The Autobiography of a Play: Papers on Play-Making, IIHoward, Bronson
General
The Autobiography of a Play: Papers on Play-Making, II
Howard, Bronson
Drama -- Technique; Howard, Bronson, 1842-1908. Banker's daughter
The fourth great change--forced on us, as the others were--concerns the
character of John Strebelow. As he is now to become the object of a
wife's mature affection, he must not merely be a noble and generous man;
he must do something worthy of the love which is to be bestowed on him.
He must command a woman's love. When, therefore, he hears his wife,
kneeling over her wounded lover, use words which tell him of their
former relations, he does not what most of us would do, but what an
occasional hero among us would do. Of course, the words of Lilian
cannot be such, now, as to close the gates to all hopes of love, as they
were before. She still utters a wild cry, but her words merely show the
awakened tenderness and pity of a woman for a man she had once loved.
They are uttered, however, in the presence of others, and they
compromise her husband's honor. At that moment he takes her gently in
his arms, and becomes her protector, warning the French roue and
duellist that he will call him to account for the insults which the arm
of the dead man had failed to avenge. He afterward does this, killing
the count--not in the action of the play; this is only told. John
Strebelow thus becomes the hero of the play, and it is only necessary to
follow the workings of Lilian's heart and his a little further, until
they come together at last, loving each other truly, the early love of
the wife for another man being only a sad memory in her mind. There is a
tender scene of explanation and a parting, until Lilian's heart shall
recall her husband. This scene, in my opinion, is one of the most
beautiful scenes ever written for the stage. At the risk of breaking the
tenth commandment myself, I do not hesitate to say, I wish I had
written it. As I did not, however, I can express the hope that the name
of Mr. A. R. Cazauran, who did write it, will never be forgotten in
connection with this play as long as the play itself may be remembered.
I wrote the scene myself first; but when he wrote it according to his
own ideas, it was so much more beautiful than my own that I would have
broken a law of dramatic art if I had not accepted it. I should not have
been giving the public the best play I could, under the circumstances.
Imbued, as my own mind was, with all the original motives of the piece,
it would have been impossible for me to have made changes within a few
weeks without the assistance Mr. Cazauran could give me; this assistance
was invaluable to me in all parts of the revised piece. In the fifth act
the husband and wife come together again, the little child acting as the
immediate cause of their reconciliation; the real cause lies in their
own true hearts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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