THE
GRECIAN DAUGHTER;
A TRAGEDY,
IN FIVE ACTS;
By ARTHUR MURPHY, Esq.
AS PERFORMED AT THE
THEATRE ROYAL, COVENT GARDEN.
PRINTED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE MANAGERS
FROM THE PROMPT BOOK.
WITH REMARKS
BY MRS. INCHBALD.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, AND ORME,
PATERNOSTER ROW.
WILLIAM SAVAGE, PRINTER,
BEDFORD BURY, LONDON.
REMARKS.
This tragedy has been so rapturously applauded on the stage, and soseverely criticised in the closet, that it is a task of peculiardifficulty to speak either of its beauties or its defects, with anydegree of certainty. To conciliate both the auditor and the reader, boththe favourable and the unfavourable critic, the "Grecian Daughter"demands a set of Remarks for each side of the question—and thegood-natured side shall have precedence.
This play had, on its first appearance, the most brilliant success, andstill holds a place in the list of dramas performed during every season.There is a splendour of decoration, a glow of martial action, events ofsuch deep interest, and, above all, a moral of such excellent tendency,which concludes the performance, that its attraction can readily beaccounted for, without the slightest imputation upon the judgment of thepublic.
Perhaps, of all the events recorded in history, that filial piety, onwhich the fable of this play is founded, may be classed among the mostaffecting—yet it was one the most hazardous for a dramatist to adopt;for nothing less than complete skill could have given to this singularoccurrence effectual force, joined to becoming delicacy. In this arduouseffort Mr. Murphy has evinced the most exact judgment, and the nicestexecution.[Pg 4]
If this tragedy has not the smooth flowing verse of Otway, Thomson, orRowe, it possesses, in energy and fire, charms more theatrical; nor doesthe heroic so wholly engross every scene, but that it yields, at times,to melting pathos.
Another praise due to this production is, that wonderful events takeplace by the most natural agency. Incidents arise progressively fromeach other, till the last great incident of all, fills every mind withenthusiasm in the cause of virtue and justice—in the joy of an empiremade free by the overthrow of its tyrant.
It is hardly possible to read this tragedy of the "Grecian Daughter,"without laughing as well as crying. Some passages excite tears, whilstcertain high-sounding sentences, with meaning insignificant, areirresistibly risible.
The popular story, from which the fable of this tragedy is produced, andthe surprising event in the last scene—where a woman performs thatwhich a whole army has in vain attempted—together with the powerfulacting of Mrs. Barry in the part of Euphrasia, rendered this playgreatly attractive when it was first performed; and as those causes ofattraction still remain, or rather, an improvement is introduced by Mrs.Siddons's appearance in the Grecian Daughter, the play is still of useto the theatre.
The men's charact