The danger rather lies
the other way: that the custom of delaying dinner till eight, which is
coming into vogue among the English (who care neither for music nor
the theatre), will be followed in this city.
Now consider the inevitable consequences of having excessively long
operas. America has plenty of poor loafers, but few wealthy _rentiers_
who spend their days in bed or in idleness, and are therefore
insatiable in their appetite for entertainment in the evening. The
typical American works hard all day long, whether he is rich or poor,
and in the evening his brain is too tired to follow for four hours the
complicated orchestral score of a music-drama. If he listens
attentively, he will be exhausted by eleven o'clock, and the last act,
which he might have enjoyed hugely if not so "played out," will weary
him so much that he will probably resolve to avoid the opera in the
future. Thus opera suffers in the same way that society suffers: the
late hour at which all entertainments begin prevents the "desirable"
men who have worked all day, and must be at their work bright and
early the next day, from attending parties, balls, and operas.
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