THE REALISM OF STANLEY HOUGHTON 
 
 BY 
 
 DOROTHY HUNTINGTON HILL 
 
 THESIS, 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS 
 
 IN 
 
 ENGLISH 
 
 COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 1922 
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
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 https://archive.org/details/realismofstanleyOOhill 
 
THE REALISM OF STANLEY HOUGHTON 
 
 BY 
 
 DOROTHY HUNTINGTON HILL 
 
 THESIS 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS 
 
 IN 
 
 ENGLISH 
 
 COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 1922 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Biographical Note 1 
 
 Chapter I. Historical Background 6 
 
 Chapter II. Mr. Houghton’s Longer Plays 
 
 Exclusive of Hindi e Wakes 13 
 
 Chapter III. The Shorter Plays and 
 
 Non-drama tic Writing 33 
 
 Chapter IV. Hindle Wa kes 4? 
 
 Chapter V. Conclusion 64 
 
 Bibliography . 
 
- 1 - 
 
 BIOGRAPHIGAL NOTE. 
 
 Stanley Houghton's life centers in two things: what 
 rnay be called his vehement love of the theatre, and his less 
 interested pursuit of things material. In this respect the 
 life of this young modern is reminiscent of that of Charles 
 Lamb. Houghton, like Lamb, spent his days as a clerk in a 
 warehouse and his evenings in literary effort. Then, too, 
 another parallel between them is that they both possess that 
 marvellous gift of the high gods, a keen sense of humor and the 
 technique necessary to present their material to the public . 
 
 William Stanley Houghton was born at Asht on-up on - 
 Mersey, in Cheshire, on February 33, 1881. The Houghton family 
 of today descends from an old Lancashire family which originally 
 settled at Preston. The name, first spelled Hoghton, became, 
 about 1733, Houghton. It is pronounced as though it were 
 spelled Hawton. The dramatist's father, a cotton manufacturer 
 of Manchester, educated his son at the Grammar School of that 
 city. At the close of 1897, when he was nearly sixteen, he 
 entered his father's office. Although he worked his way up 
 from junior office-boy to salesman, he worked unwillingly. He 
 was always striving to write. 
 
 His first, as well as his last efforts, were toward 
 the theatre. An excellent amateur actor, he absorbed the 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 3 - 
 
 atmosphere of grease-paint. At the age of twenty (1901) he 
 
 wrote little comic operas and farces which he helped to stage. 
 
 In that same year he attempted 30ine extremely melodramatic one- 
 
 act plays, After Naaeby . The Last Shot , and The Blue Phial . 
 
 There is mention of a play written in 1903-1903, but it seems 
 
 to have disappeared over the horizon of oblivion, dragging its 
 
 title with it. From 1903 to 1907 he wrote at least one short 
 
 play each year. None of these are worthy of consideration 
 
 except The Old Testament and the New (1905) which receives some 
 
 1 
 
 attention in this treatment . 
 
 In 1908, Miss A. E. F. Horniman acquired the Gaiety 
 Theatre of Manchester. Miss Horniman 's production of plays 
 created a new standard in provincial England and furnished 
 Stanley Houghton with his opportunity . November of 1908 saw 
 the first production of T he Dear Depa rt e d at the Gaiety. This 
 was followed by Independent Means . in August of 1909, a play 
 chiefly interesting because of the last act in which Houghton's 
 technique masters him. In April of 1909 Marriages in the Mak - 
 ing was finished, but this play has never been produced. 
 
 In November and December of 1910 Miss Horniman 's 
 company at the Gaiety produced The Younger Generation . This 
 play, after Hindi e Wakes , is the dramatist's most successful 
 play. It has been produced in London at the Haymarket and 
 
 1. See Chapter III. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-3- 
 
 Duke of York's theatres. It has seen American production by 
 Charles Frohman. This play won the favor of William Archer. 
 
 It must be remembered that Houghton was at this time still 
 spending the so-called working hours of the day "under the strain 
 of a constantly growing feeling that the selling of 'grey cloth' 
 was something foreign from his true province."^ The Master 
 of the House , a play with a strong Irish flavor of the gruesome, 
 was written after The Younger Generation , in ISOS, but preceded 
 it in production in September, 1910. Gi nger , a play not in 
 the Brighouse edition of Mr. Houghton's works, was written in 
 1910 but not produced until 1913 by Mr. Esme Percy. 
 
 The Fifth Commandment was written by Mr. Houghton in 
 1911 . It has never been produced in England and only once in 
 America, at the Little Theatre, Chicago, in 1913. Fancy Free , 
 also written in 1911, made its appearance in November of that 
 year at a Manchester theatre. It failed. It has had an 
 American production at the Princess Theatre, New York. 
 
 Partners . the longer version of Fancy Free , was written in the 
 interval from May to September of 1911. It has never been pro- 
 duced . 
 
 Mr. Houghton's health was never very good, and the 
 tremendous success of Hindi e Wakes , written from October to 
 December of 1911 and produced by Miss Horniman's repertory 
 
 1. Houghton, Stanley: Works., v. 1, Introduction, p. xi . 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-4- 
 
 company at the Coronet Theatre in June, 1913, seems to have 
 been too much for him. After its Manchester success the play 
 had a long run in London. Mr. Houghton felt so reassured by 
 the success of this play that he gave up his position in his 
 father's office and attempted the literary field in earnest. 
 
 The peculiar thing about the dramatist's work f ran 1913 on, is 
 that it declines with his withdrawal from the cotton trade. 
 
 We wonder if the change of habit was too much for him. 
 
 There are three plays written on commission in the 
 period from September to December of 1913. These are Phipps . 
 Pearls . and Trust the People , the only one of the group appear- 
 ing in the Brighouse edition being Phipps . Ph ipps and Pearls 
 were both put on by Mr. Bourchier in 1912. The latter is a 
 regular music-hall piece. Trust the People ran for forty-four 
 nights, from February 6, 1913, on. 
 
 After the success of Hindi e Wakes the young dramatist 
 took a flat in Charing Cross Road, London. He found steady 
 work impossible, the public was much too busy making him a 
 literary lion. His health was growing steadily worse, as the 
 result of some obscure poisoning. May of 1913 found him en- 
 joying Paris and planning a novel called Lif e . In June the 
 rehearsals of The Perfect Cure called him back to Manchester . 
 There he was ill but went on to Venice. After a fortnight he 
 was operated on. He seemed to be getting better, and his 
 parents took him home to Manchester. He died on the 11th of 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-5- 
 
 Dec ember , 1913. 
 
 The plays which have been bequeathed to us are listed 
 below, together with the dates of first production, when pro- 
 duced . 
 
 1 . The Old Testament and the New : (written in 1905) . 
 
 3. The Dear Departed : (written in 1908), produced at the 
 Gaiety Theatre, Manchester, November 3, 1908. 
 
 3. Marriages in the Making : (written in April, 1909). 
 
 4. Independent Means : (written in 1908), produced at 
 
 the Gaiety Theatre, Manchester, August 30, 1909. 
 
 5. The Master of the House : (written in 1909), produced 
 
 at the Gaiety Theatre, Manchester, September 36, 1910. 
 
 6. The Younger Generation : (written in 1909), produced at 
 
 the Gaiety Theatre, Manchester, November 31, 1910. 
 
 7. The Fifth Commandment : (written in 1911), produced at 
 
 the Little Theatre, Chicago, April 1913. 
 
 8. Fancy Free : (written in 1911), produced at the Gaiety 
 
 Theatre, Manchester, November 6, 1911. 
 
 9. Partners : (written in May 1911). 
 
 10. Hindis Wakes : (written in October 1911), produced at 
 
 the Adlwych Theatre, London, June 16, 1913. 
 
 11. Phipps : (written 1913), produced at the Garrick Theatre, 
 
 London, November 19, 1913. 
 
 13. The Perfect Cu re: (written 1913), produced at the Apollo 
 
 Theatre, London, June 17, 1913 . 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 6 - 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 
 
 Any student of the modern drama who attempts the 
 accurate analysis of such a dramatist as Stanley Houghton, with- 
 out some knowledge of dramatic realism and its history in the 
 last half of the 19th Century, is seriously handicapped. Rare- 
 ly, however, do the creators of realistic drama write down their 
 theories of it for us. The dramatist creates his version of 
 realism and leaves it to the critic to write the theory of it. 
 Mr. Houghton is not an exception to this rule. I have, there- 
 fore, in this first chapter made use of William Leonard Court- 
 ney's theory of modern realism. His theory, or "inquiry into 
 the conditions and limitations of Dramatic Realism,"^ is to be 
 found in his essay on the "Realistic Drama" in Old Sa ws and 
 Modern Inst ances . After discussing briefly the meaning of 
 true dramatic realism, I shall follow with a more detailed sum- 
 mary of realism in England from the time of Tom Robertson to 
 such serious and successful realists as St . John Ervine, John 
 Galsworthy , and Stanley Houghton. 
 
 The dramatist of realism must be something of a 
 
 1. Courtney, William L: Old Saws and Modern Insta nces, preface 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-7- 
 
 scientist, a kind of "super-scientist”. He observes the life 
 which goes on around him and carefully tabulates his observa- 
 tions in a dramatic form. He considers it to be his business 
 as an artist to paint men as he thinks they are, "not very good, 
 not very bad, average creatures, sometimes with good intentions, 
 often with bad performance, meaning well and doing ill, — above 
 all, never heroes and never heroines, nor even thorough-going 
 villains, but (as one might phrase it) of a piebald variety. " 1 * 3 
 But that is not all, the realist must possess a passionate 
 desire for truth — truth at all costs. "He must possess an 
 equally passionate hatred of all hypocrisy and sham, his zeal 
 must anchor him on solid facts. He must refuse to care whether 
 he gives pain or discomfort to men and women who would rather 
 
 o 
 
 live in a fool's paradise . "^ As Mr. Clayton Hamilton says in 
 his article on the "New Realism in the Drama", "Character is 
 all they (the realists) care about; and provided their imaginary 
 people are representative and real, they do not deem it indis- 
 pensable that they shall reveal themselves in terms of action. 
 
 They therefore exercise their artistry in an effort to conceal 
 
 '6 
 
 the fact that the drama is different from nature." In brief, 
 
 1 . Ibid . , p . 161 . 
 
 3 . Ibid . , p . 183 . 
 
 3. Bookman , v. 36, p. 639. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 8 - 
 
 the art of true realism consists in the mirror-like representa- 
 tion of character. The mirror of the drama can never be flaw- 
 less, but it must be as "true” to the image reflected as pos- 
 sible . 
 
 This theory of realism has taken many years to for- 
 mulate. Undoubtedly the "spirit of science” which so disturbed 
 19th Century thought is indirectly responsible for realism. 
 
 It was not, however, until the last quarter of the century that 
 anything worth while in the field of realism was accomplished. 
 Previously the melodrama, farce and burlesque ran riot . The 
 drama was full of characters not unlike the Mikado of Gilbert 
 and Sullivan fame. There was another form of dramatic expres- 
 sion in such plays as those of Tom Robertson. Until his time 
 the English stage of the 19th Century was more or leas under 
 the domination of the French stage. This domination is evident 
 in the plays directly preceding Robertson, in their obvious 
 adaptation of French plot and characterization. Robertson's 
 plays, it is true, are undeniably cheap, but they represent the 
 dramatist's attempt at the realistic presentation of English 
 manners and habits. Hence his S ociety is one of the first 
 notes in the steadily ascending scale of realism. 
 
 Some twenty years after Robertson, we find in the 
 
 1. Courtney, W. L.: Old Saws a nd Modern Insta nces, p. 17S. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 9 - 
 
 history of English realistic drama, two names which have come 
 to mean much to us, in that they are associated with the earlier 
 days of this movement . These are Henry Arthur Jones and Arthur 
 Wing Pinero. Neither one of these men is, in the strict sense 
 of the term, a realist, but they are contributors to the cause. 
 
 In Saints and Sin ners (1884) Jones struck an important 
 blow for realism. Here Jones shows the spirit of the realist 
 who wishes to attack hypocrisy — in this instance that of narrow 
 evangelicalism. Furthermore, although Michael and His Lost 
 Angel is not a realistic drama, it contains an assault upon 
 English self-satisfaction embodied in the character of the Rev. 
 Michael Feversham. The production of The Profligate by Pinero 
 in 1889 was a noteworthy event in the history of dramatic real- 
 ism. In Pinero's work we see his two-fold desire, to paint 
 his characters from life and to expose all that is rotten in 
 the social state. The Profligate embodies Pinero's sincere if 
 halting attempt to break down the walls of convention and expose 
 the social problem behind them. In The Second Mrs. Tanquerav. 
 written later, the dramatist has improved upon The Profligate. 
 Here we find a more carefully worked out theme as well as a 
 wonderfully realistic character in Paula Tanqueray . The last 
 act of The Secon d Mrs . Tanquerav lifts us above the commonplace, 
 it inspires us to pity. As Mr. Courtney says, "the supreme 
 virtue of a drama of realism is that now and again it has this 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
-lo- 
 
 st range power of transporting us out of ourselves. Everyone, 
 perhaps, will have his own instances to give of an experience of 
 this kind; for myself I felt it when I first saw The Second Mrs . 
 Tanqueray , and again when I saw Kindle Wakes . 
 
 There have been other influences upon the development 
 of realism in England. St. John Hankin, whose Constant Lover 
 is an example of his dramatic theory, said, "it is the dram- 
 atist’s business to represent life, not to argue about it." 
 
 Mr. Galsworthy has contributed such pieces of the realistic 
 drama as Justice and Strife . St. John Er vine’s Magnanimous 
 Lover . like many of his other plays, is realistic in nature. 
 
 Mr. Granville Barker presents many serious problems to his 
 audiences, notably that in Waste . In this play, Mr. Barker 
 proves that any subject, even a repellent one, may be of inter- 
 est to the realist, if it concerns the problems of society. 
 
 As for George Bernard Shaw, he is like the poor, al- 
 ways with us. His writings have been a sort of stimulus to 
 the dramatists of the world for the past quarter of a century. 
 Hi3 influence has spread like the ripples on a pool after one 
 has thrown a stone in its midst. Furthermore, his continued 
 insistance upon "the new", has kept the public constantly upon 
 the alert . 
 
 The realism of Mr . Stanley Houghton is the outgrowth 
 
 1 . Ibid . . p . 188 . 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 11 - 
 
 of these various influences. It is never pessimistic, for he 
 chose to keep his dramas within the limits of the comic. Some 
 of Houghton’s critics have declared his plays to be nothing more 
 than comedies of manners. It is the object of this treatment 
 to prove by a more or less detailed study, that Mr. Houghton 
 had the makings of a great realist and that only his early death 
 prevented him from receiving his crown of laurels. 
 
-13- 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 MR. HOUGHTON'S REALISM IN THE LONGER PLAYS EXCLUSIVE 
 
 OF HINDLE WAKES. 
 
 If the realism of this period is, as we have seen, 
 dependent upon the treatment of character, Stanley Houghton's 
 work may be said to be one of the high points in its action. 
 
 It is customary in a criticism of this nature, to judge a man 
 by his greatest work, therefore Hin dis Wakes has been used in 
 this case as the "touchstone” for Mr. Houghton's work. Hence 
 the traces of "base metal" found in the other dramas appear more 
 striking by contrast. 
 
 So much for the criterion by which we shall judge Mr. 
 Houghton's work, which falls into three natural divisions, the 
 longer plays exclusive of Kindle Wakes , the one-act plays and 
 non-dramatic writing, and Kindle Wakes . The arrangement of 
 chapters in this criticism follows these divisions. The plays 
 criticised in this chapter are arranged according to their 
 chronological order. They include Independent Means . Marriages 
 in the Making . The Younger Generation . Partners . and The Perfect 
 Cure . 
 
 The first long play of any definite value was written 
 by Mr. Houghton in 1908; it is a comedy in four acts entitled 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 13 - 
 
 Independent Means . As the title indicates, the play concerns 
 itself with a married woman’s right to earn her own living. 
 
 The first act introduces the two main themes. The Edgar For- 
 syths return to the Forsyth home after a brief honeymoon which 
 ha3 been clouded by certain differences of opinion. Further- 
 more, the Forsyth fortune receives a distinct blow through the 
 failure of a certain Dutch produce company; but with character- 
 istic pride Egdar's father does not inform his family of this 
 disaster. Act II. finds that the differences of opinion betweer 
 Edgar and his wife Sidney have grown into a definite quarrel 
 over Sidney's "rights". Mrs. Forsyth tells Edgar and Sidney 
 of her husband's financial failure. The Forsyth credit has 
 been discounted, so that the third act finds the house sold to 
 John Ritchie, the family friend, and the furniture ticketed for 
 auction. Sidney, insistent in her demands for "independent 
 means", leaves the house without giving her future address to 
 her husband. Forsyth, overcome by his sense of failure, and 
 by the effect of too much "neat" whiskey on a bad heart, dies. 
 
 In Act. IV. the Forsyth fortune has entirely disappeared; as a 
 result Edgar accepts Ritchie's offer of a position. Sidney 
 is acting as Ritchie's secretary, and these two young people 
 have to share the same office. Their problems of readjustment 
 are solved in the "usual" manner. Sidney, faced with the 
 problem of making a living in the child-bearing period, capitu- 
 lates, and the curtain falls upon their reconciliation. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 14 - 
 
 This theme, however, is merely the background for 
 Houghton's realistic characterization. Edgar Forsyth's stubborr 
 egoism is carefully presented through such details as his quar- 
 rel in Act II . with Sidney over her place on the Suffrage Com- 
 mittee. We are convinced that he is just the sort of man who 
 would forbid his wife's seeing Man and Superma n because "it's 
 not fit for a decent woman to see." The character of Jane, 
 the housekeeper, remains the same even after her legacy allows 
 her to give up her position in the Forsyth household. She comes 
 to call on the Forsyths and ends by preparing tea. The follow- 
 ing dialogue is but one instance of Houghton's fidelity to the 
 homely details of life and character. 
 
 Mrs. Forsvth . We are just going to have a cup of tea 
 before leaving. You'll stop for that, won't you? 
 
 Jane, (politely). I’m much obliged to you. 
 
 Sidney ■ I'll go and make it. 
 
 Mrs. Forsvth . The kettle is on the small gas stove. 
 
 Jane . They haven't cut off the gas, then? 
 
 Sidney . Not yet. (She goes to the door.) 
 
 Jane . I'd better come and help you. That little gas 
 stove always fires back when you light it. 
 
 Sidney . Ye3, Jane, come along; there's a dear. 
 
 ( Sidney goes out . ) 
 
 Mrs. Forsvth . Oh no, there's no need. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-15- 
 
 Jane. I'm not too proud; I often feel the want of 
 something to do nowadays 
 
 Another example of Houghton's fondness for realistic 
 detail is to he found in the 3csne between Sidney and Edgar 
 about the trunks in the first act. 
 
 ( Certain bouncing sounds are heard, and Edgar suddenly 
 flings open the door and bounds in. He is in his 
 shirt-sleeves . ) 
 
 Edgar. I say, Sid, the luggage has come, and one of 
 your trunks — (Seeing Ritchie ) Hello, Ritchie, old 
 chap , how d'ye do . 
 
 Ritchie . Let's have a look at you. Ay, you'll do too. 
 Edgar . I should think so. Apologize for my shirt-sleeves; 
 
 didn't know you were here. 
 
 Sidney . Edgar, what about my trunk? 
 
 Edgar . Yes, I forgot. One of your trunks has fallen off 
 the car and the lid's burst open. 
 
 Sidney . Oh, which one? Has anything got spoilt? 
 
 Edgar. You'd better go and see. It looks to me rather 
 a holy mess . 
 
 Sidney . Good gracious 1 ( She runs out .)*" 
 
 1. Houghton, Stanley: Works . v. 1, p. 57. 
 3. Ibid. . , pp . 28-39. 
 

- 16 - 
 
 There are only two lapses from Houghton's realism in 
 this play. The first of these is found in Sidney's insistance 
 upon Ritchie's reducing her wages. The playwright makes rather 
 too much of the incident. In the earlier part of the last act 
 Edgar discovers that Sidne}' is making more money than he is . 
 
 Now when Sidney is informed of the matter she demands a reductior 
 in wages. It may be Sidney, but it isn't life. No employee 
 ever demanded that his employer lop five pounds off his wages'. 
 Another defect in the last act is Houghton's almost farcical 
 use of doors . The characters bob in and out and lock and un- 
 lock them. In fact, there is far too much bustling about for 
 anything but a conventional French farce . 
 
 After a more or less detailed criticism of this play 
 one is led to the conclusion that it is merely mediocre. The 
 fault lies in the treatment. Having set forth certain serious 
 problems, even introducing the tragic in Mr. Forsyth's death 
 at the end of Act III., the dramatist fails to solve them. 
 
 The whole last act is below the level of the first three. Mr. 
 Houghton's forced solution of the Sidney -Edgar difficulty is 
 unworthy of him. It is so conventional that we have a feeling 
 that their affairs are merely cemented together until after the 
 arrival of their child. Neither one of them has changed to 
 any appreciable extent. The dramatist has only "patched" up 
 the affair; this is only a temporary lull in their marital war- 
 fare. If Mr. Houghton found himself defeated in solving the 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 17 - 
 
 problem of the young Forsyths, why did he not end the play as 
 Mr. Barker does the Madras Hou se? There, at least, the fall 
 of the curtain carries with it the conviction of life. There- 
 fore, in failing to solve the realistic problem presented in 
 the earlier part of the play, Act. IV. undermines the realistic 
 force of the whole play. 
 
 Marriages in the Making was the next important play 
 after Ind ep endent M ea n s . In Act I., Mrs. Cartwright's carefully 
 arranged marriage for her daughter, Dolly, with the eligible 
 Clarence Amore, is threatened by the return of Dolly's former 
 lover, Gordon Leigh. Act II. reveals the fact that Mrs. Cart- 
 wright had exacted a promise from Gordon not to write to Dolly 
 during his service in India. Unable to see Dolly, Gordon leaves 
 the Cartwright house. The Rector and his daughter Violet Fenny 
 drop in to chat. Dolly is unsuccessful in her attempt to break 
 her engagement to Clarence Amore. Clarence convinces himself 
 that Violet is still in love with him. Later, Dolly and Violet 
 talk matters over, and the scene ends with Dolly's writing a 
 letter to Gordon at Violet's dictation. Mrs. Cartwright re- 
 turns too late to intercept the letter. The third and last 
 act occurs the same afternoon. The village gossip, Mrs. Scattei 
 -good, conveniently sees and hears things not meant for her, 
 whereupon she relates the whole story. A3 a result Clarence's 
 pride makes him try to hold Dolly to her promise, but Gordon's 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 > 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 18 - 
 
 arrival convinces him that it is impossible. Clarence leaves, 
 to return at the end of the act with a carefully worked up lie, 
 and the announcement of hi a engagement to Violet . 
 
 The theme is perfectly usual and scarcely bears com- 
 ment . Mr. Houghton’s overworking of the long arm of coincidence 
 seems unnecessary. The chances are that in real life Gordon 
 Leigh would have returned after Dolly’s wedding. It was another 
 fortunate coincidence that Violet Fenny still loved Clarence. 
 
 In fact, the whole play is a succession of theatrical incidents, 
 rather than life itself. As usual, in the realm of character 
 Houghton's realism is perfect. The character of Clarence Amore 
 impresses one with its truth. We are constantly reminded of 
 
 George Meredith's The Egoist . But it is in the scenes between 
 
 the women of the play that the comedy deserves to live . The 
 dramatist’s characterization in the scenes between Dolly and 
 Mrs. Cartwright, and between Dolly and Violet, discloses an 
 almost incredible knowledge of the subject. Mrs. Cartwright’s 
 role of unscrupulous woman is sustained from the opening of the 
 first act to her last speech in Act III., "I’m a bit of a liar 
 myself." I shall quote briefly from the scenes previously 
 mentioned. The first is between Dolly and Mrs. Cartwright in 
 Act. I. Dolly's mother has been somewhat shocked at her 
 daughter's lack of interest in the man to whom she is engaged. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-19- 
 
 ( Mrs . Cartwright settles her s elf to he r novel, and 
 there is a slight pause . ) 
 
 Dolly (at length ) . Mother, were you ever in love with 
 father? 
 
 Mrs . Cartwright ( scandalized ) . Dolly, what a question 
 to ask '. 
 
 Dolly . Well, hut were you? 
 
 Mrs. Cartwright . Of course. Didn't I marry him? 
 
 Dolly . Yes. But did you decide to marry him because 
 you were in love with him, or decide you were in 
 love with him because you were going to marry him? 
 
 Mrs . Cartwright (nonplussed ) . Really, Dolly- — how can 
 you expect me to remember a thing like that after 
 all these years? 1 
 
 The second instance of Houghton's remarkable char- 
 acterization of women occurs in Act II. Violet is urging Dolly 
 to write Gordon Leigh, so that she, Violet, may marry Clarence 
 Amore . As a bit of real life, it is excellent. 
 
 Dolly (handing her the letter ) . How will that do? 
 
 ( Dolly addresses the envelo pe . ) 
 
 Violet (having glanced through it ) . That ' s all right . 
 
 Dolly . I ask him to come and see me at once, you notice. 
 
 Violet . There wasn't any need to do that. 
 
 1 . I bid . , p . 105 . 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 20 - 
 
 ( Dollv puts the letter in the envelope and seals it . ) 
 
 Doily . This must be delivered at once. I don’t like 
 to send one of the maids; mother might see it. 
 
 Violet . I'll take it for you. I can cycle round by 
 the Leighs ’ on my way home . 
 
 Dolly . It's awfully good of you. 
 
 Violet ♦ Not at all. (She takes the letter .) Do I 
 look a3 if I 'd been crying? 
 
 Dolly . It doesn't show much. 
 
 Violet . Is there a mirror? Oh yes'. 
 
 1 
 
 ( Placing letter on the ma n tel piece she rubs he r ch eeks . ) 
 
 Independent Means and Marriages in the Making were 
 followed by a more serious three-act play written in ISOS, The 
 Younger Generation . .At the rise of the curtain on Act I., we 
 discover Mr. and Mrs. Jame 3 Kennion awaiting the arrival of 
 their rebellious children. When they do come in, each one of 
 them is forced to give a detailed account of the way in which 
 he has spent the afternoon. Reggie, the youngest, is on the 
 point of flight, because his father is too harsh with him. 
 
 Grace is about to elope with Clifford Rawson because her parents 
 will not allow her to see him at home. A letter from Rawson 
 is intercepted by Grace's father, and she agrees to allow him to 
 
 1 . Ibid . . p . 154 . 
 
- 21 - 
 
 question the young man about his habits. Tom, James’ brother, 
 arrives from Hamburg, where he is in business. A committee 
 of three men invite James Kennion to stand for Councillor on 
 the Liberal ticket. In the presence of the assembled family 
 they inform James Kennion that it is his duty, because he is 
 respected by the community as a churchman and father. At the 
 crucial moment of Kennion 's acceptance, Arthur, the eldest son, 
 comes in. There is the sound of scuffing as Arthur tries to 
 kiss Maggie, the housemaid, who helps him into the room. He 
 is in a state of gentlemanly intoxication and "the curtain falls 
 in a complete silence of horror," according to the stage direc- 
 tions. The next morning (Act II.), finds Mr. Kennion insisting 
 upon Maggie'3 acceptance of Arthur's apology. Maggie "gives 
 notice" rather than be humiliated by a public apology. Kennion 
 insults Reggie by forcing him to give a detailed account of his 
 allowance. Grace sullenly says that Clifford Rawson will come 
 over to report to her parents that afternoon. Arthur’s settle- 
 ment with his father is postponed until afternoon. Madame 
 Kennion, or Mrs . Hannah Kennion, the irascible mother of Tom 
 and James, comes in to insist intolerably upon everyone's turn- 
 ing out for church. Her son Tom has partially promised Arthur 
 to rebel with him, but goes with the rest of the family rather 
 than argue with Mrs. Hannah. Arthur strikes his second blow 
 for freedom and remains seated before the fire while everyone 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 22 - 
 
 goes off to church without him. Act III. opens with a con- 
 ference between the rebellious children. Kennion comes into 
 the room and dismisses everyone but Arthur. Arthur says that 
 he has made his apology to Maggie while the others were at 
 church. Clifford Rawson comes in and succeeds in getting 
 Kennion's approval only after Tom interferes in his behalf. 
 Further, Tom threatens to tell everyone of one of his brother 
 James' escapades in their youth, unless Arthur is allowed to 
 return to the continent with him. The committee from the 
 Liberal party urge James Kennion to stand as candidate. Reggie 
 is left to solve his own problem. Mrs. Hannah considers her 
 son James altogether too kind to his children and flings out 
 of the house in disgust. The curtain falls upon Mr. and Mrs. 
 James Kennion discussing their children in much the same fashion 
 as at the rising of it on Act I. 
 
 The play moves smoothly and carefully by the simplest 
 of narrative means. The characters, like most of those of 
 Mr. Houghton's creation, are revealed through dialogue, and 
 consequently there is very little plot . There are many amusing 
 bits of realistic conversation, but perhaps that between Kennion 
 and Maggie over the apology may be said to be typical . 
 
 Maggie . I'd much rather you'd let it rest. 
 
 Mr. Kennion . Not on any account. It's a matter of 
 principle with me. Mr. Arthur has got to apologize 
 
 to you before everybody . 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-23- 
 
 Maggie . I couldn't listen to him, sir. 
 
 M r. Kennion . But I shall insist on your listening. 
 
 Maggie (on verge of tears ) . Oh, sir. Don't humiliate 
 me before everybody. 
 
 Mr . Kennion . Don't argue with me about it, Maggie. I 
 am your master, and you will have to do what I tell 
 you . 
 
 M aggie . I'd rather leave first, sir. 
 
 Mr. Kennion . Don't talk nonsense. 
 
 Maggie . I don't mind being kissed by anyone, even by 
 you, sir> but when it 'comes to being apologized to 
 before everybody, just as if I'd done something wrong — 
 
 Mr . Kennio n (throwing hims elf back in his chair a ngrily . ) 
 Tchah'. 1 
 
 The daring arrangement of the setting of Act I ., with 
 the blank side of the stage picture representing the fireside 
 wall of the dining-room, yields an undeniable feeling of in- 
 timacy. There is, too, a beautiful balance between the first 
 scene of Act. I., with the Kennions awaiting the arrival of 
 their children, and the last scene of Act III., where the cur- 
 tain falls upon a similar scene in which their problem is still 
 the same. The technique of this play is much better than that 
 
 1. Ibid ., p. 217. 
 
-24- 
 
 of Marriages in the Making . In fact, it is as clever tech- 
 nically as Hindi e Wakes . 
 
 The theme of The Younger Generation is undeniably 
 that of intolerance. Not that its presentation is by way of 
 propaganda. But the play is full of intolerance from James 
 Kennion's speech, "I don't know what the younger generation is 
 coming to," 1 2 to Mrs. Hannah's spiteful remark to her daughter- 
 in-law, "You're not of my generation, Alice. You're of a 
 younger and softer generation."^ None of the persons of this 
 self-satisfied group, except Tom, are capable of grasping the 
 other's point of view. The theme is not a new one, neither is 
 the introduction of Tom Kennion as the exception to this pro- 
 vincial attitude. But whereas an older and "softer generation" 
 of dramatists would have managed to reconcile everyone at the 
 end, Mr. Houghton shows us that these antagonisms remain. It 
 is for this reason that the problem of Reggie remains unsolved. 
 In this the playwright's work is superbly realistic. The end ol 
 the last act verges upon the pathetic . It is symbolic of the 
 whole drama. Everyone has left, with the exception of the 
 father and mother. 
 
 (Mrs. Kennion sits in the left arm-chair. Mr. 
 
 Kennion draws an arm-chair up to the hearth . 
 
 Mrs. Kennion has her handkerchief out . ) 
 
 1 . Ibid., p . 223 . 
 
 2 . Ibid . , p . 258 . 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-25- 
 
 Mrs . Kennion . I hope it's all for the best. We seem to 
 be out of sympathy with mother, and with the children 
 too . 
 
 Mr. Kennicn . Mother is very old, and the children are 
 very young. We must make allowances for them. 
 
 Mrs. Kennion . I sometimes wonder whether we are quite 
 right after all . 
 
 ( Mrs. Kennion wipes her eves. Mr. Kennion leans 
 
 forward and oats her knee gently. They sit staring 
 
 into the fire for a very long time, silent, immobile . 
 The curtain creeps down very, very slowly . ) 1 
 
 We realize that this play is much more serious in its 
 treatment of life than either of the preceding dramas. The 
 Younger Generation more nearly approaches the ideal of realism. 
 It possesses, as Mr. Henry Arthur Jones would say, "the eaves- 
 dropping convention of realistic drama.* 1 
 
 Partners . written after The Younger Generation , in 
 1911, has many of the light touches usually ascribed to French 
 comedy. The action takes place in the lounge of a beach hotel. 
 In Act. I. Sir Isaac and Lady Grundy are interrupted at tea by 
 the entrance of Cynthia. She has come in to pay Lady Grundy 
 her "bridge** debts. Oliver (he has no last name) enters and 
 
 1. Ibid . . pp . 263-364. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
- 26 - 
 
 we find that he is in love with Cynthia and is planning to elope 
 with her that evening. Cynthia tells Oliver that she and her 
 husband, Vernon, are enjoying a month’s vacation from each other 
 Neither one of them knows where the other is. Oliver leaves 
 to buy tickets for himself and Cynthia. Vernon enters carrying 
 a large bouquet of violets, obviously not purchased for Cynthia. 
 Oliver returns and is presented to Cynthia's husband. Cynthia 
 changes her mind about eloping with Oliver. In Act II., Lydia, 
 Oliver's wife, appears. It develops that she was eloping with 
 Vernon. Lady Grundy, true to her name, tells Vernon of Cyn- 
 thia's affairs. Cynthia quarrels with both Vernon and Oliver 
 and exits, throwing Vernon's violets on the floor. Vernon 
 rescues the violets, just as the curtain falls. In Act III. 
 Vernon presents the violets to Lydia, for whom they were origin- 
 ally intended. Lady Grundy again officiates as gossip monger. 
 Cynthia attempts to re-establish herself in Oliver's affections 
 but is spurned. The act ends with a "row" between the men in 
 which the women assist. Vernon goes off with his wife Cynthia, 
 and Oliver with his Lydia. 
 
 The theme of this play, if it has one, is distinctly 
 farcical in nature. The incredible situation with its brisk 
 moving dialogue is rescued from the purely farcical merely by 
 the characterization. The theme is rendered rather cheap by 
 the physical "row" (there is no other word for it) at the end 
 of Act III. A quarrel between the men is what one expects 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 37 - 
 
 from the middle of Act I. when Vernon enters, but the physical 
 demonstration seems very bad taste. Furthermore, the partici- 
 pation of the women in the "row" gives the play a music-hall 
 flavor . 
 
 The introduction of Sir Isaac and Lady Grundy into 
 the comedy is distinctly beneficial. Sir Isaac knows that 
 Lady Grundy cheats at cards; therefore he pays back all that 
 she wins to the loser . His sense of justice is amusing, but 
 scarcely convincing. There is much that is quotable from the 
 play. Here are two of Cynthia's speeches. Oliver has just 
 called her his "darling”. 
 
 Cynt hia . You must not say such things to me in private, 
 
 Oliver. I do not object to your making love to me 
 
 publicly, because everybody does that, and so I am 
 
 not compromised by your attentions. Indeed, it 
 
 would cause comment if you did not make love to me 
 
 publicly; everyone would be certain you had a very 
 
 1 
 
 good reason for not doing so. 
 
 The above speech has a strong flavor of Wilde . The following 
 speech of Cynthia's on husbands, is clever rather than realistic 
 Olive r . You like me. 
 
 1. Ibid . . v. 3, p. 15. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-38- 
 
 Cyn thia . I like cake; but if I had nothing to eat but 
 cake, I should pine for bread and butter. You are 
 not commonplace enough to perform the ordinary daily 
 duties of a husband . 1 
 
 The dialogue is, throughout, of that sparkling and witty nature 
 usually associated with the name of Oscar Wilde. But on the 
 whole, the comedy is distinctly disappointing after the glimpses 
 of greatness in Mr. Houghton ' 3 Younger Generation . At least. 
 Partne rs can scarcely be said to prophesy the powerful realism 
 of the play which followed it, Hindi e Wakes . 
 
 The Perfect Cure , written in ISIS, called forth a 
 veritable storm of protest from the critics. After Hindis 
 Wakes, which we shall treat later, the theme seems very small. 
 The three acts of The Perfect Cure are built upon the foundation 
 of Vincent Cray's selfishness. In the first act, we are intro- 
 duced to Cray, a widower, whose daughter Madge drudges for him. 
 Madge's lover, Tom Probyn, to whom she is secretly engaged, is 
 urging her on toward an immediate marriage. Cray feigns ill- 
 ness, whereupon Madge writes her refusal to Tom. In the midst 
 of thia scene Martha Scandrett, Cray's cousin who understands 
 him perfectly, arrives in time to prevent the posting of the 
 letter. In the second act, Martha ha 3 made up her mind to 
 marry Cray, whom she once loved. She convinces Madge and ap- 
 
 1 . Ibid . , p . 21 . 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 39 - 
 
 peals to Cray’s vanity in order to cure him. Cray puts himself 
 in a sort of ’’training”, actually putting his own boots on, to 
 the amazement of his daughter Madge. In Act III. Madge marries 
 Tom. Martha works a complete change in Cray and, after a sharp 
 struggle between her common sense and his vanity, he sends the 
 young couple away happy. Thereupon, Martha promises to marry 
 Cray . 
 
 As an instance of Mr. Houghton’s best comic style 
 there is a memorable scene between Cray and Madge. The follow- 
 ing is only a part of the dialogue in which Cray successfully 
 plays upon his daughter's feelings. It is a remarkable piece 
 of sustained comedy, because we are aware that the whole thing 
 i3 feigned. 
 
 ( Madge gives Cray some brandy . ) 
 
 Cray ( feebly ) . I had always hoped you would have been 
 near to close my eyes at the last 
 
 Madge ( weeping ) . Father 
 
 Cray . It won't be long now. My days are numbered 
 
 Madge . Oh'. I can't leave you. I'll write to Tom and 
 tell him we shall have to wait . 
 
 Cray ( very f eeblv ) . No, no. I can't have it I won'1 
 
 agree to such a sacrifice. You're not to write to- 
 night . 
 
 Madge . Yes, I will. Tonight. 
 
 ( A pause. She sits still by the tabl e . ) 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 30 - 
 
 Crav (at length ) . Did you say you were going to write 
 to-night ? 
 
 Madge . > Yes . 
 
 ( A pause. Cray look3 at the clock . ) 
 
 Gray . Of course, if you insist on writing to-night . 
 
 (She sits at the tab l e and writes hurriedly .) 
 
 Cray ( whilst she is writing ) . What are you doing, my 
 
 dear? I won't have it I forbid you. Don't 
 
 worry about ms You must leave me to my fate 
 
 Leave me to die alone I shan't be here to trouble 
 
 you long. Tell him that 1 
 
 When Madge is unable to find a stamp, he feebly finds one for 
 her and assures her that he is able to stay alone. 
 
 There is, in my estimation, one flaw in the character- 
 ization of The Perfect Cure . That is in Houghton's picture of 
 Cray in Act. I. from which we have quoted above. It is amusing 
 but perhaps more of a caricature than a characterization. The 
 gradual change in Cray's nature throughout Acts II. and III. is 
 much more convincing than the portrait of him in Act I. Even 
 if there are people as selfish as Cray with daughters as blind 
 as Madge (we doubt it), why did Houghton waste his marvellous 
 gift of realism upon them? Like the timely arrival of Gordon 
 Leigh in Marriages in the Making , coincidence comes in to assist 
 
 1 . Ibid .. p . 331 . 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
- 31 - 
 
 the heroine. We wonder if in real life Martha Scandrett would 
 not have arrived after the posting of the letter to Tom. Then, 
 too, the dramatist's theme of filial obedience, of the kind de- 
 scribed, is as hopelessly out of fashion as the ducking-stool. 
 
 It is unusual that a realist capable of H indie Wakes should 
 descend to Don Quixote's favorite pastime of tilting at wind- 
 mills. It would seem to be as useless as an attack upon the 
 old Hindu custom of widow burning. 
 
 In reviewing the longer plays of Stanley Houghton, 
 
 Hindi e Wakes being excluded, there are certain definite merits 
 and faults to be observed. Independent Means almost touches 
 the tragic, but ends, Pollyanna fashion, smilingly, with none 
 of its problems solved. Marriages in the Making and The Perfect 
 Cure are of the type traditionally popular with the "box-office". 
 They are amusing but nothing more. The Younger Generation is 
 better than the others of this group because it presents an 
 adequate problem and treats it adequately. 
 
 It remains to mention two interesting, but unimportant, 
 instances of the unusual in Houghton's technique. He has a 
 fondness for the triangular shaped stage. His settings are 
 always interesting and serve as a mild stimulant to the action. 
 
 A noteworthy example of his use of the triangular stage is, as 
 we have pointed out, in The Younger Generation . As a result 
 he gains an intimacy unequalled by anything else, except perhaps 
 that of Maurice Maeterlinck in Int erieur . Another detail of 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 }/•* 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 32 - 
 
 the unusual in Houghton’s technique is found in Partners . 
 
 There the action of Act II. follows that of Act I. without a 
 lapse of time, the action going straight on. 
 
 There is, however, apart from such incidents of tech- 
 nique already mentioned, an excellent reason for a detailed 
 study of these plays. Usually, even a second-rate dramatist 
 can create a realistic plot, but it takes a great dramatist to 
 build up a character that will live . It is in this respect 
 that Houghton surpasses the merely second-rate writer. The 
 characterization is, as it should be, the most important part 
 of a play. Any dramatist capable of creating the egotistical 
 Edgar Forsyth in Independent Means . the calculating Mrs. Cart- 
 wright in Marriages in the Making , or the provincial Kennion 
 family in The Younger Generation , deserves consideration. It 
 is interesting that Partners . written just before H indie Wakes , 
 as well as The Perfect Cure , which was written just after it, 
 are notably weaker than Houghton's masterpiece. Undeniably, 
 The Younger Generation is the only play in this group that 
 measures up to Hindi e Wakes . 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-33- 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE SHORTER PLAYS AND NON -DRAMATIC WRITING. 
 
 -a- 
 
 So far, the study of Mr. Houghton's work has been con- 
 fined to his most noteworthy long plays, with the exception of 
 Hindi e Wakes . In this chapter the six most characteristic one- 
 
 act plays and the non-dramatic writing of this dramatist will 
 be the subject of discussion. Since two of the one-act plays. 
 The Fifth Commandment and Fancy Free , are identical in theme 
 with the longer plays. The Perfect Cure and Partners . they will 
 receive much less attention than the other four, which are 
 The Old Testament and the New . The Dear Departed . The Master of 
 the House, and Phipps ♦ These plays are, like all other one- 
 act plays, bound by certain limitations not found in the longer 
 plays. Therefore, we do not expect the characterization in 
 Mr. Houghton's The Dear Departed to be as careful as that found 
 in Th e Younger Generation . But we do expect a one-act play to 
 be a complete picture done as crisply and strikingly as the 
 time limitation permits. How well Mr. Houghton succeeds in 
 meeting the demands of the one-act play remains to be seen. 
 
 Judging by the titles of the plays written in the 
 period before 1905, Houghton must have written melodrama. 
 

 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-34- 
 
 After Nasebv . The Last Shot , and The Blue Phial are obviously 
 melodramatic, suggesting from their titles that an active imagin- 
 ation can recreate pictures of poor soldiers or lonely ladies 
 in distress, who are driven to gun -play or "blue phials" of 
 poison. But in The Old Testament and the New . 1905, Stanley 
 Houghton begins to rise above the welter of blood and tears 
 usually found in melodrama. That this play has certain touches 
 which may be said to resemble its predecessors, there is no 
 doubt . Christopher Battersby in The Old T estament and the New 
 is the sort of man who still believes in the "Old Testament" 
 standard of justice untempered by "New Testament" love. At 
 the beginning of the action he is balancing his accounts as 
 chapel steward. Martha, his frail old wife, is busy setting 
 the table. Edward Fielding, who was to have married the 
 Battersbys’ daughter Mary if she had not eloped with a married 
 man, comes in for supper. He tries to tell Martha that he has 
 been married. But rather than hurt Martha's sentimental old 
 heart, he says that he still loves Mary and that he would marry 
 her if she came back. Edward goes out for a few minutes and 
 Mary slides in through the half-opened outer door. Christopher 
 receives the prodigal with no degree of affection, but Martha 
 is almost overwhelmed with love for her only child. The stern 
 Christopher will not allow Martha to embrace Mary. Mary says 
 that she ha3 always been faithful to the man she loved, but 
 that the man's wife would not divorce him, so that they never 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-35- 
 
 married. Edward returns and tells of his recent marriage. 
 Christopher turns Mary out on the street when he finds that her 
 reputation can not be rescued. The play ends with Martha faint- 
 ing in her chair, and Christopher’s announcement of his inten- 
 tion of reading aloud the eighth chapter of St. John's Gospel. 
 
 This ending of the play gives a feeling of completeness 
 accompanied by a trace of horror. The main theme of action is 
 realistic and superbly serious in tone. But the play is marred 
 by a touch of melodrama in the relation between Martha Battersby 
 and her daughter. No mother who had not seen her daughter for 
 several years would allow the girl to go without even touching 
 her. Furthermore, the speeches are longer and less natural 
 than those of Mr. Houghton's later plays. But as a whole. The 
 Old T estam ent and the New deserves considerable credit in that 
 it is powerful, clear and serious. 
 
 The Dear Departe d, written three years after The Old 
 Testament and the New (1908), gives evidence of Houghton's 
 improving technique and realism. Thinking her father, Abel 
 Merriweather , dead, Mrs. Slater has sent for her sister, Mrs. 
 Jordan, in order to divide the old gentleman's property. The 
 opening of the play finds Mr. and Mrs. Slater moving Abel's 
 clock and bureau, purchased since Mrs. Jordan's last visit, 
 into their own living-room. This has scarcely been done, when 
 Mr. and Mrs. Jordan are ushered in by the Slaters' daughter 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 36 - 
 
 Victoria. Everyone is dressed in deep mourning. Abel's 
 daughters are much troubled for fear he has forgotten to pay 
 his insurance premium. In the midst of this discussion the 
 old. chap enters chuckling over the terror he has caused. His 
 two daughters attempt to lie their way out of the situation 
 without success. When Abel's daughters discover that their 
 father intends to marry again they are absolutely nonplussed. 
 The curtain falls upon a scene of complete mental paralysis 
 following Abel Merriweather 1 s announcement of his marriage, 
 which is to take place the following Monday . 
 
 This play is by far the best of Mr. Houghton's one- 
 act comedies . The play begins crisply and ends with an almost 
 perfect "curtain". The dialogue, which is in a provincial 
 dialect, ripples and sparkles with laughter. What could be 
 more amusing than the scene where Victoria, a precocious girl 
 of ten, almost gives the situation away. 
 
 ( Victoria runs across to Abel and sits on the flo or 
 at his feet . ) 
 
 Victoria ♦ Oh, grandpa, I'm so glad you're not dead. 
 
 Mrs . Slater (in a vindictive whisper ) . Hold your tongue, 
 Victoria . 
 
 Abel . Eh? What's that? Who's gone dead? 
 
 Mrs . Slater (loudly ) . Victoria says she's sorry about 
 your head. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 37 - 
 
 Abel. Ah, thank you, Vicky, but I’m feeling better. 
 
 Mrs , Slater (to Mrs . Jordan ) . He's so fond of Victoria. 
 
 Mrs . Jordan (to Mrs . Slater ) . Yes; he’s fond of our 
 Jimmy, too. 
 
 Mrs. Slater . You'd better ask him if he promised your 
 Jimmy his gold watch. 
 
 Mrs . Jordan (disconcerted ) . I couldn't just now. I 
 don't feel equal to it 
 
 This may not be the best example of realistic dialogue 
 in the play but it is one of the most quotable. The develop- 
 ment of the plot is equalled only by the dramatist's masterly 
 characterization of old Abel. As a picture of a shrewd, vigor- 
 ous old man it is perfect. The curtain falls after the follow- 
 ing piece of simple narration. 
 
 Abel. I'll tell you what I've got to do. On Monday 
 next I've got to do three things. I've got to go 
 to the lawyers and alter my will; and I've got to go 
 to the insurance office to pay my premium; and I've 
 got to go to St. Philips's Church to get married. 
 
 Mrs . Jordan . Get married'. 
 
 Mrs. Slater . He's out of his senses. 
 
 ( General consternation .) 
 
 1* Ibid . . v. 3 , pp . 43 - 44 . 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-38- 
 
 Abel . I say I'm going to get married. 
 
 Mrs . Slater . Who to? 
 
 Abel. To Mrs. John Shorrocks who keeps the Ring-o ' -Bells • 
 We've had it fixed up a good while now, but I was keep- 
 ing it for a pleasant surprise. I felt I was a bit 
 of a burden to you, so I found some one who'd think 
 it a pleasure to look after me. We shall be glad 
 to see you at the ceremony. Till Monday, then. 
 
 It '3 a good thing you brought that bureau downstairs, 
 'Melia. It'll be handier to carry across to the 
 Ring -c ' -Bells on Monday. 1 
 
 Stanley Houghton's next play, The Master of the House , 
 is in a very different key. The drama has a touch of the eerie 
 about it in the ending, where the dead man is left alone in 
 the house. At rise, Mrs. Ovens and her sister Edie are sitting 
 on opposite sides of the table talking about the invalid Mr. 
 Ovens, who sits in his armchair at the back of the stage with 
 his back toward the audience. Edie suggests that they give 
 Mr. Ovens something to eat; they have just finished their tea. 
 Mrs. Ovens doesn't care to be disturbed. Mrs. Ovens, the 
 invalid's second wife, has sent for the lawyer in order to 
 crowd Ovens' son Fred out of his inheritance. The woman's 
 character is summarized in two of the lines in this scene. 
 
 1. Ibid ., p. 57. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
-39- 
 
 Mrs. Ovens . He was sixty -six when I married him; he’s 
 seventy-one new. He'll not last much longer, and 
 I'm only thirty-five. 1 
 
 Fred's unexpected arrival upsets his stepmother's plans. The 
 object, of course, is to get Fred out of the house in order to 
 change the will while Ovens is still capable of signing it. 
 
 The doctor, a wonderful, sane sort of person in the midst of 
 so much strife, drops in for his daily call . He walks over 
 toward Mr. Ovens and tries to awaken him. His patient is dead. 
 The last part of the action is remarkably crisp and concise. 
 
 Fred turns Mrs. Ovens and her sister out, and is left alone 
 in the house. Gradually the figure of his father in his shroud 
 changes him from a self-satisfied brute to a cringing coward 
 who skulks out of the room, leaving the dead man "master of 
 the house . " 
 
 Obviously, the unusual combination of realistic 
 characterization with the eerie figure of the dead man in the 
 background, needs explanation. Fred is an ignorant cowardly 
 half -savage; superstition and an evil conscience prove his 
 undoing. Therefore Houghton carefully creates a situation 
 which knocks all the false courage out of this bully . The 
 unlighted room, the shrouded body of Fred's father, and the 
 
 1 . Ibid ., p . 57 . 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 40 - 
 
 eerie effect of the moonlight upon this figure, reduce Fred to 
 hysteria. Mr. Houghton's use of hysteria is, in small degree, 
 not unlike Eugene O'Neil's in Emperor Jones . In both instances 
 a man slowly crumbles into hysteria, although Fred's moral 
 collapse is much less complete than that of Jones. The economy 
 of speech in the last scene, in which Fred is left alone with 
 the seated figure in its shroud, is excellent . It is worth 
 quoting, in part at least. Fred has been looking at the figure 
 in the chair. 
 
 Fred. Pleasant night. Hm '. You won't interfere with 
 me. I'm not — afraid of you. You can't turn me out 
 of doors now. (Fred shivers . ) I've no money. ( He 
 thinks . ) They always used to keep some money in the 
 sideboard drawer. Can't see a thing, and I've no 
 matches . (He pulls up the blind. As he turns he 
 comes full on the silent figure of Mr. Ovens, sitting 
 rigid, ghastly in the glare of the moon. Fred starts 
 back with an oath and drops the cash-box. ) Don't 
 look at me like that. You can't frighten me. You 
 shan't turn me out, I tell you. Don't look at me 
 like that'. I didn't know you were dead when I 
 cursed you. (Another pause: he shudders and covers 
 hia face with his hanir .) God'. I can't stand it. 
 
 (He steals silently out of the room. The front d oor 
 is h ea rd closing. ) 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-41- 
 
 The Fifth Commandment and Fancy Free , both written 
 during the month of March, 1911, duplicate the themes in The 
 Per fec t Cure and Partners , respectively. In The Fifth Com - 
 mandment there is another daughter acting as slave to a parent, 
 like Madge Cray and her father, Vincent Cray, in this instance 
 Mrs. Mountain and Nelly. As in the case of the longer play, 
 there is a suitor who will not wait for the parent to die. 
 
 Nelly, faced with the problem of a choice between love and duty, 
 accepts the latter. There is a certain Mr. Shoosmith who is 
 in love with Mrs. Mountain. Nelly informs him of her mother's 
 illness (an illness which is feigned like Mr. Cray's in The 
 P erfect Cure) . But Mr. Shoosmith will have nothing to do with 
 Mrs. Mountain when he hears of her being an invalid; he profits, 
 in this case, by his experience with an invalid first wife. 
 
 The play closes with Mrs. Mountain's resumption of her novel. 
 
 She is perfectly contented. Now, although the play is a comedy 
 it touches upon the tragic in the case of Nelly and her sweet- 
 heart . There is no one to interfere here, as there wa3 in 
 The Perfect Cur e, so that Nelly's problem is unsolved. As 
 in the longer play, the characterization is good, but the theme 
 weak. As for Fancy Free , the pocket edition of Partners . 
 little can be said in its favor. It lacks much of the sparkle 
 of the longer play. Again we have two young married couples, 
 Fancy and her husband Alfred, Ethelbert and Delia. The main 
 distinction is in the ending, for the two women exchange hus- 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-42- 
 
 bands , and everything goes on as before. The serious note is 
 lacking in this treatment of the Partners theme. It is the 
 sort of thing one would expect from a hack writer, not Stanley 
 Houghton. Furthermore it is the one play of this dramatist 
 that drags its skirts into the mud of vulgarity. 
 
 Phipps is the last of Houghton's plays included in 
 the Brighouse edition, and the worst. It is lifted above the 
 level of farce merely through its characterization. Sir Gerald 
 and Lady Fanny are in the midst of a lively argument when the 
 curtain rises. They are both anxious for a divorce and have 
 decided that "grounds" mu 3 t be created. Cruelty seems the 
 most likely thing, whereupon they plan a scene of that kind 
 and ring for the butler, Phipps. This servant, instead of 
 merely acting as witness, as they had intended, knocks Sir 
 Gerald down, and addressing Lady Fanny calmly inquires if she 
 rang for him. When they explain the matter to this perfect 
 specimen of servitude, he solves the problem for them by patch- 
 ing up their quarrel. Phipps then tells Lady Fanny he is in 
 love with her and gives notice at the same time. Whereupon 
 Lady Fanny murmurs rapturously to her husband, "Oh Gerald'. 
 
 If only you would try to be more like him."^ In exactly what 
 way, we are left to imagine. There can be no doubt about the 
 brilliance of dialogue in this play . But if Houghton was 
 
 1 • Ibid . , v. 3, p . 135 . 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 43 - 
 
 attempting farce, he failed. Even as a farce it is forced and 
 trifling. In fact, there is nothing in the whole play that 
 interests us except Phipps himself . But even Phipps appears 
 to be a somewhat imperfect reflection of Barrie's Admirable 
 Crichton. The play is a failure. 
 
 Of this group of Houghton's one -act plays, The Dear 
 Departed stands out as The Younger Generation did in the longer 
 plays. It possesses all those things generally expected from 
 a one-act play, good characterization, notably Abel Merriweather 
 crisp dialogue and completeness of situation. The other one- 
 act plays fail in different ways. The Old Testament and t he 
 New is a serious attempt but unconvincing in the daughter- 
 mother relationship. The Master of the House is good drama 
 but not, strictly speaking, good realism, especially in the 
 character of Fred Ovens . Fancy Free and The Fifth Commandment 
 are inadequate developments of the themes of Partners and The 
 Perfect Cure. Phipps is almost a farce and therefore unworthy 
 of a great dramatist and realist. Of these six plays only one, 
 The Dear Departed , has been produced more than once. On the 
 whole, a play that is worth as many performances as this one 
 has had, will live. This play of Mr. Houghton's deserves to 
 be handed down, as we have said before, because of its excellent 
 characterization and its amusing theme. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 44 - 
 
 -b- 
 
 Any treatment of Stanley Houghton's realism that did 
 not contain a brief statement of that found in his non-dramatic 
 work would be incomplete. The Dramatic Criticisms , in the 
 last volume of the published works, may be omitted since they 
 are not, strictly speak ing, creative work. The Essays and 
 Sketches include many realistic descriptions. In Fritz's , for 
 example, the description of the once popular restaurant with its 
 doughty host is obviously drawn from London life. This 3ame 
 volume includes, beside the above mentioned essays and criticisms 
 four short stories, chosen by Mr. Brighouse as typical. The 
 Dying Lie is so melodramatic that it almost offends us, because 
 the time is past when the "steal thy -footed” villain can pursue 
 the heroine to her husband's deathbed without arousing healthy 
 amusement . The Time of his Life is farcical in nature, and 
 faintly reminiscent of Booth Tarkington's tales of adolescent 
 youth. One wonders if in G rey , the idealistic young man caught 
 in the machinery of business is not drawn from Mr. Houghton's 
 own experiences in his father’s office in Meal Street, Manchester 
 Through realistic description we see this Charles Edward as a 
 dramatic figure. He would have been excellent in a drama like 
 Miss Baker’s Chains . Even in this short-story we see things 
 through the eyes of a realist, for the whole is written in the 
 unmistakable tone of pessimism. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 45 - 
 
 The fragment of unfinished novel that Stanley Houghton 
 left for us, is entitled Lif e . The story, so far as the author 
 carries us, deals with a young girl with a weak will, named 
 Maggie. Finding herself engaged to one man but in love with 
 another, she elopes with her lover. She finds the man she ran 
 off with to be already married. The actual ending is suggested 
 in certain lines in Mr. Houghton's note-book. "Maggie goe3 on 
 the street” and "Maggie's religious feelings grow strong.” 
 
 There are traces, here, of the Hindle Wakes theme. The 
 pessimism of Houghton's realism comes out in the title. Mag- 
 gie's life was evidently the result of certain unfortunate cir- 
 cumstances. Houghton's title Lif e . therefore, suggests that he 
 meant that all life was a succession of more or less unfortunate 
 accidents . 
 
 In concluding this analysis of the shorter plays and 
 non-dramatic writing, certain features appear. The graph of 
 a writer's work generally undulates to a certain extent, and 
 these plays and stories may be said to represent some of those 
 undulations . The novel Life.? the story Grey , and the one-act 
 play The Dear Departed , represent high points in the curve of 
 Houghton's writing. The Mast er of the House and Phinos are 
 the lower points in this curve. But even the severest of 
 critics would grant Mr. Houghton an occasional experiment or 
 failure. However, there is nothing in this group that would 
 entitle him to particular notice. As Mr. Courtney would say, 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 46 - 
 
 "the passionate hatred of hypocrisy and sham", so essentially 
 a part of a great realist's work, is lacking. 
 
- 47 - 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HINDLE WAKES 
 
 Throughout the previous chapters, it has been more 
 than once suggested that Hindi e Wakes is the culmination of 
 Stanley Houghton’s literary efforts. Furthermore, this play 
 has been the standard by which his other writings have been 
 measured. Therefore this chapter contains a summary of Hindi e 
 Wakes . a criticism of the play, and a comparison of it with St. 
 John Ervine's Ma unanimous Lover . and John Galsworthy's The 
 Eldest Son , two other plays presenting treatments of the same 
 theme . 
 
 The action of the play begins with the August bank- 
 holiday, which terminates the midsummer week-end, known in 
 Lancashire as "the wakes". In Act I. Christopher Hawthorn, a 
 mill-worker, and his wife are sitting in their living-room 
 kitchen, awaiting the return of their daughter Fanny . Fanny 
 comes in talking about her interesting week-end spent with her 
 friend Mary, at the nearby summer resort of Blackpool. Fanny's 
 mother puts her through a cross-examination. The parents doubt 
 her story . Fanny says she will bring Mary in as witness in the 
 case. Christopher tells his daughter he has already been at 
 Blackpool during the day to see Mary. Fanny begins to be 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-48- 
 
 f Tightened. Christopher tells Fanny that Mary has been drowned. 
 
 Overwhelmed by her friend's death, Fanny confesses to having 
 gone off with Alan Jeff cote. Mrs. Hawthorn, after the girl's 
 exit, tells Christopher to go up and interview Nathaniel Jeff- 
 cote, Alan's father. The second scene of Act I. deals with 
 Christopher's interview with Jeffcote. It also appears that 
 Alan is engaged to marry Beatrice Farrar, the daughter of an- 
 other wealthy mill owner. Jeffcote gives Christopher his word 
 to see that Fanny is "treated right". Scene 3, Act I., sees 
 the return of Alan Jeffcote. In trying to light the gas, he 
 upsets a vase which falls with a crash, bringing old Jeffcote 
 down to investigate the noise. After considerable paternal 
 pressure Alan tells of his escapade with Fanny, whereupon Jeff- 
 cote orders him to marry the girl. 
 
 Act II. opens with a scene between Jeffcote and his 
 wife, in which he tells her that Alan will have to break his 
 engagement to Beatrice to marry Fanny . Sir Timothy Farrar and 
 Beatrice drop in to call and are informed of the Alan-Fanny 
 affair. Alan is shown to be very much in love with Beatrice, 
 who returns his affection. Alan tells Beatrice that the affair 
 was a "lark". Beatrice, however, can not see it in that light 
 and tells Alan she will never marry him "whilst Fanny Hawthorn 
 has a better right." 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 49 - 
 
 At rise in Act III. Ada, the Jeffcote's maid, shows 
 Christopher, Mrs. Hawthorn and Fanny into the room. When the 
 Jeffcotes enter there is a feeling of constraint until Jeffcote 
 takes the situation into his own hands. The two young people 
 admit they were registered as man and wife, at a certain hotel 
 from Saturday till Monday during "the wakes”. Jeffcote says 
 he gave his word to see Fanny well treated, and he intends that 
 the wedding shall take place at once. Everything is planned 
 by the older people when Fanny suddenly interrupts, saying that 
 she doesn’t intend marrying Alan. Believing Alan able to per- 
 suade her, the parents leave the young people alone. Fanny 
 tells Alan that he isn't the sort of man she would care to 
 marry. She foresees only an unhappy marriage. Furthermore, 
 she tells him she went into the thing in the same spirit he did; 
 it was only a "lark" . She maintains her self-confidence even 
 after the older people return. The Jeffcotes are surprised 
 but delighted at Fanny's attitude. Christopher Hawthorn is 
 sympathetic but Mrs. Hawthorn tells Fanny "she may pack off". 
 After the Hawthorns have left (Alan showing them out) the Jeff- 
 cotes await his return. Alan comes in to announce his instant 
 departure for the Farrars. The final curtain comes down upon 
 Alan's parents ruminating upon the situation, Jeffcote express- 
 ing his disgust with Alan. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 
- 50 - 
 
 Even this somewhat sketchy summary reveals the purpose 
 of the play. Hindis Wakes is almost without action, the plot 
 is slight, but its strength depends on revelation of character. 
 These scenes are of the simplest, yet they possess the qualities 
 of suspense and interest. The careful maintenance of suspense 
 in the interesting first scene of Act I. is an example. The 
 audience is given to understand that the Hawthorns know more 
 about Fanny's week-end with Mary than is shown, but just what 
 this information is, we do not learn until Christopher tells 
 Fanny of her churn's death. Then, again, in the third act, 
 there is Houghton's careful focusing of attention upon the one 
 silent figure in the scene. The Jeff cotes and Hawthorns are 
 even planning the details of the wedding, but we feel that 
 Fanny will eventually disrupt their plans; therefore our at- 
 tention is centered on that quiet figure in the head-shawl. 
 
 All the discussion between Fanny's parents, as well as that 
 between Jeffcote and Christopher, has led us to expect the 
 unusual from this girl. We are not disappointed. This is, of 
 course, the big scene of the play. Up until this scene Fanny 
 seems to have been controlled by the situations; now she turns 
 the tables. Her defense, with its refusal of "the reparation 
 of marriage", leaves the audience with something serious to 
 think about . 
 
 The reason for the play's success does not depend 
 wholly upon its extraordinary ending. The whole play is made 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 51 - 
 
 interest ing, on the stage, by Houghton's use of the pungent 
 dialect of Lancashire. The way in which the dramatist searches 
 out the petty prejudices of the Jeffcotes and the Hawthorns 
 and balances these with equally petty weaknesses, is a revelatior 
 of humor. Here are the materials of tragedy, treated with a 
 quiet terse humor. As we shall see later, Galsworthy and 
 Ervine both prefer the tragic treatment . But Houghton, al- 
 though he touches the tragic in the death of Mary and its effect 
 upon Fanny in Act I., and in the terrible disillusionment of 
 Beatrice Farrar, leavens the whole by his use of the comic. 
 
 As usual this is Houghton's realism, for life is at times tragic 
 and at times comic in tone, but more frequently the two elements 
 are blended. The thunderstorm background of Act I., Scene 1> 
 in which Mrs. Hawthorn browbeats the truth out of her daughter, 
 may be said to be the one fly in the ointment of Houghton's 
 realism, for stage thunder is never realistic. As for Beatrice 
 Farrar, her disillusionment is not entirely tragic because of 
 her own standards. There is in Act II. that memorable scene 
 
 between Beatrice and Alan. This is the culmination of their 
 discussion . 
 
 Alan. If only you'll stick to me. If only you'll tell 
 me you forgive me. 
 
 Beatrice (at length ) . Could you have forgiven me if 
 I had done the same as you? 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-52- 
 
 Alan ( surprised ) . But you — you — couldn’t do it’. 
 
 Beatric e . Fanny Hawthorn did. 
 
 Alan . She's not your class. 
 
 Beatrice ♦ She’s a woman. 
 
 Alan . That's just it. It's different with a woman. 
 
 Beatrice . Yet you expect me to forgive you. It doesn't 
 seem fair . 
 
 Alan. It isn't fair. But it's usual. 
 
 Beatrice . I can see that there is a difference between 
 men and women in cases of this sort . 
 
 Alan. You can? 
 
 Beatrice . Lien haven't so much self-control. 
 
 Alan. Don't be cruel, Bee. There's no need to rub it ini 
 
 Beatrice ♦ I'm not being personal, Alan. I'm old-f ashionec 
 enough to really believe there is that difference. You 
 see, men have never had to exercise self-control like 
 women have. And so I'm old-fashioned enough to be 
 able to forgive you. 1 
 
 We can be sorry for Beatrice, but there is nothing 
 in her character that is particularly tragic. 
 
 There is, too, the inevitable lightening of the tragic 
 by touches of the comic, previously spoken of. The following 
 
 1. Houghton, Stanley: Works, v. 2, p. 155. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . , 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
-53- 
 
 instance is quoted as an example of Houghton's silver lining. 
 Jeff cote has always been aware of his son's short comings, but 
 the blow has rather upset Mrs. Jeffcote. She has been attempt- 
 ing to persuade Jeffcote not to break the Beatrice-Alan engage- 
 ment . Suddenly with a characteristically feminine shift of 
 mood she says: 
 
 Strike a light, Nat. 
 
 ( He lights the gas. ) 
 
 Do I look as if I'd been crying? 
 
 Jeffcote . Why? Have you been crying? 
 
 Mrs. Jeffcote . Er — no'. 
 
 Jeffcote . It doesn't show. Nothing to speak of'.^ 
 
 This is perhaps a somewhat inconspicuous detail but it is char- 
 acteristic of Houghton's method. This is an example of his 
 knowledge of life. Our minds, like Mrs. Jeffcote 's, skip from 
 the serious to the trivial, from cowardly sons to unpowdered 
 noses . 
 
 Equally important with Houghton's treatment of his 
 theme is the characterization. In the first place, Alan is 
 an out and out coward. Houghton makes us feel Alan's cowardice 
 and conceit . In the scene between Alan and Beatrice, instead 
 
 1 . Ibid . . p. 137. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-54- 
 
 of saying he can't give Beatrice up, he says, 
 
 "Bee, you're talking nonsense. You can't give me up — 
 you can't give me up, however much you try." 1 
 Then, too, there is the scene between Fanny and Alan, in the 
 last act . 
 
 Fanny . You can't understand a girl not jumping at you 
 when she gets the chance, can you? 
 
 Alan. I can't understand you not taking me when you 
 
 p 
 
 get the chance."' 
 
 But it is in the last scene before the final curtain that we 
 get the full value of Houghton's characterization. Alan an- 
 nounces his intention of running around to the Farrars'. 
 
 Mrs. Jeff cote . You're going to ask her to marry you? 
 Alan ( laconically ) . Happen I am'. 
 
 Jeff cote . Well, I'm damned'. Dost thou reckon she'll 
 have thee? 
 
 Alan . That remains to be seen. 
 
 Jeff cote . Well, if Beatrice Farrar can fancy thee, it's 
 not for me to be too particular. 
 
 Alan . Thank you, father. 
 
 Jeff cot e . Get along'. I'm disgusted with thee'. 
 
 ■n 
 
 ± • 
 
 Ibid . , 
 
 P • 
 
 157 . 
 
 3. 
 
 Ibid . . 
 
 P • 
 
 170. 
 
 3 . 
 
 Ibid . , 
 
 P • 
 
 181 . 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-55- 
 
 This last bit of dialogue characterizes Jeffcote, as well as 
 Alan. Old Jeffcote is an excellent business man, even his plans 
 for his son are built on a material foundation. When he is 
 faced with the Fanny-Alan problem, he does just what we would 
 expect from a business man, he satisfies himself that it is 
 true by examining the evidence. Having come to a decision, 
 he gives Alan his ultimatum, because "he believes that marriage 
 alone can heal the wound to a woman's honor."' 1 ' Mrs. Hawthorn 
 is a consistently disagreeable old shrew. It is always Chris- 
 topher who tempers the wind for Fanny. The following dialogue 
 is characteristic of Mrs. Hawthorn. 
 
 Mrs. Hawthorn . I say, I wonder if she's done this on 
 purpose, after all. Plenty of girls have made good 
 matches that way . 
 
 Chris t opher . She said they never mentioned marriage. 
 
 You heard her . 
 
 Mrs. Hawthorn . Well, he mightn't have gone with her if 
 she had. Happen she's cleverer than we think ? 
 
 And again, in the last act after Fanny has announced her de- 
 cision : 
 
 Christopher . Take no heed of it*. My missus don't rightly 
 know what she's saying just now. 
 
 1. Chandler, F. W.: Aspects of Modern Drama , p. 325. 
 3. Houghton, Stanley: Works . v. 2, p. 103. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-56- 
 
 Mra . Hawthorn . Don't she? You're making a big mistake 
 if you think that. Fanny can go home and fetch her 
 things and after that she may pack off. 
 
 Christopher . That she'll not'. 
 
 Mrs. Hawthorn . Then I'll make it so hot for her in the 
 house, and for thee, too, that thou 'll be glad to see 
 the back of her 
 
 There can be no question of Mrs. Hawthorn's ability to make it 
 uncomfortable for her family. As for the characterization of 
 Fanny, it is as near perfect as anything I know of. In Act I., 
 her father speaks of her as a mystery. 
 
 Christopher . I can't defend her. She's always been a 
 bit of a mystery to her mother and me. There's that 
 in her veins as keeps her restless and uneasy . If 
 she sees you want her to do one thing she'll go right 
 away and do t'other out of pure cussedness. She won't 
 be driven, not any road. I had a dog just like her 
 once . 3 
 
 Now Fanny may be stubborn, but she is no mystery to Houghton's 
 audience at the end of the play. Some of Houghton's critics 
 have said Fanny is nothing but an animal, others have declared 
 
 1. Ibid . . p. 179. 
 
 2. Ibid ., p. 116. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
-57- 
 
 her to be the dramatist's representation of the "new woman". 
 Actually, it would seem that Fanny possesses both of these 
 characteristics. She is a handsome animal, "a hot-blooded 
 little wench," as Jeff cote would say, who defends herself to 
 Alan in a most unusual manner, the manner of the "new woman." 
 
 Alan . But you didn't ever really love me? 
 
 Fanny . Love you? Good heavens, of course not'. Why 
 on earth should I love you? You were just some one 
 to have a bit of fun with. You were an amusement — 
 a lark 
 
 Later on she says: 
 
 You're not good enough for me. My_ husband, if ever I 
 
 have one, will be a man, not a fellow who'll throw over 
 
 2 
 
 his girl at his father's bidding'. 
 
 After Christopher has tried to interfere she reassures him by 
 saying, 
 
 I'm a Lancashire lass, and so long as there's weaving 
 sheds in Lancashire I shall earn enough brass to keep 
 me going. I'm going to be on my own in future. 
 
 (To Chr isto p her .) You've no call to be afraid. 
 
 1 . 
 
 Ibid.. 
 
 P • 
 
 175 . 
 
 3 . 
 
 Ibid . , 
 
 P • 
 
 176 . 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-58- 
 
 I'm not going to disgrace you. But ao long as I've 
 to live my own life I don't see why I shouldn't choose 
 what it's to be . x 
 
 John Galsworthy's treatment of this theme, that of 
 the refusal of a reparation marriage, is entirely unlike Stanley 
 
 Houghton's. In The Eldest Son the woman, Freda, is the daugh- 
 
 ter of the head-keeper Studdenham, while the man, Bill Cheshire, 
 is the eldest son of Sir William Cheshire. Therefore the back- 
 ground of the two plays is different. There was in Hindi e 
 Wakes a certain amount of equality between the Jeffcotes and 
 the Hawthorns, due to their common interests, but in The Elde st 
 
 Son the two families are as far apart socially as it is possible 
 
 for them to be. From the beginning, we are made to feel this 
 
 difference, and to pity Freda Studdenham. Bill has tired of 
 her but she still loves him. Furthermore she is to have a 
 child. Unlike the Jeffcotes and Hawthorns who strive to push 
 the Fanny -Alan marriage forward, the Cheshires and old Studden- 
 ham are both against Freda's marrying Bill. In both plays 
 the man's father threatens the son with disinheritance, but for 
 directly opposite reasons . The character of Bill Cheshire is 
 quite different from that of Alan Jeff cote. There is about 
 both Freda and Bill the glamour of courage. Freda is crowded 
 into a public confession by circumstance (she had not intended 
 to tell), while Bill's conscience forces him to live up to his 
 
 1 . Ibi d . , p . 179 . 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 59 - 
 
 promise of marriage. As for Freda’s final refusal of Bill, we 
 feel assured that she does it for young Cheshire's good because 
 she loves him. Beside these two young persons, there are three 
 other notable characters, Lady Cheshire, Sir William and Studden- 
 ham . Lady Cheshire is the sort of ’’great lady" who thinks 
 there are no limits to self-control, a "Spartan mother”. Sir 
 William is a somewhat unconvincing old hypocrite. He rants 
 about the under-keeper’s marriage to a village girl whom he has 
 seduced, but when he faces the problem of his own son with his 
 wife’s maid he says, "Morality be damned.” Studdenham has a 
 sense of pride resembling, in some degree, that of Fanny Haw- 
 thorn in Hindle Wakes . The two speeches which follow are 
 what one might expect from Houghton's heroine. 
 
 S tuddenham (speaking of Freda .) We want none of you'. 
 
 She'll not force herself where she's not welcome. 
 
 She may ha' slipped her good name, but she'll keep 
 her proper pride. I'll have no charity marriage 
 in my family . — If the young gentleman has tired of 
 her in three months, as a blind man can see by the 
 looks of him — she's not for him'. 1 
 
 It may be seen from this summary of The Eld est Son 
 that it is unlike Hindle Wake s at several points. First . this 
 
 1. Galsworthy, John: Plays , Second Series, p. 73. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 60 - 
 
 is the usual, conventional problem. Here is the stone wall of 
 caste between Freda and Bill . Second . Freda is a weak sort of 
 woman so sentimental that she makes Fanny appear doubly hard 
 by contrast. She gives up the idea of marriage, not for her 
 own sake as Fanny did, but because she fears she will harm Bill. 
 Thir d, the spirit of the Galsworthy play is different from 
 Hindi e Wakes in that the union between Freda and Bill was love, 
 while that between Fanny and Alan was the result of a lark . 
 Fourth , the plays differ in that there is no child to consider 
 in Hindle Wakes a3 there is in The Eldes t Son. It follows 
 naturally that Galsworthy's play is the more conventional and 
 more sentimental of the two. 
 
 St . John Ervine in The Magnanimous Lover has chosen to 
 view the problem from another angle. In tone the play, which 
 is written in one act, is more like Hindle Wakes than The Eldest 
 Son . Mr. Ervine 's people, like Mr. Houghton's, are not far 
 removed from their common peasant traditions. Here, too, there 
 is an economy in cast, there being but five persons in the play. 
 Maggie Cather refuses to marry Henry Hinde because his offer 
 is ten years too late. She knows that it is only Henry's sud- 
 denly acquired religion that has made him return to her . 
 
 Henry's father and Maggie's mother urge the marriage. William 
 Cather, Maggie's father, is the only person in the play who 
 understands her refusal. Henry Hinde's character has been 
 carefully drawn by Mr . Ervine and may be briefly glimpsed in 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-61- 
 
 Henry's speech to William near the beginning of the play. 
 
 There is about Henry Hinde the same conceit that permeated the 
 atmosphere about Alan Jeffcote, but in this case the conceit is 
 tainted by hypocrisy. This is the speech: 
 
 Henry Hinde . I felt it to be my duty to come back. Mind 
 it's not because I couldn't get anyone else. It's 
 because it's the will of God. w Hot my will, 0 Lord, 
 but Thine be done." I could marry a minister's 
 daughter if I wanted to. 1 
 
 As for Ervine's characterization of Maggie, it is partially 
 revealed in the following: 
 
 Maggie Cat her . Listen, Henry Hinde. There was nothing 
 but contempt for me at first. Fellows on the street 
 treated me like di rt beneath their feet . And all 
 the time you were in Liverpool, and were thought a lot 
 of. It wasn't fair. And it wasn't me only. I 
 mind once I was coming down an entry, and I saw a 
 
 lot of children tormenting the child. They made him 
 
 say, "I'm a wee bastard." Aw, if I could have laid 
 hand on you then, Henry, I would have throttled you." 0 
 
 1. Ervine, St. John G . : Four Irish Plays , p. 62. 
 2 . Ibid . , p . 63 . 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-63 
 
 This speech of Maggie Gather's, just quoted, separates 
 her both from Fanny Hawthorn and from Freda Studdenham. There 
 is neither selfishness nor sentimentality about Maggie. She 
 has suffered and her ten years of pain have given her a bitter 
 pride. Her refusal of Henry, therefore, is not based on her 
 reason as Fanny's was, but upon her pride. At the end of the 
 action, Maggie gives the following reply to Mrs. Gather's ques- 
 tion about Henry's not being good enough. 
 
 Maggie . He was too good. If you heard what he said 
 to me. He said I was a sinful, lustful woman, and 
 could never be as good as he is. It wasn't me he 
 was thinking of: it was himself. I'm not needing 
 to marry, but if I do, I'll marry to save my own 
 soul and not Henry Hinde's. 1 
 
 After the comparisons made here, certain salient 
 points of difference between these three dramas appear. The 
 Eldest Son is, technically speaking, an excellent play but it 
 is conventional and sentimental. It is conventional in that 
 it deals with the usual rich man's son who has seduced his 
 mother's maid. Furthermore, it is sentimental in that Freda's 
 reason for refusing Bill is the conventional one, she fears she 
 will ruin his life. Therefore, Galsworthy's Freda is a some- 
 what drab figure of pity, whereas Fanny Hawthorn is a vividly 
 
 1. Ibid ., p. 76. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 63 - 
 
 forceful example of the economically independent Lancashire 
 mill-girl. In T he Magnanimous Lover , St. John Ervine has given 
 us a remarkable character in the person of Maggie Cather . She 
 is a superbly courageous woman moved by a magnificent pride, 
 but she lacks Fanny's clear, cool way of looking at the world. 
 Therefore the play is less striking than Mr. Houghton's. On 
 the other hand, Kindle Wakes is technically as good as The 
 Eldest Son , but none of the ugly facts in it are glossed over 
 by sentiment as they are in Mr. Galsworthy's drama. Hindi e 
 Wakes is an unusual portrayal of a real type, for Fanny is 
 a hard self-realized woman, wholly apart from her experience. 
 
 Hindi e Wakes represents Mr. Houghton at his best as 
 a remarkable technician and realist . After all, realism is 
 largely a matter of view point. It proves, too, that Houghton 
 could write dialogue which has been but rarely surpassed for 
 its quiet humor. The whole play is an undisguised attack on 
 life as a purely sentimental thing. The tremendous success 
 of the drama partially proves its value. It has been played 
 with success from South Africa to Copenhagen. There is but 
 one failure to its credit and that was in Hew York. Why? 
 Because we may have been lacking in discerning critics, or 
 perha.ps New York thought the play too unusual . Perhaps Mr. 
 Houghton did not sweeten his realism enough for America. If 
 an American audience can be made to swallow real problems, the 
 dramatist who undertakes the task had best sugar-coat them 
 
 with sentiment . 
 

 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-64- 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Before making a summary of Mr. Houghton's realism, 
 a brief review of the dramatic criticisms of his plays will 
 prove interesting. Naturally there is very little criticism 
 extant of the plays which preceded Kindle Wakes . Therefore, 
 the bulk of critical opinion is confined to Mr. Houghton's 
 masterpiece and the plays which followed it. 
 
 The Graphic for July 27, 1912, includes an informal 
 criticism of the first London production of Kindle Wakes . 
 
 "The night was sweltering: the author quite unknown to most of 
 us: not a name in the cast was familiar to London playgoers: 
 and yet the play held the house as in a vice, and why? Because 
 it is a study in real life, written by a man who knows what he 
 is writing about . Someone once said of a well-known dramatist 
 that his pictures of a drawing-room were taken from the angle at 
 which the dirty little street boy looks at the plate glass 
 through the area railings. That cannot be said of Mr. HoughtorJs 
 brilliant glimpse of Lancashire life. It heightens its dram- 
 atic quality by dealing with Northern types of a fierce, ele- 
 mental kind, the drama consisting of the conflict between the 
 repressive conservatism of middle age and the changing ideals 
 of youth." Speaking of Fanny the critic says, "her code has, 
 at any rate, the sanction of overwhelming common sense, and. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-65 
 
 like every part of the play, its strong clear sight is com- 
 pulsive . 
 
 John Palmer, dramatic critic of The Saturday Review , 
 gives, in the issue for June, 1912, an entirely different judg- 
 ment . He insinuates in no uncertain terms that Mr. Houghton 
 borrows everything but the first scene from Mr. Shaw. "Alan," 
 says Mr. Palmer, "explaining his lapse tc the fiancee he had 
 temporarily abandoned for Fanny plunged at once into an exposi- 
 tion of Mr. Shaw's celebrated distinction between the strictly 
 impersonal and simple instinct of sex and the highly personal 
 and complex delight of agreeable companionship." * * 3 It would 
 seem that Mr. Palmer was wearing his melodramatic spectacles 
 that evening, for he comments recklessly upon the scene between 
 Fanny and her mother as "the best thing in the play." Fur- 
 thermore, he liked the thunderstorm, which is, in my opinion, 
 the most melodramatic and unrealistic thing in the play. After 
 commenting upon this scene, he dismisses the rest of the play, 
 which he misnames Hindi ev Wakes , in the following manner. "If 
 Mr. Houghton had continued in this fashion— I mean, if Mr. 
 Houghton's characters had played the play as he intended — I 
 should have celebrated Hindi ev Wake s rather differently." 
 
 1. Graphic . v. 86, p. 146. 
 
 2. Sat . Review , v. 113, p . 774 . 
 
 3 . Ibid ., p . 775 . 
 

 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 66 - 
 
 Fanny seems to have been hailed with more or less 
 disgust by the critics. The critic in Current Opinion for 
 September, 1913, calls her "the dangerous new free woman who 
 expresses her ultra-radical feminism and her simple theory of 
 the economic independence of woman." Another critic calls 
 her "a handsome animal who has slouched into the adventure and 
 now she slouches out of it without emotion. It would seem 
 that both of these critics allowed their personal opinion to 
 ride rough-shod over their judgment. Actually, Fanny is 
 neither a dangerous feminist nor a "handsome animal". She has 
 no more of the handsome animal about her than the average woman, 
 but she is capable of cold-bloodedly looking at her experience 
 from a rational view point. 
 
 Hindis Wakes failed in New York. According to 
 
 McClure ' s for March 1913, "the play did not meet here with a 
 
 shadow of the success it had in London. It is written in the 
 
 quiet tone popular among the younger English dramatists, who 
 
 are so determined not to be artificially conclusive that they 
 
 3 
 
 are sometimes more inconclusive than they need to be." 
 
 Fancy Free , though written before Hindle Wakes , was 
 produced after it. It was produced in 1913 in New York, but 
 it received rather scant attention. Harper's Weekly for June 
 
 1. American Playwright : v. 2, pp . 5-6. 
 2 • Mc Clure 1 s . v . 40 , p . 69 . 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-67- 
 
 31, 1913, contains the following criticism: "The author of 
 Fancy Free has given it the light imitable touch of French com- 
 edy, or of the delightfully artificial comedy of the Restor- 
 ation."' 1 ' Another brief criticism of Fancy Free is to be found 
 in the B ookman for May 1913. "It seems surprising that the 
 author of the unadorned and naturalistic dialogue of Hindle 
 Wake 3 should show himself equally at home in the brilliantly 
 witty type of composition that was made illustrious by Oscar 
 Wilde." 2 3 
 
 The Younger Generation , although written in 1909, was 
 first produced two weeks after Fancy Free . The dramatic critic 
 of the Academy for November 30, 1912, gives a detailed criticism 
 of the play. " The Younger Generation fits in with the present 
 reversion of taste to the candid domestic style of play, it 
 clearly and admirably sets forth such simple story as it con- 
 tains, and it is acted with a quiet vigour and sincerity which 
 dees immense credit to our stage. — It is all done very smoothly 
 and after a fashion that completely holds the interest. The 
 result is a most engaging comedy in modern manners. 
 
 The same critic in the Academy for June, 1913, passed 
 the following judgment upon the first performance of The Perfect 
 
 1. Harper's Weekly , v. 57, p, 126. 
 
 2. The Bookman , v. 37, p. 311. 
 
 3. Academy . v. 83, p. 703. 
 

 ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 68 - 
 
 Cure. n We have acquired the curious habit of expecting some- 
 thing very good of Mr. Stanley Houghton; so that matters are 
 only following their natural ironic law when we find his new 
 work. The Perfect Cure , completely disappointing. It is all 
 done neatly enough; there is plenty of satire. There is more 
 than enough of sharp sayings about parents of fifty who want 
 to keep their motherless daughters to act as their servants and 
 all that sort of thing. Even if the Crays do exist, is a man 
 of Mr. Houghton's gifts quite fair to us when he lavishes his 
 satiric powers, his cleverness and his sentiment on exceptional 
 types which have survived out of a past period? 
 
 The criticisms quoted have been, on the whole, typical 
 of the critical opinion passed on Stanley Houghton's writings. 
 They tend to prove that The Younger Generation and Hindi e Wakes 
 are Mr. Houghton’s best dramas. Let us glance back over the 
 way we have come and summarize the dramatist's work. 
 
 The longer plays, exclusive of Hindi e Wakes , are in- 
 teresting because they demonstrate Houghton's ability to create 
 real characters. They include some remarkably clever portraits, 
 notably, the egotistical Edgar Forsyth in Independent Means , 
 the unscrupulous mother in Marriages in the Making , and the 
 provincially intolerant Kennion family in The Younger Generation 
 Partners we have dismissed as being merely a part of the play- 
 wright's apprenticeship. As for The Perfect Cure , although 
 
 1. Ibid . . v. 84, p. 819. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- 69 - 
 
 technically excellent, it is below the average of the other 
 plays, from the standpoint of realism. 
 
 The shorter plays reveal Mr. Houghton's gift of 
 humor. The Old Testament and the Hew belongs like Partners 
 to Mr. Houghton's apprenticeship. The Master of the House is 
 unusual in its mingling of realistic characterization with a 
 somewhat eerie theme. Fancy Free is unlike the rest of the 
 short plays in its purely "witty" dialogue. Phipps is a farce 
 and therefore contributes little to our knowledge of Houghton's 
 realism. But The Dear Departed is an almost perfect example 
 of the realistic one-act comedy. It is crisp, adequate in 
 plot and characterization, and deserves permanent recognition. 
 
 As for Hindi e Wakes , it combines the realistic char- 
 acterization of the longer plays, the solid sense of humor of 
 the shorter plays, with the realistic point of view found in 
 the non-dramatic writings. Therefore this play is the best of 
 Mr. Houghton's plays because of the combination of these three 
 elements. Here are presentable, as well as real, characters. 
 Here also is that constant shifting from the serious to the 
 humorous so like life itself. Furthermore, here is the some- 
 what cynical viewpoint of the realist who openly attacks the 
 world's worship of humbug. Therefore Hindi e Wakes , together 
 with The Younger Generation and The Dear Departed , may be said 
 to prove Stanley Houghton to be a realist in his treatment of 
 character, in his humor, and in his viewpoint . 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-70- 
 
 By his lamentably early death, Stanley Houghton has 
 left behind him a fascinating problem. Viewing his work from 
 an external point of view, the critic will easily recognize 
 that Hindi e Wakes represents the perfection of the playwright’s 
 gifts as a realist. On the whole his studies are not so much 
 concerned with ideas as with types. His power of observation 
 was growing deeper and stronger. There is not one of the 
 characters in K indle 'flakes but walked the streets of Manchester. 
 Furthermore it is impossible to believe that Mr. Houghton’s 
 gold was all worked out in this play. If he had lived he 
 would have created other plays as lasting as Hindis Wakes . 
 
 "He might have perpetrated yet other abiding pictures of the life 
 that so vividly appealed to him . 
 
 1. Spectator , v. 113, p. 694. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 A. M agazines . 
 
 1. Academy , v. 83, p. 703, Nov. 30, 1313. 
 
 "Younger Generation". 
 
 2. Ibid . , v. 84, pp . 307-308, Feb. 15, 1913. 
 
 "Trust the People". 
 
 3. Ibid., v. 84, pp . 819-830, June 38, 1313. 
 
 "The Perfect Cure" . 
 
 4. Amer i can Playwright , v. 2, p. 6, July 1313. 
 
 "Kindle Wakes". 
 
 5. Bookman , v. 36, p. 643, Feb. 1913. 
 
 "Hindi e Wakes". 
 
 6. Ibid., v. 37, pp . 304-313, May 1913. 
 
 "Fancy Free". 
 
 7. Ibid., v. 38, p. 366, Feb. 1914. 
 
 "Old Stories and New Plays". 
 
 8. Ibid., v. 39, p. 80, June 1914. 
 
 "Kindle Wakes". 
 
 2* Colliers . v. 50, p. 68, Dec. 28, 1913. 
 
 "A Description of Kindle Wakes". 
 
 10. Curr en t Opinion , v. 55, pp . 169-172, Jan. 1314. 
 
 "Kindle Wakes". 
 
11. Dial, v. 56, p. 59, March 1913. 
 
 "Guides to Contemporary Drama". 
 
 12. English Review , v. 11, p. 655, June 1913. 
 
 "A Criticism of Hin di e Wakes ". 
 
 13. Fo rtnightly Revi ew, v. 99, p. 945, May 1913. 
 
 "The Realistic Drama". 
 
 14. Ibid., v. 99, p. 1136, June 1913. 
 
 "Realism in the Drama". 
 
 15. Graphic , v. 86, p. 391, July 1913. 
 
 "Hindis Wakes". 
 
 16. Ibid., v. 87, p. 1099, Sept. 1912. 
 
 "The Perfect Cure". 
 
 17. Ibid., v. 87, p. 349, August 1912. 
 
 "Trust the People". 
 
 18. Ibid., v. 88, p. 1170, Dec. 1913. 
 
 "The Death of Stanley Houghton". 
 
 IS. Harper's Week ly, v. 57, p. 35, June 31, 1913. 
 "Fancy Free". 
 
 20. Liv i ng Age , v. 380, p. 423, Jan. 1914. 
 
 "The Life of Stanley Houghton" . 
 
 31. McClure 's . v. 48, p. 69, March 1913. 
 
 "The New York Production of Hindi e Wakes ". 
 22. The Nation , v. 98, p. 581, Nov. 1913. 
 
 "Recent London Productions." 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
23. Nort h American R eview, v. 198, pp . 218-226, Jan. 1913. 
 
 "England's New Dramatists". 
 
 24 . Saturday Review , v. 113, p. 774, Jan. 1914. 
 
 "The Life of Stanley Houghton". 
 
 25. Ibid ., v. 114, p. 765, July 1914. 
 
 "The Younger Generation". 
 
 36. Ibid . , v. 115, p. 303, Jan. 1915. 
 
 "Trust the People". 
 
 37. The Spectator , v. 113, p. 694, Jan. 1914. 
 
 "Review of the Works of Stanley Houghton". 
 
 B ♦ Books . 
 
 1. Andrews, Charlton: The Drama o f Today . 
 
 2. Chandler, Frank W.: Aspects of the Modern Drama . 
 
 3. Courtney, W. L.: Old Saws and Modern Ins ta nces . 
 
 4. Dukes, Ashley: Modern Drama . 
 
 5. Ervine, St. John: Four Irish Plays . 
 
 6. Galsworthy, John: P lav s . Second Series. 
 
 7. Henderson, Archibald: The C hanging Drama . 
 
 8. Houghton, Stanley: Works , v. 1, 3, 3. 
 
 9. Sarcey, Francisque: Theory of the Theatre . 
 
 10 . Vaughan , C . E . : Types of Tragic Drama . 
 
 11. Zola, Emile: Therese Raquin , Preface. 
 
 13. Dickinson, Thomas H.: Modern English Drama,.,