In the chief
American version of the theme, Mr. Vaughn Moody's _Great Divide_, the
lover is dispensed with altogether, being inconsistent, no doubt, with
the austere manners of Milford Corners, Mass. In one of the recent
French versions, on the other hand--M. Bernstein's _Samson_--the
aristocratic lover is almost as important a character as the virile,
masterful, plebeian husband. It appears from this survey--which might be
largely extended--that there are several ways of handling the theme; but
there is no way of renewing and deconventionalizing it. No doubt it has
a long life before it on the plane of popular melodrama, but scarcely,
one hopes, on any higher plane.
Another theme which ought to be relegated to the theatrical lumber-room
is that of patient, inveterate revenge. This form of vindictiveness is,
from a dramatic point of view, an outworn passion. It is too obviously
irrational and anti-social to pass muster in modern costume. The actual
vendetta may possibly survive in some semi-barbarous regions, and
Grangerfords and Shepherdsons (as in Mark Twain's immortal romance) may
still be shooting each other at sight.
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