LIFE OF EDWIN FORREST, THE AMERICAN TRAGEDIAN.
Reading edition
BY
WILLIAM ROUNSEVILLE ALGER.
"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players."
VOLUME I.
PHILADELPHIA:
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.
1877.
Copyright, 1877, by J. B. Lippincott & Co.
TO JAMES OAKES, THE TRUE PYTHIAS IN THE REAL LIFE OF THIS DAMON, THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHY IS INSCRIBED.
PREFATORY NOTE.
The Author of the following work apologizes for the delay of its publication on the ground of long-continued ill health which unfitted him for mental labor. He has tried to make amends by sparing no pains in his effort to do justice to the subjects treated. The plan of the ensuing biography is that of a philosophical history, which adds to the simple narrative of events a discussion of the causes and teachings of the events. The writer has interspersed the mere recital of personal facts and incidents with studies of the principal topics of a more general nature intimately associated with these, and has sought to enforce the lessons they yield. His aim in this has been to add to the descriptive interest of the work more important moral values. The thoughtful reader, who seeks improvement and is interested in the fortunes of his kind, will, it is believed, find these episodes attractive; and the frivolous reader, who seeks amusement alone, need not complain of disquisitions which he can easily skip.
The author foresees that some opinions advanced will be met with prejudice and disfavor, perhaps with angry abuse. But as he has written in disinterested loyalty to truth and humanity, attacking no entrenched notion and advocating no revolutionary one except from a sense of duty and in the hope of doing a service, he will calmly accept whatever odium the firm statement of his honest convictions may bring. Society in the present phase of civilization is full of tyrannical errors and wrongs against which most persons are afraid even so much as to whisper. To remove these obstructive evils, and exert an influence to hasten the period of universal justice and good will for which the world sighs, men of a free and enlightened spirit must fearlessly express their thoughts and breathe their philanthropic desires into the atmosphere. If their motives are pure and their views correct, however much a prejudiced public opinion may be offended and stung to assail them, after a little while their valor will be applauded and their names shine out untarnished by the passing breath of obloquy. It is, Goethe said, with true opinions courageously uttered as with pawns first advanced on the chess-board: they may be beaten, but they have inaugurated a game which must be won.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
Prelude 13
CHAPTER II.
Parentage and Family 32
CHAPTER III.
Boyhood and Youth 55
CHAPTER IV.
Psychological Origin, Variety, and Personal Uses of the Dramatic Art 76
CHAPTER V.
The Dramatic Apprentice and Strolling Player 96
CHAPTER VI.
Life in New Orleans.—Critical Period of Experience 113
CHAPTER VII.
Breaking the Way to Fame and Fortune 140
CHAPTER VIII.
Growth and Freshness of Professional Glory: Invidious Attacks and their Causes 156
CHAPTER IX.
Sensational and Artistic Acting.—Characters of Physical and Mental Realism.—Rolla.—Tell.—Damon.—Brutus.—Virginius. —Spartacus.—Metamora 193
CHAPTER X.
Two Years of Recreation and Study in the Old World 262
CHAPTER XI.
Professional Tour in Great Britain 294
CHAPTER XII.
Meridian of Success and Reputation.—New Roles of Febro, Melnotte, and Jack Cade 323
CHAPTER XIII.
Second Professional Tour in Great Britain, and its Consequences.—The Macready Controversy and Riot 387
CHAPTER XIV.
Newspaper Estimates.—Elements of the Dramatic Art, and its True Standard of Criticism 432
CHAPTER XV.
Personal and Domestic Life.—Fonthill Castle.—Jealousy.—Divorce. —Lawsuits.—Tragedies of Love in Human Life and in The Dramatic Art 482
CHAPTER XVI.
Professional Character of the Player.—Relations with Other Players.—The Future of the Drama 523
CHAPTER XVII.
Outer and Inner Life of the Man 549
CHAPTER XVIII.
Prizes and Penalties of Fame 582
CHAPTER XIX.
Friendships.—Their Essential Nature and Different Levels.—Their Loss and Gain, Grief and Joy 606
CHAPTER XX.
Place and Rank of Forrest as a Player.—The Classic, Romantic, Natural, and Artistic Schools of Acting 639
CHAPTER XXI.
Historic Evolution and Social Uses of the Dramatic Art.—Genius and Relationship of the Liberal Professions.—Hostility of the Church and the Theatre 671
CHAPTER XXII.
Forrest in Seven of his Chief Roles.—Characters of Imaginative Portraiture.—Richelieu.—Macbeth.—Richard.—Hamlet. —Coriolanus.—Othello.—Lear 720
CHAPTER XXIII.
Closing Years and the Earthly Finale 795
APPENDIX.
I. The Will of Edwin Forrest 849
II. The Forrest Medals and Tokens 855
LIST OF STEEL PLATES.
PAGE
Portrait of Edwin Forrest ætat. 45. Engraved by Fred. Halpin (Frontispiece).
" " " 21 Engraved by Fred. Halpin 262
Edwin Forrest as Virginius " W. G. Jackman 230
" Metamora " Jas. Bannister 237
" Spartacus " Fred. Halpin 249
Rebecca Forrest " R. Whitechurch 424
Edwin Forrest as Shylock " D. G. Thompson 738
" Macbeth " Augustus Robin 739
" Richard III. " H. B. Hall & Sons 746
" Hamlet " G. H. Cushman 751
" Othello " G. R. Hall 769
" King Lear " G. H. Cushman 781
Portrait of Edwin Forrest ætat. 66 " H. B. Hall & Sons 795
Forrest Medals " Samuel Sartain 855
The engravings of Mr. Forrest in character are after photographs by Brady.
LIFE OF EDWIN FORREST.