Press archive
Stoker’s recollections of Tennyson and Henry VIII
30 July 1927 · Otago Daily Times
Estate summary
This literary column uses Bram’s Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving to enliven a discussion of Shakespeare and Fletcher’s Henry VIII. It recalls Tennyson emphatically doubting Shakespeare’s authorship of Wolsey’s farewell, then considers competing critical judgements. The writer also draws on Bram’s comic reply to a parent offering a real baby for the Lyceum’s christening scene: theatrical realism would entail an increasingly absurd series of practical consequences. The extracts show Bram’s memoir continuing to supply anecdotes about literature and performance after his death. This is a 1927 discussion quoting the memoir, rather than a newly discovered interview or contemporary record of the original conversations.
Source notes and excerpts
This is the opening theatre-related part of the column “Literature”, under “Shakespeare and Henry VIII: The Question of Authorship”. It is a retrospective discussion of Stoker’s memoir, not a new interview with Stoker. The column continues with unrelated book reviews.
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