therefore, justified in applying to
it the standard of what may be called literary illusion. Second, when a
playwright gets into the habit of talking around his characters, he
inevitably, even if unconsciously, slackens his endeavour to make them
express themselves as completely as may be in their own proper medium of
dramatic action and dialogue. You cannot with impunity mix up two
distinct forms of art--the drama and the sociological essay or lecture.
To Mr. Shaw, of course, much may, and must, be forgiven. His
stage-directions are so brilliant that some one, some day, will
assuredly have them spoken by a lecturer in the orchestra while the
action stands still on the stage. Thus, he will have begotten a bastard,
but highly entertaining, form of art. My protest has no practical
application to him, for he is a standing exception to all rules. It is
to the younger generation that I appeal not to be misled by his
seductive example. They have little chance of rivalling him as
sociological essayists; but if they treat their art seriously, and as a
pure art, they may easily surpass him as dramatists. By adopting his
practice they will tend to produce, not fine works of art, but inferior
sociological documents. They will impair their originality and spoil
their plays in order to do comparatively badly what Mr. Shaw has done
incomparably well.

The common-sense rule as to stage directions is absolutely plain; be
they short, or be they long, they ought always to be _impersonal_. The
playwright who cracks jokes in his stage-directions, or indulges in
graces of style, is intruding himself between the spectator and the work
of art, to the inevitable detriment of the illusion. In preparing a play
for the press, the author should make his stage-directions as brief as
is consistent with clearness. Few readers will burden their memory with
long and detailed descriptions. When a new character of importance
appears, a short description of his or her personal appearance and dress
may be helpful to the reader; but even this should be kept impersonal.
Moreover, as a play has always to be read before it can be rehearsed or
acted, it is no bad plan to make the stage-directions, from the first,
such as tend to bring the play home clearly to the reader's mental
vision. And here I may mention a principle, based on more than mere
convenience, which some playwrights observe with excellent results. Not
merely in writing stage-directions, but in v