Records Of A Girlhood Volume 1 (1 Of 2), Frances Ann Kemble [i can read book club .txt] 📗
- Author: Frances Ann Kemble
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As For My Success, There Was, I Believe, A Genuine Element In It, For
Puffing Can Send Upward Only Things That Have A Buoyant, Rising Quality
In Themselves; But There Was Also A Great Feeling Of Personal Sympathy
For My Father And Mother, Of Kindly Indulgence For My Youth, And Of
Respectful Recollection Of My Uncle And Aunt; And A Very General Desire
That The Fine Theater Where They Had Exercised Their Powers Should Be
Rescued, If Possible, From Its Difficulties. All This Went To Make Up A
Result Of Which I Had The Credit.
Volume 1 Chapter 12 Pg 31
Among My Experiences Of That Nauseous Ingredient In Theatrical Life,
Puffery, Some Have Been Amusing Enough. The Last Time That I Gave Public
Readings In America, The Management Of Them Was Undertaken By A Worthy,
Respectable Person, Who Was Not, I Think, Exceptionally Addicted To The
Devices And Charlatanism Which Appear Almost Inseparable From The
Business Of Public Exhibition In All Its Branches. At The End Of Our
First Interview For The Purpose Of Arranging My Performances, As He Was
Taking His Leave He Said, "Well, Ma'am, I Think Everything Is Quite In A
Nice Train. I Should Say Things Are In A Most Favorable State Of
Preparation; We've A Delightful Article Coming Out In The ----." Here He
Mentioned A Popular Periodical. "Ah, Indeed?" Said I, Not Quite
Apprehending What My Friend Was Aiming At. "Yes, Really, Ma'am, I Should
Say First-Rate, And I Thought Perhaps We Might Induce You To Be Good
Enough To Help Us A Little With It." "Bless Me!" Said I, More And More
Puzzled, "How Can I Help You?" "Well, Ma'am, With A Few Personal
Anecdotes, Perhaps, If You Would Be So Kind." "Anecdotes?" Said I (With
Three Points Of Interrogation). "What Do You Mean? What About?" "Why,
Ma'am" (With A Low Bow), "About Mrs. Kemble, Of Course." Now, My Worthy
Agent's Remuneration Was To Consist Of A Certain Proportion Of The
Receipts Of The Readings, And, That Being The Case, I Felt I Had No
Right Absolutely To Forbid Him All Puffing Advertisements And Decently
Legitimate Efforts To Attract Public Attention And Interest To
Performances By Which He Was To Benefit. At The Same Time, I Also Felt
It Imperatively Necessary That There Should Be Some Limit To These
Proceedings, If I Was To Be Made A Party To Them. I Therefore Told Him
That, As His Interest Was Involved In The Success Of The Readings, I
Could Not Forbid His Puffing Them To Some Extent, As, If I Did, He Might
Consider Himself Injured. "But," Said I, While Refusing The Contribution
Of Any Personal Anecdotes To His Forthcoming Article, "Take Care What
You Do In That Line, For If You Overdo It In The Least, I Will Write An
Article, Myself, On My Readings, Showing Up All Their Faults, And
Turning Them Into Ridicule As I Do Not Believe Any One Else Either Would
Or Could. So Puff Just As Quietly As You Can." I Rather Think My Agent
Left Me With The Same Opinion Of My Competency In Business That Mr.
Macready Had Expressed As To My Proficiency In My Profession, Namely,
That "I Did Not Know The Rudiments Of It."
Mr. Mitchell, Who From The First Took Charge Of All My Readings In
England, And Was The Very Kindest, Most Considerate, And Most Courteous
Of All Managers, On One Occasion, Complaining Bitterly To My Sister Of
The Unreasonable Objection I Had To All Laudatory Advertisements Of My
Readings, Said To Her, With A Voice And Countenance Of The Most Rueful
Melancholy, And With The Most Appealing Pathos, "Why, You Know, Ma'am,
It's Really Dreadful; You Know, Mrs. Kemble Won't Even Allow Us To Say
In The Bills, _These Celebrated Readings_; And You Know, Ma'am, It's
Really Impossible To Do With Less; Indeed It Is! Why, Ma'am, You Know
Even Morrison's Pills Are Always Advertised As _These Celebrated
Pills!_"--An Illustration Of The Hardships Of His Case Which My Sister
Repeated To Me With Infinite Delight.
When I Saw The Shop-Windows Full Of Lawrence's Sketch Of Me, And Knew
Myself The Subject Of Almost Daily Newspaper Notices; When Plates And
Saucers Were Brought To Me With Small Figures Of Me As Juliet And
Belvidera On Them; And Finally, When Gentlemen Showed Me Lovely
Buff-Colored Neck-Handkerchiefs Which They Had Bought, And Which Had, As
I Thought, Pretty Lilac-Colored Flowers All Over Them, Which Proved On
Nearer Inspection To Be Minute Copies Of Lawrence's Head Of Me, I Not
Unnaturally, In The Fullness Of My Inexperience, Believed In My Own
Success.
I Have Since Known More Of The Manufacture Of Public Enthusiasm And
Public Triumphs, And, Remembering To How Many People It Was A Matter Of
Vital Importance That The Public Interest Should Be Kept Alive In Me,
And Covent Garden Filled Every Night I Played, I Have Become More
Skeptical Upon The Subject.
Seeing Lately A Copy Of My Play Of "Francis The First," With (To My
Infinite Astonishment) "Tenth Edition" Upon It, I Said To A Friend, "I
Suppose This Was A Bit Of Bookseller's Puffery; Or Did Each Edition
Consist Of Three Copies?" He Replied, "Oh, No, I Think Not; You Have
Forgotten The _Furor_ There Was About You When This Came Out." At Twenty
I Believed It _All_; At Sixty-Eight I Find It Difficult To Believe _Any_
Of It.
It Is Certain, However, That I Played Juliet Upward Of A Hundred And
Twenty Times Running, With All The Irregularity And Unevenness And
Immature Inequality Of Which I Have Spoken As Characteristics Which Were
Never Corrected In My Performances. My Mother, Who Never Missed One Of
Them, Would Sometimes Come Down From Her Box And, Folding Me In Her
Arms, Say Only The Very Satisfactory Words, "Beautiful, My Dear!" Quite
As Often, If Not Oftener, The Verdict Was, "My Dear, Your Performance
Was Not Fit To Be Seen! I Don't Know How You Ever Contrived To Do The
Part Decently; It Must Have Been By Some Knack Or Trick Which You Appear
To Have Entirely Lost The Secret Of; You Had Better Give The Whole Thing
Up At Once Than Go On Doing It So Disgracefully Ill." This Was Awful,
And Made My Heart Sink Down Into My Shoes, Whatever Might Have Been The
Fervor Of Applause With Which The Audience Had Greeted My Performance.
My Life Now Became Settled In Its New Shape. I Acted Regularly Three
Times A Week; I Had No Rehearsals, Since "Romeo And Juliet" Went On
During The Whole Season, And So My Mornings Were Still My Own. I Always
Dined In The Middle Of The Day (And Invariably On A Mutton-Chop, So That
I Might Have Been A Harrow Boy, For Diet); I Was Taken By My Aunt Early
To The Theater, And There In My Dressing-Room Sat Through The Entire
Play, When I Was Not On The Stage, With Some Piece Of Tapestry Or
Needlework, With Which, During The Intervals Of My Tragic Sorrows, I
Busied My Fingers; My Thoughts Being Occupied With The Events Of My Next
Scene And The Various Effects It Demanded. When I Was Called For The
Stage, My Aunt Came With Me, Carrying My Train, That It Might Not Sweep
The Dirty Floor Behind The Scenes; And After Spreading It Out And
Adjusting Its Folds Carefully, As I Went On, She Remained At The Side
Scene Till I Came Off Again, Then Gathered It On Her Arm, And, Folding A
Shawl Around Me, Escorted Me Back To My Dressing-Room And Tapestry; And
So My Theatrical Evenings Were Passed. My Parents Would Not Allow Me To
Go Into The Green-Room, Where They Thought My Attention Would Be
Distracted From My Business, And Where I Might Occasionally Meet With
Undesirable Associates. My Salary Was Fixed At Thirty Guineas A Week,
And The Saturday After I Came Out I Presented Myself For The First And
Volume 1 Chapter 12 Pg 32Last Time At The Treasury Of The Theater To Receive It, And Carried It,
Clinking, With Great Triumph, To My Mother, The First Money I Ever
Earned.
It Would Be Difficult To Imagine Anything More Radical Than The Change
Which Three Weeks Had Made In The Aspect Of My Whole Life. From An
Insignificant School-Girl, I Had Suddenly Become An Object Of General
Public Interest. I Was A Little Lion In Society, And The Town Talk Of
The Day. Approbation, Admiration, Adulation, Were Showered Upon Me;
Every Condition Of My Life Had Been Altered, As By The Wand Of A Fairy.
Instead Of The Twenty Pounds A Year Which My Poor Father Squeezed Out Of
His Hard-Earned Income For My Allowance, Out Of Which I Bought (Alas,
With How Much Difficulty, Seeing How Many Other Things I Would Buy!) My
Gloves And Shoes, I Now Had An Assured Income, As Long As My Health And
Faculties Were Unimpaired, Of At Least A Thousand A Year; And The Thirty
Guineas A Week At Covent Garden, And Much Larger Remuneration During
Provincial Tours, Forever Forbade The Sense Of Destitution Productive Of
The Ecstasy With Which, Only A Short Time Before I Came Out, I Had Found
Wedged Into The Bottom Of My Money Drawer In My Desk A Sovereign That I
Had Overlooked, And So Had Sorrowfully Concluded Myself Penniless Till
Next Allowance Day. Instead Of Trudging Long Distances Afoot Through The
Muddy London Streets, When The Hire Of A Hackney-Coach Was Matter Of
Serious Consideration, I Had A Comfortable And Elegant Carriage; I Was
Allowed, At My Own Earnest Request, To Take Riding Lessons, And Before
Long Had A Charming Horse Of My Own, And Was Able To Afford The Delight
Of Giving My Father One, The Use Of Which I Hoped Would Help To
Invigorate And Refresh Him. The Faded, Threadbare, Turned, And Dyed
Frocks Which Were My Habitual Wear Were Exchanged For Fashionably Made
Dresses Of Fresh Colors And Fine Texture, In Which I Appeared To Myself
Transfigured. Our Door Was Besieged With Visitors, Our Evenings Bespoken
By Innumerable Invitations; Social Civilities And Courtesies Poured In
Upon Us From Every Side In An Incessant Stream; I Was Sought And Petted
And Caressed By Persons Of Conventional And Real Distinction, And Every
Night That I Did Not Act I Might, If My Parents Had Thought It Prudent
To Let Me Do So, Have Passed In All The Gayety Of The Fashionable World
And The Great London Season. So Much Cordiality, Sympathy, Interest, And
Apparent Genuine Good-Will Seemed To Accompany All These Flattering
Demonstrations, That It Was Impossible For Me Not To Be Touched And
Gratified,--Perhaps, Too, Unduly Elated. If I Was Spoiled And My Head
Turned, I Can Only Say I Think It Would Have Needed A Strong Head Not To
Be So; But God Knows How Pitiful A Preparation All This Tinsel, Sudden
Success, And Popularity Formed For The Duties And Trials Of My
After-Life.
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