The collected works of William Hazlitt, Vol. 08 (of 12)Hazlitt, William
General
The collected works of William Hazlitt, Vol. 08 (of 12)
Hazlitt, William
English essays -- 19th century
Lovers’ Vows has been brought forward at Drury-Lane Theatre, and a young
lady of the name of Mardyn has appeared in the character of Amelia
Wildenheim. Much has been said in her praise, and with a great deal of
justice. Her face is handsome, and her figure is good, bordering (but
not too much), on _embonpoint_. There is, also, a full luscious
sweetness in her voice, which was in harmony with the sentiments she had
to express. The whole of this play, which is of German origin, carries
the romantic in sentiment and story to the extreme verge of decency as
well as probability. The character of Amelia Wildenheim is its principal
charm. The open, undisguised simplicity of this character is, however,
so enthusiastically extravagant, as to excite some little surprise and
incredulity on an English stage. The portrait is too naked, but still it
is the nakedness of innocence. She lets us see into the bottom of her
heart, but there is nothing there which she need wish to disguise. Mrs.
Mardyn did the part very delightfully—with great spirit, truth, and
feeling. She, perhaps, gave it a greater maturity of consciousness than
it is supposed to possess. Her action is, in general, graceful and easy,
but her movements were, at times, too youthful and unrestrained, and too
much like _waltzing_.
Mrs. Glover and Mr. Pope did ample justice to the principal _moral_
characters in the drama; and we were perfectly satisfied with Mr.
Wallack in Anhalt, the tutor and lover of Amelia. Some of the situations
in this popular play (let the critics say what they will of their
extravagance), are very affecting, and we will venture our opinion, that
more tears were shed on this one occasion, than there would be at the
representation of Hamlet, Othello, Lear, and Macbeth, for a whole
season. This is not the fault of Shakespeare, but neither is it the
fault of Kotzebue.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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