Ellen Terry and Her Imperonations; An Appreciation (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1900 edition. Excerpt: ...played the heroines of Shakespeare's comedies during the poet's lifetime. It would appear that the first woman who ever acted Portia was Mrs. Sanderson, who appeared in the part at Drury Lane Theatre in I741, when Macklin acted Shylock so magnificently that the play, hitherto unpopular, became a great favourite. Kitty Clive and Margaret Woffington both distinguished themselves as Portia in their day, and Mrs. Siddons played the part in December, I77 5, but it does not appear to have been amongst the best of that majestic lady's impersonations. In more recent times Helen Faucit and Mrs. Charles Kean were notably successful in realizing one of the most fascinating of all Shakespeare's women. Without venturing on the dangerous ground of flattery, it is safe to say that Ellen Terry 'proved herself worthy of her predecessors in the part. Indeed, she exceeded all of them if we are to accept the opinion of Mr. William Winter, who declares that "when Ellen 'Terry embodied Portia--in Henry Irving's magnificent revival of ' The Merchant of Venice '--the essential womanhood of the character was, for the first time in the modern theatre, adequately interpreted and conveyed. Upon many play-going observers, indeed, the wonderful wealth of beauty that is in the part--its winsome grace, its incessant sparkle, its alluring, because piquant as well as luscious sweetness, its impetuous ardour, its enchantment of physical equally with emotional condition, its august morality, its perfect candour and its noble passion--came like a surprise. Did the great actress find those attributes in the part (they asked themselves), or did she infuse them into it? Previous representatives of Portia had placed the...