pleasurable interest-but there is something about such characters that attracts and invites the attention, and throws a sort of halo around the acts of such individuals, that the mind loves to penetrate the mysteries in which they are ever involved, till it traces them to the termination of their career -rejoicing in the punishment of the very vices which they have been almost admiring, and without which no interest would have been excited. But though the overthrow of vicious projects, which appeared to be advancing rapidly to prosperity, affords us pleasure, it is to be hoped that we dwell with much more gratification on those characters which present to our minds some of the delights to be found in the pursuit of virtue, and in the performance of incidents, which ever and anon call forth the display of the nobler feelings of the human heart, giving us a pleasurable glimpse-not of what man is-but what he might be. In the work before us, we have the dark side of human nature presented to our view, with but few flashes of brightness to relieve it. If this should be considered by some as a fault in the play, it certainly is the only one. Leonte's natural desire to repel the insinuations, involving the fame of his mother, is well displayed, and would appear to much advantage on the stage. Guido, still finding Leonte hesitating, strives to stir up the deadly feelings which are agitating his own revengeful breast; but the youth finds refuge in reproof, which our author manages with much. poetical skill: LEONTE. Revenge is not for man! oh then, forget it! 'Tis Heaven's dread charge, guarded so jealously, Guido at length prevails on Leonte to join him, in returning to Parma, on his expedition of vengeance; and, effecting their escape from the monastery of St. Mary, the second act ends. The third act opens with a scene in the palace of the Grand Duke Viotto. Andrea hands Viotto a letter, which has just been brought by a hasty messenger, from the Prior of St. Mary's, who gives information of the flight of Leonte with Guido, intimat ing the deadly purpose they have in view. Whilst they are conversing, a second messenger arrives, bringing tidings that, having in company with his fellows, who were despatched by Andrea to attack the fugitives, should they meet with them, carried their orders into effect, they had been unsuccessful, and that both his comrades fell in the contest, and he alone escaped to bring the news. Viotto fears his displacement from the ducal throne, and that the appearance of his father will bring his friends to his aid those friends who believe him imbecile, and unfit, in consequence, to reign, and that the discovery that the old man is well in body and sane in mind, will raise public feeling in his favonr. The plot begins to thicken. Guido suddenly breaks in upon the brothers, who are about to fight, and having stopped the rencounter, by an interview with Viotto, in which the old man mentions his intention of reinstating himself on the throne, by proving Viotto to be the son of Andrea-the proofs being in his own possession. Here we have an effective scene-Guido states the fact that he is able to prove Viotto's bastardy. Viotto assumes a careless indifference at the intelligence, whilst the old man allows himself into being entrapped to shew his papers of proof. Viotto reads; but informs the old ex-Duke that if he will read a certain paper, which he gives him, he will find his proofs vanish. While Guido reads the paper, Viotto coolly lights the document on which the old man's case rests, at a taper standing on the table before him. Guido discovers the trick just in time to see the destruction of the paper, and guards entering at that moment, the old man is committed to their custody. This finishes the third act. As this act is taken up principally in the development of the plot, we have omitted to make extracts. (To be Continued.) THE DRAMA AND PAINTING. THE friends of the drama have, during the last few years, witnessed a very great change in the arrangement of the dramatis personæ, costume, scene, and the furniture introduced into a dramatic performance-a change in every way for the better; assisting the illusion of acting, giving greater pleasure to the man of reading, and greatly conducive to the success of an author; it must, however, be clearly understood, that mere commonplace ideas cannot, or ought not, even with all these aids, to be forced upon the town instead of true tragedy, or comedy; although a dramatic trifle, a burletta, or a melo-dramatic effort may be tolerated, if the tailor, scene-painter, property-man, and manager have exerted themselves for that purpose. Propriety of scene, costume, and furniture, have been gradually advancing since the time when Garrick was accustomed to play Hamlet in a black velvet suit, bag-wig, and ruffles, and Othello in a lamp-blacked face, scarlet-laced coat, and cocked hat, because Othello was a military gentleman. Garrick first, John Kemble after him, attempted a reformation. During John Kemble's reign, or King John's, or Black Jack's, (which were his names behind the curtain,) some substantial changes were made in the production of the classical drama. Classicality was, in his time, the rage; valuable works on the antiquities of the Greeks and Romans had been produced, which were of the greatest assistance to Kemble in placing on the stage of Covent Garden Theatre, the classic plays of Shakspere and other authors; and to give due effect, a French tailor, from the Theatre François, was expressly sent for, by whom the Roman togas now in use at Covent Garden were made. This care, however, does not appear to extend beyond the plays of classical subjects, as Falstaff was, and is, still played in nearly the identical costume worn as the military dress fashionable in the reign of George the First and Second. Hamlet, Romeo, Mercutio, Richard the Third, were all dressed in a compound of costume from the dates of Elizabeth, James I., and Charles I. Charles Kemble, dur ing his reign, greatly improved upon this state of things, by engaging Mr. Planché, the dramatist and antiquary, to search for and design correct costume for several plays of the great bard. From the period of Charles Kemble's management, much information was amassed respecting English antiquities; costume became a subject of inquiry, and many works were written upon armour and weapons, Gothic architecture, and furniture. The names of Strutt, Smith, Meyrick, Pugin, Shaw, Fosbrooke, Ellis, and others, are familiar to artists, and ought to be so to theatrical managers. Mr. Macready, upon assuming the reins of theatrical government, wisely profited by the artists' and antiquarians' labours, and the plays produced under his management were astonishing for the general accuracy of costume, liberal expenditure, scenery, furniture, and the whole stage effect. But the great size of the Theatres Royal, the internal debt they have incurred, the extensive free list, reducing the manager's profits, the charges for admission, and a change in the popular amusements, all combine to close the great theatres upon the tragic and comic poets of our country; consequently, the Haymarket, Sadler's Wells, and the theatre at Marylebone, have been obliged to shelter our otherwise houseless bards. Historical and romantic painting has undergone a precisely similar change, from an absurd cast of costume, to propriety in this respect; and it is curious to see the stage and the canvass reflecting each other's image at this time as well as in past years. The same want of research is shewn in the Boydell Gallery, which, as our readers know, is a collection of engravings after pictures by our best artists, illustrative of the works of Shakspere, and the same absurd mixture of costume clothed the actors on the stage as well as the figures on the canvass. Hamilton, Smirke, Opie, and the other artists, were content to adopt the costume they saw on the stage or at fancy balls, and in defiance of propriety, clothe all their figures in such heterogenous dresses-and without thought as to the date-only excepting the classical plays or scenes; while, on the other hand, actors having no authority to study, or without controul on the part of the management, dressed their characters just according to their own fancy; or if a particular figure or costume happened to strike them in any picture, it was at once adopted, so that "bad led to worse," and nonsense, as far as costume was concerned, reigned triumphant, both on the stage and on the canvass. Messrs. Strutt, Stothard, Hamilton, Smith, Meyrick, and Planché, have effected the present change in the costume now adopted by actors and artists; while in furniture, scenery, and general arrangements, Pugin, Shaw, Hunt, Richardson, and others, have produced works which can be safely followed. On the Continent, propriety of costume has preceded its general adoption in England, and we, therefore, find our French neighbours are scrupulously correct in these respects, both in their stage arrangements and in their historical pictures. The great care which characterized the production of "Much ado about Nothing," "Winter's Tale," "Macbeth," "Hamlet," "King Lear," "Henry V." and other plays, under Mr. Macready's management, with comedy under that of Madame Vestris, and the same attention to propriety now carried on by Mr. Phelps at Sadler's Wells, Mr. Webster at the Haymarket, and Mrs. Warner at the Marylebone theatre, have elevated the mise en scene to an art, of which former stage-managers had but a faint idea, and it is this art with which we propose to deal in our magazine. As we shall not attempt to instruct the stage-manager in his business, well knowing that the technicalities of different professions differ greatly, so we shall hope to escape the imputation of vanity; but while we thus sue for indulgence from manager Strut, we must take the liberty to indicate to the despots of the stage, in what manner the art of composition applies as well to the grouping of actors on the stage, as to the grouping of figures on a canvass. Time was, when a common parlour chair, with merely a cover thrown over it, did duty in genteel comedy, in tragedy, and in melo-drama, just as a scene in Regent-street or Piccadilly represented a street in Rome, Athens, or any street, anywhere; but travelling, sketch-books, and a general spread of knowledge upon the subjects render such carelessness or meanness now a dangerous course for a manager to adopt, and only in very humble establishments are these anomalies found. Most theatrical managers vie with each other in a liberal supply of means for providing stage effect. The actor, if thoroughly intent upon his profession, considers himself, from the moment of his appearance, to his exit, as presenting a series of pictures, in which propriety of costume and action are all fully considered; language, emphasis, and style of delivery belong to the theatrical critic, and though we will not touch upon that part of the actor's profession, we propose only to consider the stage as a picture, and the proscenium as the frame; and in this view we are (at least to ourselves) perfectly justified, for the liberal expenditure of our theatrical managers affords every scope for completeness of stage effect, and it only requires the manager to listen to artistic hints, or to study composition, in order to produce, at every change of scene or of grouping, the most pleasing effects, of one or two figures, or, in a general assembly of the dramatis personæ, a fine and extensive composition. Having premised so much, it is our intention to devote a portion of our Magazine to artistic critiques upon the drama, and to elucidate, in the course of these criticisms, the principles of art upon which much of the beauty of the mise en scene depends. The justly merited praise which Mrs. Warner has obtained since her management of the Theatre, Marylebone, |