alvini's conception of the character--a question such as must always
exist in the case of any representation of Shakespeare, with whose
creations no actor can ever hope to identify himself, however he may
modify our former impressions. Let it be remembered, too, that an
actor's conception of a character must never be vague, undefined or
shadowy, as that of a mere reader may well be, and probably will be in
the exact degree in which he is a keen and appreciative student. The
actor must not strive to suggest all possible solutions, but must
hold firmly to one, and that the most dramatic; he must seize upon
the salient points; his subtleties must not be too subtle for gesture,
glance and tone to express; he must choose which meaning out of many
meanings he shall enforce, which mood out of many moods he shall make
predominate.

The exceptions which have been taken to Salvini's performance all rest
upon the notion that he has misconceived the character. It is superb,
we are told, but it is not Shakespeare. It is a representation not of
Othello the Moor, but of a Moor named Othello. The idea that dominates
throughout is that of race: the character loses its individuality
and becomes a mere type, an embodiment of the tropical nature, an
illustration of Byron's lines:

Africa is all the sun's,
And as her earth her human clay is kindled.

The unbridled passion, the revengeful fury, is that of a savage. The
anguish and indignation of a noble spirit believing itself outraged
and wronged are transformed into the blind rage and capricious fury of
a wild beast.

This objection seems to us to spring from the state of mind often
induced by long familiarity with a subject, in which the gain of
minute knowledge is accompanied by a loss of the force and vividness
of the first impression. People study Shakespeare as they study
the Bible, softening whatever they find revolting until they have
convinced themselves that it does not exist. Actors in general share
in this sentiment or strive to gratify it. Othello's complexion is
forgotten in the reading, and becomes in the representation such
that the spectator feels no repugnance to his marriage with the fair
Desdemona. Betrayed through the mere openness and generosity of his
nature, he acts only as a sensitive and vehement nature would be
compelled to act in so terrible a complication, and the emotions
kindled by his demeanor and conduct are never those of horror and
repulsion, but