Note 55 — Chapter XIV · 1888. ‘MACBETH’—‘THE DEAD HEART’—‘RAVENSWOOD.’

According to one writer, “an emissary was sent to Rome to acquire a Cardinal’s robe. After some time a friend managed to secure one of the very period, whereupon an exact copy, ‘both of colour and texture,’ was made. A price has to be paid for scenic splendours in the shape of the delays that they necessarily occasion. Thanks to the ingenuity of stage-carpenters and machinists, these delays at the Lyceum are reduced to a minimum time. ‘Henry VIII.’ being not one of the longest of the plays—though it is one-third longer than ‘Macbeth’—the text at the Lyceum has been treated with comparative leniency. ‘Hamlet,’ on the other hand, which comprises nearly four thousand lines, cannot on the modern system of sumptuous mounting possibly be given in anything approaching its entirety.” As a fact, very nearly one-half the play disappears from the modern acting copies. My friend Mr. W. Pollock, in a paper in the National Review, has justly urged in this connection that half a ‘Hamlet’ is better than no ‘Hamlet’ at all.