Homepage
Login
Profile
BookClubs
dmBox
Read Ebook: The Profligate: A Play in Four Acts by Pinero Arthur Wing
Font size:
Background color:
Text color:
Add to tbrJar First Page Next Page
Ebook has 28 lines and 19733 words, and 1 pages
Paper cover, 1s 6d; cloth, 2s 6d each
THE PINERO BIRTHDAY BOOK Selected and Arranged by MYRA HAMILTON With a Portrait, cloth extra, price 2s 6d.
FOOTNOTES:
This Play can be had in library form, 4to, cloth with a portrait, 5s.
A Limited Edition of this play on hand-made paper, with a new portrait, 10s net.
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
IT is now more than four years since "The Profligate" was written, and in the interval we have seen many conflicting influences at work upon the theatre, many signs of progress; but in June 1887, although the dramatic atmosphere was full of agitation and uncertainty, and the clamorous plaints of the pessimists were loud, the bolt of Norwegian naturalism had not yet fallen upon our stage, Ibsen was still, as far as England was concerned, an exotic of the library. Mr. Pinero, however, appears to have been an unswerving optimist in the face of spreading pessimism; he evidently felt that the air was clearing, that the period was approaching when the British dramatist might begin to assert his artistic independence, and at least attempt to write plays which should, by means of simple and reasonable dramatic deduction, record actual experience flowing in the natural irregular rhythm of life, which should at the same time embody lofty ideals of conduct and of character. So he wrote "The Profligate," wrote it as he explained, to fit no particular theatrical company, fettered the free development of his ideas by no exigencies of managerial expediency.
As soon as the play was completed he sought the opinion of one whose attitude towards the drama has always been marked by keen artistic sympathy and generous devotion--that delightful comedian, that masterly manager, John Hare. Mr. Hare's opinion of "The Profligate" found expression in very practical form. He was at that time on the eve of becoming theatrically homeless, but explaining to the author his plans for the future, he begged Mr. Pinero to keep his play for him until such time as he should be in a position to produce it, a request to which Mr. Pinero gladly acceded.
It must be admitted, however, that in doing this a question of managerial policy prompted a concession to popular taste or custom which Mr. Pinero had never anticipated in the composition of "The Profligate." He had ended his play with the suicide of the penitent profligate at the very moment that the wife is coming to him with pity and forgiveness in her heart, resolved to share his life again, to bear with him the burden of his past as well as his future--a grimly ironical trick of fate which the author considered to be the legitimate and logical conclusion of this domestic tragedy.
Now, therefore, that it has become feasible to place "The Profligate" in the hands of the reader, the author's intention is adhered to, and the play appears in its original form. As a matter of record, however, and for the benefit of those readers who may possibly be interested in comparing the two versions, I think it advisable to append below that portion of the acted text which differs from the play as it is now published, especially since the matter has excited some critical discussion.
The Fourth Act, as generally performed, is entitled "On the Threshold," and the departure from the original occurs on p. 122, when Dunstan Renshaw is about to drink the poison. From that point it runs thus:--
DUNSTAN.
Ah! stop, stop! This is the deepest sin of all my life--blacker than that sin for which I suffer! No, I'll not! I'll not! God, take my wretched life when You will, but till You lay Your hand upon me, I will live on! Help me! Give me strength to live on! Help me! Oh, help me!
You! You!
LESLIE.
I have remembered. When we stood together at our prayerless marriage, my heart made promises my lips were not allowed to utter. I will not part from you, Dunstan.
DUNSTAN.
Not--part--from me?
LESLIE.
No.
DUNSTAN.
I don't understand you. You--will--not--relent? You cannot forget what I am!
LESLIE.
No. But the burden of the sin you have committed I will bear upon my shoulders, and the little good that is in me shall enter into your heart. We will start life anew--always seeking for the best that we can do, always trying to repair the worst that we have done. Dunstan! Don't fear me! I will be your wife, not your judge. Let us from this moment begin the new life you spoke of.
DUNSTAN.
Wife! Ah, God bless you! God bless you, and forgive me!
"THIS MAN AND THIS WOMAN"
THE SWORD OF DAMOCLES
Add to tbrJar First Page Next Page