AS A MAN THINKS. In 1907, Augustus Thomas produced his play,
Undoubtedly these two plays influenced the writing of (As a Man Thinks.' When it was produced in New York, at the 39th Street Theatre on 13 March 1911, it showed the same psychological purpose, and impressed the audi ence with the fact that whatever Mr. Thomas was in the past, or might be in the future, at that moment he was passing through the phase of challenging thinker and teacher. In (The Witching Hour' and Harvest Moon' he held to one theme; but a Man Thinks,' strong in its human quality, skilful in its con struction, and brilliant in the French quality of its dialogue, is marred by diffuseness of pur pose. For each act of this play is indicative of new intellectual interests in Mr. Thomas. Is the central theme of (As a Man Thinks' a dis cussion of the double moral standard society maintained in 1911 Al).. for men and women?
Is it the question of intermarriage between Jew and Gentile and the reasons for race hatred? Is it a rendering of New Testament ethics, and again the mental suggestion of the previous play, Harvest Moon' ? Mr. Thomas does not answer us. Or rather, he was not certain in his own mind, while writing this play, which in terest was the greatest. The consequence is, (As a Man Thinks' is marred by overabun dance of material; its claim to interest is due to the skilful workmanship which makes of the Jewish doctor a human personality, apart from being a mouthpiece for the dramatist's preach ment. • No one story runs through a Man Thinks.> The Jewish doctor preaches Chris tian ethics to a man who has deceived his wife, and in turn has been challenged by her. Yet the doctor is crushed when his daughter mar ries a Gentile. The Christian wife morally de fies her Christian husband by throwing to the winds the conventional moral discretion which he has discarded many times, but no special plea is convincingly given for the adoption of one moral standard for both. Intellectually, Mr. Thomas merely skims, in each act, over a different motive, in itself important enough for an entire play. It is his technical ability and the interest he creates in his characters which makes a Man Thinks' a worthy drama, if not one with full literary distinction. It was published in 1911.