1

i



, called “the paradise lost Of critical

cessful portrayal

a





VOL. XLVI-NO. 8

ARDMORE and BRYN MAWR, PA., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1960

© Trustees of Bryn Mawr College, 1960

PRICE 20 CENTS



“Abrams Details

Advocates “Dogged Literalism”

The irony of Mr, A. H. Abrams’
Ann Elizabeth Sheble Memorial
Lecture, Wednesday, November 31,
in Goodhart, was that while differ-
entiating “Five Types of ‘Lycidas”
he added a sixth—his own explan-
ation of Milton’s poem. The ques-
tion is, is a poem one or many, and
if one, how can you tell which one?
Critics of the past and present of-
fer at least five separate “Lyci-
das’” to choose from.

Hanford, im what Mr. Abrams

innocence,” maintained that “Lyci-

das” was exactly what it purport-
ed to be, an elegiac poem about
the poet’s friend Edward King. It
is drawn on the models of the past,
but the critic was forced to ac-
knowledge two “digressions”: the
poet’s fear that death will take
him ‘before he~has—aceomplished |
his fame, and his warning to the
corrupt English church.

Tillyard, who presents the sec-
ond type of “‘Lycidas”, first made
the familiar critical differentiation
between the nominal and real sub-
ject of a poem, thus splitting it
into two levels of meaning. Mr.
Abrams admitted that this is a
“handy gadget to replace what the
poet said with what the critic
wishes he’d said.” The real sub-
ject of “Lycidas”, says Tillyard, is
Milton himself. The poem is one
of the greatest personal expres-
sions, and its value lies in its suc-
‘of a state of}
mind.

Though Tillyard found the poem’s
value in the power of its personal
revelation, John Crowe Ransom
says that anonymity is a condi-
tion of poetry and that there is
no passion im “Lycidas.” Milton
“mourns with technical piety,” and
the poem is an “exercise in pure
linguistic technique”. Ransom finds
Milton breaking out of this per-
fect impersonality in three indi-
cations: the liberty he took with
the stanzas, St, Peter’s satirical
speech and the shift from first
person to dialogue to third person.
(Mr. Abrams pointed out that free-
dom of verse form, rough satire,



Five Lycidas’

and shifts of speaker are all con-
ventions of the elegy form as -Mil-
ton knew it.) In this “virtuoso ex-
ercise im point of view”, as Mr.
Abrams phrased it, Ransom turns
Tillyard inside out and feels “dis-
turbingly conscious of the* man
behind the poem.”

The fourth type of “Lycidas” is
that of Brooks and Hardy, who
maintain that the poem is_ not
really about King or Milton but
about water, Imagery is the key
to the meaning, an abstract sub-
stance, and Milton is a symbolist

poet who is deeply concerned with
a theme: the place of poetry in a
world seemingly inimical to it.
To prove this thesis, however,
Brooks and Hardy begin by main-
taining that to Milton nature seems
neutral, while the poet actually

|. says_that_nature_mourns_iLycidas. ||

The archetypal version is the fifth
type of “Lycidas”, -This theory
isolates images which reflect agents
of myth, especially of death and
rebirth. The poem is not about
King but about his archetype, iAd-
onis, the rising and dying god. Mr.
Abrams commented that. it’s rath-
er a shock to discover that the
poem is about someone who is not
even mentioned in it,

These five interpretations differ
in essentials, and to combine them
all would be incoherent. Mr. Ab-
rams suggested going back to the
text and reading with dogged lit-
“eralism except where the—poem—is}
obviously allegorical.

His type of “Lycidas” is a dra-
matic lyric, written for the public
ceremonial on the occasion of
King’s death, Milton’s attempt to

Continued on Page 5, Col. 1



PIANO RECITAL

A recital for two pianos will
be given by Horace Alwyne,
Professor Emeritus of Music,
and Agi Jambor, Professor of
Music, Friday, January 6, at
8:30 in Goodhart. Tickets may be
secured from the Office of Pub-
lic Information.









Mrs. Pat Nicholson,

“Shakespeare’s Women” In Life, Plays.

“Shakespeare is a household
word,” begam Mrs. Pat Nicholson,
speaking on “Shakespeare’s Wom-
en,” “yet how much do any of us

really know about his life and his|

work?”

Mrs. Nicholson, a Shakespear-
ean actress, who hails from Edin-
burgh, addressed. an. appreciative:
audience at» the Deanery, Decem-
ber 2. Her talk, sponsored by the
Friends of the Library, included
background and comments on the
bard and short readings from sev-
eral of his plays. 2

“Today,” said Mrs, Nicholson,
“women dominate the theatre from
_ both sides of the footlights, but in
the Elizabethan period no woman
ever took a part in a» draina.
Shakespeare had to depend on
young boys to portray his women.

Actress, Recreates

could memorize them. She also
spoke of the necessity of avoid-
ing physical passion which might
prove ludicrous or offensive.

As an example of Shakespeare’s
success with the latter problem,
Mrs. (Nicholson. read the balcony
scene from Romeo and Juliet, in
which. the lovers never touch, but
in which “the magic of the poetry
is enough to.convince the audi-
ence.” She also noted the small
number of scenes in Antony and
Cleopatra which the two lovers
actually meet. ;

Turning from the poet’s work
to his personal life, Mrs. Nichol-
son described the women who were
closest to him and their possible
effect upon his writing. She sug-
gested that (Mary Arden Shakes-
peare, his mother, who had never)

| one.”

Dramas by Brecht
Force Re-evaluation
Of Modern Society

The “vigorous, enterprising,
juicy” Berthold Brecht and his de-
tached, cynical drama were the
topics of Victor Lange’s lecture in
Goodhart Common Room, Tuesday,
November 29. Mr. Lange has stud-
ied at Leipzig and Cornell and is
now head of Princeton’s German
Department,

Brecht 1s currently one of Ger-
many’s most popular playwrights,
second only to Shakespeare, Schil-
ler, and Goethe. (“No lecture on
German literature can proceed for
more than four minutes without
mention of Goethe-’’)

Anti-Aristotelian

Creator of a “fresh idiom in
drama” Brecht is the most influ-
ential figure in the history of con-
temporary literature. Best-describ-
ed as anti-Aristotelian, Brecht
aimed to detach audience and act-
or from character by the use of
a deliberately impersonal, blasé,
didactic narrative. Brecht at-
tempted to use the dramatic form
to force the audience to re-evalu-
ate itself in relation to society as
a whole.

In conventional dramatic thea-
ter the audience reacts: “I’m just
like this. This human’s suffering
moves me.” Brecht’s audience
should respond: “This is most sur-
prising. This will have to stop.
Nothing here seems inevitable. I’m
laughing about those who weep,
and—weeping—about—those—who
laugh.” He sought to show the pa-
thos of people in a mutable social
situation, rather than the pathos
of people as such,

Political Dramatist

Convinced of the mutability of
society and disgusted with the
evils of capitalism, Brecht used
his didactic drama to advance
Marxist socialism. What had once
been Brecht’s “epic” style, now be-
came his “dialectic.”

“T address you like reality it-
self,” he said, ‘tired of your diffi-
culties, which you seem to be dis-
regarding.” In his zeal use
the drama as a scientific : od
of effecting social change, Brecht
even attempted to turn the Com-
munist Manifesto into hexameter.

De-romanticizing the theatre was
Brecht’s first aim. In his “desire
to chill”, Brecht decorated his
theatre with anti-romantic slo-
gans and posters which stated “we
zannot help you, ourselves, or any-
His love songs always are
used for shock. In Jungle of Cit-
ies, a grotesque series of tussles,
two men fight to show how inter-
esting a fight cam be.

ot
Audience -Deprivation

Playwriting became for Brecht
a form of demonstration. He de-
liberately deprived the audience of
the suspense of seeing how. the
play would end by stating, the
course the action would take at
the beginning of each scene. The
audience was thus free to concen-
trate on the developing action. The
plots and scenes themselves were
not to be® complete, but should

Russian Chorus Entertains
As Highlight Of Weekend

by Janice Copen

The class of 1963 has been gaining a reputation for breaking tradi-

tion.
at Bryn Mawr.

Last weekend the sophomores Proved “that innovations can work

wre

Having unsuccessfully attempted to put together a Maids’ and
Porters’ Show, the class imported the Yale Russian Chorus to provide
the main entertainment Saturday night, and to set the tone for the

weekend,

Friday evening began with enthusiastic support at a square dance
in the gym. Traditional American dances were followed by folk dances

from other nations.

A group from Hillel Organization at Brooklyn
College taught some Israeli dances.

The international atmosphere

was maintained at the Hoot in ‘Applebee Barn which followed the

square dance.

The high point of the weekend was, of course, the Yale Russian
Chorus which performed Saturday evening in Goodhart. They’ sang a -



Cochran Lectures
On Culture’s Role

In Economic Rates.

“The fundamental problems of
economic development are not
economic,” Thomas ~C:~-Cochran;
Professor of History at the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania, said in
the Mallory ‘Whiting Webster Lec-
ture on Monday evening, Novem-
ber 28. Im his lecture entitled
“Cultural Factors in Economic
Growth,” Mr. Cochran proceeded
to prove that cultural character-
istics play an important role in the
economic development of a nation.

An example of the effect on ec-
onomic growth of cultural factors
is the importance of the family
unit in Latin America. The fath-
er generally takes his domestic

‘Tesponsibilities seriously, and often

sacrifices his busifess to his fam-
ily. There is also the Latin Amer-
ican concept of individualism as
“a unique inner quality, divorced
from all exterior motives.”

A United States entrepreneur
usually has an impersonal confi-
dence in his employees; a Latin
American, however, finds it diffi-
cult to view his staff objectively:
He feels he cannot trust a man
unless he knows -him personally.

In addition, Latin Americans stress | _

the importance of personal dig-
nity, and often avoid risky ven-
tures for fear of personal humili-
ation.

Many Latim American business-
es are managed inefficiently. The
chief fails to delegate authority
to his subordinates, and conse-
quently has to make all the deci-
sions himself, Mr. Cochran de-
scribed the futile attempt of a
United States efficiency expert to
renovate the administrative system
in a Buenos Aires factory. At the
end of a year, the plant was in
chaos. No one knew what to do
with his newly delegated author-
ity. “Engineers are doing shop
work ... ” wrote the harassed
efficiency expert.

Latin American entrepreneurs
often are not receptive to advanced
technology. United States busi-
nessmen, on the other hand, a
quick to absorb new technique;
Communication of ideas has\been

an important .cause of economic

growth in the United States.

In concluding, (Mr. Cochran re-
minded the audience that the pur-
pose of his lecture was not to crit-
icize Latim American business, but
rather to show the influence of

variety of Russian songs including
the powerful hymn, “Praise the
Name of the Lord,” the sweet and
gently flowing “It is not the Wind
that Bows the Branch,” and the
quick and tongue-tripping ‘“Kal-
inka.” Although many people: in
the audience could not understand
much more than the words to the
‘well known, “Song of the Volga
Boatmen,” everyone appreciated
the magnificent voices in the cho-
rus and the enthusiasm with which
the men sang. A special tribute
should be given to the conductor
who did an excellent job.

Besides giving four encores at
the performance, the chorus sang
again at the dance, Tansoolka,
which was held in the gym follow-
ing the concert, The Brym Mawr
Octangle and the Haverford Octet
also performed. The River Road
Seven from Bard College provided
the dance music. pig.

Rachel Brown and Angel Shrode,

-sophomore—representatives—to—Un-— ae

dergrad, organized the weekend.

Judy Deutsch was in charge of
tickets; Julie Heilman and Margie
Hibberd did the publicity.

Choruses to Sing,
Do Carol Service;
Minister to Speak

‘Members of the Bryn Mawr Col-
lege Chorus and the Haverford
College Glee Club and Instru-
mental Ensemble will appear in a
traditional pre-Christmas service
sponsored by the Interfaith Asso-
ciation, December 11 on Goodhart
stage, The program will feature
the Reverend Andrew Mutch, D.D.,
Minister Emeritus of the Brym
Mawr Presbyterian Church, who
will read the Christmas story.

Led by Robert” Suderberg and
William Reese, the musical groups
will perform a number of selec-
tions among which, according to
Mr. Suderberg, the Ceremony of
Carols is particularly worthy of
attention. .

The order of the service is:
Brass Music

Haverford Brass Ensemble
A Ceremony of Carols s

Benjamin Britten
Members of Bryn Mawr College
Chorus

Soloists:

Marian Willner, Contralto

Anne Witman, Soprano

Susan Goodman, Harp
Brass Music

Haverford Brass iii
Christmas Cantata: In dulci jubilo





Thus very. few of Shakespeare’s
plays are carried by female char-
acters.”

The actress explained that fe-
male roles had to be limited in



length so that boys under fourteen |

®

been very dear to him, appeared in
the person of Hamlet’s mother,
Gertrude. She saw allusions to
Shakespeare’s marriage with Ann
Hathaway in the. sonnet “Let Me
‘Continued on Page 6, Col. 3-



challenge the. saudience, In The
Good Woman of S the end is
not certain. The character

challenges the audience, “There
must be some good end that would
fit. Good friends, let us look for
$2”. . 2



‘eultural characteristics on econ-

omic growth. Mr, Cochran said
that in recent years economists
have done a great deal of research
on the interrelation of cultural and
Continued on Page 5, Col. 3



B. Ph. Telemann :
Mixed Chorus, instruments
Soloists:
Shirley Van Cleef, Soprano
Marian Willner, Contralto

_. Mare Briod, Bass

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