Pictorial Shakespeare, 1880-1890 - eTheses Repository - University ...

204
old omission oi .-osaline, cut coun Romeo's port and the
Discussion of his nature* Irving lot Juliet*s age stc nd
at fourteen (1*2.9), but omitted the line in his preparation
copy: Miss And^rson altered the number to eighteen, an a^e
nearer her own^ *
Juliet's first appearance came with t e second scene -
the third of the fuj.1 text - which represented the log&ia of
Capulet's house* A loggia had been used in Irvin^s production
for the fifth act of act two, and was considered by The
Athenaeum (11 . arch ltL2) to be among the details by which
"t e open-air life chpracteristic of the South" wss shown.
Lytton found the actress's entrance entirely satisfactory:
Her sudden impulsive entrance at the cell of the
Nurse, who is looking for her in another
directionj followed by the shy girlish pause
between the curtains, at the ftords "Madam, I err.
here"| when she perceives the presence of her
mother**.the sort of innocent careless vccaacy
which pervades the whole expression of the f^ce,
and every attitude and essture of the figure,
throughout this sc^ne, are exactly \ h, t they should
be*
The £ra (& November) found the actress "fresh*. *>ret,,y,. .and
...enchanting", but added th< t she coulo do little more than
be charming* A number of others found her demeanour in the
early scenes unconvincing and shallow *• ffhe Stape. (7 November)
consic-,red Juliet's "trippinc , tt downstairs in Siisv/er to her
mother's call "an obtrusive sho,/ of juvenility", execute
"in the same manner that a schoolgirl mi t,ht run to meet a
favourite teacher"* Lytton was uncertain about the
legitimacy of one particularly
.•t
efioctive pieco of busi i.css
it the end of tho scene, .vhen dance music vas itiiutly auc'ible
as the servant announces the e_rival of the guests:
Catching the s-uncl of this music, Juliet (who he s
been raore or less inattentive to ti'.e tali: i)ct'. Gun
her mother and the nurse, or vho, at least, hcs
listened '.;ith an obvious indifference to thu subject
of it), makes e littl. dance novo ient v/ith her ieoi
as she follows her mother to the cic-nco.
he took this to be a siyi of Juliet's inpulsiveness: Her
excitement at the prospect of the ball would '-j^ "coniinec ,
like a cialci's, to the oxcltoment of -.ho de.-icin..., and not