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'S and the February 7, 1857.] . THE LEAB...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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A Drama By A Convict. Jbianca. A Play In...
him to a gaol , and finally led to his committing suicide . Now that a similar fate ., with the exception of the termination , has befallen Robson , it may not be uninteresting to glance into the latest of his dramatic productions . It is a - somewhat novel position to review a play -which has been written by a gentleman who is now picking oakum , for the good of society in one of her Majesty ' s gaols . Although in some measure thrown into the shade by the doings of a later and still more stupendous criminal , the career of Uobson was so singular as to seem in itself a startling drama . His commencement of married existence in something- like sheer poverty- —his living with a young wife in a single squalid room , in Chancery-lane , and precariously supporting himself and her by copying legal deeds at a Iotv rate of remuneration—his rapid ascent in the course of three or four years into the position of a man of fashion and pleasure , a dandy ' upon town , ' residing in a sumptuous house , eating and drinkinof thbest
g e , riding his blood mares , sporting his broughams and ' dog-carts' in the eyes of an admiring world , maintaining separate establishments for his auxiliary wives , speculating in the funds , buying and selling shares m commercial companies , sitting on committees , lounging at theatres , patronizing the race-course , the jockeys , the omnibus drivers and the cabmen—thence passing on into the shadow of discovered crime ; his evasion of the accountant at his own house ; his rapid flight ; his brief and frantic revelry for five days at Copenhagen ( the last desperate debauch of the ruined man , determined to fling a fierce defiance in the face of unescapable doom ) ; his capture , conviction , and condemnation , followed by the cropped head , the prison dress , the blank walls , tlie bare yards , the coarse fare , and the dull monotony , that ai-e to abide for twenty years;—all these incidents crowded within a narrow space of time , and succeeding each other with the strongly-contrasted lights and shadows of the stage , present admirable matter for a future dramatist , and must , to Robson ' s mind , have made his own dramatic fictions somewhat tame .
A strange vein of remorse—of anguish for lost honesty—of overwhelming sense of present shame—runs through this play of Bianca , and suggests the reflection that the author did indeed draw from his own experiences and his own position , and filtered through his characters some of the hot outpourings of his conscience . But , before we proceed to note a few of the passages which contain this all-pervading sense of crime and repentance , we will introduce the reader to the Dedication , which is in itself curious : — To those wio , believing in the realization of the highest aspirations of the human mind , claim for the Drama the proud position of being one of tie chief means by ¦ which that realization is to be attained , this Play is respectfully dedicated by their very humble and obedient servant , Wiluabi James Robson . On the very first page of the drama , one of the characters asks a frierid ( in good stage fashion ) , " How goes the day ? " To which the other replies : —
'Tis jogging on ; tis jingling on ; Fighting on ; robbing on ; and lying on ; And , tbanks to woman , that sweet merchandize The devil dealeth in , 'tis loving on;— * ¦ - - ¦ - Fw a common sort o day , the day goes well . That is toi say , a day whiob i 9 . « robbing on" ( or Robsoning on ) , and "lying on , " " goes well . " u Common day ! " exclaims tie querist . "Ay , common day , " replies the interlocutor , — For , ' mid this whirl and blast , "We eat and drink , and tinkers mend their pots . At page 5 , Gonzaga , Duke of Tuscany , exclaims : — Age ! age I thou time-crown ' d skeleton of youth , Thou shaking citadel , tooth-worn of years , Fall ! fall ! and in thy ruins bury thought . And ghastly shame . A little way further on , we come to a scene between Bianca ( the Duke ' s daughter ) and one Ludovico , who is passionately in love with her , but whom she jilts : — Iojdovico . How nobly rose my yesterday ; to-day Hath corne with storms and whirl-winds horrible , On -which my soul runs madly to the waste . Oh ! had I died in battle ' s front . Oh ! had I died In happy ignorance ; I should have gone My unknown journey with the happy thought That thou would ' st weep—would ' st pray—would ' st mourn for me !—But now I sec , as through a dim obscure , My road surcharged with grief and strewn with crimes , v My all that tells of God-made man—lost!—lost!—It is my soul that sobs ! They are not words ! Oil ! had I -words a 3 burning as vay pain , The very air would quiver as I spoke . Yesterday ! Yesterday ! For ^ reasons of state , the Duke wishes his daughter to marry Lorenzo Vitelli , one of the most successful captains in the wars of the 1 lorentines against the Genoese ; and Bianca is , in fact , already in love with the valiant young soldier , and therefore seconds her father ' s project with a degree of heat and fervour rather irreconcilable with our cold northern ideas of propriety , and in language of a nature which induces tho author to state , in a preliminary notice : " Several passages and sentences are judiciously omitted in the representation . " But Lorenzo loves another lady , and rejects Bianca , after much importunity from that Italian-blooded maiden . Thereupon , her love turns to wrath ; she resummons the discarded Ludovico , and literally sells herself to him at the price of hia putting Lorenzo ' s mistress , Aura , within her power . Ludovieo does so , and also captures Aura ' s father , an old patriot , who has been banished tho state , but who has returned because he thinks ho can help to drivo back tho Genoese . In the meanwhile , in revenge for his disappointment , the Duke endeavours to arrest Lorenzo and some of his companions ; but , by a prodigious display of stage tact and courage , they contrive to escape from tlic soldiers , and , flying to Genoa , join tho-war against Florence . Tho Duke and Bianca determine to put Mario ( tho old patriot ) and hia daughter Aura to tho rack ; but , at the
opportune moment ^ Lorenzo other rebels return , releaie ihe cantives , and seize Gonzaga , theDuke . The people then giye ^ e ~ cfa « a < aSwir ' to Lorenzo , but he dechnes it , and'reinstates Gonzaga in ' power / S ^ flifeflwnir like friendship is now restored between the . JSeiligereiitsl and it is deter- ' mined that , on a given day , Bianca shall be wedded to Ludovico , and ? Lorenzo to Aura . But the Duke has become crazed with' age dlaapboiriV ment , and tumultuous passions ; and a £ erce , wasting unhappmess desolates the mind of his daughter . Nevertheless , the wedding , proceeds ; . Bianco has brpught herself u to look upon Aura with a sort of pityingkmdiiess' but her evil nature is again suddenly awakened , and she resolves to present ^ herl former rival with a poisoned rose at the marriage feast , the mere odour of which shall carry death with it . This brings us to to the climax of the drama . Bianca comes forward with the rose ; -several times presents and' " withdraws it ; and at length , in a passion of remorse , smells it herself , " and dies , with expressions of penitence . : :. . . ¦ . ¦ ; Having thus sketched the plot , we resume our quotations from those parts which seem to bear upon the author ' s present position . Here is one of Bianca ' s soliloquies : — ; . . r Bianca . The talk of Florence , by-word , mock ! The mark For scornful ones to leer and whisper at . ' Eyes which before embraced my garments'hem , Now boldly stare into these upper lights ; Lights fever-bright , once calm with innocence , ' That sent forth holy messengers of joy To bring into my bosom pleasant thoughts . . But now they gather from each human face ' The poison'd honey of conceal'd contempt . ' The world , with all its beauty , loveliness , To me is one -vast scene of punishment , Fiercer than shame—than death more terrible ! In one short madder moment so to sink ; And so to grovel ' neath the haughty heels Of those proud , weak , untempted ones . Oh ! I do clutch at good , as some poor wretch Who , falling from a height , doth wildly grasp At weeds which mock him from the sun-lit rock ! Fall ! fall ! fall ! fall ! Crush'd ! mangled ! vulture-food ! In another speech , Bianca says she is " hurl'd back" upon The rough , hot beach of mine own self-contempt . The same character thus laments her lost goodness . The reader will see that the passage is one of great beauty and pathos , with something of the rich , exuberant imagery of Marlowe , and of the fainting sweetness " long drawn out" of his versification : — Bianca . Oh , Summer ! Summer ! corne thou back again ; Uncrown this dismal ice-king in my heart : Not flower-crowne'd Summer , who doth bear " Within her ample lap , from dying Spring , The sweet inheritance of folded buds—¦ N " o , not that Summer , who , with wanton eye , The young fruit woos for lusty Autumn ' s arms—No , not that Summer , who doth burn and glow , Until she breed corruption with a kiss— . But that yoang Summer of my life , when I , With careless steps trod on my happy way , And dared to look good people in the face ; When my to-days were rlpcn'd joyS which hung Upon the golden boughs of yesterdays ! Why did he come , to mar this holiday ? Why did he come , and with his presence make To-days , to-morrows , yesterdays—pale mutes Who wait upon my perish'd goodnesses , And strew with bitter herbs the dead , dead past ? Several expressions to the same effect are scattered through tlie volume ; but we have quoted siifficient for the purpose we had in view . It will also have been seen that the play contains evidences of poetical beauty and dramatic power . Had it been produced , wo have little doubt that it would have succeeded ; and in some degree it even meets the severer test of reading . It has many faults , however , both of omission and commission . From the author being , to use an expressive piece of modern slang , a ' fast man , ' and a frequenter of green-rooms , he had acquired a large amount of vulgar common-place and stage conventionality . He would seem , also , to have written hastily and carelessly . We note inconsistencies and contradictions in the course of the story ; pattern phrases and lax versificationsometimes overrunning its limits , sometimes catalectio ; a too great heapingup of imagery and of poetry for poetry ' s sake , to tho injury of the dramatic acti on and of the truth of characterization ; artificial tricks of dialogue for the purpose of creating stage ' points ; ' , generally , an excess of vehemence , as in this conclusion of the second act : — " The Duke is so overcome with rage that he can do nothing but grasp Bianca ' s arm , and stamp , and point to the entrance where Lorenzo and hia friends have retired . " Fancy some energetic actor , with a strong pair of legs , bringing down the drop-scene after this fashion ! Again : this same very fiery Duke thus upbraids the patriot Mario : — I tell thee , sir , thou bad , unwholesome heart , That , by this letter , sir—this letter , sir , Thou art discovered as a traitor , sir , A monstrous traitor , air , a heap of lies , A bold and rampant villain , sir—But I , I , I—groy-bearded , shaken , worn , Will hunt thee , sir , catch thee , sir , hang thee , air . This is uttered before the Duke has gone absolutely mad , though the reader might suppose the contrary . But , with many of tho faults of the old dramatists , Robson has some of their genius . We have compared a passage quoted above to ] VEarlowo ; but the general character of " Bianca" rather roirunds . us of the fantastical irregularity , tho fierce , volcanic bursts of passion , alternating with passages of lulling beauty , the gorgeous extravagance and h « aped-up horrors , of
'S And The February 7, 1857.] . The Leab...
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 7, 1857, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_07021857/page/17/
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