Download File

A DRAMATIC CRITIC
founding and confusing different vowel
sounds, are the most marked of his disa-
greeable peculiarities. The great broad
vowels are the ones which fare the worst
in Mr. Irving's mouth, and the reform of
his delivery must therefore be regarded as
hopeless ; an actor of middle age whose
chief pronunciations of " face " are faaace
and feaace, and of " no " are nao and
nawo, is past praying for in this regard.
Yet it is a part, and an important part, of
the duty of the stage to be a pronouncing
dictionary of the language, to bear aloft
the standard of correct and elegant speech,
and to make a constant appeal to the pub-
lic ear in behalf of pure and refined enun-
ciation. This function of the stage is one
which the unmitigated partisans of Mr.
Irving regard with supremely contemptuous
indifference. Indeed, they go much
further, and, with more or less careless
expressions of regret at his mannerisms,
speak of his faults in this kind as super-
[ 202 ]