False Estimate


KEAN once played Young Norval to Mrs. Siddons's Lady Randolph: after

the play, as Kean used to relate, Mrs. Siddons came to him, and patting

him on the head, said, You have played very well, sir, very well. It's

a pity,--but there's too little of you to do anything.



Coleridge said of this little actor: Kean is original; but he copies

from himself. His rapid descent from the hyper-tragic to the

infra-colloquial, though sometimes productive of great effect, are often

unreasonable. To see him act, is like reading 'Shakespeare' by flashes

of lightning. I do not think him thorough-bred gentleman enough to play

Othello.



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