The Place of Galsworthy

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17607, 24 October 1931, Page 13

The Place of Galsworthy

“ABOVE all things, Galsworthy has pjthe historical mind,’’ writes Mr, Hugh P. Austin in the Dublin Review, in a lepgthy appreciation of Mr. Jolm Galsworthy. ‘"That then is Galsworthy’s great-j ness, and shown particularly in t}ro Forsyte chronicle, ’’ adds Mr. Austin. 1 “That ability to show aV.type find.; make him, or her, at the same time an individual, and to shoW his characters in perfect, relationship to the period*, so that it may be said that the man... is typical of his time and the time ■ represents the man. ' !■ “And I think the work has been achieved because Galswprthjr has |caslised| that neither extromo is cvqr fypi.cal of its ' dime. , Between th<j champagne and the homely cup .of j tea is a vast body that has its virtues. and its vices, its enthusiasms that are pot too pronounced, and its aversions''for .which it can find often an amount of pity, its ideals and its little contentments, ahd it is that majority which in the end makes its atmosphere and moulds the history of the period. !

“A mocker mocked at the Victorian j horsehair sofa. That the sofa was ugly may bo granted, but the spfa was representative of its time) it was like the people who sat on it, and jihad therefore an historical if not an | aesthetic merit. The mocker was an extreme, ‘full of wind and fury signifying nothing.’ “For those who desire brilliance of epigram and the sensation produced joy crp.ticism and cynicism the work of John Galsworthy will have little meaning' or attraction.. JFpr . .tjiosc, however, who 'believe in characterisation, in atmosphere that, is sincere and that melts into the characterisations, for who have ap interest in times that are passing now and will soon be of historical importance only, for ; those to whom jh'erc is . something appealing in the everyday life of everyday people shown with a graciousness tlpit sl).o\ys a sympathy and an understanding both 1 for shortcomings and for over-expression, for those who spe a virtue in moderation and in a carefulness of craft, there jvjill be a loyc f<pr. the people whom Galsworthy has given us. r ‘‘ Xh,ere. will also be g sincere meed of admiration for a creator who within jhc limits of a large-hearted common* sense has mirrored the characteristics pfji- grppt r part pf his cojjptry in the persons of a few •carefully chosen characters without blame, without favor, without.ostentation,’but firmly, and with,courage. \ . j “Galsworthy-has claimed only to mir.ror._bhp jipper piiddlcrclass, but! we may grant, In in mam than that;

he may be said to have mirrored England itself within the period he Imjs chosen, , Leaving the minor point;’ of exterior 'manners, and forms of speech, the soul of England can be seen as much in thg li.tt^le.details and the minor characters as in the fulllength portnjits, for that tp-havc-nnd-to-hold spirit permeates every class of society, just as morals are not peculiar to one section of the community, but arc common property. A s Rudyard Kipling piits it, ‘the Colonel’s lady end Judy Q’Grady are sis,tors under their skins.’ “So when wo admit Galsworthy’s claim wc admit that claim on a far wider basis, and our admittance means that wo have been given a piece of literature that is already classic, and that will endure.”i ,