And when she wasn't, they invented her anew.

She was exactly what people needed her to be. Though her family valiantly struggled to correct the record, Grace Darling had already become public property her heroic hour was a malleable and exploitable legend. The fact that she then died tragically young, just four years after the rescue, meant her brand was both frozen in its glorious prime and yet easily divorced from an unquibbling corpse. It seems people couldn't resist reshaping her into something even more perfect. However, the first four books published about Darling were largely works of fiction. From an opening night seen by a measly crowd, the disseminating power of the printing press, and the reputation-making power of the judicious critic, meant thousands were aware of Edmund Kean by the following day.Ĭharles Raymond Smith (c.1799–1888) and Anthony Salvin (1799–1881) and Messrs Hicks & Charlewood and Frederick Richard Wilson (1827–1894) Radcliffe Road, Bamburgh, Northumberland There were two journalists in that night, and both critics filed rapturous write-ups of his performance. The atmosphere in the theatre was electric, the audience screamed their approval and clapped feverishly.Įdmund Kean wowed that small audience, but how did he conquer all of London so fast? Well, not only was he benefiting from Drury Lane's desperate casting experiment, but he also got lucky with the audience. Kean howled and roared, then whispered and lamented his gestures were frenzied and bold, his eyes were crazed. From the outset his performance was radical – even the opening line had the small crowd pricking up their ears. Kean took to the stage in January 1814 to play one of Shakespeare's most compelling characters, Shylock, the Jewish moneylender whose complexity dominates The Merchant of Venice. John James Halls (1776–1853) Paintings Collection Edmund Kean (1787–1833), as Richard in 'Richard III' by William Shakespeare

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