University of Virginia Library

A New Definition of Genius.

THE particular kind of genius that struggles for expression in Mary Austin's book is that of the actress. Its inner significance is conveyed in the following passage:

"It is to know great desires and to have no will of your own toward fulfillment; it is to feed others, yourself unfed; it is to be broken and plied as the Powers determine; it is to serve and to serve and to get

nothing out of it beyond the Joy of serving; and to know, if you have done that acceptably, you have to depend on the plaudits of the crowd; the Powers give no sign; many have died not knowing."

The problem that Mary Austin raises is: Can genius of this kind be reconciled with average conventional standards in a small community? Can a woman be a genius and a wife and mother also? We hear the negative answer almost before it is uttered. The struggle goes on. The issue is unhappy. The only light that Mrs. Austin can throw on the welter is contained in the statements:

"I think people make a great mistake to tie up their love with their living. Love is something apart. It is something greater and better than the details of a pair's living arrangements. Marriage certainly does not exist for housekeeping. It exists for the development of two human souls.

"I cannot see any reason, therefore, why a woman should give up her chosen work, her highest gift, in which she will reach her best development, through marriage, just because she marries her mate."

But Mrs. Austin concedes that when a woman has children her situation is very difficult.