THE INTERNATIONAL SHAKESPEARE- " OTHELLO."*
WE suppose that the really magnificent conception of honouring the genius of Shakespeare by an edition to which the "artistic talent of all nations should contribute," will. have to be limited when it comes to be carried out in practice.. "All nations" will hardly be found to mean much more than', England, Germany, and France, which have already taken part in the work ; and the United States, Belgium, and Austria, which may do so in the future. As it stands. at present, Mr. Dieksee has illustrated Romeo and Juliet and the volume now under review ; As You Like It has been treated by M. Bayard, and King Henry IV. by Herr Eduard Grfitzner; while we are promised King' Henry VIII., by Sir James D. Linton, and Twelfth Night, by Mr. G. H. Boughton. We must not be understood to com- plain of these arrangements. After all, we must look to English art to interpret the great English poet, though, in-. deed, we have been so helped in the study of his work by German erudition and ingenuity, that we may fairly expect a valuable supplement from this quarter.
Mr. Dicksee's work is, we think, equal to the occasion, or as nearly equal as a good artist could reasonably hope to make it. It will be felt that the draughtsman's chief diffi- culty would he in the presentation of Iago. Shakespeare has drawn Iago, it may be said, without any shading. His. other villains deviate, though it may be only for a moment, into better thoughts (Professor Dowden compares Richard III., and Edmund in King Lear) ; but Iago is only evil,— no impossible creature, as the history of raedituval Italy proves, but still hard to put into a shape that will be sig- nificant without caricature. Mr. Dicksee seems to have felt the difficulty, and he has managed it skilfully. The arch- villain appears thrice in his illustrations,—on one occasion Othello's hand is on his throat, and. hie face is distorted (we doubt, whatever the stage tradition may be, whether Shake- speare intended this); in the other two the figure is somewhat retired, and the expression is rather hinted than fully given. We think that, on the whole, Mr. Dicicsee has done a hard piece of work very well. The conception of Othello is adequate. We can easily imagine that a man of presence so. noble and commanding should have won the heart of Des- demona. The medium used in the illustrations minimises the difficulty of colour. It has only been necessary to deepen the shade a little to give us a face swarthy enough to satisfy the requirements of the drama, yet such as might easily please a fair Venetian. As to what Shakespeare had in his mind,.
"thick-lipped African" or Saracen of the Saladin type, we. own ourselves to be in doubt, even after what Professor Dowden has to say on the subject. The finest drawing in the set is, we think, Othello looking at the sleeping Deedemona. The figure of the sleeper is of an exquisite beauty. As to. Othello's face, the artist must have almost wished that he could have dealt with it as did the painter who veiled his Aga- memnon standing at the sacrifice of Iphigenia ; but the face' had to be shown, and it is as well done as we could hope. Desdemona in the frontispiece (where Othello has just left. her with the frightful word on his lips) hardly pleases us. Such blows do indeed age, but not in a moment. "Look on the tragic loading of this bed," is a fine design, but we should, like to have had the scene enlarged. It seems a little strange not to give the speaker. For the other illustrations we have nothing but praise, excepting, perhaps, Brabantio looking: from his window, where the choice of the subject is in fault. The introduction is an admirable piece of criticism which we have not space to appreciate in detail. The general appearance- of the volume is all that could be desired, except, indeed, the design upon the binding, which we cannot think adequate to, the occasion.
Othalo,
The Maoi f Venico. With 12 Illustrations by Frank Dinkpeo,A.R.A. With an Iutroduation by I"; (Ward Dowdon, LL.D. London and Mov York Cassell and Co. 1890.
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