MRS SIDDONS AS LADY MACBETH 47 



public will admit this truth readily. No one can suppose that 

 the writer of l Rip van Winkle ' conceived his man with the tones 

 and gestures which we find so admirable in Mr. Jefferson ; but 

 the majesty of Shakespeare's name overawes us when we hear 

 that a Mrs. Siddons created a part which Shakespeare wrote 

 when we are told that an actor's first business is not to think 

 how Shakespeare conceived his character as standing or looking, 

 but how he, the actor, can make a real human being stand and 

 look while speaking Shakespeare's words. Yet the words of the 

 part do not by themselves supply the actor with one-hundredth 

 part of the actions he has to perform. Every single word has 

 to be spoken with just intonation and emphasis, while not a 

 single intonation or emphasis is indicated by the printed copy. 

 The actor must find the expression of face, the attitude of body, 

 the action of the limbs, the pauses, the hurries the life, in 

 fact. There is no logical process by which all these things can 

 be evolved out of the mere words of a part. The actor must go 

 direct to nature and his own heart for the tones and action by 

 which he is to move his audience ; these his author cannot give 

 him, and in creating these, if he be a great actor, his art may be 

 supremely great. 



The distinction between the mechanical arts and what are 

 commonly called the fine arts lies in the creation or invention 

 required by the artist as compared with the skill or dexterity 

 which are alone required by the craftsman. The one copies or 

 executes ; the other creates, invents, or finds the treasure which 

 he gives to the world. Arts are great or small as the thing 

 created is noble or petty; the artist is true or false as he 

 possesses more or less of this creative power, for the exercise of 

 which he in all cases requires skill more or less mechanical, 

 which technical skill is often called i art ' as if there were no 

 other. This technical skill can be taught and must be learned by 

 every artist. The poetic creative power can never be taught, 

 though in a sense it is learned from every sight, sound, and feeling ; 

 but this greater art is learned unconsciously, and few have the 

 power to learn the lesson. 



Judged by this canon, the art of the actor may claim high 

 rank whenever its scope is the presentment of the highest 

 human types. To truly great actors, the words they have to 



