If Mr. Kean does not entirely succeed in concentrating all the lines of
the character, as drawn by Shakespeare, he gives an animation, vigour,
and relief to the part which we have not seen equalled. He is more
refined than Cooke; more bold, varied, and original than Kemble in the
same character. In some parts he is deficient in dignity, and
particularly in the scenes of state business, he has by no means an air
of artificial authority. There is at times an aspiring elevation, an
enthusiastic rapture in his expectations of attaining the crown, and at
others a gloating expression of sullen delight, as if he already
clenched the bauble, and held it in his grasp. The courtship scene with
Lady Anne is an admirable exhibition of smooth and smiling villainy. The
progress of wily adulation, of encroaching humility, is finely marked by
his action, voice and eye. He seems, like the first Tempter, to approach
his prey, secure of the event, and as if success had smoothed his way
before him. The late Mr. Cooke's manner of representing this scene was
more vehement, hurried, and full of anxious uncertainty. This, though
more natural in general, was less in character in this particular
instance. Richard should woo less as a lover than as an actor--to show
his mental superiority, and power of making others the playthings of his
purposes. Mr. Kean's attitude in leaning against the side of the stage
before he comes forward to address Lady Anne, is one of the most
graceful and striking ever witnessed on the stage. It would do for
Titian to paint. The frequent and rapid transition of his voice from the
expression of the fiercest passion to the most familiar tones of
conversation was that which gave a peculiar grace of novelty to his
acting on his first appearance. This has been since imitated and
caricatured by others, and he himself uses the artifice more sparingly
than he did. His by-play is excellent. His manner of bidding his friends
'Good night', after pausing with the point of his sword drawn slowly
backward and forward on the ground, as if considering the plan of the
battle next day, is a particularly happy and natural thought. He gives
to the two last acts of the play the greatest animation and effect. He
fills every part of the stage; and makes up for the deficiency of his
person by what has been sometimes objected to as an excess of action.
The concluding scene in which he is killed by Richmond is the most
brilliant of the whole. He fights at last like one drunk with wounds;
and the attitude in which he stands with his hands stretched out, after
his sword is wrested from him, has a preternatural and terrific
grandeur, as if his will could not be disarmed, and the very phantoms of
his despair had power to kill.--Mr. Kean has since in a great measure
effaced the impression of his Richard III by the superior efforts of his
genius in Othello (his masterpiece), in the murder-scene in MACBETH, in
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account