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NOTES ON M. FECHTEH'S HAMLET AND OTHELLO...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
» - By Ms. F. P. Fellows.
wrong * , real or Imaginary- —but "witli Othello all is mad hurry , and in Hamlet equally fatal hesitation . -
Throughout M . Fechter ' s acting-edition of Othello , which , replete with stage directions , lies before us , nothing can exceed the extreme
care with which each sentence has been weighed , and wedded to Ifcs appropriate gesture . However we may be disposed to
differ from a reading here and there , and to lament the theatric necessities which involve so much curtailment of Shakespeare ' s
noble drama , no one can deny the evidence of much labour , and a clear apprehension of the text , astonishing in one not "to the
manner born . " Still more vividly is the character of Othello portrayed during
M . Fechter ' s personation of the noble Moor . The dignity of his demeanour when arraigned before the Council of Ten , his pitying
courtesy towards Brabantio , despite that senator ' s injurious aspersionshis tenderness to Desdemona as he stands feetween her and
, her angry sire , and finally , folding her to his bosom , throws hi & mantle around her , to shield her as it were from the tempest of her
father ' s wrath , are but a few of the touches of nature that makethe whole audience akin . Eminently well contrasted is his
courteous good-night to Cassio as he leaves him in the Court of Guard , with the military sternness of his rebuke to this erring _,
soldier after lago ' s treacherous revel . Again , during the terrible third actwhen the ancient slowly " pours the pestilence " in the General ' s
, ear , the perplexity gradually giving way to despair , the marvellous manner in which lago ' s hypocritical fears " that this hath a little
dashed your spirits , " are answered , as turning away his face tohide his disquiet from his tormentor , he pauses a moment to collect
his utterance , and in broken acceiits murmurs , " not a jot , not a jot" and anon , when barely able to articulate with rage and shame
, , protests that he is " not much moved , " are master-strokes of art . Most touching is his gaze of agony as the unconscious Desdemona
enters from the castle garden , bringing flowers , and his mournful tenderness to her even then , shines fair in comparison with lago ' s
cold brutality to his wife . As the plot against Othello ' s peace proceeds , there is a gradual
change from his former martial bearing into a haggard , collapsed formsinking into a seat as if weighed down by the burden laid
, upon his soul , the lassitude of this great sorrow only relieved by bursts of tropical fury , as when with gleaming eyes , he hisses out
between set teeth , " I'll tear her all to pieces ! " Yet in the midst . of his desolation nothing could be finer than the inward loathing
with which he can scarcely force himself to desire Iago to " set on thy wife to observe , " and then , overwhelmed with shame , instantly
commands his absence . Very true to nature is the breathless suspense in which he awaits Desdemona ' s search for the
handkerchief , his look of agonized despair when she produces the wrong one , his frantic clutch at a last hope as sher declares it is not lost ,,
TOI / . X , T
Notes On M. Fechteh's Hamlet And Othello...
NOTES ON M . _FECHTEH ' S HAMLET AND OTHELLO . 249
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Dec. 1, 1862, page 249, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01121862/page/33/
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