Edward Sheldon by Loren K. Ruff (review)

Book Reviews LOREN K . RUFF. Edward Sheldon. Boston: Twayne Publishers 1982. Pp. 196. $14.95. Edward Sheldon is a good example of the value of the Twayne Author Series. Sheldon (1886-1946) was probably the most successful dramatist and one of the most important writers of plays during the first two decades of this century; now he is generally forgotten. Yet he is a central figure in the rise of a serious and significant American drama. His importance is due not simply to the handful of realistic social plays and numerous adaptations he wrote and occasionally directed. In addition, he was counselor and friend to almost all the important theatre people of the time, from John Barrymore to Eugene O 'Neill. O'Neill wrote to Sheldon: "Your continued generous appreciation of my work during the past years has meant a great lot to me, has been one of the very few things that have gratified me and satisfied me deep down inside.... Your Salvation Nell ... was what first opened my eyes to the existence of a real theatre." Loren K. Ruff organizes his book by devoting chapters to Sheldon's life, the Progressive Era, the major plays (a chapter for each of the four reaUstic plays), the later adaptations and romances, and a brief summing-up. Ned Sheldon's life was dominated by his mother and by an illness that forced him to remain in bed during the last twenty-seven years of his life. For Ruff, the influence of Sheldon's mother can be seen not only in the extant correspondence but also in the playwright's portrayal of his female leads. They are usually determined, forceful , and loyal; they face an obstacle - often class difference separating lovers - and overcome the challenge. Yet they are never passionately involved. According to Ruff, Sheldon could never "commit himself to marriage," despite some serious relationships. A friend of Sheldon's concluded, "that whenever a woman got serious, he would write a play for her." Sheldon's essentially romantic nature was tempered when he entered Harvard (1904) by his exposure to the ideas and mood of the Progressive Era, and by the views ofGeorge Pierce Baker on play-writing. Sheldon was a student of Baker's at Harvard, and Baker encouraged him to write on contemporary social issues. Sheldon chose as the topics of his first four plays - written between 1908 and 1912 - some of the leading concerns of the Progressive Era: Salvation Nell is about the urban poor and the Salvation Army; The Nigger is about racial prejudice in the South; The Boss is about machine politics; and The High Road is about women's rights. The plays reflect the common view of the period that the individual's environment dictates his behavior. These plays are characterized by their realistic settings and the incidental realistic details in character and action. For Salvation Nell, Sheldon visited slums in Chicago, Denver, and Boston to gather infonnation and photograph the scenes. In the original production, the cast consisted largely of the actual slum people being portrayed. This "documentary" realism was shocking to many reviewers, but the play was a success. Sheldon .followed the same pattern of romantic plot and realistic detail in his next three plays. After 1912, Sheldon moved steadily away from topical subjects and realistic detail. His plays of the next decade were romances, often adaptations of fiction written with a particular star in mind. While environment and class were still concerns in these plays, they no longer dominated the action and the characters. Sheldon also began to col1aborate with other playwrights - Sidney Howard, Charles MacArthur, Margaret Barnes - as his illness and increasing paralysis limited his endurance and mObility. Because of his illness, which left his body complelely rigid by 1928, Sheldon quit play-writing in 1930 and began a career as "ghost writer and confidant." Among the Book Reviews 239 writers who acknowledged his help as counselor and play-doctor were Somerset Maugham, Thornton Wilder, and Robert Sherwood. His apartment became a fashionable salon for Alexander Woollcott, John Gielgud, Margaret Webster, Helen Hayes, and many other directors, designers, actors, and producers. Ruff quotes from numerous letters and interviews to demonstrate Sheldon's...