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would burst out with something similar in effect to c France , thou shalt rue this hour within this hour !'—the keeping was admirable . In proposing to Hubert the murder of Prince Arthur , the power of the actor was acknowledged by the audience . Among the masterly touches which he threw into the scene , was one which stood out prominently splendid ; to my thinking never before approached ; certainly never surpassed . The word ' death ' escaped from him , and he started back appalled by the sense of having overleaped all safety , burst beyond the limit from which he could retreat , and plunged himself into escapeless peril and ruin by breathing that word ; while his eye , gazing in terror
on the witness to the sound , still endeavoured to pierce its li ght into Hubert ' s soul , in agony of suspense to know how he received it ; then urging his voice by a desperate resolve , in a deep , guttural , half-strangled hiss , he forced forth the words , * A grave !' and on Hubert ' s acquiescence , the rebound from this o ' ers trained and torturing tension of the nerves , was as perfect a touch of
intellectual acting as Macready himself ever saw , or himself ever made others feel . Yet I must be permitted to qualify my admiration of the scene till this point , —1 do so warily , because I am not sure that I saw it aright , —the face during much of the scene ' s progress was , to my direction , en profile , and , as I caught it , the leatural expression was that of fearful apprehension and terror occasioned by a physical object , as he looked towards Hubert : —the pupils were in protrusion and distension . Till the
word ' death ! ' this is not John ' s sense , and there it is mingled with a shrinking from himself . His gaze is more internal and watchful . The object of his dread are thoughts , wishes , which he desires to speak , bvit dare not . His glance to Hubert is inquisitorial of the operation of his words , mingled with apprehension and doubt of the result , and significant both of apprehension and design as it glides round towards young Arthur . Let not these remarks be condemned as unimportant , as trifles in critical
distinction . If the disposition to notice such distinctions , and the perception to ascertain and value them , were more widely diffused and generally prevalent among visitors to the theatre , I have no hesitation in saying that Mr . Macready would be the most popular actor which the nineteenth century has brought before the public scrutiny . Events develope John ' s character more fully , and Mr .
Macready keeps the accordance most beautifully ; the spectator , the more closel y he watches him , will the more readily yield , 'this is likely , this is just , this is natural . * Would that space allowed me to attempt a vindication of my own impressions as I marked the paltering feebleness of spirit , vacillation , consciousness , and writhing perturbation of King John in the fourth act . He , in the fitfulness of self-accusation and wrenching remorse , fruitlessly
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119 King John .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1834, page 118, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2630/page/34/
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