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Modem Conception of
the World's Famous
Women
SVL'EEX MJRIIi J.XTOI.XIITTE
I 7 ti"" silling for Madame l.ebrun, the
g famous painter.
h "Your majesty," declared the painter,
"it is tir. You haze assumed the char
acter of the time. You haie adorned your
self as the quexn posterity shall honor Mid
admire. Art shall immortalize
ou as sou
are.
V More than a century after her death
an actress attempted to resurrect the queen
of France, to portray her as she had ap-
f eared to her court and subjects, ott she-,
succeeded in the cci'iitcrfeit ma be seen bx
kAKE Mr. I-niiitry a Marie Antoinette.
who was eonidTod one of tl- lovi !i( m
omen of her time. S,,. too. the "Jcm v
. I.lly. as lie kn.'VJti in the day-
when Kins- Ednerd r, Knplai. i. tl;n prii L i f
Walr,-a4tTjfrfd itrr mer thnn sny othi r rt nut,.
B herald-d the Mjpmne beauty -.f 1 r iav.
Eirt of 1!, t),iv a- a diff- rrn.v ktj'ti
tn leirijHTaiBnit of " llw two Ixmitie. Ant' i
nrtt' wa .tivaeiroi Jd caprieiu) ; tn Itrtrv
rfwinl.W the lily, u-1 nly hit and rH.- ful.
t lift fatv. it ii olwrrel in the j.innre, is
tkX fo fitio, mijTt)enD at that tie Fr neh
1411. 1 1 r fr .larks the iuiii ituKlo tom b
wkt'h bi' Qten Mari tin-psoot in the
cittrt. Tin n- altrayt onftbii!B ref -he-relic
in the'l'rtni-h jiitu" tire; Mm. Iangtry, ia"
lis tnt iz-iu', faili to carry ct.intktiot.
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THE OREGON; SUNDAY, JOURNAL. PORTLAND, SUNDAY
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a comparison of the queen as shown in Le
brun's painting with Mrs. Langtry in stage
costume.
Many other heroines of history have
been impersonated on the stage within re
cent years; it has become the fashion to re
enact the romances and tragedies of those
whose figures become magnified with the
passing of lime.
Rut can women of today assume with
fidelity the roles of famous ones who lived
in the long-gone past? Is not there always
the temptation to idealize, to tamper wth
the original picture?
j'j interesting to see.
Attractive and charming a was the ehar
aetrr of the French quoen. just as forbiddinj?
h the character of Elizabeth of England.
I'aintiii;- were made during Elizubeth'a liff!
wiu h ivi-al to in an rtttrcinelr handsome flini
priciou" woman. For thrne doubtless thx? daugh
:rr of .Henry VIII paid excellent prices. For
:h- re ere artiU ia her tiraera there ar-artist
i ' rr. who did not Imitate to embellish what
n u'jre had diphtl and for considerations of
cin made liiMioinc by means of the transfigur
ing brus-h what nature made eioeolingly plain;
Nanr O'Neill wmf years ago attempted to
portray Elizabeth on the modem tage. .Tin w
no drmht, critic KaiU that Elizabeth rripht
have found tlie prenitation fattering, Juditw;
ly the Verrailles portrait. Elirabeth was an ex
tremely jLin vomtfi. ller face wa rai Lur
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fialurcK small; her eyes were. large and hard;
her oliin was sharp and determined.
Had Elizabeth possessed jhe American
actress' fane she might have been more popular
in her day. Miss O'Neill presented a Queen
Elizabeth with a full, plump, rosy face a oueen
with soft blue eyes, a broad, liberal chin, a gen-V
erous mouth. Uoubtlcss Miss O'Neill did not
achieve the waist line of the historic heroine, for
Elizabeth's cornets were aid to lc wonders.
-With her hair dressed high, in a mountainous
jeak surmounted by a jeweled "crown, a wide,
stiff, ruffled collar about her neck, her waist
laced dangerously. Queen Elizabeth must have
been a unique-figure.
Few characters stand oui jn history a Joe
tlie Pgure of. Joan. of Are. Jn, both ilarie.
"Antoinette and Queen ElizaLeth the human
qualities were extremely strongi lhee qualities
wore at Oiice ' their strength and their weakness.
But in the little maiden from Dorart-mf. it ia
more the spiritual that transfignrctl "her and;
made her the marvel of history.- Tlierefore the
character of Joan of necessity must be difScuh
to portray. . . . . ,
Variou actresses have tried to portray Iwr.i
among them Julia Marlowe and Amelia Jling-,
ham. Mi Marlowe waa the Jwo of Dommny,
the pJift and lovely peasant girl. Mb- Bingham
tayed to portray the Joan of battle, the mix
'it N TNG, MARCH : 21, 1009
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lant leader of the forces of France. It might
be invidious to say that Miss Bingham was too
big." Truth to tell,' criticg remarked lier Joan
in armor looked more 'like Minerva sprung from
the forehead of Jove than the slight but brave
maiden of Oileifns.
Biasing his conception on historical deacrip
tions of Joan of $rc, I)e Monvel, a meleru
paiuter. drew a picture of the maiden as she Mood
accused before her judges. Here we see her
historians have described her a small, lithe
limbed, fine-featured, delicate woman; a woman
dressed as a peasant boy, her hair cut short
about her ahouldem. This is the Joan of hia
tory. On the stage he ia generally shown in a
-suit f -armor, brand hew; a helmet and a skirt
cmhroidemL with the fleur. de lis.of Franee a
big, vicoroua Joan, with fnll. rosy face and
long, flowing hairr- t - T"
Another favorite heroine of history with
jnodern actresses is Uiat qoeoa actress -of her
day, gay Nell Gwyn. whom Charles II loved
until his " death. - tfhe was gay; sJie always '
la tic bed : her irift of repartee waa so keen that
people aeldottt. ventured to say -a displeasing .
thing to her.. Sometimes, historians tell tis, she
swore. . ' ' ' ' t ' ' -
Whrn -Henrietta Crosman took the part ef
NV II critics praised ber performances highly..
Miss CrosxnJn laugbed and danced, and to a
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remarkable degree imitated the winsbweness of
Nell. Did she laugh as Nell laughed? Bid she
dance as Nell danced? Was she as fair as Nell?
Nell Gwyn was small and slight o small,
to. slight, so merry that to. play a serious role
was impossible. It was her custom between
nets, or when her dance was over, to leap from
the stage and make merry in .the boxes.
According to the paiuter, Nell Gwyn pos
sessed a full face, soft eyes, with a suggestion
of merriment even in repose.. Her hair was soft
and curling. The modern actress who so well
counterfeited. the1 favorite of Charles possesses
a more angular face, sharper, more brilliant hut
less merry eyes. , . , .
leafing over the pages of history, many
actresses have selected ancient queens r and
heroines for their roles. Cleopatra, Judith, the
Queen of Sheba, Delilah, Sappho, Electra have
appeared on the mbderii stage. Sara Bern
hardt essayed many historic .roles. As the Queen
of the Nile she threw into the character all lier
passion and. mystic temperament.
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SHAW'S IDEA' OF CLEOPATRA
. . . .
Miss Gertrude Elliot gives us a new inter
pretation of the queen of Egypt. It is Cleo
patra as Bernard Shaw imagines her and most
critics agree that Shaw in his conceptions is
wrong. Miss Elliot, however, in appearances
made an ideal Cleopatra. Her features are fine,
her eyes large and dark, her eyebrow heavy
purely Egyptian, one might say. As the queen
who brought the riches" of Sheba to Solomon,
Edith Walker wcni praise.
Possibly one of the most eon.umuite de
lineation of an historical heroine wa Madame
Modjeska's presentation of Mary Htuart. Mod
jeska impersonated, the high-bred, melanclioly,
lovable queen "with such skill that audience felt
that the victim of Queen Elizabeth Jived again,
only possessing a voice such as Mary never
boasted.
Some one bas said that historical characters
appeal to one more strongly than any 1-orn rf
pure imagination. It is interesting to ob-rve,
therefore, howr closely art can counterfeit hero-
incs long dead. -","..
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