George John Bennett

George John Bennett (1800–1879) was for nearly 40 years a Shakespearian actor on the London stage, notably Covent Garden and Drury Lane.

In 1822, he made his first appearance on the London boards, at the Covent Garden Theatre, having selected the part of Richard III for his debut.

Both at this theatre and at the Royal English Opera House, Mr. Bennett played the characters of Hotspur, Romeo, Jaques, Carlos, Sir Reginald, and Cassius in "Julius Caesar."

In Caesar, his portrayal of the hasty yet warm-hearted friend of Brutus, was unrivalled, while his faithful representation of the man who "beareth anger as a flint bears fire and straight is cold again" was masterly in the extreme.

George Bennett later accepted an engagement at Drury Lane, in 1825, then under the management of Mr. Elliston, with whom he had worked in Norfolk in the earlier part of his career.

This gentleman was quick to discover the rapid progress the young Bennett had made in only such a short period, both in his profession and his steadily increasing popularity.

As a result, he was to be found performing in Kenny's "Dream of Benyowski," and likewise adding Sir Kenneth of Scotland, in "The Knights of the Cross," Iacliimo, Wilford, Bassiano, and Faulkland, to his repertoire.

At Sadler's Wells, Bennett played Cassius in "Julius Caesar", Ludovico in "Evadne," Angus in "Feudal Times," Felton in "Saville of Haystead," and Bossola, in "The Duchess of Malfi," where "his solemn intonation and high conception of the character created a furore in the scene with Miss Glyn".

In his article "'This Island's mine': Caliban and Colonialism",[2][Trevor R Griffiths wrote that the importance of Bennett's interpretation was recognised by P MacDonnell, on two accounts: i) through engagements to repeat the part for Phelps in 1847 and 1849, and at the Surrey in 1853, and ii) through universal praise, well encapsulated in the Era's response to the Surrey Revival: 'Even Caliban, with all his grossness and hideous deformity, is a poetical character, and Mr George Bennett .

[...] Bennett's attention to detail and presentation of much of Caliban's complexity was enough to move MacDonnell to declare that his performance was an example, like Macklin's Shylock, of how 'some of the characters drawn by Shakspere, were never altogether understood, till the excellence of the histrionic art developed them' and to express a truly Romantic 'degree of pity for the poor, abject, and degraded slave'.

He believed that Prospero was partly to blame for Caliban's behaviour, since he imprudently placed 'this wild and untutored creature' in a position which made his rape attempt more feasible.

From this perception it was but a small step for MacDonnell to make a link with a moral obligation to civilize the natives: Bennett delineated 'the rude and uncultivated savage in a style, which arouses our sympathies in behalf of those, whose destiny, it has never been, to enjoy the advantages of civilisation'.

Later he described the acting version he was forced to use as a "melange that was called Shakespeare's Tempest, with songs interpolated by Reynolds among the mutilations and barbarous ingraftings of Dryden and Davenant."

It is not surprising then that when in 1838 Macready revived the Tempest as Shakespeare had originally conceived it, the new production confirmed the romantic critics' more sympathetic conceptions of Caliban.

... Bennett began the stage tradition of lunging at Prospero during the opening confrontation, then recoiling from a wave of the magic wand, and finally writhing in impotent fury.

"His careful study, poetic conception of character, and faithful delineation, alike combine to elevate him to a distinguished niche in the dramatic shrine."

Plighted troth: a Dramatic Tale by CF Darley, a very long, Elizabethan-style drama on a religious controversy (Catholic versus Protestant), was Macready's unluckiest misjudgment.

New York Times For the times he lived to a very good age, and died aged 79 on 21 September 1879 of "senile decay and exhaustion" (as per his death certificate) Popular misconception in literature and newspapers of his day, and notably the Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) that Miss Julia Bennett, who later became Mrs Julia Bennett Barrow, and acted firstly at the Hay Market, before moving on to the American stage, was his daughter.