College News, 1934-12-12, Vol. 21, No. 08

              The College News
VOL. XXI, No. 8
BRYN MAWR AND WAYNE, PA., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1934      ^L'gM^s"^?           PRICE 10 CENTS
M. de Chateaubriand
Was Miserable Widl
Brilliant, Witty Wife
M. Paul Hazard Describes Love
of Power and Remoteness
of Romanticist
Goodhart, December 10.
The theme of M. Paul Hazard's lec-
ture: "La Femme d'un Grand
Homme, Madame de Chateaubriand,"
was "He, She, and then He and She
together." M. Hazard gave us a pic-
ture of Rene and Celeste de Chateau-
briand as separate people, who re-
mained quite definitely separate all
their lives, and finally advised us nev-
er to marry a man who was a genius.
Ren6 de Chateaubriand was a Bre-
ton nobleman, not quite so tall as he
wished to be, but handsome, with a
magnificent constitution and a beau-
tiful voice, which he thoroughly en-
joyed using, especially to read his own
works aloud. He had a remarkable
creative intelligence, and a penetrat-
ing understanding of people. His ca-
pacity for enjoying life was tremen-
dous, and so was his foolhardiness.
When he went to America, he had
himself tied to the mast to watch a
storm, and was lowered by pulleys into
a sea full of sharks, so that he might
not forego any exciting experiences.
Chateaubriand  a  Dissatisfied Lover
M. de Chateaubriand was a great
lover: of Pauline de Beaumont, of La
Comtesse de Mouchine, and of Madame
Recamier, whose salon he made his
own. He loved power, though he want-
ed to be rid of it as soon as it bored
him; he loved money* and wasted it
prodigiously; he loved politics and the
monarchy for which he fought, was
wounded, and exiled. So deep was his
devotion to it that he could not bear
the idea of Louis Philippe's being
king, and left the house of peers for-
ever at his accession.
With  all his enthusiasm, Chateau-
briand found that when he had every-
thing he hoped for in the world, sud-
denly everything turned to dust and
Continued on Page Three
Principals of Cymbeline
Seated, left to right: Letitia Brown, '37, asTIymbeline: Isabel
Seltzer, '37, as the Queen.
Standing, left to right: Adeline Furness, '35, as Imogen;
Ruth Woodward, '37, as Posthumous Leonatus; Margaret
Veeder, '36, as Cloten; Sally Park, '36, as Pisanio; and Edith
Rose, '37, as Iachimo.
Romeo and Juliet
A Special Performance of
Katherine Cornell's production
of Romeo and Juliet is sched-
uled for Friday, December 21,
at the Martin Beck Theatre, for
the Benefit of the David Mannes
Music School.
Bernheimer Lecture Is Coming
Mr. Charles L. Bernheimer is going
to give an illustrated lecture on The
Search for the Earliest American
Civilization on Sunday, December 16,
at 5 o'clock in the Deanery. Mr. Bern-
heimer has discovered hitherto un-
known cliff ruins and dinosaur tracks
which the American Museum of Nat-
ural History has pronounced the most
perfect specimens ever found.
"I Calls It Spinach and I Yells for More"
Is Rallying Cry of Hungry Horde at Tea
"Let's go over to the Inn for tea
and have some spinach," would seem
to be a favorite remark at Bryn
Mawr. When we first heard it, we
thought it so incongruous that we
rushed to the smoking room in high
glee to tell of our amusing discovery.
And were looked upon with patroniz-
ing scorn by all the inhabitants. "Of
course�the,Inn's spinach is wonder-
ful�it makes a grand tea! Haven't
you ever eaten it there?" As a result
of this amazing answer, we set out to
find out more about the feeding hab-
its of the Bryn Mawr undergradu-
ate.
Naturally, the first place we went
was the College Inn. Truly enough,
spinach is a favorite dish. Some
girls come in quite regularly about
four o'clock for their spinach with
poached egg. Others, who prefer a
bit of variety, choose a vegetable plat-
ter. And with almost everyone, spin-
ach is the preferred vegetable for sup-
per. For those of us who are not
quite such health children, however,
the regular tea, consisting of a ham-
burger or frankfurter sandwich, a
pecan bun, or toast, and tea or coffee,
is the usual thing. We don't go in
for desserts, but make up for our lack
of a sweet tooth by consuming coffee
on<.trry possible occasion.
At the Greek's, or, more formally,
the Bryn Mawr Confectionery, quanti-
ties of toasted cheese and toasted egg-
and-olive sandwiches are consumed
nightly, with coca-cola, beer, coffee,
and chocolate frosteds as supplements.
To those who cannot join the parade,
and must remain at college, large bags
of the same foods are carried by their
more fortunate friends. Fudge and
fresh fruit sundaes are among the
more popular sweets.
Our preferences in college food arc
stated loudly and often. Orange juice
is the favorite fruit at breakfast: if
we are served whole oranges, instead
of the juice, we squeeze our own at the
table. We definitely don't like apples,
and are only mildly fond of grapes
and prunes.
In spite of all our reducing diets,
we manage to consume almost eight
hundred pounds of potatoes and two
hundred forty quarts of ice cream a
week, besides our daily portion of milk
per day, which amounts to something
like one hundred seventy-nine quarts.
Crackers, too, break down our resist-
ance. (It has always been a fact
that it is the people on non-starch diets
who eat up all the crackers.) One
meal that continues in preferment is
that which consists of brown bread,
potatoes, and baked beans, although
we complain bitterly of the color
scheme.
For salad and dessert, lettuce and
fruit cup, respectively have first
places. Other salads have been tried,
but none have had the popularity that
is accorded plain lettuce, so that has
been adopted as the constant. About
thirty-two dozen heads of iceberg let-
tuce are ordered week!" For <sMT&,
w%�_...�xys prefer the after-dinner va-
riety to that served at breakfast, even
though we have been informed time
and time again that they ate the same
brand made in the same way.
The college bookshop supplies the
college with even more food, as well
as the very necessary cigarettes, chew-
ing gum, tomato juice, et al. Noctur-
nal pilgrimages to the hall-bookshops
are usual occurrences; from these we
return, laden with edibles and bev-
erages to last until the small hours.
Continued on  Page Three
Teachers Must Have
Psychology, Sympathy
Miss Johnson, Mrs. Appel State
Development of Initiative Is
Basis   of   Teaching
TACT   IS   AN   ESSENTIAL
Common Room, December 11.
At the vocational tea on teaching,
both Miss Johnson and Mrs. Appel
stressed the fact that in modern edu-
cation, the teachers should put their
greatest effort into arousing the chil-
dren's interest. The object of teach-
ing is to open a child's, mind to new-
experiences, to induce concentration
and observation, and to make the child
use his mental resources to the best
of his ability.
Mrs. Appel spoke first, on the nurs-
ery school and its goals. There is the
intellectual goal, for which the teaciser
must study the individual development
of each child and be ready to help at
the essential moment. In nursery
school, a child must learn to explore
and to combine the things he has learn-
ed. In a modern nursery school, the
teacher is no longer the center of at-
tention; learning is left up to the
child's initiative, tempted by sand-
piles, blocks, easels, jungle gyms, and
such simple things as packing cases
and boards. The school organizes ex-
peditions so that the children may
have experiences that they will re-
member. Some children do not con-
centrate or see the possibilities in their
material, and need the teacher to help
them.
Another goal of the nursery school
is emotional growth.    The  school  is
usually  the  child's  first  attempt  at
self-reliance,  and  must  encourage  a
Continued  on  Page  Five
Varsity Dramatics Censured for Choice
of Play and Mediocrity of Performance
Directors   Receive   Praise   for   Achieving   Rapidity   of   Tempo
in Production of Cymbeline, but Overcutting of Lines -.
Prevents Emotional Acting
ONE SET INGENIOUSLY USED THROUGHOUT PLAY
College Calendar
Friday, December 14. Dr.
Karl K. Darrow on Waves and
Cn/ntals.  Goodhart.   8.20 P. M.
Sunday, December 16. Mr.
Charles L. Bernheimer on The
Search for the Earliest Ameri-
can Civilization. Deanery. 5.00
P. M.
Christmas Carol Service and
address by Bishop Creighton.
Goodhart, 7.45 P. M.
Monday, December 17. League
party, 4.00-6.30 P. M. Common
Room. Meeting of International
Club and Dr. Gray's lecture on
The New Republic in Spain.
Common Room.   8.00 P. M.
Tuesday, December 18. Dr.
Miiller on Mexico. Music Room.
5.00 P. M.
Maid's Party.   Gym.
Wednesday, December 19.
Party in Deanery. Carol sing-
ing.
Goodhart, December 8.
The Varsity Dramatics performance
of The Tragedy of Cymbeline met with
our highest approval in that we re-
joiced mightily to think that a
Shakespearean play was for the first
time in our memory to grace the
boards of Goodhart. Cymbeline was,
to us at any rate, a totally unknown
quantity, and we were delighted at the
opportunity of seeing a play that is so
seldom produced.
We cannot but feel, however, now
that Cymbeline has come and gone
from our lives, that the choice of that
particular play was a poor one. It is
one of Shakespeare's last efforts, and
while interesting historically for that
reason, is nevertheless not worth the
trouble of doing for its own peculiar
excellences. The mechanics of the
play are glaringly obvious, and it is
not motivated by the devastating pas-
sions that usually in Shakespeare's
plays sweep the action before them.
None of the splendor and poetry of
line that makes Shakespeare's earlier
plays so well worth the learning is
present in Cymbeline, and we think
that the time and painstaking effort
that were obviously spent on>this pro-
duction could have been more profit-
ably employed in doing, for instance,
Twelfth Night, or A Winters' Tale.
We regret to have to state further
that the production of Cymbeline did
not even approach the usual level of
Varsity Dramatics performances. It
is, of course, infinitely more difficult
to do a finished performance of a
Shakespearean than of a later play,
and much may be forgiven the direc-
tors on the score that this was their
first attempt to work in a medium
that requires highly skillful acting
and more expert directing than is usu-
ally necessary. The main point, how-
ever, in which the directors might
have been more successful than thev
Tyrolean Atmosphere
Is Rampant at Dance
Gym, Wee Hours, December 8-9.
There was considerable looking at
us at the Christmas dance. We were
one of the most charming assem-
blages ever seen at a dance in the
Gym, and the Gym itself was a sight
to behold with sparkling eye even the
morning before. If we had spoken to
ourselves at the dance, \vc probably
would not have recognized ourselves;
our best friends found themselves un-
able to remember our names when the
cutting had gotten under way. The
gymnasium itself was an extraordi-
nary sight: spaghetti-like strips con-
cealed the baskets, and travel posters
and beer mugs and pretzels in silhou-
ette disguised the walls and bars. The
tables were covered with red and
white checked cloths and for center-
piece each table had a bottle (a beer,
a wine, or a whiskey one, doubtless
contributed by the college authorities)
with a candle in it. Bryn Mawr set
a new tableware fashion with the use
of glass mugs for the punch.
In this provocative atmosphere ac-
tion could not have been checked. As
it was, the dance became spirited, and
then strenuous, with the only rest per-
iods coming during the entertainment
provided by Shorty Atmore (Ha
ford, '34), who induced group
ing, even, with a parody,
bank "sign. By the end of
everyone was exhaust
chances are�everyon
humming or laughin
self. The scene w,
but the dance
there was eno:
eryone's fee
side, and en
Comparati
step into o.
or tread
A fricM                         |
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were, lay in achieving that fusion be-
tween the acting and the play, that
absorption of the actresses in their
parts, those small shades of expression
built up in the lines, which have so
often before given the Varsity plays
a professional finish.
In one sense the directors are to be
congratulated�in another, to be con-
demned�for their speeding up of the
tempo of the play. Throughout the
first three acts, the action was rapid
and smooth�more so than in any cut
Shakespeare play we have ever seen,
and we rise to\ sing praises of the
judgment and "feeling for tempo
shown there. In the fourth and fifth
acts, however, the delight of cutting
unnecessary lines and bits of action
appears to have run away with the
directors, and a confusing resume of
the lines, a bare outline of the plot
that we suspect scarcely did it jus-
tice, and a lightning-like succession of
actors, each apparently bent on de-
parting the stage as soon as possible
after his arrival thereon, was the de-
plorable result.
In the fourth act, for no apparent
reason a group of soldiers suddenly
clambered over the peaks of the moun-
tains, clashed, and departed with an
expedition that was truly startling;
we looked upon the stage and there
were soldiers; we looked again upon
the stage and the soldiers were no
more! And the last scene of the last
act seemed to evince an alarming de-
sire on the part of phe directors that
the play, too, should be no more, for
seldom have we witnessed a speedier
tying up of loose ends in a more ob-
vious spirit of "Let's get it over with
quickly." From an aesthetic and dra-
matic point of view, the rapidity with
which each actor stepped out, said his
little speech of one or two lines, and
dropped back into place, was really in-
excusable, and we regret that Iachi-
mo's great opportunity for doing an
excellent bit of emotional acting
should have been so nearly wrested
from him by the speed at which the
scene was going.
A certain lack of judgment was
also shown by the directors in bring-
ing upon the stage the most hilarious-
ly funny stage property we have ever
had the good fortune to observe. We
never expect to forget the entrance of
the head of Cloten, dripping hideous-
ly with gore and held aloft with a
pleased smile by Guiderius; but, al-
though the head stopped the show for
a good ten minutes while the audience
literally rocked in their seats with
mirth, we feel that it was a trifle dis-
turbing to the unity of the play. The
Continued  on  Page  Four
Non-Resident Students Entertain
There will be a non-resident tea on
Monday, December 16, at four-thirty
in the Common Room, to which each
non-resident student will bring two
guests. Miss Fernon, who is warden
of the non-resident students, will pour
tea.
On Thursday of next week the first
non-resident dii
are thre?
year, he
studej
thej