Shakespeare again--From Macready to Irving; Phelps, Fechter, Ryder, Adelaide Neilson--Irving's Début--His Career in the Provinces, and Visit to Paris--The rôle of Digby Grand--The rôle of Matthias--The Production of _Hamlet_--Successive Triumphs--Irving as Stage Manager--as an Editor of Shakespeare--His Defects as an Actor--Too great for some of his Parts--As a Writer and Lecturer; his Theory of Art--Sir Henry Irving, Head of his Profession 156
Is it well to imitate Shakespeare?--The Death of the Classical Drama--Herman Merivale and the _White Pilgrim_--Wills and his Plays: _Charles the First_, _Claudian_--Tennyson as a Dramatist; he comes too soon and too late--Tennyson and the Critics--_The Falcon_, _The Promise of May_, _The Cup_, _Becket_, _Queen Mary_, _Harold_ 174
The Three Publics--The Disappearance of Burlesque and Decadence of Pantomime--Increasing Vogue of Farce and Melodrama-- Improvement in Acting--The Influence of our French Actors--The "Old" Critics and the "New"--James Mortimer and his Two "Almavivas"--Mr. William Archer's Ideas and Rôle--The Vicissitudes of Adaptation 193
The Three Principal Dramatists of To-day--Sydney Grundy; his First Efforts--Adaptations: _The Snowball_, _In Honour Bound_, _A Pair of Spectacles_, _The Bunch of Violets_--His Original Plays--His Style--His Humour--His Ethical Ideal--_An Old Jew_--_The New Woman_--A Talent which has not done growing 212
Henry Arthur Jones; his First Works--His Melodramas--_Saints and Sinners_--The Puritans and the Theatre--The Two Deacons: the Character of Fletcher--_Judah_--_The Crusaders_: Character of Palsam; the Conclusion of the Piece--_The Case of Rebellious Susan_--_The Masqueraders_--Return to Melodrama--Theories expounded by Mr. Jones in his Book: _The Renascence of the Drama_ 234
Two Portraits--Mr. Pinero's Career as an Actor--His Early Works--_The Squire, Lords and Commons_--The Pieces which followed, Half-Comedy, Half-Farce--_The Profligate_; its Success and Defects: _Lady Bountiful_--_The Second Mrs. Tanqueray_: Character of Paula--Mrs. Patrick Campbell--_The Notorious Mrs. Ebbsmith_ 254
Ibsen made known to the English Public by Mr. Edmund Gosse-- The First Translations--Ibsen acted in London--The Performers and the Public--Encounters between the Critics--Mr. Archer once more--Affinity between the Norwegian Character and the English--Ibsen's Realism suited to English Taste, his Characters adaptable to English Life--The Women in his Plays-- Ibsen and Mr. Jones--Present and Future Influence of Ibsen-- Objections and Obstacles 277