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594 T B E I E A| E E, [Satii^ay,
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THE VAMPIRE AND THE NNGUSH DRAW A. Perso...
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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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Hamlet And The Gkhman Actors. I Once Had...
annually . It stimulates the minds of millions . Perfonned in . barns , an minor theatres , and theatres royal , it always attracts . The lowest , and most ignorant audiences delight in it : partly , no doubt , because ot its profundity and sublimity—for the human soul c & nfeel a grandeur which it cannot understand , and the dullest will listen with h \ ished _ awe and sympathy'to those outpourings of a great meditative mmd obstinately questioning fate and existence ; to the lowest as the highest it is , To be or tiot to he ! But Hamlet mainly delights the crowd by its wondrous dramatic and theatric art . . ' -A ,, " , mi svi + xX . Consider for a moment the variety of its effects . The Ghosts-the tvrannous murderer—the faithless wife and queen—the melancholy hero
dfoomed to such an awful fate—the poor Ophelia , brokenhearted , and dying mad—the play within a play , entrapping the conscience of the King—the grave-diggers in ghastly mirth—the funeral of Ophelia , and the quarrel over her grave—and finally , the hurried bloody denouement . Here are elements for several Fast dramas . Let us add thereto the passion and the poetry—let us note how Shakspeare by his art has made intensely interesting that which in ' other hands would have been insufferably tedious—I mean Reverie . Hamlet is a tragedy of Thought ; there is as much reflection as action in it . It is the representation of a great meditative soul struggling against circumstance ; and in this respect it is a theatrical paradox , for it makes Scepticism , Beverie , Reflection , dramatic . Here the activity of thought supplies the place of action , and
hurries the audience along with it . . . . The peculiarity of Hamlet is its indissoluble union of refinement with horrors , of thought with tumult , of high and delicate poetry with gross theatrical effects . Only pause for a moment to consider the machinery of this play . What a tissue of horrors it is ! the ghostly apparitionsthe incestuous adultery and murder—Samlet half mad— Ophelia raving mad—Polonius killed like a rat behind the arras—grave-diggers , casting skulls upon the stage , and desecrating the churchyard with their ribaldry— - a funeral interrupted by a furious quarrel between the two who loved the dead most dearly—murder planned—poisonings and stabbings to close this history , —and all these as the machinery for the most thoughtful and philosophic of poems ! In this respect , as in so many others , it resembles Faust : that , also , is a poem wild , fantastic , brutal in its machinery ; lofty .
refined , and impassioned in its spirit . . , I think , then , there is good reason for siding with fact against avuncular dogmatisms , and for declaring that Hamlet is-not only a marvellous poem , but a great play . And this great play was performed here in London by the " -great ' Germans , " who discovered Shakspeare , and who have taken out a patent for the correct appreciation of him . I have much to say on this hypothetical superiority of German appreciation ; but for the present my business is with Herr Devrient , as the acknowledged . Hamlet of Germany at this moment . The expectation raised was immense . Before venturing an opinion on the performance , it will be well to fix the
point of view . „ There are three capital aspects in the representation of Hamlet : —1 st . The princely elegance of a sorrowing profoundly meditative man . 2 nd . The fitful wildness of madness only half assumed . 3 rd . The lover of Ophelia . On the first point there is no dispute . On the second and third points critics are not agreed . Now , did the occasion warrant it , I could prove Hamlet to be in such a state of cerebral excitement , that its outward manifestations should be those of madness , whether we consider him really mad or not ; so that , as regards the actor , it matters very little what view he takes of this vexed question , he must depict the wildness and fitfulness proper to the scene , and not , as Charles Kean does , preserve the same settled gloom and contemplative quiet after the interview with the Ghost which served to express his mental condition before the interview . On this point I shall venture to repeat what two years ago I said
when noticing Charles Kean s Hamlet : — " At the opening of the play , Hamlet is grave with the gloom of a father's sudden death , and the gloom is deepened and embittered by the indelicate marriage of his mother with his uncle . The world hns become weary , flat , stale , and unprofitable to him . Woman has , in the person of his mother , been smitten from the pedestal whereon liis lovo had placed her , to fall down and worship , and her name has become the synonym of Frailty . Were it not that God had ' set his canon ' gainst self-slaughter / this gloom and bitterness would seolc an issue in death ; but lie resolves to suffer all in silence . But this state of Hamlet ' s mind acts the
is only preparatory . It bears the same relation to tho subsequent as solemn , ghostly opening scones , with their awful revelations , bear to the scones of madness and crime which follow . Tho play opens on the platform of the castle at Elsinore . It is the depth of midnight ; tho sentinel pacing to and fro is nipped with cold , and shivering with vague terrors : not a mouse stirring ! Tho silence is broken only by tho regular footstep on tho platform , and tho hoarse smllen murmurs of tho Baltic raving below . On this scene appears tho Ghost . Ho reveals the crime which sent him from the world , and then the storm and terror of tho play begins ; then corno tho madness of Hamlet , tho conviction of tho King , tho inurdor of PoIouiup , the ravings of Opholia , Ophelia ' s funeral interrupted and disgraced by tho quarrel , and , finally , tho general massacre of the last scono ! J ho same ascension from settled gloom to wild and whirling horror and madness may be seen in Hamlet . After the visitation of the Ghost , Hamlet is ft changed man . Ilia sorrowing nature has been ploughed to its depths by a horror no ~ great that ittho shock has
his distended brain refuses every alternate moment to credit : unsettled his reason . If ho in not mad , ho is at any rate in such a state of irropressiblo excitement that ' to feign madness Seems the only possible roliof . to him . After tho revelations of tho Ghost , Hainlot must bo in a totally different condition of mind from what ho , was before . That difference Charles Kean does not roprosoat . Tho same gloom overshadows him whon alone j tho same expression of face accompanies him . Instead of tho agonized soul of a son in presence of an adulterous mother nnd a murderous undo , ho exhibits tho concentrated sorrow of tho fliwt act , diversified only by tho outbroalcs of assumed madness . Ho does not depict tho hurrying agitatiou of thoughts that dare not settle on the ono horror which , nevertheless , they cannot escape . The oxoitomont , even as simple excitement , is not represented ; and thus noithor tho moaning of tho assumed madness , nor the ouocta of tho Ghost ' s revelations , are apparent in his acting . " Aocording ! to tho view taken of Hamlet ' s madness , his demeanour
towards Ophelia will be somewhat modified . That he loved her is clear enough ; his treatment of her is not so clear if he were sane , thougb . explicable upon the assumption of his derangement . At any rate , in their great scene there is a mingled tenderness and bitterness which affords the actor great scope : he should always look thecontrary of what he utters , and his ferocity should have tnat restless wildness in it which would excuse it in her eyes . If he is assuming madness , he would wish her to believe him mad , and so interpret his harshness ; if he is really mad , the wildness is natural .
I have thus established , as it were , some definite grounds of philosophic cr iticism on the representation of Hamlet . Setting details aside , I call your attention to the three central points in the character : if the actor rightly seize them , we may pass over imperfections of detail ; if he miss them , no excellence of detail will compensate . And now I am prepared to answer the question , How did Emil Devrient succeed in Hamlet ? Indifferently . The princely elegance was never represented ; indeed I thought him ungainly , but those around me thought Jiitn graceful , so let
him have the benefit of their admiration . The sorrowing of a profoundl y meditative nature I caught no glimpse of ; it was more like dyspepsia than sorrow , and as unlike meditation as it was unlike reality . In fact , the first scene was very inferior to that played by Charles iKean , who does represent the settled sorrow of Hamlet , if he represent little else . While , in his interview with the GJiqst , Herr Devrient had more the demeanour of a frightened school-boy than of the sceptical student and affectionate son . JDet me say , once for all ; that I see no trace of superior
intelligence in Emil Devrient ' s reading of his part , but very many evidences of careless , superficial interpretation , such as will bear no examination . There is too much of what may be called haphazard emotioni . e ., emotion not following a thorough study , of identification with the character , but arising from a sort of guess at what should be the feeling of the moment . To give an example : He asks , the playera if they can perform a certain piece which he has in his eye , and moreover , if they will insert some dozen lines that he will write . I am ashamed to be forced into such an obvious remark as that Hamlet must be thoroughly aware of the peculiar bearing of the play he has chosen , and has already determined upon the use he will make of it to catch the conscience of the King " , but I am forced to make the remark , because Herr Devrient , in the soliloquy which followed" O what a rogue and peasant slave am I , " & c .
made a great point of suddenly conceiving this idea of using the play as a means of testing the King ; he smacked his forehead , paused a long while , triedjfco throw speculation into his eyes , and in low , mysterious accents announced to himself this very determination . Now this is what I call haphazard emotion . The slightest consideration of the character as a whole will serve to exhibit repeated instances of the same kind . Of all characters on the stage , Hamlet most demands from its performer a subtle sympathy and an appreciation of intellect , which certainly are not with Herr Devrient ' s nature . Whatever else there may be in his acting , there is not intense mental vigour . Were it not that space and time are wanting , I would undertake to go through any scene , and point out proofs of what I say . Having , however , expressed my opinion with a frankness b
demanded by the occasion , ana y me enormous praise wmcu un » . greewu . Herr Devrient , with more hospitality than discernment , let me now turn , to what was excellent in his performance . _ . The second aspect which the character presents—viz ., that of Hamlet half mad , was forcibly given . Herr Devrient—probably according to German tradition—preserves the significant phrases addressed to the Ghost , " How now , old mole ! dost work i' the earth so fast , " & c , and * nVino- + hr > -nlnin hint aivfin in such lanmiaffe . he represents the reason or
Hamlet as completely unsettled by the revelations of the Ghosts-hots the madman he affects to be . This one scene was sufficient to show that a new version of Hamlet , more consistent with the text , would be far more effective than our English versions . Herr Devrient was wild , fitful , and impressive . The change from the earlier manner was complete . 1 ornaps in the subsequent scenes a more intelligent actor would have been Jess monotonous in his wildness ; but , at any rate , it was something to sco tno mad view of the part seriously taken up . As Ophelias lover—the third asTifirth of th « nart—Herr D " evrient wanted tenderness altogether me
always does ) , but ho played without tho harshness which usually spoils this scene ; and , indeed , it only wanted a little tenderness to inako it perfect . The elegance , tho pathos , tho fluctuating passion , and the thought of Hamlet , were but poorly represented ; but , on the other hand , tno madness was thoroughly grasped ; and very many of the speeches wJiicji ono has been accustomed to hear ranted and mouthed , were s P 5 i " with a naturalness far more effective . To sum up in a phrase : lion Dovrient has not a spark of genius , but ho is a practised actor , capauio of giving effect to certain passages ; and his Hamlet has some scenes one can honestly praise , though not one passage that roused any
entnume . . p The Polonius of Horr Limbach , on tho contrary , was a lino piece u acting . He conceived Polonms rather as a stupid than a senile man , anu in so far he erred , I think ; nevertheless , this is almost hypercritieism oi his excollont performances which was admirable within its own limits , m was " made up" like a Vandycko ; and the unconscious g arrulity aim feobloness of intellect wore na'ivelv and quietly hit off .
594 T B E I E A| E E, [Satii^Ay,
594 T B E I E A | E E , [ Satii ^ ay ,
The Vampire And The Nngush Draw A. Perso...
THE VAMPIRE AND THE NNGUSH DRAW A . Personal reasons , which are unnocosaary to bo stated horo , pr ° v offering an ( opinion on Mr . Bourcicault in Ins now character as ao ^ - t content myself with recording hia complete success in tho-now atl 0 Vv ' and quote the article on tho Vampire from the Times , on account oi admirable and timely remarks on tho present condition of our « 1 > am ¦ ^ "Wo must regret that , whilo such progress has boon miulo in tho " ^ ° . ^ sonting dramatic works to tho public , there should bo a complete HtandHtiu u poetical drama as a branch of literature Wo have still soveral wits wll ° ^" j " ^ cpmic dramatic prose , but turn our oyes in what direction wo may , wo en
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 19, 1852, page 22, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_19061852/page/22/
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