PAGE FOUR
THE MICHIGAN DA*,
SUNDAY, MARCH 2, 1924
SUNDAY, MARCH 2, 1924
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
The Ironic Humanist on the, Campus
Frank Wedekind; Diabolic Moralist
THE IRONIC IIU3IANST, by Charles
M. Perry. The Midland Press.
I have great admiration for the
methods of Macaulay, who when given
for review a worthless book, gently
disregarded his subject and announced+
that he would speak on whatever in-
terested him. "The Ironic Humanist"
deserves but slightly better treatment.
Mr. Perry is undoubtedly a humanist,I
but if he is ironic he has kept his little!
secret remarkably well. This is not
to say that the book is without valu-
able ideas: the seven papers comnpos-
ing it are titled with an ingenuity thatI
Barnum's press agent might envy, and
the dissertation on peace is oh soj
true. But-
ROSEI
Bir t htlc his axnresin icanzes
I is larrnfiil to nnpcplf what-.aava thp?
is " "a " rm t"'J '"JiV ', w -y' """ ~~~L ." '".I . su eLJUL p.LLPLAJ s g34S1jJA
the Ironic Humanist-is the sense of The salt must soon be employed. It
it? Of course there are always im- is the hour of his two o'clock in Don«
aginative persons, both instructors and xs
-mirbilor ict - sudetswhoQuixote, an hour of torture to be sucr-
--mirabilior dictu - students, whos
stand up for the Eternal Verities and ceeded by a yet worse' one on Words-
even argue in class about the mean- worth or some other old bat long
in gof existence: but what shall be lmoldering beneath the daisies. l4e
said of the embryonic one-hundred- knows that now his truth-loving soul
percent business man who is willing will cry out in agony as he is forced
to spend four of the best years of his to shoot the line. The only hope is
life professing an interest in what the professor may employ the mach-
The me-method of asking for dates, works,
instinct tells }him is worthless? T adhilogahentado xpan
worst of it is that some of them, and bibliography, instead of explain-
through too much sitting in Rhetoric
.nd ..t...r....sss,........0..........
and Literature classes, get to believe! - -___________
t
t
$
.
.}
f
1 1
l }
l
r
S
ing why an impulse from a vernal
shows such astounding knowledge of
human nature. The Humanist sighs
enviously as the fud-coated bimbos
bring their heavy artilleryinto action
with the suddenness and skill of field-
guns.
His meditations on human perfec-
tion are suddenly broken short by the
raucous, rigid voice of the all-A pupil,
with his blah anent the profound
philosophy and. optimistic outlook of
Willian and his injured regret that.
Georgie Byron; who was such a bad
(Continued on Page Seven)
When Ambassador Gerard returned
to his native shores to compose his
epochal indictment of things Teutonic,
there was being played at Max Rein-
hardt's Theatre in Berlin a play which
gave the good diplomat ample proof
of the obscenity of the German mind.
The play was Earth-Spirit .(Erdgeist),
its author was Frank Wedekind, and.
worse, the Berliners were devouring
both. The actors openly insulted the
audience (told them the truth), en-
acted unspeakably revolting scenes
(showed the audience its more inti-
mate, simian self-a bit exaggerated
perhaps), and the play itself was no-
MAXWELL NOWELS
thing less than blesphemy (it said kin that taste is the only moral
what the audience thought). All of and base their attacks on the groun
which showed conclusively the de- of poor taste. But again there exis
plorable immorality of the Uebermen- the tendency on the part of thed
schen. fenders of artistic freedom to cla
But the Ambassador can hardly be.
blamed when such a supposedly liber-
al critic as Franz Ebling applies such
terms as "stench-producers," "foul fa-
tuities" to Wedekind's plays. It Is a
platitude that our moral overlords
tend to attack anything frank. Their
efforts would probably be more ef-
fective if they would agree with Rus-
.............................. ..
I accordingly prefer to leave Mr. that the line is true, and bat off to1
Perry to his contemplation of Beelze- j become missionaries or teachers of
bub, Immortality, Spiritualism, and!j the young.
Providence. What "intrigues" me is here is where our Humanist gets
the possibilities open on our campus ! busy with the salt-cellar. But first 1
to a real Ironic Humanist, a gentle- he performs the pleasanter and much1
man with a large and well-manipu- more more comfortable duty of giving'
fated salt-cellar from which to credit to those who are headed right.!
sprinkle biting balm on our open So, shuddering in spite of his own con-!
sores. I like to speculate on the prob- victions, he wends his way into the
able longevity of such an individual, inferno. of the Engineering Shops tot
and then, letting my imagination ex- pin on our heroic tin-shop men the
pand in the approve Johnsonian man-! badge of truth. He stops at the sor-
ner, on what of our many faults he orities to commend our little friends
would choose to turn his "searching for. their sane grab-it-and-keep-it at-.
gaze" before a maddened population tiude. He pins the palm on Spanish
shot him off to the bug-house. profs. as they sweat to pound intoj
Now this Ironic Humanist will not their pupils' heads a few commercial
make a fool of himself by attacking phrases and the value of a peso. He!
the students for their Rotarianism. bows reverently before the Phychology
Rather will he praise them for it. for Department's warship of the machine.!
he will wisely start with the presup- He continues a happy day by flitting
position that the modern American over toward the Union and adding his
way of living is at bottom sound. Such mite to the garland crowning Johnny
is the only sensible way of regarding [Bacon, Realist of Realists.
life; otherwise a man will get in a,
jam like Ludwig Lewissohn and other
diseased and enfeebled idealists. Our.
Ironic Humanist will, therefore, like I
the averageAmerican, -hold profound-
ly to the ideals laid down by the Good
Queen and-' bier press agent, Lord A RI~e u t ati
Tennyson. He will be impelled to this
belief no less by his love for comfort1
and safety than by the absurdities to for M o
which young rebels are subject. It is
one of the paradoxes of history that
nothing is so Victorian as our genera-
tion's frienzied attack on Victorian-
ism. And the Humanist can never for- For fifty yea
get that it is Robert Browning, the1
Victorian par excellence, who enuci- COnscientous
ated the one great truth of lifein his
f:
{
11
1
ALL RECENT BOOKS,
INCL UD ING T HOS E
ILDN REVIEWED IN THIS
MAGZNNOW ON
SALE AT
WAHRir. UISTYBOOKSTORE
Englargements Our,
ar w
w w
- ow
- w
r a
r - v
- a
~IN &O1~Ww
111tilolti1111 1111rrlrlnlrllull laniulu ll~itr
as a work of art anything denounc
by the censors. In their zeal to a
worthy things they sometimes arr
themselves in defense of pure tras
The difference in the harm done-
the two forces is merely a matteri
degree. An examination of Wedeki
and his works should determineI
which category they belong.
Drama -as the instrument for t
dissemination of one's prejudices
questionable. Plays with a since
purpose, a burning message, or av
tal theme are usually exalted lecture
Isben'sGhosts is art because he do
not stoop to refined demagoguer
His portraiture is always unbiase
The mediocrity of Brieux can be a
counted for by, his inability to refra
from belaboring the institutionsc
La Patrie. Les Avariees is a harn
less attack on the ignored presen
of social disease. Although La Ro
Rouge maintains a much higher dr
matic milieu, it is primarily a denu
ciation of French Civil Service. T
nadir is reached in the present da
in such plays as "For All Of Us" a
Channing Pollock's "The Fool." A
and didacticism are not mutually e
clusive but mutually detractive. A
this is by way of saying that Wed
kind wrote with a purpose. His a
is weakened by his moralistic ra
ing but it survives none the les.
Whatever were his faults, Wed(
kind was neither a' charatrienor.
poseur. A bit decadent ?-Perhaps
...................................................fllifffffffffffflfflifffflfliffff..................1f11*
ron for Integrity
re Than Half a Century
rs this nstitution has ministered
ly and successfully to the banking
:..
.. .s.,:, ..A. .. .:. ..
.
w t
= //
M1 .
FOR THE ANNIVERSARY
or birthday occasions noti ng more'accentahl
but no decadent affec
ity iaity. His leonine
ity countrymen is unque
das
sts ine. One may smile
de- he used to obtain the
im ~ness and beauty; but
ed their efficacy. In his d
id nihilation of the ug
ay he exposed the dirty,
sh. I and disgusting side of
by fellowmen to jolt them
of imposed ignorance of t
nd quo. Behind all his
to there always remain
contempt for the pu
he ineffectiveness as a
Is Wedekind's real servi
re the territory of things
vi- the expense of things
es. mentionable. He secu
es 'for those who were t
,. lectual "elbow-room."
d. "Spring's Awakeni
c- Erwachen) which is
in typically Wedekind
of startling realism and
m- exaggeration the dan
ce escent of silence on
be paren't as to sex. Ti
a- rapidly shifting sc)r
(n- usually mere dialogue
ie drags pathology, sadi
ay I and insanity upon th
Id effort to hound, to insi
rt into a realization of
x- ance. The final scene
Ol a graveyard where one
e- dank and decaying fr(
xrt converse with his for
g- pulpy head under his
for them-and hence
e- is the real product of
a quantities: Should an
? ter Moral verstehe ich
dukt zweier imagin
sind Sollen und Woller
heisst Moral und laess
Realitaet nicht leugne:
its reyolutionary cha
1Awakening. )s copst
kind's other .plays are
uihilistic morality.
(Die Beuchse der Pand
ting unsaid or diaph
This play forms a ra
ology with fDamnatio
Spifit. The Marquis o
parison with them be
tional and Habe's A
shadower. The plays
Sone scene does not lo
another; the archaic s
tployed; situations are
.ly :iitout the inter
planatory dialogues.
of :Pandora's Box is a
rman, the second in .Fj
third in bad English.
nores plausibility.. Leo
tasy,;and ghosts to vi'
draggy one through hisi
mare. Where other
touched delicately for
boldness the .woman-w
the demi-monde, We
sadism, masochism an<
By these means th
U lean moralist attempt
the reign of beauty c
so-called liberals' smile
' naulghty boy while th
gathertheir'skirtsand
nant noses. It is not
derstand why Wedek
either ignored or misu
seems always to be r
refuse of life hoping t
a dormant beauty whiol
buried in the heap. I
only by broken fragme
ceed-ing in unearthing a
The poetic and artisti
at best sporadic and a
'1"0 charact erze WeE
as satiial is tofall fh
truth. They are pr
stark bae, revolting I
beast the audience, se
"W4k in! The sh
remark that
God's in His Heaven,,
All's right with the world.
This is the basis on which we
Americans build: and the more God
stays in His Heaven, we add, the better
off the world is. Witness the S. C. A.
Perhaps some heathenish individuals
may object that God is noticeably. ab
sent from the works and thoughts ofj
:that revered organization; but suchl
individuals show a lamentable ignor-1
ance of the metamorphoses of whichl
God, aided by the S. C. A., is capable.
They do not know that God has re-
cently turned democratic and is now
manifested in a Fresh-Air tag. Nowl
the modern American, which is to say
the Real Michigan Mani, takes it for.l
granted that America is on the right
track and that all foreigners such as
God should be kept strictly out of our
affairs.
He accordingly believes to the bot-
tom of his soul that the chief business
of life is the making of money, with'
its subsidiary accomplishments ofd
playing bridge or golf and of throw-
ing, the dog. With all such ambitionsJ
the Ironic Humanist is in full sym
pahy. His purpose in life is merely
to point out with 'what incred ibly stu-J
ousmess reldz vns wiZn LTS
- > ..
Fifty-five years of normal, healthi ' growth have
made it one of the soundest banks in the state,
one in which you can deposit your surplus funds
with perfect confidence.
We offer a complete banking service, superior in
demands of the community. During that period,
no depositor has ever had a loss arising from his
..
;
K
:. . a
e
_ _ __~
.. .w va.. {s¢v-.w asv%,AJLL;J4iE5 iV.'A:LiV J. V "TAW, iV L . 4. 3iF:llA~
y.
* " J w
71
than a silver coffee set. Colonial in design in
heavy plated silver at $ u. We also have a
display of .silver platedcracker and cheese dish-
es, cake and bread trays.
every way.
Ro ources§ $65,OQOQ0
THE ANN ARBOR5AVINQS BANK
OLDEST AND STRONGEST BANK IN WASHTENAW CO.
2 BRANCHES-707 N. UNIVERSITY AVE. AND COR. MAIN AND HURON
,1
eny
II
F
*
STATE STREET JEWELER
302 S. State St.
ARNOLD
i
..