There are no women, though
the female sex is personated. This has its advantages. Woman is kept
out of harm; she is not subject to the indignities and temptations
which beset her among other peoples who employ her services. Of course
there are good and virtuous women on the stage--very many, I trust!
But it will be admitted that the life of an actress is one of trial.
She must of necessity be brought into intercourse with an element
whose moral ideals are not the loftiest, and she must have unusual
strength of character to preserve her integrity. She can do it! I
believe that men and women can resist temptation in all spheres, in
all vocations of life; I have great faith in humanity, especially when
sustained by divine helps; but we must not subject the bow to too much
tension lest it break. The personating of characters which have in
them a spice of wickedness, the taking of the part in a play which
represents the downfall of a virtuous person, the setting forth of the
passions of love and hatred, must in time produce a powerful effect on
the mind of a young woman, and there is danger that the neophyte on
the stage will be contaminated with the base things of life before
strength of character is developed.
Pages:
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185