Fanny Kemble: Leading Lady of the Nineteenth-Century Stage (review)

Abstract

Reviews J. C. Furnas, Fanny Kemble: Leading Lady of the Nineteenth-Century Stage. New York: The Dial Press, 1982. xiv. 494 pp. $19.95. Men shouted and boys went wild the evening Fanny Kemble was launched out of the wings at Covent Garden for her premier performance as Shakespeare's Juliet. The roar that greeted her from the pit was so overwhelming that later she could not even recall having played the scene. Her talent, a contemporary journalist reported, was nothing less than astounding: "Every spectator was electrified by the influence of new-tried genius . . . her eyes are full of a gifted soul." Yet regardless of her arresting countenance her spirit was not altogether particular to the moment, for Fanny was a Kemble in every way, and for almost half a century the Kembles had presided as the "first family of the English theatre." The role carefully chosen for Fanny's debut fell squarely within that tradition. Juliet's lines had been memorialized years before by her Aunt Sarah (Kemble) Siddons. Once the youthful, zesty "Melpomene" as the prime of her niece's, she blossomed opposite David Garrick, and declined into "a solemn female figure in black." She was not in attendance at Fanny's opening. But more to the quick, had it not been for the predominance of his fifty-two years, Charles Kemble (Fanny's revered father) might have stepped back into his most famed role as Romeo. On this occasion he had the good sense to reconcile himself to Mercutio's part, although his wife sacrificed her retirement to play Lady Capulet. The performance aired on 5 October 1829. The Kembles, as it turned out, were drawn together on the same platform for reasons of financial urgency: Charles' bad man- REVIEWS 183 agement had left Covent Garden in desperate straits, its creditors coming close to demanding a formal closing and sellout. However, the Kembles masked their personal exigency behind the footlights—an accomplishment in itself, one perhaps to be reasonably expected given the depths of their professionalism and experience. Most importantly, Romeo and Juliet was such a masterstroke that it cleared £13,000 in thirty-one successive alternate-evening performances, with the result that the creditors backed down. To be sure, Covent Garden would go on—the Kembles at the forefront—and Fanny was spared from fulfilling her previous offer to turn governess in support of her father's dying establishment. For her abilities she was presented instead with a future of sizeable livings and countless admirers. Still, she was thrust onto the stage initially for the benefit of her family's time-honoured reputation, devoid of self-preferment. On this precarious night the Kembles had put forth their last hope and, most fortunately, the audience had acclaimed her. Born in 1809, and dying in 1893 "so tired of life" (her maid's words), Frances Anne Kemble spanned the century, one she embraced in unusual ways. Reduced to a leading lady by traditional opinion, her image actually resonates in a much larger context. She was unlike any woman of her epoch, or of ours. Although a vulnerability to applauds circumscribed her existence, her motions (not actions) dictate her importance as a person to be actively studied. Then, as now, people tended to be judged not solely by who they were, but by where they had been and who they knew. So much of that framework—the lady and her wanderings—is clear. Fanny began on Oxford Road, London and later entered a Parisian school on Rue d'Angoulême, Champs Elysées. After three years she returned to England to live with her mother who preferred a tiny cottage on the rambling outskirts of Weybridge , Hertfordshire, to the claustrophobic fog and noise surrounding the townhouse on Soho Square. In the country, Fanny exchanged girlhood secrets with Harriet St. Leger who would prove a steadfast friend and confidante for over fifty years. Near 1827, though, the Kembles reconsolidated in the City, at St. James Street, Westminster; and Fanny wrote her first play, Francis the First. The drama was set against the background of the French resistance to Italian tributaries, recounting the downfall of the ruthless Francis and his...