Romance in Retrospect.

From bellicose posturings of the naked head-hunter to the masked mummery of the medicine man and the mumbo-jumbo of the jungle to the unreal realities of the sin-and-muttergruff, entertainment depends for success on its power to present the commonplace in the habiliments of Romance. For Romance always has been something which happens to somebody other than ourselves. Thus we say of the millionaire who has fought his way from gutter to Gotham, “what a romantic career,” while he, poor wretch, spends his days trying to keep his digestion revolving on dog-biscuits and soda water, and his mind from dwelling on the opportunities he has lost of being poor but happy.

But the world is not to blame for our insatiable hunger for illusion. The Machine has brought a mechanical monotony into our lives, for which the only antidote is the elixir of Illusion.