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Views of Society and Manners in the North of Ireland
Views of Society and Manners in the North of Ireland Author:John Gamble Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: LETTER IL. London Tor a wonder I was last night at Drury Lane, and nothing could be worse than the scene behind the curtain, except the scene before. T... more »he audience sat like guilty creatures, waiting the coming of the play ; I was on the front seat of the pit, and, in familiar language, could not quarrel with my company, for I had the entire bench to myself; the play was a dull comedy, written I know not by whom, and revived I know not on what account. I left the house before the performance was over. It is but justice to this unfortunate theatre to say, that the only other time I was there this season, I was more fortunate ; the play was Hamlet. You know my fondness for the theatre, and will therefore pardon me a few remarks on this celebrated play. That it is defective as a drama, is saying little, for almost all the great author's dramas are the same ; but in many respects it is peculiarly, and even perversely so. Hamlet treats Ophelia with useless cruelty, and he murders her father almost in sport ; he mourns sincerely over the grave of his unfortunate mistress, yet the very ensuing scene we find him coolly moralising with Horatio, amusing himself with the language I and manner of Osrick, and finally, with no other misgiving than from his own selfishness, consenting to the mock combat with Laertes. The warmhearted and high-spirited Laertes here loses all claim to our regard: indeed, the consistency of his character is entirely destroyed, by his consenting to the king's vile and pitiful device; nor is it more vile and pitiful, than it is bungling and inartificial. Besides, as the Greeks used to do with Hercules, we ask, and no one I am sure can tell us,' what has all this to do with the ghost, and such a ghost too, fierce, implacable, and unforgiving ! Let loos...« less