Author: William ShakespearePublisher: Forgotten Books
ISBN: 9781333610890
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 662
Book Description
Excerpt from The Shakespearean Plays of Edwin Booth, Vol. 2 Shakespeare, subsequently expressed a decided preference for the Cibber arrangement of it, as being far more direct and decisive thari the original, in its e 'ect upon the popular mind. Edwin Booth did not often act Cardinal Wolsey, but when he did, he divested the part of its obvious craft, presenting the' image of a thoroughly noble churchman, and laying the chief emphasis on the pathos of a tmarted ambition, a ruined grandeur, and a broken spirit. Iiis version of Henry VIII is rather a ruthless condensation of the original play, but it seemed satisfactory in those distant days when he produced it. The play had not then been presented, as it has since, by Henry Irving, in the form of an elaborate and superb spec tacle, and the fact had not been realized that, when presented in that way, more as an antique masque than as a tragedy, the entire worh, christening and all, can be made exception ally resplendent, efective, and entertaining. T he part of Car dinal Wolsey was made prominent on the American stage by charles.kean, in 1865. Charlotte Cushman often presented Henry VIII, and she gave a great embodiment of Queen Catharine, worthily preserving the traditions of Mrs. Porter, Mrs. Pritchard, and Mrs. Siddons, and probably augment ing their lustre. Lawrence Barrett was associated with Charlotte Cushman, in this play, and his embodiment of Cardinal Wolsey was impressive with ecclesiastical dignity and stately with intellectual power. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."