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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Mother's Comically Expressed Dissatisfaction. Our Kind Friend, Major
Dawkins, Wished To Give My Father And Mother A Good Portrait Of Me, And
Suggested Mr. Pickersgill, A Very Eminent Portrait-Painter, As The
Artist Who Would Be Likely To Execute It Most Satisfactorily. Mr.
Pickersgill, Himself, Seemed Very Desirous To Undertake It, And Greatly
Volume 1 Chapter 20 Pg 151As My Sittings Interfered With My Leisure, Of Which I Had But Little, It
Was Impossible Under The Circumstances That I Should Refuse, Especially
As He Represented That If He Succeeded, As He Hoped To Do, His Painting
Me Would Be An Advantage To Him; Portraits Of Public Exhibitors Being Of
Course Recognizable By The Public, And, If Good, Serving The Purpose Of
Advertisements. Unluckily, Mrs. Jameson Proposed Accompanying Me, In
Order To Lighten By Her Very Agreeable Conversation The Tedium Of The
Process. Her Intimate Acquaintance With My Face, With Which Mr.
Pickersgill Was Not Familiar, And Her Own Very Considerable Artistic
Knowledge And Taste Made Her, However, Less Discreet In Her Comments And
Suggestions With Regard To His Operations Than Was Altogether Pleasant
To Him; And After Exhibiting Various Symptoms Of Impatience, On One
Occasion He Came So Very Near Desiring Her To Mind Her Own Business,
That We Broke Off The Sitting Abruptly; And The Offended Painter Adding,
To My Dismay, That It Was Quite Evident He Was Not Considered Equal To
The Task He Had Undertaken, Our Own Attitude Toward Each Other Became So
Constrained, Not To Say Disagreeable, That On Taking My Leave I Declined
Returning Any More, And What Became Of Mr. Pickersgill's Beginning Of Me
I Do Not Know. Perhaps He Finished It By Memory, And It Is One Of The
Various Portraits Of Me, _Qui Courent Le Monde_, For Some Of Which I
Never Sat, Which Were Taken Either From The Stage Or Were Mere Efforts
Of Memory Of The Artists; One Of Which, A Head Of Beatrice, Painted By
My Friend Mr. Sully, Of Philadelphia, Was Engraved As A Frontispiece To
A Small Volume Of Poems I Published There, And Was One Of The Best
Likenesses Ever Taken Of Me.
The Success Of "The Maid Of Honor" Gave Me Great Pleasure. The Sterling
Merits Of The Play Do Not Perhaps Outweigh The One Insuperable Defect Of
The Despicable Character Of The Hero; One Can Hardly Sympathize With
Camiola's Devotion To Such An Idol, And His Unworthiness Not Only
Lessens The Interest Of The Piece, But Detracts From The Effect Of Her
Otherwise Very Noble Character. The Performance Of The Part Always Gave
Me Great Pleasure, And There Was At Once A Resemblance To And Difference
From My Favorite Character, Portia, That Made It A Study Of Much
Interest To Me. Both The Women, Young, Beautiful, And Of Unusual
Intellectual And Moral Excellence, Are Left Heiresses To Enormous
Wealth, And Are In Exceptional Positions Of Power And Freedom In The
Disposal Of It. Portia, However, Is Debarred By The Peculiar Nature Of
Her Father's Will From Bestowing Her Person And Fortune Upon Any One Of
Her Own Choice; Chance Serves Her To Her Wish (She Was Not Born To Be
Unhappy), And Gives Her To The Man She Loves, A Handsome, Extravagant
Young Gentleman, Who Would Certainly Have Been Pronounced By All Of Us
Quite Unworthy Of Her, Until She Proved Him Worthy By The Very Fact Of
Her Preference For Him; While Camiola's Lover Is Separated From Her By
The Double Obstacle Of His Royal Birth And Religious Vow.
The Golden Daughter Of The Splendid Republic Receives And Dismisses
Princes And Kings As Her Suitors, Indifferent To Any But Their Personal
Merits; We Feel She Is Their Equal In The Lowest As Their Superior In
The Highest Of Their "Qualities;" With Camiola It Is Impossible Not To
Suspect That Her Lover's Rank Must Have Had Some Share In The Glamor He
Throws Over Her. In Some Italian Version Of The Story That I Have Read,
Camiola Is Called The "Merchant's Daughter;" And Contrasting Her Bearing
And Demeanor With The Easy Courtesy And Sweet, Genial Graciousness Of
Volume 1 Chapter 20 Pg 152Portia, We Feel That She Must Have Been Of Lower Birth And Breeding Than
The Magnificent And Charming Venetian. Portia Is Almost Always In An
Attitude Of (Unconscious) Condescension In Her Relations With All Around
Her; Camiola, In One Of Self-Assertion Or Self-Defense. There Is An
Element Of Harshness, Bordering Upon Coarseness, In The Texture Of Her
Character, Which In Spite Of Her Fine Qualities Makes Itself
Unpleasantly Felt, Especially Contrasted With That Of Portia, To Whom
The Idea Of Encountering Insolence Or Insult Must Have Been As
_Impossible_ As To The French Duchess, Who, Warned That If She Went Into
The Streets Alone At Night She Would Probably Be Insulted, Replied With
Ineffable Security And Simplicity, "Qui? Moi!" One Can Imagine The
Merchant's Daughter _Growing Up_ To The Possession Of Her Great Wealth,
Through The Narrowing And Hardening Influences Of Sordid Circumstances
And Habits Of Careful Calculation And Rigid Economy, Thrifty, Prudent,
Just, And Eminently Conscientious; Of Portia One Can Only Think As Of A
Creature Born In The Very Lap Of Luxury And Nursed In The Midst Of Sunny
Magnificence, Whose Very Element Was Elegant Opulence And Refined
Splendor, And By Whose Cradle Fortune Herself Stood Godmother. She Seems
Like A Perfect Rose, Blooming In A Precious Vase Of Gold And Gems And
Exquisite Workmanship. Camiola's Contemptuous Rebuff Of Her Insolent
Courtier Lover; Her Merciless Ridicule Of Her Fantastical, Half-Witted
Suitor; Her Bitter And Harsh Rebuke Of Adorni When He Draws His Sword
Upon The Man Who Had Insulted Her; Above All, Her Hard And Cold
Insensibility To His Unbounded Devotion, And The Cruelty Of Making Him
The Agent For The Ransom Of Her Lover From Captivity (The Selfishness Of
Her Passion Inducing Her To Employ Him Because She Knows How Absolutely
She May Depend Upon The Unselfishness Of His); And Her Final Stern And
Peremptory Claim Of Bertrand's Promise, Are All Things That Portia Could
Never Have Done. Portia Is The Lady Of Belmont, And Camiola Is The
Merchant's Daughter, A Very Noble And Magnanimous Woman. In The
Munificent Bestowal Of Their Wealth, The One To Ransom Her Husband's
Friend From Death, The Other To Redeem Her Own Lover From Captivity, The
Manner Of The Gift Is Strikingly Characteristic Of The Two Natures. When
Portia, Radiant With The Joy Of Relieving Bassanio's Anguish, Speaks Of
Antonio's Heavy Ransom As The "Petty Debt," We Feel Sure That If It Had
Been Half Her Fortune It Would Have Seemed To Her An Insignificant Price
To Pay For Her Husband's Peace Of Mind. Camiola Reads The Price Set Upon
Her Lover's Head, And With Grave Deliberation Says, "Half My Estate,
Adorni," Before She Bids Him Begone And Purchase At That Cost The
Prince's Release From Captivity. Moreover, In Claiming Her Right Of
Purchase Over Him, At The Very Moment Of His Union With Another Woman,
She Gives A Character Of Barter Or Sale To The Whole Transaction, And
Appeals For Justice As A Defrauded Creditor, Insisting Upon Her "Money's
Worth," Like Shylock Himself, As If The Love With Which Her Heart Is
Breaking Had Been A Mere Question Of Traffic Between The Heir Of Sicily
And The Merchant's Daughter. In Spite Of All Which She Is A Very Fine
Creature, Immeasurably Superior To The Despicable Man Who Accepts Her
Favors And Betrays Her Love. It Is Worthy Of Note That Bassanio, Who Is
Clearly Nothing Else Remarkable, Is Every Inch A Gentleman, And In That
Respect No Unfit Mate For Portia; While The Sicilian Prince Is A
Blackguard Utterly, Beneath Camiola In Every Particular But That Of His
Birth.
I Remember Two Things Connected With My Performance Of Camiola Which
Volume 1 Chapter 20 Pg 153Amused Me A Good Deal At The Time. In The Last Scene, When She Proclaims
Her Intention Of Taking The Vail, Camiola Makes Tardy Acknowledgment To
Adorni For His Life-Long Constancy And Love By Leaving Him A Third Of
Her Estate, With The Simple Words, "To Thee, Adorni, For Thy True And
Faithful Service" (A Characteristic Proceeding On The Part Of The
Merchant's Daughter. Portia Would Have Given Him The Ring From Her
Finger, Or The Flower From Her Bosom, Besides The Fortune). I Used To
Pause Upon The Last Words, Endeavoring To Convey, If One Look And Tone
Might Do It, All The Regretful Gratitude Which Ought To Have Filled Her
Heart, While Uttering With Her Farewell That First, Last, And Only
Recognition Of His Infinite Devotion To Her. One Evening, When The
Audience Were Perfectly Silent And One Might Have "Heard A Pin Drop," As
The Saying Is, As I Spoke These Words, A Loud And Enthusiastic
Exclamation Of, "Beautiful!" Uttered By A Single Voice Resounded Through
The Theater, And Was Followed By Such A Burst Of Applause That I Was
Startled And Almost For A Moment Frightened By The Sudden Explosion Of
Feeling, For Which I Was Quite Unprepared, And Which I Have Never
Forgotten.
Another Night, As I Was Leaving The Stage, After The Play, I Met Behind
The Scenes My Dear Friend Mr. Harness, With Old Mr. Sotheby; Both Were
Very Kind In Their Commendation Of My Performance, But The Latter Kept
Repeating With Much Emphasis, "But How Do You Contrive To Make Yourself
Look So Beautiful?" A Rather Equivocal Compliment, Which Had A Peculiar
Significance; My Beauty, Or Rather My Lack Of It, Being A Sore Subject
Between Us, As I Had Made It The Reason For Refusing To Act Mary Stuart
In His Play Of "Darnley," Assuring Him I Was Too Ugly To Look The Part
Properly; So Upon This Accusation Of Making Myself "Look Beautiful," I
Could Only Reply, With Much Laughing, "Good-Looking Enough For Camiola,
But Not For Queen Mary."
I Received With Great Pleasure A Congratulatory Letter From Mrs.
Jameson, Which, In Spite Of My Feeling Her Praise Excessive, Confirmed
Me In My Opinion Of The Effect The Piece Ought To Produce Upon
Intelligent Spectators. She Had Seen All The Great Dramatic Performers
Of The Continental Theaters, And Had Had Many Opportunities, Both At
Home And Abroad, Of Cultivating Her Taste And Forming Her Judgment, And
Her Opinion Was, Therefore, More Valuable To Me Than Much Of The
Criticism And Praise That I Received.
GREAT RUSSELL STREET, March, 1831.
DEAR MRS. JAMESON,
My Mother Is Confined To Her Bed With A Bad Cold, Or She Would Have
Answered Your Note Herself; But, Being Disabled, She Has
Commissioned Me To Do So, And Desires Me To
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