Ways of Living.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 386, 1 October 1903, Page 2

Ways of Living.

ACTRESSES MAKE GOOD HOUSE WIVES.

in my opinion there is no jIvSI? ff iea^er fallacy than the popular SHJHk belief that at home the actress is out of her element (said a wellknown • leading lady' to the writer). Many people imagine that if an actress is not * fast' she yet exhibits a marked disinclination for domestic life, and prefers the easy comfort of a hotel, or the doubtful charms of a boarding establishment, to the cares and anxieties incidental to the maintenance and management of a home of her own. My experience of my'sisters on the stage leads me to a totally different conclusion. Not only do a very large percentage of actresses live in vtheir own homes, but these bora's are in many respects models of comfort and order, as well as charming examples of the refining influence of the artistic life. There are many reasons why actresses as a cla3B make good housewives. To begin with, their training at the theatre inculcates habits of order, method, punctuality, and many other virtuss which, eeemingly of small account in themselves, are very potent auxiliaries in making and keeping a house bright, cheerful, and homely, as it should be. I know scores of actresses resident in London suburbs who as hcujewives compare very favourably with their neighbours, the wives of gentlemen engaged in

) commerce, law, and other professions. When these ladies go on tour, as almost / all of ns are obliged to do at one time or another, they are never so happy as when, ia passing from one town to another, they are able to snatch a brief rnn home, if only for an hour or two,' just to see how everything is going on,' > Of course, a great number of actresses are the wives of actors, and this makes largely for the happiness of the domestic menage, A commueity of interests .born of a common calling promotes a salutary and exhilarating interchange of ideas on persons and topics known to both husband and wife, and this in itself is a factor in domestic happiness -which, in too many cases, is lacking outside the ranks of the theatrioxl profession. Then, again, when an actress is married ' outside' the profession she has a distinct occupation and aim in life. This, so far from rendering her careless of her home duties, really stimulates her energies, and adds a zest to her life. Almost every woman knows what it is to be overcome with the monotonous drudgery of domestic detail, and how essential it is for a housewife to be 'taken out of herself' from time to time,

The woman who has an occupation finds variety to be the salt of life, and returns to her household affairs with redoubled vigour. Perhaps the principal reason why aft actress, provided she be a good woman, makes a most excellent wife and mother is what I may term a psychological one. Actresees ; in the course of their stage career, play many parts. In each they have largely to identify themselves with the characters they portray, ond there can be no question of the broadening of mind which this induces. With an extended range of mental vision, the faculty of seeißg sympathetically into the very heart of things and the invaluable advantage of self control which she acquires on the stage, a woman is, I think, far more likely to understand her children, and servants than one who has had no such training. The higher education of women has long ceased to be a subj act for feeble ebullitions of alleged wit, and I regard the education and knowledge of the world which a woman acquires behind the footlights as contributing in no small measure to feer happiness and Etc jess in the domestic sphere It does'nut, cf course, follow that, because au actress knows in her heart that an intelligent, careful, and sympathetic close personal supervision of her home is the surest way to the attainment of true happiness for herself and those around her, she will display these virtues. Here again, howaver, s k age training acts beneficially. No clasß of women have greater opportunities of becoming familiar with the truth that virtue is its own reward, and there is in feminine human nature at least a strong bias towards the imitative. Portray virtue on the stage, and you are very likely to practiss it at home, sums up

my meaning. An actress enjoys many advantages. If she has children, she is able a large part of the day to them, and when tbey are young, at all events, they may be put safely to bed before it is time for the mother to start for the theatre. If there be no family, the loss to the woman is sot bo severely tryicg. She has her art, her husband, and her home, as well as the many friendships, and an entree into the many genial circles which are a featuro in the life of theatrical folk. Then there is the question of money. Of course there are many theatiical families which are perpetually ont of luck and in greater or lesser poverty.