There is nothing in a foreign land which a traveller is so little able to enjoy as the national theatre: though he may read the language with ease, and converse1 in it with little difficulty, still he cannot follow the progress of a story upon the stage, nor catch the jests, which set all around him in a roar, unless he has lived so long in the country, that his ear has become perfectly2 naturalized. Fully3 aware of this, I desired J— to take me there on some evening when the drama would be most intelligible4 to the sense of sight; and we went accordingly yesternight to see The Winter’s Tale, a play of the famous Shakespeare’s, 188which has been lately revived for the purpose of displaying to advantage their two most celebrated5 performers, Kemble, and his sister Mrs Siddons.
In the reigns6 of Elizabeth and James, the golden age of the English drama, London was not a tenth part of its present size, and it then contained seventeen theatres. At present there are but two. More would succeed, and indeed more are wanted, but these have obtained exclusive privileges. Old people say the acting7 was better in their younger days, because there were more schools for actors; and the theatres being smaller, the natural voice could be heard, and the natural expression of the features seen, and therefore rant8 and distortion were unnecessary. They, however, who remember no other generation of actors than the present, will not be persuaded that there has ever been one more perfect. Be this as it may, all are agreed that the drama itself has wofully degenerated9, though it is the only species of 189literary labour which is well paid. They are agreed also as to the cause of this degeneracy, attributing it to the prodigious10 size of the theatres. The finer tones of passion cannot be discriminated11, nor the finer movements of the countenance12 perceived from the front, hardly from the middle of the house. Authors, therefore, substitute what is here called broad farce13 for genuine comedy; their jests are made intelligible by grimace14, or by that sort of mechanical wit which can be seen; comedy is made up of trick, and tragedy of processions, pageants15, battles, and explosions.
The two theatres are near each other, and tolerably well situated16 for the more fashionable and more opulent parts of the town; but buildings of such magnitude might have been made ornamental17 to the metropolis18, and both require a more open space before them. Soldiers were stationed at the doors; and as we drew near we were importuned19 by women with 190oranges, and by boys to purchase a bill of the play. We went into the pit that I might have a better view of the house, which was that called Drury-lane, from the place where it stands, the larger and more beautiful of the two. The price here is three shillings and sixpence, about sixteen reales. The benches are not divided into single seats, and men and women here and in all parts of the house sit promiscuously20.
I had heard much of this theatre, and was prepared for wonder; still the size, the height, the beauty, the splendour, astonished me. Imagine a pit capable of holding a thousand persons, four tiers of boxes supported by pillars scarcely thicker than a man’s arm, and two galleries in front, the higher one at such a distance, that they who are in it must be content to see the show, without hoping to hear the dialogue; the colours blue and silver, and the whole illuminated21 with chandeliers of cut glass, not partially22 nor parsimoniously23; 191every part as distinctly seen as if in the noon sunshine. After the first feeling of surprise and delight, I began to wish that a massier style of architecture had been adopted. The pillars, which are iron, are so slender as to give an idea of insecurity; their lightness is much admired, but it is disproportioned and out of place. There is a row of private boxes on each side of the pit, on a level with it; convenient they must doubtless be to those who occupy them, and profitable to the proprietors24 of the house; but they deform25 the theatre.
The people in the galleries were very noisy before the representation began, whistling and calling to the musicians; and they amused themselves by throwing orange-peel into the pit and upon the stage: after the curtain drew up they were sufficiently26 silent. The pit was soon filled; the lower side-boxes did not begin to fill till towards the middle of the first act, because that part of the audience is too fashionable to come in time; the back part 192of the front boxes not till the half play; they were then filled with a swarm27 of prostitutes, and of men who came to meet them. In the course of the evening there were two or three quarrels there which disturbed the performance, and perhaps ended in duels28 the next morning. The English say, and I believe they say truly, that they are the most moral people in Europe; but were they to be judged by their theatres,—I speak not of the representation, but of the manners which are exhibited by this part of the audience,—it would be thought that no people had so little sense of common decorum, or paid so little respect to public decency29.
No prompter was to be seen; the actors were perfect, and stood in no need of his awkward presence. The story of the drama was, with a little assistance, easily intelligible to me; not, indeed, by the dialogue; for of that I found myself quite unable to understand any two sentences together, scarcely a single one: and when 193I looked afterwards at the printed play, I perceived that the difficulty lay in the peculiarity30 of Shakespeare’s language, which is so antiquated31, and still more so perplexed32, that few even of the English themselve can thoroughly33 understand their favourite author. The tale, however, is this. Polixenes, king of Bohemia, is visiting his friend Leontes, king of Sicily; he is about to take his departure; Leontes presses him to stay awhile longer, but in vain—urges the request with warmth, and is still refused; then sets his queen to persuade him; and, perceiving that she succeeds, is seized with sudden jealousy34, which, in the progress of the scene, becomes so violent, that he orders one of his courtiers to murder Polixenes. This courtier acquaints Polixenes with his danger, and flies with him. Leontes throws the queen into prison, where she is delivered of a daughter; he orders the child to be burnt; his attendants remonstrate35 against this barbarous sentence, and he then sends one of them 194to carry it out of his dominions36, and expose it in some wild place. He has sent messengers to Delphos to consult the oracle37; but, instead of waiting for their return to confirm his suspicions or disprove them, he brings the queen to trial. During the trial the messengers arrive, the answer of the god is opened, and found to be that the queen is innocent, the child legitimate38, and that Leontes will be without an heir, unless this which is lost shall be found. Even this fails to convince him; but immediately tidings come in that the prince, his only son, has died of anxiety for his mother: the queen at this faints, and is carried off; and her woman comes in presently to say that she is dead also.
The courtier meantime lands with the child upon the coast of Bohemia, and there leaves it: a bear pursues him across the stage, to the great delight of the audience, and eats him out of their sight; which is doubtless to their great disappointment. The ship is lost with all on board in a 195storm, and thus no clue is left for discovering the princess. Sixteen years are now supposed to elapse between the third and fourth acts: the lost child, Perdita, has grown up a beautiful shepherdess, and the son of Polixenes has promised marriage to her. He proceeds to espouse39 her at a sheep-shearing feast; where a pedlar, who picks pockets, excites much merriment. Polixenes, and Camillo the old courtier who had preserved his life, are present in disguise and prevent the contract. Camillo, longing40 to return to his own country, persuades the prince to fly with his beloved to Sicily: he then goes with the king in pursuit of them. The old shepherd, who has brought up Perdita as his own child, goes in company with her; he produces the things which he had found with her; she is thus discovered to be the lost daughter of Leontes, and the oracle is accomplished41. But the greatest wonder is yet to come. As Leontes still continues to bewail the loss of his wife, Paulina, the 196queen’s woman, promises to show him a statue of her, painted to the life, the work of Julio Romano, that painter having flourished in the days when Bohemia was a maritime42 country, and when the kings thereof were used to consult the oracle of Apollo, being idolaters. This statue proves to be the queen herself, who begins to move to slow music, and comes down to her husband. And then to conclude the play, as it was the husband of this woman who has been eaten by the bear, old Camillo is given her that she may be no loser.
Far be it from me to judge of Shakespeare by these absurdities43, which are all that I can understand of the play. While, however, the English tolerate such, and are pleased not merely in spite of them, but with them, it would become their travellers not to speak with quite so much contempt of the Spanish theatre. That Shakespeare was a great dramatist, notwithstanding his Winter’s Tale, I believe; just as I 197know Cervantes to have been a great man, though he wrote El Rufián Dichoso.
But you cannot imagine any thing more impressive than the finer parts of this representation; the workings of the king’s jealousy, the dignified44 grief and resentment45 of the queen, tempered with compassion46 for her husband’s phrensy; and the last scene in particular, which surpassed whatever I could have conceived of theatrical47 effect. The actress who personated the queen is acknowledged lo be perfect in her art: she stood leaning upon a pedestal with one arm, the other hanging down—the best Grecian sculptor48 could not have adjusted her drapery with more grace, nor have improved the attitude; and when she began to move, though this was what the spectators were impatiently expecting, it gave every person such a start of delight, as the dramatist himself would have wished, though the whole merit must be ascribed to the actress.
The regular entertainments on the English 198stage consist of a play of three or five acts, and an afterpiece of two; interludes are added only on benefit nights. The afterpiece this evening was Don Juan, our old story of the reprobate49 cavalier and the statue, here represented wholly in pantomime. Nothing could be more insipid50 than all the former part of this drama, nothing more dreadful, and indeed unfit for scenic51 representation, than the catastrophe52: but either the furies of ?schylus were more terrible than European devils, or our Christian53 ladies are less easily frightened than the women of Greece, for this is a favourite spectacle everywhere. I know not whether the invention be originally ours or the Italians; be it whose it may, the story of the Statue is in a high style of fancy, truly fine and terrific. The sound of his marble footsteps upon the stage struck a dead silence through the house. It is to this machinery54 that the popularity of the piece is owing; and in spite of the dulness which precedes this incident, and 199the horror which follows it, I do not wonder that it is popular. Still it would be decorous in English writers to speak with a little less disrespect of the Spanish stage, and of the taste of a Spanish audience, while their own countrymen continue to represent and to delight in one of the most monstrous55 of all our dramas.
The representation began at seven; and the meals in London are so late, that even this is complained of as inconveniently56 early. We did not reach home till after midnight.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
converse
|
|
| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
fully
|
|
| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
intelligible
|
|
| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
celebrated
|
|
| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
reigns
|
|
| n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
acting
|
|
| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
rant
|
|
| v.咆哮；怒吼；n.大话；粗野的话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
degenerated
|
|
| 衰退，堕落，退化( degenerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
prodigious
|
|
| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
discriminated
|
|
| 分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
countenance
|
|
| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
farce
|
|
| n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
grimace
|
|
| v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
pageants
|
|
| n.盛装的游行( pageant的名词复数 )；穿古代服装的游行；再现历史场景的娱乐活动；盛会 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
situated
|
|
| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
ornamental
|
|
| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
metropolis
|
|
| n.首府；大城市 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
importuned
|
|
| v.纠缠，向（某人）不断要求( importune的过去式和过去分词 )；（妓女）拉（客） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
promiscuously
|
|
| adv.杂乱地，混杂地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
illuminated
|
|
| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
partially
|
|
| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
parsimoniously
|
|
| ad.过工节俭地；吝啬小气地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
proprietors
|
|
| n.所有人，业主( proprietor的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
deform
|
|
| vt.损坏…的形状；使变形，使变丑；vi.变形 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
sufficiently
|
|
| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
swarm
|
|
| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
duels
|
|
| n.两男子的决斗( duel的名词复数 )；竞争，斗争 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
decency
|
|
| n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
peculiarity
|
|
| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
antiquated
|
|
| adj.陈旧的，过时的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
perplexed
|
|
| adj.不知所措的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
thoroughly
|
|
| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
jealousy
|
|
| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
remonstrate
|
|
| v.抗议，规劝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
dominions
|
|
| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
oracle
|
|
| n.神谕，神谕处，预言 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
legitimate
|
|
| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
espouse
|
|
| v.支持，赞成，嫁娶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
longing
|
|
| n.（for）渴望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
accomplished
|
|
| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
maritime
|
|
| adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
absurdities
|
|
| n.极端无理性( absurdity的名词复数 )；荒谬；谬论；荒谬的行为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
dignified
|
|
| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
resentment
|
|
| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
compassion
|
|
| n.同情，怜悯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
theatrical
|
|
| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
sculptor
|
|
| n.雕刻家，雕刻家 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
reprobate
|
|
| n.无赖汉；堕落的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
insipid
|
|
| adj.无味的，枯燥乏味的，单调的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
scenic
|
|
| adj.自然景色的，景色优美的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
catastrophe
|
|
| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
Christian
|
|
| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
machinery
|
|
| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
monstrous
|
|
| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
inconveniently
|
|
| ad.不方便地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |