-boxes of flowers2
 and perhaps there will be a cellaret1  
where the performer may procure any     
goblet or decanter he needs4 ,there will
 be a broad desk in the center1 with its
 writing-pad and its book-rack1 and     
possibly its heap of magazines and      
weekly papers4 ,this set thus furnished 
will look like a room that has really   
been lived in2 it will have a door in   
each of the side walls1 and when the    
curtain rises the stage will be empty4  

,then the doorbell will ring1 and the   
servant will enter at one door1 and1    
going across the stage to the other1 he 
will admit his master--the master at    
last of the truly modern art of magic4  
,the magician will give his hat and coat
 to the servant1 who will take them out1
 and who will never appear on the stage 
again except in response to the master's
 pressure on the electric button1       
ordinarily used to summon a servant4    
,and the magician will present his      
succession of experiments in magic1     
utilizing only the objects which he may 
borrow from the spectators1 or which    
would naturally be found in a           
gentleman's room4 ,the apparent absence 
of all apparatus1 the naturalness of the
 environment1 the easy simplicity and   
the convincing reality of the           
back-ground--all these elements will    
coalesce to heighten the effect of the  
marvels to be wrought by a comedian     
playing the part of a magician4         
7#aiab47                                

,,xvi                         ,,the     
,,lamentable ,,tragedy ,,of             
,,punch ,,and ,,judy                    
,,the ,,lamentable ,,tragedy ,,of       
,,punch ,,and ,,judy                    
,i  ,when we consider how cosmopolitan  
is the population of these ,united      
,states1 and how freely we have drawn   
upon all the races of ,europe1 it is    
very curious that the puppet-show does  
not flourish in our ,american cities as 
it flourishes in many of the towns on   
the other side of the ,western ,ocean4  
,the shrill squeak of ,punch is not     
infrequent in the streets of            
,london--altho it may not now be heard  
as often as it was a score of years ago4
 ,in ,paris in the gardens of the       
,tuileries and of the ,luxembourg1 and  
again in the ,champs-,elysees where the 
children congregate in the afternoon1   
there are nearly half a dozen enclosures
 roped off and provided with cane chairs
 so that spectators1 old and young1 may 
be gladdened by the vision of           

,polichinelle1 and by the pranks of     
,guignol4 ,yet even in ,paris there are 
not now as many puppet-shows as there   
were fifty years ago2 and in ,italy and 
in ,germany the traveler fails to find  
as frequent exhibitions of this sort as 
he used to meet with in the years that  
are gone4 ,apparently there is          
everywhere a waning interest in the     
plays performed by the little troop of  
personages animated by the thumb and    
fingers of the invisible performer4 ,and
 perhaps the declining vogue of this    
diminutive drama in old ,europe is one  
reason why it has never achieved a wide 
popularity in young ,america4  ,in      
,france the puppet-show is stationary2  
it has its fixed habitation and abode2  
and its lovers can easily discover where
 to find it when they seek the specific 
pleasure it alone can provide4 ,in      
,england the spectacle of ,punch and    
,judy is ambulatory2 the bloodthirsty   
hero and the bereaved heroine roam the  
streets at large1 and their arrival in  

any one avenue of traffic can never be  
predicted with certainty4 ,in the       
,united ,states poor ,punch has never   
ventured to show his face in the open   
street1 seeking the suffrages of the    
casual throng2 he is not peripatetic but
 intermittent1 and he makes his         
appearances only in private houses1 and 
only when he is sent for specially to   
entertain the children's party4 ,here in
 ,america ,punch is still a stranger to 
the broad public2 he has an exotic      
flavor2 he suggests ,dickens1 somehow2  
and he must be wholly unknown to        
countless thousands who would rejoice to
 make his acquaintance and to laugh at  
his terrible deeds4  ,his terrible      
deeds6--perhaps there is in these words 
a possible explanation for the failure  
of ,punch to win favor among the        
descendants of the ,puritans1 who are   
always inclined to apply severe moral   
standards of conduct4 ,now1 if we apply 
any moral standard at all to the conduct
 of ,mr4 ,punch1 the result is simply   

appalling1 for the customary drama of   
which he is the sole hero sets before us
 a story of triumphant villainy1        
adequately to be compared only with the 
dastardly history of ,richard ,,iii in  
,shakspere's melodramatic tragedy4 ,mr4 
,punch is an accessory before the fact  
in the death of his infant child1 and   
when his devoted wife very naturally    
remonstrates with him1 he turns upon her
 with invective and violence--a violence
 which culminates in assassination4     
,having once seen red and tasted blood1 
he finds himself swiftly started upon a 
career of crime4 ,his total depravity   
tempts him to a startling succession of 
hideous murders4 ,he slays an           
inoffensive negro1 a harmless clown1 and
 a worthy policeman4 ,then he succeeds1 
by a simple trick1 in hanging the       
hangman himself4 ,by his fatal assaults 
upon these two officers of justice1 the 
necessary policeman and the useful      
hangman1 ,mr4 ,punch exhibits his       
contempt for the majesty of the law4 ,he

 stands forth1 without a shred of       
conscience1 as a practical anarchist1   
rejecting all authority4 ,his hand is   
against every man and every man's hand  
is against him4 ,and having violated the
 laws of this world1 he finally         
discloses his callous contempt for the  
punishment which ought to await him in  
the next world2 he has a hand-to-hand   
fight with the devil himself--a deadly  
struggle from which he emerges          
victorious4 ,and this is the end1 which 
crowns the work4  ,illustration3 ,behind
 the scenes  ,illustration3 ,punch      
throws away the child  ,illustration3   
,punch1 ,judy1 and their child          
,illustration3 ,punch quiets ,judy      
,when we consider the several episodes  
of ,mr4 ,punch's abhorrent history1 we  
are reluctantly forced to the conclusion
 that his story is even less informed   
with morality than that of ,richard     
,,iii4 ,the crookbacked king comes to a 
bad end at last2 he meets with the just 
retribution for his many misdeeds2 and  

he falls before the sword of ,richmond4 
,but ,mr4 ,punch comes to a good end1   
and so far as we may know1 he lives     
happy ever after1 like the princes and  
princesses of the fairytales4 ,he may   
even marry again and have another child1
 to be made away with in its turn4 ,the 
more we consider his misdeeds and his   
misadventures the more shocking they are
 to our moral sense4 ,mr4 ,punch appears
 as a monster of such hideous mien that 
to be hated he needs but to be seen4    
,this is how he must appear to every one
 of us who applies a moral standard to  
the drama1 and who is willing to hold   
every character in a play to a strict   
accountability for his words and deeds4 
,if we apply this moral standard to the 
play of ,punch and ,judy1 then that play
 must be dismissed as profoundly and    
hopelessly immoral1 carrying ethical    
infection to all who are so unfortunate 
as to be spectators at its performance4 
,and more particularly1 it is an        
absolutely unfit piece for the young1   

whose immature minds need to be guarded 
against everything which might tend to  
confuse the delicate distinctions       
between right and wrong4  ,but1 of      
course1 we do not apply a moral standard
 to the sayings and doings of ,mr4      
,punch1 for the plain and sufficient    
reason that he is not a human being4 ,he
 is not a man and a brother1 upon whom  
we may be tempted to pattern ourselves4 
,he is but a six-inch puppet1 a thing of
 shreds and patches1 a wooden-headed    
doll1 vitalized for a moment only by the
 hand concealed inside his flimsy body  
with its flaunting colors4 ,he is too   
fantastic1 too impossible1 too unreal1  
too unrelated to any possible world1 for
 us to feel called upon to frown upon   
his misdeeds or to take them seriously4 
,he is a joke1 and we know that he is a 
joke1 and all the children know that he 
is only a joke4 ,even the youngest child
 is never tempted to believe in his     
existence and to be moved to follow his 
example or to imitate his dark deeds4   

,the proof of the pudding is in the     
eating2 and the proof of a play is in   
the effect it produces upon the         
spectators4 ,we may question whether any
 one of the millions of performances of 
the lamentable tragedy of ,mr4 ,punch   
has suggested to a single father the    
fatal neglect of his offspring or to a  
single husband the possibility of       
wife-murder4 ,and we may doubt whether  
any child1 after witnessing ,mr4        
,punch's murderous combats with the     
policeman and the devil1 has ever felt  
any lessening of his respect for those  
two time-honored guardians of law and   
order4  ,illustration3 ,punch on his    
steed  ,illustration3 ,punch teaches    
,jack ,ketch how to hang a man          
,illustration3 ,punch in prison         
,illustration3 ,punch kills the ,devil  
,the plea of confession and avoidance   
which is here set up for ,punch and     
,judy is much the same as that set up by
 ,charles ,lamb for the frolicsome      
,restoration comedies4 ,lamb admitted   

that they were degradingly immoral--if  
you took them seriously and accepted    
them as pictures of life4 ,but he       
insisted that they were not really      
amenable to this moral standard1 since  
they were plainly impossible in any     
world known to man4 ,macaulay had no    
difficulty in showing that ,lamb was    
judging others by his clever and        
sophisticated self4 ,to ,lamb the       
creatures of ,wycherley and ,congreve   
might reveal manners and customs which  
removed them from the sphere of         
recognizable humanity2 but the majority 
of his fellow-spectators were not so    
nimble-witted2 they saw characters on   
the stage personated by living          
performers1 and they beheld these       
characters shamelessly doing shameful   
things4 ,because the persons in the play
 were represented by actual human beings
 they seemed indisputably human2 and    
their deeds could not be considered as  
outside morality4 ,yet the plea made by 
,lamb for the ,restoration comedies has 

a certain validity when it is put       
forward in behalf of ,mr4 ,punch4 ,he is
 not personated by an actual human      
being2 and even the least sophisticated 
of juvenile spectators does not accept  
him as a fellow-creature strictly       
amenable to the human code4             
,,ii  ,historians of the ,greek drama   
have often commented on the fact that   
the ,athenian actors wore towering      
masks1 and that thereby they were       
deprived of all facial expression4 ,in  
our snug modern theaters1 with their    
well-lighted stages1 we follow with our 
eyes the shifting emotions as these     
chase each other across the faces of the
 actors2 and this is one of our keenest 
pleasures in the playhouse4 ,in the huge
 theater of ,dionysius at ,athens1 with 
its ten or twenty thousand spectators1  
seated tier on tier1 along the curving  
hillside of the ,acropolis1 the actor   
was too far removed from most of the    
playgoers for any play of feature to be 
visible2 and critics have commiserated  

the ,attic dramatists on their          
deprivation of this element of potent   
appeal4 ,yet the question arises whether
 the ,greek playwrights were really the 
losers by this immobility of the actors'
 faces2 and we may be allowed to doubt  
that they were when we recall the fact  
that the faces of ,mr4 ,punch and of    
,mrs4 ,judy1 of the policeman and of the
 hangman1 are also fixed once for all4  
,the expression that ,mr4 ,punch wears  
when he is fondling the baby is1        
perforce1 the same which illuminates his
 face when he is engaged in joyful      
combat with the devil1 a foeman worthy  
of his stick4 ,here the imagination of  
the spectator comes to the rescue4 ,the 
wooden head of ,mr4 ,punch is           
unchanging1 no doubt2 but those who gaze
 entranced upon his marvelous doings    
never miss the play of feature which    
they would expect if they were part of  
the audience in a playhouse for         
grown-ups4 ,quite possibly the ,athenian
 spectators did not mind the immobility 

of the masks their actors wore2 indeed1 
that very immobility may have been an   
incentive to their imaginations4 ,when  
the ,greeks went to their open-air      
theater1 as when we gather around the   
tent-like theater of ,mr4 ,punch1 they  
knew in advance1 as we also know1 that  
the faces of the performers would be    
unchanging2 therefore they did not      
expect any variety of expression2 and   
probably they got along as well without 
it as we do at a puppet-show4  ,there is
 another likeness between ,attic tragedy
 and ,punch and ,judy2 there is a       
limitation in the number of characters  
we are allowed to see at the same time4 
,as the hidden performer who operates   
all the figures has only two hands1 he  
can bring before us at any one moment   
only ,mr4 ,punch and one other of the   
several characters4 ,the fingers of the 
right hand animate ,mr4 ,punch1 and the 
fingers of the left hand animate in turn
 ,mrs4 ,judy and the negro and the      
clown4 ,at ,athens 7for reasons which   

need not here be discussed7 the         
dramatist had the use of only three     
actors1 even tho these might each of    
them double and appear as two or more of
 the successive characters of the play4 
,so it was that there were never more   
than three persons taking part in any   
given episode of an ,attic tragedy as   
there are never more than two persons   
taking part in any given episode of     
,punch and ,judy4 ,in the               
thumb-and-finger plays devised in ,paris
 by ,m4 ,lemercier de ,neuville1 he felt
 so severely the inconvenience of his   
limitation to two characters that he    
devised a kind of spiral-spring         
arrangement inside the costumes of his  
little figures to hold up their heads2  
and he prepared invisible supports      
jutting out just below the flat ledge   
which forms the base of the proscenium4 
,thus he was enabled to leave the figure
 in sight1 while he withdrew his hand to
 animate another character4 ,his        
,pupazzi1 as he called them1 were clever

 caricatures of contemporary            
celebrities2 and he was ingenious enough
 sometimes to maneuver half a dozen of  
them at once with his single pair of    
hands1 four adjusted into the projecting
 rests1 and two on his fingers4  ,in the
 sumptuous puppet-show in the gardens of
 the ,tuileries the same result is      
achieved by the employment of two or    
three manipulators1 so that four or even
 six figures may appear at once4 ,this  
has greatly enlarged the scope of the   
performance2 and the manager of this    
theater has very ambitious aims4 ,he    
likes to rearrange for his juvenile     
audience the most appropriate of the    
pieces which have won favor in the real 
theaters1 and to present these with all 
sorts of spectacular adornments4 ,he has
 even ventured to give plays as         
elaborate as ',around the ,world in     
,eighty ,days4' ,but it may be doubted  
whether this vaulting ambition has not  
overleaped itself1 and whether a        
puppet-show does not gain rather than   

lose by restricting its efforts within  
narrower limits4 ,after all1 nothing so 
delights us at a puppet-show as the     
feats which are most characteristic and 
least difficult of accomplishment4 ,we  
joy to behold one tiny figure belaboring
 another with his solid club or to      
follow the vicissitudes of a bout at    
single-stick1 when both combatants      
thwack lustily at each other's wooden   
heads4                                  
,,iii  ,yet this mention of ,m4         
,lemercier de ,neuville's ,pupazzi1 with
 their varied repertory of ,aristophanic
 commentaries on current events1 and    
this memory of the spectacular efforts  
exhibited in the gardens of the         
,tuileries1 suggest a possible          
explanation for the fact that ,punch and
 ,judy have failed to find wide-spread  
favor here in ,america and that they    
seem to be losing their pristine        
popularity in ,england4 ,there is a     
pitiable monotony of program in all     
,english-speaking puppet-shows4 ,they   

confine their repertory to the single   
play which sets forth the deeds and     
misdeeds of ,mr4 ,punch4 ,now1 in the   
,continent of ,europe there is no such  
monotony4 ,not only in the gardens of   
the ,tuileries but in the               
,champs-,elysees a young spectator can  
sit thru performance after performance  
without fear of having to witness the   
same piece4 ,punch appears in only one  
drama1 whereas his ,french rival1       
,guignol1 in his time plays many parts1 
with a host of other characters to be   
his associates1 some in one piece and   
some in another4 ,and the several plays 
are adorned with a variety of scenery4  
,of course1 there cannot be a very wide 
range of subject2 and always is the     
stick a prominent feature in the        
miniature drama4 ,there are a certain   
number of traditional ,guignol pieces1  
handed down from generation to          
generation4 ,some of these have been    
printed for the use of devoted students 
of the drama1 and some are to be had in 

little pamphlets for the benefit of the 
happy ,french children who may have had 
a puppet theater with its dozen or more 
figures presented to them as a ,new     
,year's gift4 ,there is in the ,dramatic
 ,museum of ,columbia ,university the   
manuscript of half a dozen of these     
little plays1 written out 7in all the   
license of his own simplified spelling7 
by the incomparable performer who was in
 charge of the leading ,guignol in the  
,champs-,elysees in #ahfg4  ,it is      
rather curious that the ,english        
puppet-show should have confined itself 
for now nearly a hundred years to the   
unique ,punch and ,judy1 when the       
puppet-shows of other countries have a  
changing repertory4 ,it was a puppet    
performance of a ,german perversion of  
,marlowe's ',doctor ,faustus' which     
first introduced ,goethe to the ,faust  
legend4 ,george ,sand1 unlike the great 
,german poet in most ways1 was yet like 
him in her delight in the puppet-show4  
,in her country place at ,nohant1 she   

had a tiny theater of her own for which 
she dressed all the puppets1 while her  
son ,maurice carved the heads1 painted  
the scenery1 devised the plays1 and     
improvised the dialog4 ,maurice ,sand it
 was1 sometimes alone1 but occasionally 
with the aid of a friend1 who           
manipulated the little figures and      
bestowed upon them a momentary vitality4
 ,his mother persuaded him to write out 
a dozen of the more successful of his   
little plays for puppets and to publish 
them2 and this volume1 the ',theatre des
 ,marionnettes a ,nohant1' appeared in  
#ahgf4 ,george ,sand herself wrote a    
delightful account of the humble        
beginnings of this famous puppet-show1  
and described how there came in time to 
be all sorts of ingenious improvements  
for achieving spectacular effects4  ,she
 declared that the puppet-show is not   
what it is vainly thought1 because it   
demands an art of a special kind1 not   
only in the construction of the little  
figures themselves1 but more especially 

in the story which these little figures 
are to interpret4 ,she held that the    
particular field of the puppet          
playwright-performer was to be found in 
the dramatization of protracted         
fantastic romances1 abounding in comic  
characters and in comic episodes and    
gratifying the fundamental human liking 
for long-drawn tales of adventure and   
for fantastic fairy-stories4 ,she found 
in her son's acted narratives a rest    
from reality1 a release from the        
oppression of every-day life1 an        
excursion into a realm of fancy and of  
legend--even if the legend was itself a 
fanciful invention of the improvising   
performer4 ,and she declared that she   
liked the puppet playhouse in her own   
home1 because it was a domestic and     
fireside pleasure1 which could be       
enjoyed without the exertion imposed by 
a visit to a real theater4 ,obviously   
she found as much delight in being a    
spectator--after having been a          
costumer--as her son did in being the   

author and operator of the spectacle4   
,,iv  ,there is one note to be made upon
 ,george ,sand's account of the slow    
development of the puppet-show at       
,nohant1 beginning as early as #ahdg4   
,if you will look at any set of ,punch  
and ,judy figures hung up to-day in the 
toy store to tempt the eye of ,young    
,america1 you will discover alongside   
,mr4 ,punch and ,mrs4 ,judy1 ,jack      
,ketch and the ,devil1 a strange green  
figure with huge jaws and double rows of
 white teeth4 ,this verdant beast has a 
body like all other ,punch and ,judy    
figures1 a loose cloth funnel to slip   
over the sleeve of the operator2 but its
 head suggests the head of an alligator1
 or of a crocodile1 or of a dragon4     
,now1 if you will turn to the classic   
text of the ,english play of ,punch and 
,judy1 edited with a learned            
introduction and an abundance of        
scholarly annotation by ,john ,payne    
,collier--at least1 so it is believed1  
altho the rare little book is           

anonymous--you will find no mention of  
any strange beast of this sort4         
,collier's text of the play is adorned  
by two dozen illustrations1 etched by   
,george ,cruikshank1 and in no one of   
these plates will you discover any      
crocodile1 or alligator1 or dragon4 ,you
 will find ,toby1 the dog1 who still    
survives in most of the few shows to be 
seen to-day in the streets of ,london2  
and you will find ,hector1 the gallant  
steed that ,mr4 ,punch mounts with      
difficulty--and it is sad to have to    
record that ,hector is no longer in the 
service of ,mr4 ,punch4 ,in fact1 one   
devoted admirer of puppet-shows1 whose  
memory goes back nearly fifty years1 is 
ready to declare that he has never laid 
eyes on ,hector--except in ,cruikshank's
 illustrations4 ,but ,mr4 ,punch1       
deprived of the privilege of bestriding 
,hector1 now enjoys the fiercer delight 
of overcoming the green-eyed alligator4 
,here we have a question of profound    
historic interest4 ,whence came the     

strange beast with the wide jaws8 ,and  
here is where ,george ,sand's pleasant  
paper is a very present help in time of 
need4 ,she tells us that her son        
besought her to make a green monster for
 one of the earliest pieces he devised  
for her puppet-figures4 ,she did as she 
was bid1 and she sacrificed a pair of   
blue velvet slippers to provide the     
marvelous creature with his gently      
smiling jaws4 ,she draws attention to   
the fact that the slippers were blue1   
and to the further fact that            
nevertheless the strange beast was      
always called the ,green ,monster4 ,and 
here may be the explanation of the      
historic mystery4 ,the fame of the      
puppets of ,nohant was borne abroad2    
they were talked about all thru ,france2
 and they were discussed again and again
 in the ,parisian newspapers4 ,what more
 likely than that one of the            
professional puppet players should have 
seen the infinite possibilities of the  
,green ,monster1 and should have        

perceived its novel fascination for     
children8 ,thereupon he borrowed it for 
his own performances4 ,certainly it is  
that the ,green ,monster is a character 
in at least one of the manuscript plays 
preserved in the ,dramatic ,museum of   
,columbia ,university1 and written out  
half a century ago4 ,probably the ,green
 ,monster strayed from the puppet-show  
of the ,champs-,elysees sooner or later 
to one of the toy stores of ,paris at   
the request of some boy who desired it  
for his own4 ,when the ,green ,monster  
had elected domicile in the stores of   
,paris1 he was soon appropriated by the 
toy-makers of ,germany for export to    
,great ,britain and the ,united ,states4
  7#aiab47                              
,,xvii                     ,,the        
,,puppet-,,play1 ,,past ,,and ,,present 
,,the ,,puppet-,,play1 ,,past ,,and     
,,present                               
,i  ,in her charming and instructive    
account of the ingenious puppet-shows   
with which her son ,maurice used to     

amuse himself and her guests at ,nohant 
half a century ago1 ,george ,sand       
records the fact that the erudite       
scholar1 ,magnan1 who wrote a learned   
history of the puppet-show from the     
remotest antiquity1 did not discriminate
 sharply between the two entirely       
different kinds of little figures1 both 
of which are carelessly called puppets  
in ,english1 and marionettes in ,french4
 ,one class comprises these empty and   
flexible figures which are animated by  
the thumb and two fingers of the        
performer who exhibits them by holding  
his hands above his head1 as in the     
',punch and ,judy' show4 ,the other     
contains the larger dolls1 suspended on 
wires 7which are supposed to be         
invisible7 and manipulated by one or    
more performers overhead1 who give life 
to these figures by jerking the various 
strings as the action of the play may   
require4 ,these last are the true       
marionettes2 and for the first we have1 
unfortunately1 no distinctive name4 ,it 

is greatly to be regretted that the two 
very different types of puppets are not 
set apart from each other satisfactorily
 by the contributor of the article on   
marionettes in the latest edition of the
 ',encyclopedia ,britannica4'  ,each of 
these two sorts of puppets has an       
interest of its own2 and each of them   
has its special and peculiar relation to
 the drama4 ,both of them have a long   
and honorable history1 and can be traced
 back in the scanty records of a remote 
antiquity2 altho it seems more likely   
that the true marionette--the little    
figure moved by wires from overhead--is 
the older of the two1 antedating by many
 centuries the ,punch and ,judy figure1 
which owes its abrupt and awkward       
movements to the human thumb and        
fingers4 ,both classes are to be found  
to-day all over the world1 not only in  
the cities of civilization1 but in      
unsuspected nooks and corners on all the
 shores of all the seven seas4 ,in      
,turkey1 for example1 under the name of 

,karaguez1 there is a ,punch and ,judy  
of enormous popularity and of doubtful  
decency1 while in ,siam there are       
marionettes which perform religious     
plays of traditional appeal4 ,apparently
 the puppet-show of one type or the     
other satisfies in its fashion that     
dramatic instinct which every people    
possesses in greater or less intensity4 
,both kinds of puppet-show flourish in  
,france1 and have there been lifted to a
 more elevated plane of art2 and both   
kinds retain their popularity in ,italy1
 altho in an humbler form4 ,the ,french 
are inveterate artists2 and they are    
like the ,greeks in desiring to do all  
things decently and in order4 ,the      
,italians have1 perhaps1 a stronger     
native gift for the drama and they are  
ready to enjoy a simpler and more       
primitive puppet-play4 ,it is from      
,italy that we who speak ,english have  
derived our ,punch and ,judy4 ,mr4      
,punch is a direct descendant of that   
favorite figure of robust ,neapolitan   

farce1 ,pulcinella2 and so is the       
,french ,polichinelle4 ,and in ,italy   
to-day the true marionettes have an even
 broader popularity than the ,punch and 
,judy figures4 ,the ,italians who have  
lately flocked to ,america in their     
thousands1 until ,new ,york now contains
 more of them than ,venice1 have        
imported in the original package the    
legendary puppet-show setting forth the 
romantic stories of the ,middle ,ages   
and of the early ,renascence4 ,we look  
upon ,mr4 ,punch as comic2 but the      
,italians take their pleasure seriously 
and the marionettes in their            
puppet-shows to be seen in ,new ,york   
are truly heroic1 and not infrequently  
highly tragic4  ,illustration3 ,roman   
puppets ,greek and ,roman puppets       
,puppet of ,java  ,in the interesting   
discussion of ',medieval ,story1' in    
which ,professor ,w4 ,w4 ,lawrence of   
,columbia ,university has traced the    
influence of various ideals of the      
,middle ,ages upon our modern social    

organization1 he has a striking         
description of the marionette           
performances which the exiles of ,italy 
have brought with them to ,america4 ,any
 one who walks thru the ,italian quarter
 of ,new ,york ,city in the evening may 
notice over a doorway an illuminated    
sign1 ',theater of ,marionettes4' ,if   
his curiosity tempts him inside1 into   
the low room crowded with enthusiastic  
spectators1 he will see1 on a rude      
stage1 a group of puppets almost as     
large as life1 representing knights and 
ladies1 acting out a little drama in    
response to the jerking of strings      
fastened to their arms1 and of iron rods
 firmly fixed in their heads4 ,the      
warriors are gorgeously attired in      
shining armor and plumed helmets2 and   
the ladies have wonderful costumes of   
bright colors1 with a great deal of     
embroidery and decoration4 ,an ,italian 
in shirt-sleeves in the wings at the    
side of the stage speaks their lines for
 them1 with all the elocutionary        

flourishes which he can command4        
,fiercely immobile as to expression1 but
 most active as to arms and legs1 these 
manikins march about1 soliloquize1 make 
love1 and debate in council4 ,but it is 
their battles which arouse the greatest 
enthusiasm among the audience2 and1     
indeed1 these are fought in a way that  
is a joy to see4 ,then it is that heroic
 deeds are done--tin swords resound upon
 tin armor1 helmets are battered about  
and knocked off1 dust rises from the    
field1 the valiant dead fall in staring 
heaps4 ,at such moments the spectators  
can hardly restrain themselves from     
emotion1 yet the story is well known to 
them--perhaps some one sitting near by  
will volunteer to explain it1 asserting 
that he has known it ever since he was a
 boy and that he has read it all in a   
book which he has at home1 called       
',reali di ,franci4' ,it is a version of
 the old tale of ,charlemagne and his   
knights1 which1 after traveling far from
 its native home in ,france1 was taken  

up by the ,italian people many centuries
 ago1 and made so much their own that   
few heroes have been closer to their    
hearts than ,roland1 or as they call    
him1 ,orlando4 ,even in their homes in  
the ,new ,world they still celebrate    
him1 so that the very newsboys in the   
streets of modern ,america are keeping  
alive the heroic traditions of the age  
of ,charlemagne4  ,illustration3 ,a     
,sicilian marionette show ,from ,by     
,italian ,seas1 by ,ernest ,c4 ,peixotto
                                        
,,ii  ,when we compare the account which
 ,professor ,lawrence has here given of 
the ,italian puppet-shows in ,new ,york 
with the description of these same      
performances in their native land half a
 century ago1 which we find in the      
',roba di ,roma' of ,w4 ,w4 ,story1 the 
,american sculptor-poet1 we perceive    
that there has been little modification 
of method in the past threescore years4 
,story studied all sides of the ,roman  
populace1 and he maintained that nothing

 was more characteristically ,italian   
than the marionette theater4 ,he tells  
us that the love for the acting of      
burattini or puppets is universal among 
the lower classes thruout ,italy1 and in
 some cities1 especially in ,genoa1 no  
pains are spared in their costume1      
construction1 and movement to render    
them lifelike4 ,they are made of wood1  
generally from two to three feet in     
height1 with very large heads1 and      
supernatural glaring eyes that never    
wink1 and are clad in all the splendor  
of tinsel1 velvet1 and steel4 ,their    
joints are so flexible that the least   
weight or strain upon them effects a    
dislocation1 and they are moved by wires
 attached to their heads and            
extremities4 ,the largest are only about
 half the height of a man1 yet as the   
stage and all the appointments and      
scenery are upon the same scale of      
proportion1 the eye is soon deceived1   
and accepts them as of life-size4 ,but  
if by accident a hand or arm of one of  

the wire-pullers appears from behind the
 scenes or descends below the hangings1 
it startles you by its portentous size2 
and the audience in the stage-boxes     
instead of reducing the burattini to    
,lilliputians by contrast1 as they lean 
forward1 become themselves              
,brobdingnagians1 with elephantine hands
 and heads4  ,story insisted that there 
is nothing ludicrous to an ,italian     
audience in the performances of these   
diminutive men and women4 ,on the       
contrary1 nothing is more serious both  
to the spectators and to the unforeseen 
operators4 ,in fact1 he declared1 no    
human being could be so serious as these
 tiny performers4 ,their countenances   
are as solemn as death1 and more        
unchanging than the face of a clock4    
,their terrible gravity when1 with      
drooping heads and collapsed arms1 they 
fix on you their great goggle-eyes is at
 times ghastly4 ,the plays they perform 
are mostly heroic1 romantic1 and        
historical4 ,they stoop to nothing which

 is not startling in incident1 imposing 
in style1 and grandiose in movement4    
,and the ,italian audience listens with 
a grave and profound interest1 as tho   
the performers were not mere puppets1   
but actually the heroes they are        
supposed to be4 ,the inflated and       
extravagant discourse of the characters 
is accepted at its face value2 to the   
spectators it is grand and noble4 ,and  
the foreign visitor must control any    
desire he may feel to smile at the      
extraordinary spectacle he is           
witnessing1 and at the marvelous        
rodomontade he is hearing4 ,to laugh out
 loud at one of these heroic            
puppet-plays would be as indecorous as  
to indulge in laughter during a church  
service4  ,illustration3 ,a ,belgian    
puppet ,a ,chinese puppet theater       
,puppet figure representing the younger 
,coquelin  ,incidental to the heroic    
dramas which the puppets play are       
interludes of ballet-dancing like those 
which are intercalated1 more or less    

adroitly1 into the grand opera performed
 by full-grown men and women4 ,the      
,italians are born pantomimists1 and    
they are accomplished dancers4          
,therefore1 there is no reason for      
surprise that human pantomime and human 
dancing are imitated in the marionette  
theaters4 ,there is reason for surprise1
 however1 that ,story did not perceive  
clearly the advantages possessed by the 
dancing puppets over the dancers of more
 solid flesh and blood4 ,he found       
something comic in the pantomime of the 
puppets1 whose every motion is effected 
by wires1 who imitate the gestures of   
despair with hands that cannot shut1    
and1 with a wooden gravity of           
countenance1 throw their bodies into    
terrible contortions to make up for the 
lack of expression in the face4 ,in mere
 pantomime it is probable that the      
puppets would labor under a serious     
disability1 for if a performer cannot   
use his voice1 he needs facial          
expression to assist the gestures by    

which only can he then convey his       
meaning to the other performers and to  
the spectators4 ,perhaps it is not too  
much to assert that the puppet-show is  
not the proper place for pantomime4     
,,iii  ,we need not wonder that ,story  
admitted their dancing to be superior to
 their pantomime4 ,yet he failed to     
appreciate the true cause of this       
superiority1 and he was inclined to     
comment upon the dancing of the         
burattini in a somewhat satiric fashion4
 ,he tells us how the principal dancer  
suddenly appears1 knocks her wooden     
knees together1 and jerking her head    
about1 salutes the audience with a smile
 quite as artificial as we could see in 
the best trained of her fleshly rivals4 
,but this artificial smile must have    
been fixed and permanent on the features
 of this diminutive dancer--or else the 
,roman-,american essayist merely        
imagined its presence4 ,then1 with a    
masterly ease1 after describing         
air-circles with her toes far higher    

than her head and poising herself in    
impossible positions1 she bounds or     
rather flies forward with superhuman    
lightness1 performs feats of            
choreography to awaken envy in ,cerito  
and drive ,elssler to despair1 and1     
poising on her pointed toe that disdains
 to touch the floor1 turns never-ending 
pirouettes on nothing at all1 till at   
last1 throwing both her wooden hands    
forward1 she suddenly comes to a swift  
stop to receive your applause4  ,this   
description is unsympathetic1 and it    
induces the surmise that the operator of
 the burattini at the performance       
described was not a master of his art   
and did not know how to profit by the   
possibilities of that art4 ,yet one of  
,story's phrases serves to explain why  
the suspended puppet is superbly        
qualified to excel in ballet-dancing2   
that phrase is the one which credits the
 dancing doll with supernatural         
lightness4 ,a skilful operator of the   
wires which bestow life and movement and

 grace1 is able to imitate easily and   
exquisitely the most difficult feats of 
the human dancer4 ,if he is sufficiently
 adroit he robs his suspended figure of 
all awkwardness1 and he dowers her with 
a floating ethereality surpassing that  
attainable by any living performer4     
,now1 this floating ethereality is      
precisely the quality which gives us    
most pleasure when we are spectators at 
the performance of a really fine ballet4
 ,it is the supreme art of the great    
dancer to soar lightly aloft1 seeming to
 spurn the stage and to abide in the    
air4 ,only very rarely is this illusion 
possible to the merely human dancer2 and
 when achieved it is but fleeting4 ,yet 
this illusion is absolutely within the  
control of the manipulator of the       
puppet-dancers4 ,he can make them       
execute feats of levitation1 achievable 
only by the most marvelously gifted and 
by the most arduously trained of human  
dancers4  ,illustration3 ,puppets in    
,burma  ,illustration3 ,the puppet play 

of ,master ,peter 7,italian7  ,of       
course1 the skilful performer must      
carefully avoid swinging his tiny       
figures aimlessly thru the air4 ,he must
 limit the feats that he permits them to
 accomplish to those which can be       
actually accomplished by human beings1  
altho he can do easily what the human   
beings can achieve only with more or    
less obvious effort1 and he can impart a
 volatile elasticity a little beyond the
 power of any human being however       
favored by ,terpsichore4 ,when ',salome'
 was1 for a season1 the sensation of the
 hour1 it was produced by ,holden's     
marionettes2 and it afforded a          
delightful spectacle long to be         
remembered by all who had the felicity  
of beholding it4 ,whatever of vulgarity 
or of grossness there might be in the   
play itself1 or in the ,dance of the    
,seven ,veils1 was purged away by the   
single fact that all the performers were
 puppets4 ,so dexterous was the         
manipulation of the unseen operator who 

controlled the wires and strings which  
gave life to the seductive ,salome as   
she circled around the stage in most    
bewitching fashion1 and so precise and  
accurate was the imitation of a human   
dancer1 that the receptive spectator    
could not but feel that here at last the
 play of doubtful propriety had found   
its only fit stage and its only proper  
performer4 ,the memory of that          
exhibition is a perennial pleasure to   
all who possess it4 ,a thing of beauty  
it was2 and it abides in remembrance as 
a joy forever4 ,it revealed the art of  
the puppet-show at its summit4 ,and the 
art itself was eternally justified by   
that one performance of the highest     
technical skill and of the utmost       
delicacy of taste4  ,if the most        
marvelous exploits of terpsichorean art1
 almost inexecutable by the human toes  
and the human legs of living dancers1   
are capable of reproduction by puppets  
skilfully manipulated by the puller of  
the wires and strings whereby the little

 figures are suspended1 so also are the 
dexterous feats of the juggler4 ,one of 
the specialties of the sole surviving   
puppet-show of this sort in the         
,champs-,elysees is the performance of a
 juggler who tosses aloft and catches in
 turn a number of glittering balls4 ,the
 delicate balancing of the tight-rope   
walker1 with her frequent pirouettes on 
her toes1 and with her surprising       
summersets1 is also one of the          
exhibitions in which the puppet can defy
 the rivalry of any living executant1   
however skilful in the art4 ,at the     
circus we feel that the tightrope dancer
 might fall1 whereas at the puppet-show 
we know with certainty that any fatal   
mishap is impossible4 ,in ,holden's     
marionette program the miniature mimicry
 of humanity was carried to the utmost  
edge of the possible2 and no item on his
 bill of fare was more delectable than  
the series of scenes in which the       
traditional ,clown and ,pantaloon played
 tricks on the traditional ,policeman1  

and in which they joined forces in      
belaboring an inoffensive donkey4 ,as   
the unfortunate quadruped was also a    
puppet1 there was no painful strain on  
our sympathy4                           
,,iv  ,if a performance by puppets      
deprived ',salome' of its vulgar        
grossness by removing it outside the    
arena of humanity1 so to speak1 and by  
relegating it to an unreal world beyond 
the strict diocese of the conscience1 so
 a performance by puppets of a          
passion-play or of any other drama in   
which the ,deity has perforce to appear 
as a character1 is thereby relieved of  
any tincture of irreverence4 ,we no     
longer see a divine being interpreted by
 a human being4 ,we cannot help feeling 
that all the persons in the play1       
whether they dwell in heaven or on      
earth1 are equally remote from our      
common humanity4 ,and therefore we need 
not be surprised when we discover that  
the marionette has long been allowed to 
appear in religious drama4 ,indeed1 it  

appears probable that the very name     
marionette is directly derived from the 
name of the ,virgin4  ,very early in the
 history of the ,christian ,church were 
the puppets permitted to perform        
passion-plays and little dramas derived 
from the stories contained both in the  
,new and the ,old ,testaments4 ,in      
,england under ,elizabeth and ,james    
religious puppet-shows of this kind went
 wandering about the kingdom1 taking    
into the smallest villages an           
entertainment which would afford to the 
rural inhabitants the same kind of      
pleasant instruction which the dwellers 
in the larger towns had in the more     
elaborate and long-drawn mysteries      
performed by the trade-guilds on the    
,corpus ,christi day4 ,that masterly    
rogue ,autolycus in the ',winter's      
,tale' tells us that in his time he had 
been on the road with a motion of the   
,prodigal ,son--and a motion was the    
,elizabethan term for a                 
marionette-exhibition4 ,in like manner  

one of the characters in ,ben ,jonson's 
',every ,man out of ,his ,humor' speaks 
of a new motion of the city of ,nineveh1
 with ,jonas and the whale4 ,of course1 
the puppet performers1 like the grown-up
 actors1 did not long confine themselves
 to sacred themes2 they ventured also   
into contemporary history4 ,a puppet    
showman who appears in ,ben ,jonson's   
',bartholomew ,fair' tells us that a    
certain motion setting forth the        
mysterious ,gunpowder ,plot1 was a      
get-penny4  ,story described one        
puppet-play which he saw in a little    
village on the main road from ,rome to  
,naples1 and which had for its central  
figure ,judas ,iscariot4 ,but here again
 his attitude is unsympathetic1 perhaps 
because the performance was clumsy4 ,the
 kiss of ,judas1 when1 after sliding    
along the stage1 he suddenly turned with
 a sidelong jerk and rapped the other   
wooden puppet's head with his own1 as   
well as the subsequent scene in which he
 goes out and hangs himself1 beggar     

description4 ,yet the expatriated       
,american spectator honestly recorded   
that the ,italian spectators looked and 
listened with great gravity1 seemed to  
be highly edified1 and certainly showed 
no signs of seeing anything ludicrous in
 the performance4 ,we may venture the   
suggestion that even the sophisticated  
sculptor-poet himself would have seen   
nothing ludicrous in this performance if
 the operator of ,judas had been as     
skilful as the operator of ,salome in   
,holden's marionettes4  ,illustration3  
,a ,neapolitan ,punchinella ,from ,by   
,italian ,seas1 by ,ernest ,c4 ,peixotto
  ,a few years ago in ,paris one of the 
younger poets wrote a passion-play which
 was performed during ,lent by a company
 of dolls1 designed and dressed in fit  
and appropriate costumes by an artist   
friend familiar with the manners and    
customs of the ,holy ,land4 ,while the  
wires were managed by expert hands1 the 
words of the dialog were spoken by the  
poet himself1 and by two or three other 

poets who came to his aid4 ,this must   
have been a seemly spectacle1 and it won
 careful consideration from more than   
one of the most eminent dramatic critics
 of ,france4 ,here we may find a useful 
suggestion for those who wish to see    
certain plays by modern dramatic poets1 
in which the ,deity is a necessary      
character--,rostand's ',samaritaine1'   
for one1 and ,hauptmann's ',hannele1'   
for another4 ,many of the devout have a 
natural repugnance to any performance on
 the stage 7with its materialistic      
environment and its often sordid        
conditions7 which calls for the         
impersonation of a divine being by an   
actor of ordinary flesh and blood4 ,yet 
if these same plays were reverently     
performed by marionettes the aroma of   
irreverence would be removed4 ,it might 
even be possible to reproduce in the    
puppet-show not a little of the solemn  
religious effect which is felt by all   
visitors to the passion-play at         
,oberammergau4  7#aiab47                

,,xviii             ,,shadow-,,pantomime
 ,,with ,,all ,,the ,,modern            
,,improvements                          
,,shadow-,,pantomime ,,with ,,all ,,the 
,,modern ,,improvements                 
,i  ,an ,american2 improving on a       
suggestion of a ,frenchman1 has declared
 that language was given to man to      
conceal his thoughts--and to woman to   
express her emotions4 ,unfortunately1   
language is so often inexact that even  
when it is sufficient to express        
emotion1 it is not precise enough even  
to conceal thought4 ,sometimes a term is
 wholly devoid of truth1 as when we call
 a certain solid a lead-pencil1 which   
contains no lead1 and when we label a   
certain liquid soda-water1 which        
contains no soda4 ,sometimes the term is
 so vague that it may mean all things to
 all men4 ,who1 for example1 would be   
bold enough to insist on his own        
definition of romanticism8 ,sometimes   
again the term covers two or three      
things which demand a sharper           

differentiation4 ,this is the case with 
the compound word shadow-pantomime4 ,it 
is the only name for three distinct     
things4  ,first1 there is the           
representation by the dark profile of   
the human hand upon a wall or a screen1 
of human heads1 and of animal figures1  
either by an adroit arrangement of the  
fingers alone1 or by the aid of adjusted
 shapes of cardboard1 so as to suggest a
 hat on the head and a pipe in the mouth
 and other needed accessories2 this     
primitive entertainment is sometimes    
styled shadowgraphy4  ,second1 there is 
the full-sized silhouette of a human    
figure1 due to the shadow cast by the   
body standing before a lamp1 and        
magnified or diminished as it approaches
 or recedes the spectators4 ,this is the
 familiar parlor amusement which ,sir   
,james ,barrie cleverly utilized with   
dramatic effect in the final act of his 
',professor's ,love-,story1' when one of
 the characters1 standing outside a     
house1 sees the black profiles of other 

characters projected clearly on the     
drawn shade of the window before which  
he is placed4  ,then1 thirdly1 there is 
the true shadow-pantomime1 called by the
 ,french ,chinese shadows1 ombres       
chinoises1 in which the tiny figures1   
made either of flat cardboard or of     
metal1 are exhibited behind a           
translucent screen and before a strong  
light4 ,this is by far the most         
interesting and the most important of   
the three widely different kinds of     
semi-dramatic entertainment1 often      
carelessly confounded together even in  
the special treatises devoted to this   
humble art4 ,in ,france these ,chinese  
shadows have been popular for more than 
a hundred years1 since it was in the    
eighteenth century that the performer   
who took the name of ,seraphin          
established his little theater and won  
the favor of the younger members of the 
royal family by his presentation of the 
alluring spectacle1 the rudimentary     
little piece1 still popular with        

children1 and still known by its        
original title1 the ',broken ,bridge4'  
,it may not be fanciful to infer that   
the immediate suggestion for this       
spectacle was derived from the          
contemporary vogue of the silhouette    
itself1 this portrait in solid black    
taking its name from the ,frenchman who 
was minister of finance in #agei4 ,at   
all events1 it was in #aggj that        
,seraphin began to amuse the children of
 ,paris2 and it was more than a century 
thereafter that ,m4 ,lemercier de       
,neuville elaborated his ingeniously    
articulated ,pupazzi noirs4 ,it was a   
little later still that ,caran d',ache  
delighted the more sophisticated        
children of a larger growth1 who were   
wont to assemble at the ,chat ,noir1    
with the striking series of military    
silhouettes resuscitating the mighty    
,napoleonic epic4 ,and it was at the    
,chat ,noir again that ,riviere revealed
 the further possibilities latent in    
shadow-pantomime1 and to be developed by

 the aid of colored backgrounds supplied
 by a magic lantern4 ,restricted as the 
sphere of the shadow-pantomime          
necessarily is1 the native artistic     
impulse of the ,french has been rarely  
better disclosed than by their          
surprising elaboration of a form of     
amusement1 seemingly fitted only to     
charm the infant mind1 into an          
entertainment satisfactory to the richly
 developed esthetic sense of mature     
,parisian playgoers4 ,just as the rustic
 revels of remote villagers contained   
the germ out of which the ,greeks were  
able to develop their austere and       
elevating tragedy1 and just as the      
modern drama was evolved in the course  
of centuries out of the medieval        
mysteries1 one source of which we may   
discover in the infant ,christ in the   
cradle still displayed at ,christmastide
 in ,christian churches thruout the     
world1 so the simple ,chinese shadows of
 ,seraphin supplied the root on which   
,parisian artists were able to graft    

their ingenious improvements4  ,the     
little spectacle proffered originally by
 ,seraphin was frankly infantile in its 
appeal1 and the ',broken ,bridge' is as 
plainly adjusted to the simple likings  
of the child as is the lamentable       
tragedy of ,punch and ,judy or the      
puppet-show in which ,polichinelle      
exhibits his hump and his terpsichorean 
agility4 ,the two arms of the broken    
bridge arch over a little stream but    
fail to meet in the center4 ,a flock of 
ducks crosses leisurely from one bank to
 the other4 ,a laborer appears on the   
left-hand fragment of the bridge and    
begins to swing his pick to loosen      
stones at the end1 and these fragments  
are then seen to fall into the water4   
,the figure of the workman is           
articulated1 or at least one arm is on a
 separate piece and moves on a pivot so 
that a hidden string can raise the pick 
and let it fall4 ,the laborer sings at  
his work2 and in ,france he indulges in 
the traditional lyric about the ,bridge 

of ,avignon1 where everybody dances in a
 circle4 ,then a traveler appears on the
 right-hand end of the bridge4 ,he hails
 the laborer1 who is hard of hearing at 
first1 but who finally asks him what he 
wants4 ,the traveler explains that he   
wishes to cross and asks how he can do  
this4 ,the laborer keeps on picking     
away1 and sings that the ducks and the  
geese they all swim over4 ,the irritated
 traveler then asks how far it is       
across1 and the laborer again sings1    
this time to the effect that when you're
 in the middle you're half-way over4    
,then the traveler inquires how deep the
 stream may be1 and he gets the         
exasperating response in song1 that if  
he will only throw in a stone1 he'll    
soon find the bottom4 ,this dialog bears
 an obvious resemblance to that         
traditionally associated with the tune  
of the ',arkansaw ,traveler4'           
,illustration3 ,the broken bridge       
,illustration3 ,reproduced by permission
 of ,hachette  ,co41 ,paris ,plan       

showing the construction of a           
shadow-picture theater  ,illustration3  
,a ,hungarian dancer4 ,this explains the
 mechanism of the shadow picture        
opposite ,a ,hungarian dancer ,from a   
shadow picture by ,lemercier de         
,neuville  ,then a boatman appears1     
rowing his little skiff1 his backbone   
pivoted so that his body can move to and
 fro4 ,the traveler makes a bargain with
 him and is taken across1 after many    
misadventures1 one of them with a       
crocodile1 which opens its jaws and     
threatens to engulf the boat--this      
amphibious beast having been a recent   
addition to the original playlet1 and   
probably borrowed from the ,green       
,monster not long ago added to the group
 of ,punch and ,judy figures4 ,and the  
exciting conclusion of this entrancing  
spectacle displays a most moral         
application of the principle of poetic  
justice4 ,the ill-natured laborer       
advances too far out on his edge of the 
broken bridge1 and detaches a large     

fragment4 ,as this tumbles into the     
water he loses his footing and falls    
forward himself1 only to be instantly   
devoured by the crocodile1 which        
disappears with its unexpected prey1    
whereupon the placid ducks and geese    
again swim over--and the curtain falls4 
,,ii  ,there are a score of other little
 plays like the ',broken ,bridge1'      
adroitly adjusted to the caliber of the 
juvenile mind4 ,in a ,british collection
 may be found a piece representing a    
succession of appalling episodes        
supposed to take place in a ',haunted   
,house1' and in a ,french manual for the
 use of youthful amateurs may be        
discovered a rudimentary version of     
,moliere's ',imaginary ,invalid1' to be 
performed by silhouettes with           
articulated limbs4 ,here again we       
perceive the inaccuracy of the term     
shadow-pantomime1 since the most of the 
figures are not articulated1 and1 being 
motionless1 they are deprived of the    
freedom of gesture which is the         

essential element of true pantomime4    
,moreover1 they are all made to take    
part in various dialogs1 and this again 
is a negation of the fundamental        
principle of pantomime1 which ought to  
be wordless4 ,here the ,french term     
,chinese shadows is more exact and less 
limiting than the ,english              
shadow-pantomime4 ,it is perhaps a pity 
that the old-fashioned term             
gallanty-show1 has not won a wider      
acceptance in ,english4  ,the little    
pieces due to ,seraphin and his humble  
followers in ,france and in ,england1   
devised to amuse children only1 were    
simple enough in plot1 and yet they were
 sufficient to suggest to admirers of   
this unpretending form of theatrical art
 plays of a more imposing proportion4   
,m4 ,paul ,eudel1 the art critic1 has   
published an amply illustrated volume in
 which he collected the fairy-pieces1   
and the more spectacular melodramas     
composed by his grandfather in the first
 quarter of the nineteenth century1 in  

the dark days that preceded ,waterloo4  
,and in the third quarter of the        
nineteenth century1 in the dark days    
that preceded ,sedan1 ,m4 ,lemercier de 
,neuville1 relinquishing for a while the
 ,punch and ,judy puppets which he      
called ,pupazzi1 and which he had       
exhibited in a succession of gentle     
caricatures of ,parisian personalities  
with a mildly ,aristophanic flavor of   
contemporary satire1 turned to the      
familiar ,chinese shadows of his        
childhood and devised what he called his
 ,pupazzi noirs1 animated shadows4 ,he  
also has issued a collection of these   
little pieces with a full explanation of
 the method of performance and with half
 a hundred illustrations1 revealing all 
the secrets of maneuvering the little   
figures4 ,indeed1 ,lemercier de         
,neuville's manual is the most ample    
which has yet appeared2 and it is the   
most interesting in that he was at once 
his own playwright1 his own designer of 
figures1 and his own performer4         

,illustration3 ,the return from the     
,bois de ,boulogne ,four shadow pictures
 by ,caran d',ache  ,illustration3 ,the 
ballet ,from a shadow picture by        
,lemercier de ,neuville  ,illustration3 
,reproduced by permission of ,hachette  
,co41 ,paris ,a regiment of ,french     
soldiers ,from a shadow picture by ,r4  
de ,la ,neziere  ,as the grandfather of 
,m4 ,eudel had been more ambitious than 
,seraphin1 so ,lemercier de ,neuville   
was more ambitious than the elder       
,eudel4 ,and yet his procedure was      
precisely that of his predecessors1 and 
he did not in any way modify the        
principles of the art4 ,all he did was  
to elaborate the performance by the use 
of more scenery1 of more spectacular    
effects1 and of more numerous           
characters4 ,he introduced a company of 
,spanish dancers1 for example1 and he   
did not hesitate to throw on his screen 
the sable and serrated profile of a long
 line of ballet dancers4 ,he followed   
,eudel in arranging a procession of     

animals1 rivaling a circus parade1 many 
of them being articulated so that they  
could make the appropriate movements of 
their jaws and their paws4 ,and he paid 
special attention to his silhouette     
caricatures of contemporary celebrities1
 ,zola for one1 and ,sarah-,bernhardt   
for another4  ,then the ,franco-,russian
 draftsman1 who called himself ,caran   
d',ache1 made a new departure and       
started the art of the shadow-pantomime 
in a new career4 ,he called his figures 
,french shadows1 ombres francaises1 and 
he surrendered the privilege of         
articulating his figures so that they   
could move4 ,at least1 he refrained from
 this except on rare occasions1         
preferring the effect of immobility and 
relying mainly upon a new principle not 
before employed by any of his           
predecessors4 ,he made a specialty of   
long lines and of large masses of       
troops1 not all on the same plane1 but  
presented in perspective4 ,he chose also
 to forgo the aid of speech and his     

figures were silent1 except when some   
officer called out a word of command1 or
 when a company of ,cossacks rode past  
singing one of the wailing lyrics of the
 ,caucasus as melancholy as the steppes4
  ,one of the most attractive items on  
his program was a representation of the 
return of vehicles and equestrians from 
the ,bois de ,boulogne in the afternoon4
 ,some of the figures were merely       
characteristic types sharply seized and 
outlined with all the artist's masterly 
draftsmanship1 and some of them were    
well-known personages easily            
recognizable by his ,parisian           
spectators--,lesseps on horseback1 for  
example1 and ,rochefort in an open cab4 
,these successive figures were simply   
pushed across the screen one after      
another1 each of them as motionless as a
 statue1 the men fixed in one attitude1 
and the legs of the horses retaining    
always the same position4 ,this absence 
of animal movement was1 of course1 a    
violation from the facts of life1 like  

that which permits the painter to depict
 a breaking wave or a sculptor to model 
a running boy at a single moment of the 
movement4 ,yet this artistic conversion 
was immediately acceptable since the    
spectator received a simplified         
impression and his attention was not    
distracted by the inevitable jerkiness  
of the limbs of the men and the beasts4 
,illustration3 ,reproduced by permission
 of ,e4 ,flammarion1 ,paris ,the ,sphinx
 ,i3 ,pharaoh passing in triumph ,from a
 shadow picture by ,amedee ,vignola     
,caran d',ache's masterpiece1           
however--and it may honestly be styled a
 masterpiece--was not the ',return from 
the ,bois de ,boulogne' but his         
',epopee1' his epic evocation of the    
grand army of ,napoleon4 ,single figures
 like the ,little ,corporal on          
horseback1 and like ,murat and others of
 the ,emperor's staff1 he projected with
 a fidelity and a veracity of accent    
worthy of ,detaille or even ,meissonier4
 ,yet fine as these single figures might

 be1 they were only what had been       
attempted by earlier exponents of the   
art--even if they were more impressive  
than had been achieved by any one of his
 predecessors4 ,these single figures    
were necessarily presented all on the   
same plane1 and the startling and       
successful innovation of the            
,franco-,russian draftsmanship was his  
skilful use of perspective1 a device    
which had not occurred to any of those  
in whose footsteps he was following1    
even ,lemercier de ,neuville having     
presented his ballet dancers in a flat  
row4 ,what ,caran d',ache did was to    
bring before us company after company of
 the ,old ,guard1 and troop after troop 
of cuirassiers1 their profiles          
diminishing in height as the figures    
receded from the eye4 ,he thus attained 
to an effect of solidity and even of    
immensity1 far beyond anything ever     
before achieved by any earlier exhibitor
 of shadows4 ,he succeeded in suggesting
 space1 and of maneuvering before the   

astonished eyes of the entranced        
spectators a vast mass of men under     
arms1 marching forward resolutely in    
serried ranks to victory or to death4   
,the late ,jules ,lemaitre1 the most    
open-minded of ,french dramatic critics1
 and the most hospitable in his attitude
 toward the minor manifestations of     
theatric art1 has recorded that this    
,napoleonic epic of ,caran d',ache      
communicated to him not only an emotion 
of actual grandeur1 but also the thrill 
of war itself4 ,he declared that by the 
exactness of the perspective preserved  
in his long files of soldiers1 ,caran   
d',ache gives us the illusion of number 
and of a number immense and indefinite4 
,and by the automatic movement which    
sets all his troops in action at once1  
he gives us the illusion of a single    
soul1 of a communal thought animating   
innumerable bodies--and thereby he      
evokes in us the impression of          
measureless power4444 ,his silent poem1 
with its sliding profiles is1 ,i think1 

the only epic in all ,french literature4
 ,and those who are familiar with the   
other ,french efforts to attain to lyric
 largeness1 and who have had also the   
unforgetable felicity of beholding      
,caran d',ache's marvelous projection of
 the ,napoleonic legend1 will be        
prepared to admit that ,lemaitre did not
 overstate the case4  ,illustration3    
,reproduced by permission of ,e4        
,flammarion1 ,paris ,the ,sphinx ,,ii3  
,moses leading his people out of ,egypt 
,from a shadow picture by ,amedee       
,vignola                                
,,iii  ,what the ,franco-,russian artist
 had done was to reveal the alluring    
possibilities placed at the command of  
the shadow-pantomimist by the ingenious 
employment of perspective2 and there    
remained only one more step to be taken 
for the final development of the art to 
its ultimate capacity4 ,this was the    
addition of color2 and this step was    
taken by an associate of ,caran d',ache 
in the exhibitions given at the ,chat   

,noir--,henri ,riviere4 ,color could be 
added in two ways4 ,in the first place1 
the outlines of lanterns and of         
battle-flags could be cut out1 and slips
 of appropriately tinted paper could be 
inserted in the openings so that the    
light might shine thru4 ,this relieved  
the monotony of the uniformity of the   
sable figures1 and added a note of      
amusing gaiety4 ,but this was an        
innovation of very limited scope2 and it
 could have been earlier utilized in the
 flat figures of ,lemercier de          
,neuville1 for example1 if he had       
happened to think of it4 ,far wider in  
its artistic possibilities was the      
second of ,riviere's improvements4 ,for 
the ordinary lamp which cast a steady   
glow on the white screen whereon the    
profile figures appeared1 he substituted
 a magic lantern1 the painted slides of 
which enabled him to supply an          
appropriately colored background4 ,then 
he went further and employed two magic  
lanterns1 superimposed2 and these       

enabled him to get the effect of        
dissolving views whereby he could vary  
his background at will4 ,the immediate  
result of this ingenious improvement was
 that the artist could bestow upon his  
shadow-pantomime not a little of the    
richness of color which delights our    
eyes in the stained glass of medieval   
cathedrals4  ,riviere was not only an   
inventor1 he was also an artist1 richly 
gifted with imagination2 and his        
imagination suggested to him at once the
 three or four themes best fitted for   
treatment by his novel apparatus4 ,one  
of these was the ',wandering ,jew'2     
another was the ',prodigal ,son'2 and a 
third was the ',temptation of ,saint    
,anthony'--all legends of combined      
dramatic and pictorial appeal4 ,yet the 
most effective of all the experiments in
 this new form was due not to ,riviere  
himself but to the collaboration of two 
of his disciples1 ,m4 ,fragerolle and   
,m4 ,vignola4 ,this was the ',sphinx1'  
in which the artists most adroitly      

combined all the advantages of the      
original flat profiles1 and of the long 
files of figures in perspective such as 
,caran d',ache had employed1 with varied
 backgrounds due to the aid of the magic
 lantern first utilized by ,riviere4 ,of
 all human monuments no one has had so  
marvelous a series of spectacles pass   
before its sightless eyes as the        
,sphinx1 reclining impassive at the edge
 of the desert1 and at the foot of the  
pyramids4 ,race after race has descended
 into the valley of the ,nile1 and      
lingered for a little space1 a few      
centuries more or less1 and departed at 
last4 ,conqueror after conqueror has    
come and gone again2 and the ,sphinx has
 kept its inscrutable smile4            
,illustration3 ,reproduced by permission
 of ,e4 ,flammarion1 ,paris ,the ,sphinx
 ,,iii3 ,roman warriors in ,egypt ,from 
a shadow picture by ,amedee ,vignola    
,m4 ,fragerolle composed the music and  
the words of the stately chants which   
accompanied the exhibition of the       

figures passing before the backgrounds1 
due to the pencil and the palette of ,m4
 ,vignola4 ,by the aid of the magic     
lantern the gigantic visage of the lion 
with a woman's head towers aloft1       
permanent and immutable1 while the      
joyous procession of ,egyptian dancers  
and soldiers and priests celebrates the 
completion of the statue itself4 ,then  
we are witnesses of the fierce invasion 
of the ,assyrians1 with the charge of   
their chariots and their horsemen2 and  
we behold the rout of the natives while 
their capital burns in the distance4    
,next we gaze at the departure of the   
,jews1 led by ,moses and laden with the 
spoils of the ,egyptians4 ,after the    
,hebrews have gone1 ,sesostris appears1 
to be greeted by a glad outpouring of   
the populace4 ,yet soon the ,persians   
descend on ,egypt1 with their           
castellated elephants and their immense 
hordes of fighting men4 ,still the      
,sphinx looks down1 immovable and       
implacable2 and the ,greeks in turn take

 the valley of the ,nile for their own4 
,one of their daughters1 ,cleopatra1    
floats past in her galley by night2 and 
in the morning she extends her          
hospitality to the ,roman1 ,caesar or   
,antony4 ,and while the ,latins are the 
rulers of the land of ,egypt1 the       
,virgin and her ,son with the patient   
ass that bears a precious burden1 skirt 
the sandy waste1 and go on their way to 
the ,holy ,land1 leaving the ,sphinx    
behind them as they journey forward in  
the green moonlight4 ,after long        
centuries the ,arabs break in with their
 brilliant bands of horsemen1 and a     
little later the ,crusaders come to give
 them battle4 ,more long centuries      
elapse and suddenly ,napoleon emerges at
 the head of the troops of the ,french  
,republic4 ,then we have the ,egypt of  
to-day1 with the ,british soldiers      
parading before the feet of the ,sphinx2
 and finally the recumbent statue       
appears to us once more and for the last
 time1 when the light of the sun is     

going out1 and the world is emptied of  
its population again1 and the ice is    
settling down on the ,sphinx1 alone amid
 freezing desolation4 ,and this last    
vision is projected by the magic        
lantern1 without the aid of any profile 
figures1 since man has ceased to be4    
,here we have a true epic poem1 simple  
yet grandiose1 and possible only to the 
improved shadow-pantomime of ,france at 
the end of the nineteenth century--even 
if this art is only a logical evolution 
from the gallanty-show of ,seraphin4    
,this humble black profile1 said ,jules 
,lemaitre1 which had been thought fit at
 best of a few comic effects to amuse   
little children only1 has been          
diversified and colored2 it has been    
made beautiful1 serious1 tragic2 by the 
multiplication of the devices it has    
been rendered capable of giving us a    
powerful impression of collective life1 
and the artists who have developed it   
have known how to make it translate to  
our eyes the great spectacles of history

 and the sweeping movement of           
multitudes4  7#aiab47  ,illustration3   
,reproduced by permission of ,e4        
,flammarion1 ,paris ,the ,sphinx ,,iv3  
,the ,british troops to-day ,from a     
shadow picture by ,amedee ,vignola      
,,xix                     ,,the         
,,problem ,,of ,,dramatic ,,criticism   
,,the ,,problem ,,of ,,dramatic         
,,criticism                             
,i  ,it is now no longer in dispute that
 there has been in the past score or two
 of years a striking revival of the     
drama in the ,english language1 and that
 there are to-day ,british and ,american
 playwrights who write plays which are  
worth while--plays which are both       
actable and readable--plays which often 
deserve and which sometimes even demand 
serious critical consideration4 ,this   
revival has necessarily resulted in     
calling attention to the present        
condition of dramatic criticism in      
,great ,britain and in the ,united      
,states4 ,in a period of dramatic       

productivity1 dramatic criticism has an 
indisputable function and is charged    
with an undeniable duty1 both to the    
aspiring play-makers and to the main    
body of the playgoing public4 ,we cannot
 help asking ourselves whether our      
dramatic critics rightly apprehend their
 function and whether they properly     
discharge their duty2 and to these      
pressing questions the most conflicting 
answers are returned4  ,some there are  
who insist that it is hopeless to expect
 the desired outflowering of dramatic   
literature in our language to take place
 so long as our dramatic criticism is as
 inadequate1 as incompetent1 and as     
unsatisfactory as they declare it to be4
 ,others there are who take a more      
tolerant view1 holding the public itself
 to be at fault for the existing state  
of things1 and who1 therefore1 believe  
that we are now getting dramatic        
criticism quite as good as we deserve4  
,few there are who venture to deny that 
there is room for improvement--altho no 

two of these agree in their suggestions 
for bringing about a bettering of       
present conditions4 ,in the multitude of
 these counsellors there is darkness and
 confusion4  ,perhaps there is a dim    
possibility of dissipating a little of  
this dark confusion by an analysis of   
the exact content1 which we discover in 
the term dramatic criticism1 and then by
 a further inquiry as to whether our    
customary use of the term is not        
misleading4 ,dramatic criticism to most 
of us connotes the newspaper reviewing  
of the nightly spectacles in our        
theaters4 ,plainly this was the meaning 
of the term in the mind of ,mr4 ,howells
 years ago1 when he declared that our   
dramatic criticism is probably the most 
remarkable apparatus of our civilization
 and that it surpasses that of other    
countries as much as our                
fire-department4 ,a perfectly equipped  
engine stands in every newspaper office1
 with the steam always up1 which can be 
manned in nine seconds and rushed to the

 first theater where there is the       
slightest danger of drama within five   
minutes2 and the combined efforts of    
these tremendous machines can pour a    
concentrated deluge of cold water upon a
 play which will put out anything of the
 kind at once4  ,there is no denying    
that this use of the term by ,mr4       
,howells is supported by custom4 ,yet it
 is distinctly unfortunate1 for if the  
newspaper comment upon the novelties of 
the stage is to be accepted as dramatic 
criticism1 then what term have we left  
to describe the more piercing and the   
more comprehensive discussion of the    
first principles of the art of          
play-making which we find in ,francisque
 ,sarcey and in ,george ,henry ,lewes1  
not to go back to ,lessing and to       
,aristotle8 ,it is equally unfortunate  
that there is an equivalent inaccuracy  
in bestowing the title of literary      
criticism upon the newspaper comments   
upon the current books1 for if this     
journalistic summarizing is to be       

accepted as literary criticism1 then    
what are we to call the exquisite       
evaluation of favorite authors which we 
find in ,matthew ,arnold and            
,sainte-,beuve8  ,of course1 it is      
always idle to protest against the      
popular use or misuse of words and terms
 and phrases4 ,the people as a whole own
 the language1 and have a right to make 
it over and to modify the original      
meaning of words4 ,if popular usage     
chooses not to distinguish between two  
very different things1 and to call both 
of them dramatic criticism1 there is no 
redress1 and yet it is impossible to    
discuss the problem of dramatic         
criticism except by trying to separate  
the two things thus confounded4         
,therefore1 for the purpose of this     
inquiry only1 and without any hope of   
changing the accepted usage1 ,i make    
bold to suggest that play-reviewing     
might be employed to describe the       
notices written in the office of a      
newspaper1 notices necessarily prepared 

under pressure and under strict         
limitations of time and space4  ,these  
newspaper notices are sometimes         
careless1 they are sometimes            
perfunctory1 and they are sometimes     
cruel2 and occasionally they are        
careful1 conscientious1 and clever1 done
 with a dexterity worthy of high praise 
when we consider all the conditions     
under which it is displayed4 ,but even  
at its best1 play-reviewing cannot      
attain to the level of true dramatic    
criticism1 more leisurely in its        
composition1 larger in its scope1 and   
more discriminating in its choice of    
topic4 ,the play-reviewing of the daily 
journal is akin in aim to the           
book-reviewing1 which has for its       
purpose the swift consideration of the  
volume in vogue at the moment4 ,in our  
morning and evening papers the          
book-reviewing and the play-reviewing   
are both of them necessarily up-to-date1
 in fact1 up-to-the-last-minute4 ,to be 
contemporaneous1 instantly and          

necessarily and inexorably1 is their    
special quality and their immediate     
purpose2 it is the reason for their     
existence and the excuse for their      
being4                                  
,,ii  ,here it may be well to cite again
 the oft-quoted confession of the late  
,jules ,lemaitre1 writer of volume after
 volume in which he discussed the       
leading men of letters of his own time  
and of his own country3 ,criticism of   
our contemporaries is not criticism--it 
is conversation4 ,now1 conversation may 
be a very good thing2 indeed1 when it is
 as clear and as sparkling as was       
,lemaitre's1 it is an excellent thing2  
yet he was right in admitting that it is
 not criticism1 since it could not but  
lack the touchstone of time1 the        
perspective of distance1 the assured    
application of the eternal standards4   
,and play-reviewing1 like               
book-reviewing1 cannot be anything but  
conversation about our contemporaries4  
,it may descend to chaff-like chatter   

about the writers of the hour and to    
empty gossip about their sayings and    
doings2 or it may have the sterner      
merits of brilliant conversation at its 
best4 ,but it is not really criticism in
 the finer sense of the word2 it cannot 
be2 and one may go further and say that 
it ought not to be1 since true criticism
 is more or less out of place in a      
newspaper--because the direct object of 
a newspaper is to present the news1 with
 only the swiftest of commentaries      
thereon4  ,the final distinction between
 literature and journalism is to be     
sought in their diverging and           
irreconcilable objects4 ,the desire of  
the former is for permanence1 and the   
aim of the latter is the immediate      
impression4 ,when literature triumphs it
 is for all time--more or less4 ,when   
journalism most completely achieves its 
purpose its success is temporary1 to be 
retained only by iteration and          
reiteration1 since it has for its target
 the events of the fleeting moment4 ,if 

we admit this distinction between       
journalism and literature1 we have no   
difficulty in discovering journalism in 
many places other than the daily and    
weekly papers2 very properly it fills   
the most of the space in the monthly    
magazines1 and even in the quarterly    
reviews2 and it abounds in our          
book-stores1 since only a small         
proportion of the volumes which pour    
from the press every year possess the   
combined substance and style1 the       
solidity of matter and the              
delightfulness of manner which lift mere
 writing up to the loftier level of     
literature4  ,on the other hand1 we may 
find literature of inexpugnable quality1
 not only in the magazines1 but also now
 and again in the newspapers4 ,drake's  
',american ,flag' and ,kipling's        
',recessional' appeared in daily        
journals1 and so did the literary       
criticism of ,sainte-,beuve and the     
dramatic criticism of ,lessing and of   
,lemaitre4 ,but these were but happy    

accidents1 and the great newspaper      
editor has rarely striven to make his   
journal a persistent vehicle for the    
publication of literature4 ,he feels    
that this is foreign to his main        
purpose1 and he is content when his     
editorial articles1 and his news stories
 are vigorous and picturesque--clean1   
clear1 and cogent in their ,english4 ,he
 knows1 better than any one else1 that  
it is not by its external literary      
merits that newspaper-writing is to be  
judged4 ,what he wants above all else is
 the news1 all the news1 and nothing but
 the news--accompanied1 of course1 by   
the obligatory comment this news may    
deserve4 ,he needs editorial writers1   
reporters1 and correspondents who are   
newspaper men1 and not men of letters1  
except in so far as these men of letters
 may have accepted the special          
conditions of newspaper work4  ,now1    
criticism1 whether literary or dramatic1
 is a department of literature1 dealing 
with the permanent1 and having little to

 do with the temporary4 ,it demands     
qualifications very rarely              
united--insight1 equipment1             
disinterestedness1 and sympathy4 ,so far
 from being easy1 criticism is quite as 
difficult as creation--more difficult1  
indeed1 if we may judge by its greater  
rarity4 ,in a superbly creative period  
there are sometimes three or four       
distinguished poets1 friendly rivals1   
almost contemporaneous2 and even at such
 a time there is rarely more than one   
critic worthy to be companioned with    
them4 ,a,eschylus and ,sophocles and    
,euripides followed one after the other2
 and in time the sole ,aristotle came   
forward as their critic4 ,corneille and 
,moliere and ,racine labored side by    
side1 and only ,boileau was competent to
 interpret and to encourage them4  ,when
 it attains to the serene plane of      
,aristotle and ,boileau1 of ,lessing and
 ,sainte-,beuve1 criticism is actually  
creation4 ,the critical faculty as      
applied to the masterpieces of          

literature1 and still more the critical 
faculty as applied to the art of        
literature itself1 is akin to the       
creative faculty of the artist1 so      
,professor ,mackail has told us4 ,it    
does not deal with letters as something 
detached from life1 but as the form or  
substance in which life is intelligibly 
presented4 ,its interpretation is also  
creation4 ,but the criticism of dramatic
 literature which is also creation1 is  
possible only when the critical faculty 
is applied to the masterpieces of       
dramatic literature2 and nobody knows   
better than the play-reviewer that      
masterpieces of dramatic literature do  
not present themselves frequently and   
that they cannot be acclaimed as        
masterpieces until they have stood the  
test of time4 ,and this is why a        
critic-creator would be a little out of 
place on the staff of a newspaper1 daily
 or weekly1 whether he was assigned to  
deal with the drama or with literature  
at large4                               

,,iii  ,the necessary task of the       
book-reviewer or of the play-reviewer1  
is not criticism of the creative kind1  
since for that he is always likely to   
lack material4 ,his task is humbler even
 if it is honorable2 it is to report    
upon the novelties of the day1 and to   
inform the readers of the newspaper as  
to the nature and the merits of these   
novelties4 ,his work is essentially     
reporting1 even if it is reporting of a 
special kind1 calling for special       
qualifications4 ,the connection of the  
drama with the show business is         
intimate1 and it always has been4 ,in   
the long history of the theater there is
 no period without its successful       
pieces1 the appeal of which was mainly  
sensuous--to the eye and to the ear1    
rather than to the emotions and to the  
intellect4 ,while the drama is an art1  
and perhaps the loftiest of the arts1   
the show business is a trade4 ,this is  
no new thing--altho ignorant idealists  
often declare it so to be1 and altho it 

may make itself a little more obvious at
 one time than at another4 ,what        
confronts us is the condition of things 
as they are1 not the theory of things as
 they might be4  ,there would be        
occupation for a dramatic critic1 who   
was also a creator1 only if our theaters
 were presenting in rapid succession a  
sequence of masterpieces1 tragedies of  
austere power1 comedies of searching    
satire1 social dramas of piercing       
suggestion4 ,but this is not the case   
now here in the ,united ,states in the  
twentieth century2 and it never has been
 the case anywhere or anywhen1 not even 
in ,weimar when ,goethe dominated the   
ducal theater4 ,in our playhouses we are
 proffered our choice of ,shakspere and 
,ibsen1 ,pinero and ,hauptmann1 ,henry  
,arthur ,jones and ,augustus ,thomas1   
,barrie and ,gillette1 ,sardou and      
,george ,m4 ,cohan2 and at the same time
 we are invited to choose between       
',trilby' and the ',celebrated ,case1'  
melodramas and farces1 summer song-shows

 and ultra-contemporary reviews1 alleged
 comic operas and terpsichorean         
spectacles4 ,most of these latter       
exhibitions do not demand or deserve    
criticism of any kind2 but they need to 
be reported upon like any other item in 
the news of the day4  ,if this is the   
case1 it might as well be recognized    
frankly4 ,there is always advantage in  
seeing things as they are1 in fronting  
the facts and in looking them squarely  
in the face4 ,sooner or later some one  
of those who are in charge of our       
metropolitan newspapers will perceive   
the possibility of a change of method4  
,he will charge one of his staff with   
the supervision of the theatrical news1 
the announcements of new plays1 and the 
personal gossip about the players2 and  
he will authorize this editor to send   
competent reporters to all first        
performances1 directed to report upon   
them as they would report upon any other
 event of immediate interest4 ,he would 
warn these reporters that they were     

strictly to consider themselves as      
reporters1 and that they were1          
therefore1 to refrain from explicit     
criticism4 ,he would so select his men  
that a melodrama should be dealt with by
 a reporter who liked a good melodrama1 
and that a summer song-show should be   
described by a reporter who could find  
pleasure in inoffensive and amusing     
spectacle4 ,if this policy should be    
adopted1 and announced clearly and      
emphatically1 probably most of the      
occasions for quarrel between managers  
and editors would disappear2 and the    
immense majority of the readers of the  
daily paper would be supplied with      
exactly the information they would      
prefer4  ,then1 for the benefit of the  
smaller number who are really interested
 in the drama as a serious art1 the     
editor-in-chief might avail himself of  
the fact that the ,sunday issue1 while  
it is still a newspaper containing the  
news of the preceding twenty-four hours1
 is also a magazine1 to be read in more 

leisurely fashion1 and therefore at     
liberty to treat timely topics with a   
larger freedom4 ,here space could be    
found for genuine dramatic criticism by 
the most competent expert available4    
,this dramatic critic should have       
nothing whatever to do with the news of 
the theaters1 or with the first-night   
play-reviewing4 ,he should not be tired 
and bored by having to go to the theater
 half a dozen times a week1 and by being
 forced to analyze plays which do not   
reward analysis4 ,he would be expected  
to select out of the current            
performances that one which promised to 
be most worthy of careful consideration1
 and he would feel himself free to      
discuss this at such length as it might 
seem to him to deserve4 ,to him also    
should be intrusted the more significant
 of the new books upon the history of   
the theater1 and upon the art of the    
drama4 ,in the summer 7and also whenever
 at any other season there might be a   
dearth of inspiring topics71 this       

dramatic critic would not be expected to
 contribute1 since he should never be   
called upon to make bricks without      
straw4  ,even in ,new ,york this method 
is not as new as it may seem1 and more  
than one metropolitan daily has         
approximated to it1 altho no one of them
 has completely detached the dramatic   
critic from the play-reviewer and from  
the supervisor of theatrical gossip4    
,and it has long been adopted in certain
 of the ,paris newspapers4 ,in the      
,temps1 for example1 when ,sarcey was   
its dramatic critic1 there was a daily  
column of theatrical announcements and  
of brief reports upon first-night       
performances2 and with this department  
of the news of the theaters ,sarcey had 
nothing to do1 and for it he had no     
responsibility4 ,then in the ample space
 specially reserved for him in the issue
 of every ,sunday afternoon1 he dealt   
with the dramatic themes that seemed to 
him worth while4 ,if a play appeared to 
demand prolonged study1 he might go to  

see it two1 or even three times1 before 
he undertook to formulate his opinion2  
and on occasion he would carry over his 
detailed discussion of a very important 
drama into the article of the following 
,sunday4 ,on the other hand1 if no      
recent play seemed to him to deserve his
 continued attention1 he would devote   
himself to one of the recent books about
 the theater or to a detailed discussion
 of the proper interpretation of one of 
the classics of the ,french drama kept  
constantly in the repertory of the      
,comedie-,francaise4                    
,,iv  ,the adoption of this method would
 relieve the dramatic critic from one of
 his existing disadvantages2 he would be
 released from criticising the pieces   
which are beneath criticism4 ,the       
literary critic1 and even the ordinary  
book-reviewer1 never spends his time in 
considering dime novels--whereas the    
dramatic critic is now called upon to   
waste many evenings in beholding a play 
which is only the theatrical equivalent 

of a dime novel4 ,the immediate result  
of this futile and fatiguing expenditure
 of energy is likely to be discouraging 
and even enervating4 ,if the dramatic   
critic could be totally relieved from   
all contact with the show business when 
the show business has only a casual     
connection with the drama1 it would tend
 to keep him fit for his essential task4
 ,under the present conditions it is no 
wonder that the theatrical reviewer     
wearies of his task and loses the gusto 
and the zest without which all work     
tends to degenerate into the perfunctory
 and the mechanical4  ,we need not fear 
that the first-night reporting would be 
ill done if competent reporters were    
instructed that they were not to        
consider themselves as critics1 and that
 it was their sole duty to report1 as   
they would report anything else1        
conscientiously and accurately4 ,the    
difficulty would not be in finding      
reporters able to discharge this duty1  
it would be in the discovery of dramatic

 critics possessing the fourfold        
qualifications of insight1 equipment1   
disinterestedness1 and sympathy1 which  
every critic must be endowed with       
whatever the art he undertakes to       
analyze4 ,and the difficulty would be   
increased by the fact that the dramatic 
critic needs an understanding of three  
different arts1 the art of acting1 the  
art of literature1 and the art of the   
drama--of play-making as distinct from  
literature4  ,it would be idle to hope  
that even if this method were adopted we
 should soon be able to develop in the  
,united ,states and in ,great ,britain a
 group of dramatic critics of the       
capacity and the quality of ,lessing and
 ,sarcey1 of ,george ,henry ,lewes and  
,william ,archer4 ,yet it is solely by  
the adoption of this method that we can 
hope to provide the opportunity for the 
appearance of the true dramatic critic1 
who can fit himself for his finer work  
only by being set free from the         
necessity of doing work quite unworthy  

of him1 altho necessary to the newspaper
 itself4 ,and the development of a group
 of dramatic critics of a higher type   
than can be found to-day--except        
possibly in a scant half-dozen dailies  
and weeklies and monthlies--is a        
condition precedent to the development  
of our drama4 ,of course1 these dramatic
 critics1 whatever their endowment1     
could give little help directly to the  
dramatic authors1 since it is a mistake 
to suppose that the critic is capable of
 counselling the author1 or that he is  
charged with any such duty4 ,where the  
critic can help is by disseminating     
knowledge about the dramatic art1 and by
 raising the standard of appreciation in
 the public at large--that public which 
even the mightiest dramatist has to     
please or else to fail of his purpose4  
7#aiae47                                
,,transcriber',s ,,notes3  ,passages in 
italics were indicated by underscores4  
,small caps were replaced with ,,all    
,,caps4  ,throughout the document1 the  

oe ligature was replaced with ,,oe4     
,the illustrations have been moved so   
that they do not break up paragraphs and
 so that they are next the text they    
illustrate4 ,thus the page number of the
 illustration might not match the page  
number in the ,list of ,illustrations1  
and the order of illustrations may not  
be the same in the ,list of             
,illustrations and in the book4  ,errors
 in punctuations and inconsistent       
hyphenation were not corrected unless   
otherwise noted below3  ,throughout the 
book1 avalanch was replaced with        
avalanche4  ,on page #ef1 the single    
quotation mark was removed from the     
block-quoted paragraph4  ,on page #aaf1 
denial of of was replaced with denial   
of4  ,on page #bcj1 ,amercan was        
replaced with ,american4  ,on page #bif1
 air-cirlces was replaced with          
air-circles4