Beauty and the Beast

Excerpt from Beauty and the Beast
"Beauty and the Beast" is one of the most felicitous productions of the kind ever published, and its author may in vain hope to excel, or even equal it. Its astonishing success in this country, where some of its local allusions can be but partially appreciated, is an unanswerable proof of its great merit; and it bids fair to retain possession of the stage for a long time to come. We do not usually look for moralisms or evidences of scholarship in such productions; but there is a vein of each running through this extravaganza, which adds much to its excellence. The petty jealousy and spleen of the two sisters is happily hit off; and the selfishness of Sir Aidgate in allowing Beauty to become the victim for his transgression, is a sly but pungent hit at a selfishness that is too commonly prevalent.
The gist of "Beauty and the Beast," however, lies in the sprightliness and repartee of the dialogue, and the innumerable puns and witticisms with which it abounds. It is worthy of notice, too, that whilst the piece is very effective, and to appearance difficult as to the stage transformations, it is really very simple; and with any thing like tact on the part of the manager, it may be got up in the smallest theatre with but little expense.
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