Sample Pages From The Lives of Shakespearian Actors IV

8/8/2019 Sample Pages From The Lives of Shakespearian Actors IV

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195

X. SHAKESPEARIAN ROLES: IMOGEN

Helen Faucit, Imogen, On Some o Shakespeares Female Characters, 6th edn (Edinburgh and London:

William Blackwood and Sons, 1899), pp. 15764. British Library, shelmark 822.33 *1104*.

Charles Rice, Cymbeline, Covent-Garden Teatre, Tursday, Dramatic Register(18 May 1837), pp.489. British Librar y, shelmark PP.5198.

George Fletcher, Characters in Cymbeline, Studies o Shakespearein the Plays o King John, Cymbeline,Macbeth, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet (London: Longman, Brown,Green, and Longmans, 1847), pp. 95105. British Library, shelmark 11762.d.4.

Henry Morley, Te Journal o a London Playgoer fom 18511866 (London: George Routledge andSons, 1866), pp. 3468. Leeds University Library.

Drury Lane Teatre,Morning Post, 19 October 1864. British Library, Colindale Newspaper Collection.

Helen Faucits essay on Imogen, addressed to her riend Anna Maria Swanwick, says relativelylittle about her stage experience in the role. In act, the actress stresses that her understand-ing o Imogen as a character came rom the more intimate experience o reading the play. Shetreats Imogen as a womanly ideal in all respects: as a noble, cultivated, loving woman and wieat her best; and more hyperbolically, as strong in the possession o ne and cultivated intel-ligence, and equal, through all her womaly tenderness and by very reason o that tenderness,to any strain which may be put on her ortitude and endurance one who, while she drawson all insensibly to love her by her mere presence, at the same time inspires them with a rever-ent devotion. Faucit also paints Imogen as a Victorian angel in the house when caring or herbiological brothers in the Welsh cave: a true lady and princess, not sitting apart, broodingover her own grie, that he dear lord should be one o the alse ones, but bestirring hersel tomake their cavern-home as attractive and pleasant to them as only the touch and eeling o a

rened woman could!1

In the selection rom the letter on Imogen printed here, Faucit recalls playing as a childthe cave scene rom Cymbeline as a birthday surprise or her governess; later in the essay shedetails her stage business and mindset on stage during the same scene. She also recalls Mac-readys unsolicited substitution o her ankle-length gown or a tunic that was more clearlyrecognizable as boys dress and, concomitantly, showed o the actresss legs. 2 (Helen herselinsists that Imogens womanliness shines through her boyish disguise.)3 We get a glimpse


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196 Lives o Shakespearian Actors: Faucit

as well o another important Faucit role, Pauline Deschapelles o Edward Bulwers Te Ladyo Lyons, and o Faucits early appearance on stage beore Queen Victoria; a ascination withowers and a torn handkerchie are recurrent themes in the career o young Helen Faucit.

Te second excerpt, by Charles Rice, describes Faucits appearance in the role o Imo-gen on 18 May 1837. Rice (181776) worked as an attendant in the British Museum andsang comic songs in taverns at night; he was also an avid theatregoer, and the Charles RiceManuscript at the Harvard Teatre Collection oers his responses to London Teatre overa span o our years. Although the Dramatic Registers commentary is not always eloquent,it provides a useul glimpse into the reception o important actors rom the period.4 In hisaccount, although Faucit plays her heroine in a chaste and elegant manner, she is overshad-owed by Macready and Elton.

Helen Faucits appearance as Imogen during Macreadys last season at Drury Lane Tea-tre (18423) was important to establishing her reputation as a Shakespearian actress and her

persona as an embodiment o sanctied womanliness. George Fletcher saw and analysedat length Faucit in the role o Imogen there on 15 April 1843. Teodore Martin reerred toFletcher, somewhat disparagingly, as a scholarly recluse whose riends had enticed him tothe theatre, where he became a true Faucit an and an acquaintance o the actress. 5 Fletchersessays on Te Female Characters o Shakespeare, and Some o their Present Representatives onthe Stage, later collected in Studies o Shakespeare (1847), were originally published in theAthenaeum in 1843 and ocus their attention on Faucit as the embodiment o those Shake-spearian heroines. Remembering her early perormance with Macready in 1838 in On Someo Shakespeares Female Characters, Faucit hersel would dwell on the domestic scene between

Imogen and her brothers at the Welsh cave; Fletcher in 1843, by contrast, ocuses on the sex-ually tense scene in which Iachimo seeks to seduce her, Imogens conrontation with Pisanioat Milord Haven, and her aecting reunion with Posthumus in the plays nal reconcilia-tion scene. Troughout, he praises the combined nobility and sweetness o Faucits Imogen.Other changes rom Faucits early career are also apparent. While early reviewers had dislikedthe vehemence o her acial expressions and while Faucit hersel recounts Charles Kemblesadvice to avoid melodramatic gestures and distorted expressions,6 by this point in her career,she is secure in her craf, and Fletcher expresses unbounded enthusiasm or Faucits muteacting the subtle changes in her countenance, the nice and just discrimination o thoserapidly rising or sinking graduations o eeling. While Fletcher was an independent critic,it is worth remembering that Faucit hersel provided him with eulogistic reviews which hethen quoted in postscripts to his essays. Tis is a reminder not only that Faucit manipulated

her own legend, but also that the citation o reviews, whether by Faucit, Fletcher or TeodoreMartin, was never disinterested.7

Another important commentator, Henry Morley was a reormer, educator and Proessoro Literature at University College, London, where he supported the admission o womenstudents.8 MorleysJournalo his experiences at the London Teatre between 1851 and 1866had a reormist goal, combining good wishes or the stage with a sense that the patient was,in many ways, not doing well. In his Prologue to the Journal, Morley writes:


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Shakespearian Roles: Imogen 197

A warm interest in the patient never aected the determination to set down precisely what I took ortruth. Always, also, I have watched the case rom the same point o view; desiring to see our Drama,

with a clean tongue and a steady pulse, able to resume its place in society as a chie orm o Literature,with a stage tly interpreting its thoughts and in wide honour as one o the strongest o all secular aidstowards the intellectual renement o the people.9

Assessing Faucits contribution, Morley asserted that she sometimes is more pleasing to the eyethan the ear, but ound her rendition o Imogens sentimental moments quite aecting. TeMorning Post, welcoming Faucit back to the stage afer her marriage, insisting that none o hercharacteristic qualities had been diminished by time or absence rom the stage. Imogens orFaucits apotheosis is complete.

Notes:

1. Faucit, p. 167, 176, 205.2. Tis incident took place during the 18389 season at Covent Garden.3. Faucit, p. 196.4. See C. Rice, Te Dramatic Register o the Patent Teatres etc., 18351838, Harvard Teatre Collection,

ed. A. Colby Sprague and B. Shuttleworth, Te London Teatre in the Eighteen-Tirties, 8 vols (London:Society or Teatre Research, 1950). See also Carlisle, pp. 478.

5. Martin, p. 923; Carlisle, p. 95.6. Faucit, p, 295.7. See Carlisle, p. 165.8. See ODNB.9. Henry Morley, Prologue to Te Journal o a London Playgoer fom 18511866 (London: George Rout-

ledge and Sons, 1891), p. 11.


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Faucit, Imogen 199


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Faucit, Imogen 201


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Faucit, Imogen 203


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Faucit, Imogen 205


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Rice, Dramatic Register 207


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Fletcher, 'Characters in Cymbeline' 209


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Editorial Notes 417

Teatre Royal Edinburgh, Caledonian Mercury

p. 194, col. 1, ll. 2831; Should a villain say so Do but mistake: Te Winters ale, II.i.803.p. 194, col. 1, ll. 337: How will this grieve you You did mistake: Te Winters ale, II.i.98102.p. 194, col. 1, ll. 434: crown and comort o [her] lie: Te Winters ale, III.ii.92.p. 194, col. 1, ll. 4750: Tis action I now go on I trust, I shall: Te Winters ale, II.i.1226.p. 194, col. 1, ll. 615:I powers divine remble at patience: Te Winters ale, III.ii.2630.p. 194, col. 1, l. 66:Raphaels pencil: Raaello Sanzio da Urbino (14831520), Italian Renaissance painter and

architect known or his depictions o the Madonna and o various saints.p. 194, col. 1, l. 67: St. Cecilia: Raphaels Te Ecstasy o St. Cecilia (c. 1516) depicts the patron saint o music

with her eyes uplifed, listening to a heavenly choir. Te poet Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote o this paint-ing that the saints countenance was calmed by the depth o its passion and rapture, and penetrated

throughout with the warm and radiant light o lie (Letters om Italy, quoted in Esther Singleton,Great Pictures as Seen and Described by Famous Writers (New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company, 1899),p. 288).

p. 194, col. 2, l. 12:Held their breath or a time:perhaps reerring to Tomas Campbells (17771842) Battleo the Baltic, stanza 2, ll. 79: Tere was silence deep as death; / And the boldest held his breath / Fora time.

p. 194, col. 2, ll. 289: saintlike sorrow, Tat wide gap o time: Te Winters ale, V.i.2; V.iii.155.p. 194, col. 2, ll. 301: Te sweetest companion Bred his hopes out o: Te Winters ale, V.i.1213.p. 194, col. 2, l. 54: Lady eazle: character in Richard Brinsley Sheridans School or Scandal(1777).p. 194, col. 2, l. 64: Lady o Lyons: the romantic drama by Edward Bulwer.p. 194, col. 2, ll. 6970:Madame Anna Bishop: Anna Bishop [ne Riviere] (181084) was a popular English

singer o sacred music, English songs and later opera; she had a high soprano voice ( ODNB).

Faucit, Imogenp. 199, l. 3:Alas divine Imogen: Cymbeline, II.i.534.p. 199, ll. 510: So every spirit doth the body make:Edmund Spenser (155299), An Hymn in Honor o

Beauty, stanza 19.p. 199, ll. 1920: my lie o lie:the citation is di cult to attribute; perhaps it reers to Percy Bysshe Shelley,

Prometheus Unbound (1820), l. 58.p. 200, ll. 56:Antigone and Iphigenia in Aulis: Antigone is the heroine o Sophocless play o the same name;

Faucit played Antigone (in the translation o William Bartholomew) in Dublin (1845) and Edin-burgh (1847). Trough the inuence o Teodore Martin, who introduced her to Greek tragedy andArchibald Alison, Faucits acting style became more inuenced by classicism and the visual arts. Basedon the success oAntigone, John Calcraf produced EuripedessIphigenia in Aulis; Carlisle argues thatFaucits experience o the Greek tragic heroines and her new classicism are visible in her portrayal oHermione-as-statue in Te Winters ale (on Antigone and Iphigenia as Faucit roles, see Carlisle, pp.

1703).p. 200, l. 16: well-trod stage:rom John Milton,LAllegro: Ten to the well-trod stage anon, / I Jonsons learnedSock be on, / Or sweetest Shakespear ancies childe, / Warble his native Wood-notes wilde (ll. 1314).

p. 200, l. 29: my woman o women: the phrase had become proverbial, but may reer here to Guinevere inAlred, Lord ennysonsIdylls o the King, as Vivien petitions Guinevere to save her rom King Mark:

Save, save me thou Woman o women thineTe wreath o beauty, thine the crown o power,Be thine the balm o pity, O Heavens own whiteEarth-angel, stainless bride o stainless King


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418 Editorial Notes

p. 201, l. 3:Mrs. D S : perhaps Eleanor Sellar (neDenistoun), wie o William Sellar, a classical scholar.Te Martins met them in Homburg in 1852 (Carlisle, p. 242).

p. 202, l. 4:Mr Macready: see p. 186, l. 32.p. 202, l. 24:Mr Elton: Edward William Elton (17941843) played Pisanio, the riend o Imogens husband

Posthumus, who is given the unpleasant assignment to kill Imogen or her supposed sexual indelity(he does not go through with it).

p. 202, l. 30:M. Regnier: Franois-Joseph Rgnier (180785), distinguished actor in the Comdie Franaise;see also Martin, p. 339.

p. 203, l. 11:Mr. Dominic Colnaghi: Dominic Charles Colnaghi (17901879) was a member o the Colnaghi,a noted amily o art dealers. Dominic was the most successul son o the original Colnaghi patriarch(ODNB).

p. 203, l. 28: Claude Melnotte: the gardeners son who loves Pauline in Te Lady o Lyons and the dramas

romantic hero.p. 203, l. 36: Colonel Damas: in Te Lady o Lyons, cousin o Paulines mother and an o cer in the French army.p. 204, ll. 910:Mrs. Cliford as Madame Deschapelles: Mrs. William Henry Cliord (17941852), a student

o John Kemble, acted in Macreadys company and played the role o Paulines mother in Te Lady oLyons; see Mrs. W. Cliord, Ladys Monthly Museum, 20 (1824): 1217; Obituary in Te MusicalWorld, 25 (1852), pp. 61213.

p. 204, l. 12: Mr. Bartley: George Bartley (1782?1858), who played comic older men, blu uncles, and thelike, was also the stage manager o Covent Garden under Macready (ODNB).

p. 204, l. 15:M. Beauseant: the corrupt aristocrat and rejected suitor o Pauline Deschapelles, who hatches theplot to have Claude Melnotte wed Pauline under a alse aristocratic identity.

p. 204, l. 35 (ootnote): en grande tenue: in ull dress.

Rice, Cymbeline

p. 207, ll. 1718:Mr Macready perormed the character o Posthumus the Iachimo o Mr Elton: WilliamCharles Macready played the part o Posthumus, Imogens husband; while in Faucits account o herrst appearance in the part, William Elton had played Pisanio, here he plays Iachimo, the Italian villain

who persuades Posthumus that Imogen has been disloyal.p. 207, ll. 312:He whose merits thought the greatest:source unknown, or perhaps not a quotation at all.p. 207, l. 35:Farrens Cloten: Percy Farren, Helens relative and mentor, played the role o the Queens clownish,

but evil, son in Cymbeline.p. 207, l. 38:Mr Webster: actor-manager Benjamin Webster (17981882).p. 207, l. 39:Mr. G. Bennett, Bellarius: George Bennett (180079) was a Shakespearian actor at Covent Gar-

den and Drury Lane Teatres (ODNB); he had played Romeo to Helen Faucits Juliet. Old Belarius isan exiled courtier who had stolen and raised Cymbelines sons in the Welsh mountains.

p. 207, l. 39:Pisanio o Pritchard: or Pisanio, see p. 160, l. 24, above; John Langord Pritchard (17991850)had been playing in Dublin and Edinburgh beore making his London debut in November 1835.

p. 207, l. 41: Hark the lark!: Cymbeline, II.iii.17.

p. 207, l. 42: Collins, Ransord, Gi n, and Miss Land: V. Mssrs Collins (orchestra) and Gi n (Chorus,enor) are mentioned in a Prospectus or the Grand Opera, Teatre Royale, Drur y Lane (Te MusicalWorld, 32 [11 December 1847] p. 798); Edwin Ransord (180576), was a composer and opera singer(ODNB); Miss Land, a concert and opera singer, is listed as part o the Covent Garden Company in1840 by Alred Bunn, Te Stage both Beore and Behind the Curtain, 2 vols (Philadelphia, PA: Lea andBlanchard, 1840), vol. 2, p. 80; see also Te Musical World, 25 (1851), p. 827.

p. 208, l. 4:Mr. W. Farren: William Farren, Helen Faucits step-ather.p. 208, ll. 56: Te Day Aer the Wedding: a arce by Marie Trse De Camp Kemble.


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Editorial Notes 419

p. 208, ll. 78:Mr Pritchard: John Langord Pritchard (17991850) belonged to W. H. Murrays company in

Edinburgh and also played in Dublin; he made his London debut in 1835 ( ODNB).

p. 208, l. 9: am OShanter: a musical arce by Henry Robert Addison (1834).

Fletcher, Characters in Cymbeline

p. 209, l. 17: O dissembling courtesy: Cymbeline, I.i.85, where Imogen correctly mistrusts the Queens oer to

intercede with the King on behal o her and her husband.

p. 210, l. 3:Her scene with Iachimo: Cymbeline, I.vi, in which Iacomo tests Imogens virtue and slanders Post-

humus.

p. 211, ll. 345:All o her that is out o door most rich!: Cymbeline, I.vi.15.

p. 212, l. 14:A ather cruel and a stepdame alse: Cymbeline, I.vi.1.p. 212, ll. 1617: receiving the news om her husband: Iachimo brings Imogen a letter rom Posthumus.

p. 212, ll. 2732: What! are men mad?; twixt two such shes; laughs oms ee lungs: Cymbeline, I.vi.33, 41,

69: Iachimo tells Imogen that her husband, known as the jolly Briton, is sexually unaithul and has

orgotten her.

p. 212, ll. 378: Since doubting things go ill be sure they do: Cymbeline, I.vi.967.

p. 213, l. 4:Had I this cheek: Cymbeline, I.vi.100.

p. 213, l. 7:My lord, I ear, has orgot Britain : Cymbeline, I.vi.11314.

p. 213, l. 9:Revenged! how should I be revenged: Cymbeline, I.vi.1, 12930.

p. 213, l. 29:Let my service tender on thy lips: Cymbeline, I.vi.141.

p. 213, ll. 356:Away! I do condemn my ears: Cymbeline, I.vi.142. Iachimo has oered to help Imogen revenge

hersel against Posthumus by dedicating himsel to her sweet pleasure (l. 137); Imogen immediately

rejects him and calls to Pisanio or help.p. 214, ll. 45:Alls well, sir or yours: Cymbeline, I.vi.160. Iachimo reverses himsel, and Imogen believes him.

p. 214, ll. 278: What shall I need cut her throat already: Cymbeline, III.iv.312. Imogen is reading the letter

in which Posthumus commands Pisanio to kill Imogen.

p. 214, ll. 301: Ty mistress strumpet in my bed: Cymbeline, III.iv.212.

p. 214, ll. 345:Let thine own hands her lie: Cymbeline, III.iv.26.

p. 215, ll. 915:Mrs. Jameson do his masters bidding:Anna Jameson, Characteristics o Women (London:

George Routledge and Sons, n.d.), p. 254.

p. 215, ll. 356: Tough those that are betrayd / Do eel the treason sharply: Cymbeline, III.iv.845.

p. 216, l. 6:False to his bed!: Cymbeline, III.iv.39.

p. 216, ll. 910:Iachimo o insconstancy: Cymbeline, III.iv.46.

p. 216, l. 14: Come, ellow, be thou honest: Cymbeline, III.iv.63.

p. 216, ll. 1524:A little witness my obedience riches o it: Cymbeline, III.iv.6571.

p. 216, ll. 314:Prythee, dispatch I desire it too: Cymbeline, III.iv.947.

p. 217, ll. 389: do not bid I know, thou wilt: Cymbeline, V.vi.1012.

p. 218, ll. 1112:Alack, / Teres other work in hand: Cymbeline, V.vi.1034.

p. 218, ll. 1819:Remain keep it on: Cymbeline, I.i.118.

p. 218, ll. 228:I see a thing / Bitter to me as death: Your lie shu e or itsel: Cymbeline, V.vi.1024.

p. 219, l. 14: Why did you throw your wedded lady om you?: Cymbeline, V.vi.260.

p. 219, ll. 2832: Oh, my gentle brothers were so indeed!: Cymbeline, V.vi.3759.

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Sample Pages From The Lives of Shakespearian Actors IV