as one of the mighty dead, and it is rather humility in the author
which urges him to seek adventitious interest than vanity that causes
him to believe himself really able to give a true idea of a Napoleon.
Into such delicate questions it is needless to inquire. The point is
that the lives of the great are not more dramatic than the lives of the
small. Napoleon at St Helena was not more unhappy than were millions of
people of his day. There is a drama as poignant in the history of Cesar
Birotteau as in that of Marie Antoinette, as big a tragedy in the career
of Whitaker Wright as in that of Napoleon III.

There was a reason, which exists no longer, why the authors of the
Middle Ages chose characters of great social status for their principal
parts, and even this reason was not altogether well founded. It would be
wrong to assert that historical plays ought not to be written, for,
whilst not recommending the use of the stage instead of history
classes, one can see that a historical play may illustrate ideas that
could hardly be presented otherwise.

There is a noteworthy instance in the work of the much-abused Ibsen.
_The Pretenders_ is a historical drama amazingly rich in idea; whether
the idea of kingship superbly handled in it is an anachronism it is hard
to say, or to tell whether the dramatist chose his subject to illustrate
his idea or the idea to embellish his subject; but in it, though
obviously there is scope for magnificent mounting and interesting
detail, one feels that the genius of the author has prevented him from
making any sacrifice of the dramatic aspect. He has not chosen a popular
historical personage and made him into the hero of the melodrama, as
happens in the case of nine out of ten of the so-called historical
plays, but has written a drama that demands a royal atmosphere, which he
handles admirably.

What a pity that the money lavished upon the Du Barri play--and lavished
very cleverly, it must be admitted, so far as the production of
beautiful stage-pictures is concerned--was not spent in the mounting of
a great drama like _The Pretenders_, rich in strong acting parts,
magnificent in presentation of character, and really illuminated by
ideas!

The Horrible in Drama

It has been alleged that _The Monkey's Paw_, a clever one-act play by
Messrs Jacobs and Barker, formerly presented at the Haymarket Theatre,
is too horrible for the stage. The part complained of is confined to the
last scene