The Plays of Eugene Brieux By P. V. THOMAS The Plays of Eugene Brieux By P. V. Thomas Boston John W. Luce & Company MCMXV Copyright 1914 BY L. E. BASSETT PRESS OF MURRAY AND EMERY COMPANY CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS FOREWORD The following analysis and critique of the plays of Eugene Brieux, as originally prepared by P. V. Thomas of University College, London, retained in the original French such extracts from the plays as are included, and in most instances the same policy was pursued in regard to the quotations from French critics. In offering this book to the American public, which so generally has evinced an interest in the work of this dramatist, it has been deemed wise to translate the passages referred to. In that connection special thanks are due to Henry M. Wing, Esq., of the Boston Bar, whose familiarity with the courts and judicial procedure of France has been of the highest service in the rendition of the important chapter devoted to La Robe Rouge. As envoy of the French Academy to the annual meeting of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, 1914, Brieux, in the course of his address, with cus- tomary frankness and modesty, touched at some length on his plays. No better understanding of the man and his purposes can be gathered than from his own words, expressed on this occasion, when he said: " I am going to speak to you rather of what I have wished to do than of what I have done. It is in the United States that the nature of my efforts has been best understood. In Paris, I must admit it here, in the extreme Parisian circle and also among the pure artists, the moralizing form of my plays has been some- what scorned. They call me derisively 'Honest iv FOREWORD Brieux,' and because I am the son of a workingman they have also dubbed me the 'Tolstoy of the Temple district.' I have not felt belittled by this. "If one seeks to find in my work a guiding principle he will find there a constant tendency to protest against the abuse of power in its various forms. Tyrants are found not only upon thrones, but around the family hearth, and particularly in Latin countries there are humble bourgeois, modest, venerable, with kindly faces, who are really detestable despots and who hold in bondage their wives and their children. Take note that such a man is a worthy and an honest man; he sins only through a pride of which he is ignorant; he is convinced that he knows better than his children what is best suited to them. "Besides the power of a parent, the power most to be feared that men have taken upon themselves is that of the physician and also that of the judge. With- out doubt it is necessary that there should be physicians, since there are sick people, and that there should be judges, since there are criminals; but just think that, according to the saying, very often the part of the physician limits itself to forcing drugs that he knows little into a body which he does not know at all. Judges of course inflict, sometimes carelessly, very heavy punishments and condemn human beings to sufferings which they cannot understand for faults of which they do not know the origin. "I have made a study of such a case in the play entitled 'La Robe Rouge,' just as I have studied the case of the physician in 'L'Evasion.' Other plays have condemned the abuse of paternal authority. FOREWORD v There is much more to be written. The abuse of the power of money, of the press, of free speech and of politics all these should be condemned. "I have the profound conviction that the theatre may be a valuable means of instruction. I should not limit its ambition to amusing spectators. One must admit also that the theatre has the right from time to time, at any rate, to touch upon the most serious questions and the most vital topics. "I wish through the theatre not only to make people think, to modify habits and facts, but still more to bring about laws which appear to me desirable. I have wished that the amount of suffering upon the earth might be diminished a little because I have lived. I have the great satisfaction to have accomplished it, and I know that two of my plays, 'Les Remplacantes' and *Les Avaries' ('Damaged Goods') have helped to save the lives of some and to make the lives of others less burdensome. " I claim no credit for it. I have acted according to my instincts. I could not have done other than 1 did. I was born with the soul of an apostle again let me say, I have no vanity in this, I did not make myself but the sight of suffering in others has always been unbearable for me." CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE THE MAN I CHAPTER II PLAYS PREVIOUS TO "BLANCHETTE" 5 Bernard Palissy Le Bureau des Divorces La Fttle de Durame Manages a* 1 Artistes. CHAPTER III PLAYS FROM BLANCHETTE TO LA ROBE ROUGE . . .13 Blanchette M. de Reboval La Couvie L'En- grenage La Rose Bleue Les Bienfaiteurs U Evasion Les Trois Filles de M. Dupont L'Ecole des Belles- Mires Resultat des Courses Le Berceau. CHAPTER IV LA ROBE ROUGE 50 CHAPTER V PLAYS FROM 1901-1909 70 Les Remplafantes Les Avaries La Petite Amie Materniti La Deserteuse L 'Armature Les Hanne- tons La Fran^aise Simone Suzette. CHAPTER VI BRIEUX AND THE SOCIAL PLAY . . . 100 The Plays of Eugene Brieux M, Chapter I The Man BRIEUX first received me just after his return from the East and a little before his reception at the Academy, but there was nothing exotic or pom- pous about him. Simple, cordial, and very accessible: tall, big, easy in manner, with a sound, practical grip of things, and a fighter not filled with a fussy pug- nacity, but still a fighter not too hard to rouse, and a very hard hitter when roused. For the rest, simple, direct, not modest, not assertive, full of the right sort of pride, and plenty of vanity, doubtless. Capable of being very serious, but not deadly serious. Keen and interested at once, with the native curiosity and shrewd- ness of a peasant. Not a specialist. A very human man in every way, simple and straightforward, with the absorbing eye of an observer and the jaw of a fighter. The details of his life are barely sufficient to piece together he has always refused to talk about himself: "My private life," he says, "does not concern the public." Such a desire for privacy must be respected. He was born in Paris in 1858. His father was a working man, a carpenter in the Quartier du Temple, and unable to give him anything more than the ordinary schooling. 2 THE PLAYS OF EUGENE BRIEUX The Ecole Primaire and the Ecole Primaire SupSrieure (Ecole Turgot) was all the education that was ever given him. He did not distinguish himself at school in any marked degree, nor did he disgrace himself. His Academician's sword was presented to him by the Ecole Turgot. At fifteen he began to work for his living as a clerk. It has been said that he began life as a workman, but this is incorrect. He did not, however, stop learning. Reading with him was a veritable passion. He spent not only his leisure, but all his savings on books whatever books came to his hand; not, however, illustrated papers and popular novels, but famous masterpieces, and pref- erably the Classics. He was a very good customer of the popular series known as the Bibliothbque Na- tionale, which, for the sum of twenty-five centimes, places within the reach of all the masterpieces of every tongue. It was in this way that Goethe's Faust was revealed to him and intoxicated him. He spent night after night reading, % sometimes on the public staircase of the house in which he lived, by the light of the miserable gas-jet, in order to save the cost of candles. He had, too, a passion for Chateaubriand, the influence of whose Christianism has been strong during the whole of the nineteenth century. The young Brieux was filled with religious ardour, and had serious thoughts of becoming a missionary. The ardour has remained an essential part of his tempera- ment, though the dogma has been changed under the influence of Spencerian philosophy. Gradually he began to- read in more ordered fashion, and started to learn Latin and Greek without any other aid than THE MAN 3 that of grammar and dictionary. He soon gave up Greek, but persevered with Latin, and acquired a fair knowledge of it. Literary ambitions were not slow to follow. He began to write plays early, and continued to write them in what leisure was left to him after his day's work was done, though his success was not better than is usually the case. Manuscripts passed from manager to manager without being read. At last, in 1879, when he was just over twenty, his first play was produced at the The&tre Cluny, at one of the Matinees des Jeunes a one-act play in verse, in collaboration with a friend, M. Gaston Salandri, entitled Bernard Palissy. Only one performance was given. Meanwhile the ambitious young man had decided to throw up his employment and take to journalism, not as a career satisfactory in itself, but as a more likely road to literary success. For seven years he did newspaper work, first at Dieppe, then at Rouen. He still continued to write plays, three being produced between Bernard Palissy and Blanchette. Only one of these, Manages d* Artistes, calls for remark here. This play brought its author into contact with M. Antoine. His first real hit was made, in 1892, with Blanchette, also produced by M. Antoine. It is to M. Antoine that we owe the discovery of M. Brieux; and, more than that, it is M. Antoine who gave him the opportunity of learning his trade, of learning how to tackle dramatic problems, and of collaborating with actors and public. Blanchette is the play that made M. Brieux famous. He is still referred to as the author of Blanchette. It was produced while he was still at Rouen, but shortly after La Nouvelliste, the newspaper 4 THE PLAYS OF EUGENE BRIEUX of which he was editor, ceased to exist, and M. Brieux returned to Paris with the manuscript of M. de Reboval in his pocket. The importance of his long residence in Rouen can hardly be overestimated; not only did he thus escape being caught up in any of the literary fads and fancies of the boulevards, but also he was better able, in a comparatively small centre, such as Rouen, to grasp life as a whole than amid the com- plexities of the metropolis. At Rouen he learnt as editor to face questions of public interest. Here he acquired his experience of men and affairs. The knowledge of provincial life thus acquired was to stand him in good stead. Without his sojourn in Rouen he would never have written UEngrenage or Blanchette. He quickly came to the front with UEngrenage (1894) and Les Trois Filles de M. Dupont (1897). On his return to Paris he continued the profession of jour- nalism, writing for the Figaro and other papers. In the exercise of his profession he must have frequently had occasion to attend the Law Courts. The fruit of his lengthy observations is to be seen in such a play as La Robe Rouge (1900). With this play his position as an undoubted master is assured. With the ex- ception of Les RemplaganUs (1901), Les Hannetons (1906), and Simone (1908), the later plays show rather a falling off. The energy needed to get all the heavy artillery of the Pibce Sociale into action into dramatic action must be great. What wonder if even the energy of M. Brieux is sometimes insufficient. His election to the Academy in 1910 crowned his achieve- ments with the highest honour that he could wish for and satisfied a long-cherished ambition. Chapter II The Plays before Blanchette * I \HE plays that precede Blanchette^ namely, Bernard -- Palissy, Le Bureau des Divorces, Menages d* Ar- tistes, and La Fille de Durame, are not important, but they cannot be ignored. The origins of a man are always interesting. BERNARD PALISSY. Drama in one act in verse in collaboration with G. Salandri. Played for the first time the 21 st of December, 1879, at the The&tre Cluny. The scene is at Saintes about 1560 and represents a room on the ground floor in the house of Palissy. The red light of furnaces shows in the background. There is no furniture, even the door is missing, everything made of wood having been burnt to fire the furnaces. The wife of Palissy, Genevieve, wishes to leave him because, after years of suffering, they have been reduced to ruin. Palissy, not content with being the most esteemed of glass painters, has lost everything by trying to discover a secret which he will never find the secret of making enamel. His daughter, Jeanne, pleads that they must not forsake him. Amid the insults and jeers of the mob Palissy enters. Etienne comes to his rescue. Etienne loves Jeanne, but his father, Gautier, who is inexorable, refuses to allow the marriage unless Palissy will give up his chimerical 5 6 THE PLAYS OF EUGENE BRIEUX ideas and return to glass making. Etlenne tries to persuade Palissy to do this, but the inspired genius cannot give up his quest, and insists upon being allowed to try once more. So the family forsake him; but soon his faithful daughter returns and persuades Palissy to give up, which he consents to do in a rage at the sacrifice asked. It is, therefore, the turn of Jeanne to sacrifice her love to her father's glory, and the grateful Palissy returns to his furnaces. Jeanne's lover returns, unable to give her up, and later the mother returns, unable to give the father up. When they are once more assembled there is a terrific ex- plosion and Palissy enters, crying "Lost! All is lost! All even my hope!" After a mad outburst he goes despairingly towards his workshop. " But a moment ago my faith was complete. The secret was there. My hope was exalted; Now nothing remains." ... Going off the stage, he suddenly bursts out with "Have I seen? Do I dream this wonderful substance? Great God! It is found." In spite of the explosipn the secret of the enamel has been found. Every one asks his pardon, maxims float across the footlights to the effect that conception is good, perseverance better. Then the play ends with an exordium to the glory of France the real glory of France, the glory that is better than military glory, the glory of her great men. "Et cela" (meaning military glory) "And that is not worth, although one obtain it, A single step toward the unknown." THE PLAYS BEFORE BLANCHETTE 7 It is all very high-minded. This is the only play by M. Brieux in verse. The passages quoted suffice to show that he was not misguided in choosing prose for his medium of expression. THE DIVORCE OFFICE, published in 1880, but apparently never played, is a vaudeville in one act, satirizing the new Divorce Law which had just been passed. It is very thin stuff, stale and not amusing cheap farce; but it indicates an interest in social questions. La Fille de Duramt was played a few days later than Menages d? Artistes, but it may be taken first for the sake of convenience. THE DAUGHTER OF DURAM^:. Melodrama in five acts. Played for the first time in Rouen at the Thtdtre Franfais, March 25, 1890. The titles of the five acts show what sort of play it is. Act I. La Fte du Loupvert Jumiges. Act II. La Bande de Duram6. Act III. Les Grottes de Caumont. Act IV. Le Pere et la Fille. Act V. L'Expiation. The time the play begins is Friday, June 23, 1797, le jour de la Fdte du Loupvert. It would take too long to give the entire plot, but it goes without saying that it is as various, as complicated, and as thrilling as a popular provincial audience could desire. Duraine" is a brigand, and his daughter Jeanne has been changed in the cradle by Quatre Pattes for the daughter of DeVonchelle, and Duram6 protects his daughter without letting her know that he, the brigand, 8 THE PLAYS OF EUGENE BRIEUX / is her father. The woman Berthe is therefore jealous and clandestinely carries Jeanne off with a small party of the brigands to the Grottes de Caumont. Here the jealous Berthe starves Jeanne in order to make her confess that she loves Duramd. But Duram6 comes and carries Jeanne off to Rouen to the house of De"ron- chelle. Here Durame is recognized as a brigand with a price upon his head, so, having to leave, he tries to persuade Jeanne to go with him; but she high-mindedly refuses to depart with a brigand. The gendarmes come and Durame declares Jeanne to be his daughter. "Oh, may a curse fall on her!" Jeanne (with a shriek) . Oh ! (She falls on her knees.) Forgive me! In the last act Durame* is guillotined -and Jeanne re- established as the daughter of De"ronchelle. All art is collaboration great is the influence of an audience! From such a play who could foretell the author of Blanchette, VEngrenage^ and Les Trois Filles de M. Dupont? These three plays seem very far off. Manages d* Artistes deserves more attention, for with it the real career of M. Brieux begins. MENACES D' ARTISTES. 1 Comedy in three acts. Played for the first time at the Thedtre Libre, March 21, 1890. Jacques Tervaux, a would-be poet, has married an ordinary middle-class woman, who believes that her husband is a genius and sacrifices everything to his career. ' Her dowry has been swallowed up to pay for the publication of his works, her jewelry and posses- sions are going too. But she still believes in him is he not idolized by the circle that surround him? Arti8t's Households. THE PLAYS BEFORE BLANCHETTE 9 She does not know that the members of the circle are worthless impostors. Their symbolist jargon, their " triunionism," is impressive to her. And the beautiful Emma Vernier, the muse who inspires them all, is wonderful to Madame Tervaux; and is she not going to found a paper devoted to poetry and the arts, and to make her husband famous? But the mother of Madame Tervaux sees that Jacques is in love with Emma and turns her out of the place. Jacques follows her. In the last act the paper is founded, Jacques is the director and the beautiful Emma is his mistress. But the paper is not a success, and Emma, discovering that the poet is a bag of wind, withdraws her financial support and goes off with another man. Jacques, dishonoured and ruined, commits suicide. The play is a "play unpleasant" a ptice rosse, after the The&tre Libre pattern, more or less. It must always be remembered that M. Brieux began at the Thedtre Libre, that he is one of M. Antoine's men. This play was not a success. The only point worth noting is the attempt to satirize the extravagances of the Symbolist Poets, the fads and fancies of artistic Paris. It is the scorn of honest, plebeian common sense for all the poses and snobbery of the artist in splendid isolation, aloof from the contamination of ordinary virtuous life a very legitimate subject for satire. But, in order to satirize, it is well to understand the thing satirized, and M. Brieux did not understand the Symbolist movement. The result is that the fun he makes of it is rather beside the point. It is cheap ridicule and falls flat. As Sarcey says "Manages d' Artistes (Artists* Households) seems to io THE PLAYS OF EUGENE BRIEUX us a very juvenile play. It claims to draw aside the curtain and show us the world of the young poets and artists of the new d6cadent-symboliste school, among others. I have some difficulty in believing that they are such foolish and vicious little fellows as M. Eugene Brieux has made them. If the portraiture is true it has not the appearance of being so." A small sample will serve to prove the truth of this. Act I. Scene 8. Feule. Are not word pictures perfectly adequate for the suggestion of the tone of color, and indeed the vibrant tone of atmospheric atoms? I will convince you with a word: the resplendency of calms, the shadow-depths of cataclysms. Is it not ideal? What can you say to that? Jacques. Nothing, it is quite evident. D'Estombreuse. Every idea, every person, every object has a color and a musical tonality. Feule. The bassoon is green, the violin blue, the trumpet red. D'Estombreuse. To be sure! Feule. The same as the infinite the infinite Jacques. How about that? Feule. It is G natural (singing) Tum-m-m! That's the infinite. And God you know the key God is in? Jacques. No. Feule (shocked). Oh, oh! he doesn't know why, in C major, my dear fellow. The Doctor (aside}. And the wonder of it is that they appear to understand each other! Feule. Be a Triunionist, old fellow. THE PLAYS BEFORE BLANCHETTE n Jacques. I'll think it over A drop of cognac, please? Veule. Surely. 1 The truth is that M. Brieux has always remained aloof from the world of art, is not "a man of taste," and never had any ambition to become one. This is at once a source of strength and a limitation. It is to emphasize this fact that so much space has been given to Menages d* Artistes. This was the first play by M. Brieux produced by M. Antoine. Before .going any further something should be said of the relations between the two men, if only by way of tribute to one who is undoubtedly the most remarkable homme de theatre France has known in this generation. A large majority of the well-known drama- tists of to-day issued from the Theatre Libre, having been discovered and launched by M. Antoine just as M. Brieux was. Manages d* Artistes came to M. Antoine from Rouen from an entirely unknown author in the ordinary way, after the Theatre Libre had been in existence for about two years and had already established itself at the Menus Plaisirs. Since then M. Antoine has produced six plays by M. Brieux (either at the Theatre Libre, the Theatre Antoine, opened in 1897, or the Odeon, of which M. Antoine became director in 1906), namely, Blanchette, Resultat des Courses, Les Remplagantes, Les A varies, Maternite, and La Fran$aise. As Pre Rousset, in Blanchette, and Pre-la-Joie, in Resultat des Courses, M. * The irony of M. Anatole France makes the extravagance of the Symbolists infinitely more ridiculous than this scene by M. Brieux. (Cf. Vie Litter air e, II, p. 5.) 12 THE PLAYS OF EUGENE BRIEUX Antoine contributed largely to the success of the piece by his acting. The two men appreciate each other and have remained firm friends. The dedication of Blan- chette is an eloquent document : : "To Andr6 Antoine. My dear friend: For ten years I have hawked my manuscripts at all the theatres of Paris. Usually they have not even been read. Thanks to you, thanks to the The&tre Libre, I at last had the opportunity to learn my metier of dramatic author, and here is the second play which you will have produced for me in only two years. It is my desire to thank you publicly, " BRIEUX. " February 2, 1892." Chapter III From Blanchetle to La Robe Rouge 1892-1900 THE plays of this decade are, in the main, attacks on various public institutions of society, all important parts of the social machinery. Education Blanchette. Politics UEngrenage. Charity Les Bienfaiteurs. Medicine L 'Evasion. Justice La Robe Rouge. M. de Rgboval, La Couvee, L'Ecole des Eelles-mkres^ Le JBerceau, all have a bearing on the more intimate institution of the family, and already indicate our author's preoccupation with the position of the child, attacking from this point of view the liaison, the fussi- ness of parents, the interference of mothers-in-law, and divorce. Les Trois Filles de Af. Dupont deals with the institution of marriage. After Blanchette M. Brieux was famous; with La Robe Rouge he reaches the top of the tree and might have rested on his laurels had he so chosen. BLANCHETTE. Comedy in three acts in prose. First played at the Theatre Libre, February 2, 1892, and proved a great success. Later it was taken on tour. As it was one of the prime favorites of all the TMdtre if 14 THE PLAYS OF EUGENE BRIEUX Libre plays and a certain draw, it was revived by M. Antoine for the opening of the The&tre Antoine, Septem- ber 29, 1897. In 1903 it was adopted by the Comedie Frangaise, and was played there October 9, 1903. Although it had already been performed in Paris about two hundred times at the Theatre Libre and Theatre Antoine, it was played at the ComGdie Frangaise eighteen times in 1903, six times in 1904, nine times in 1905, three times in 1906, and three times in 1907. Blanchette is the most successful of all the plays by M. Brieux ex- cepting Les Remplagantes. It is the play that made him famous. He is still referred to as "the author of Blanchette." Blanchette is the daughter of Pere Rousset, who keeps a wine shop in a small country village. Her school successes had flattered the vanity of her parents, who, notwithstanding the pecuniary sacrifice, insisted upon her going on with her studies until she had obtained a teacher's certificate. And now, at eighteen, at the end of her course, she returns home, full of big ideas and with very different tastes from those of her humble parents. She is disgusted with their ignorance and vulgarity, whereas, to them and the neighbours, she is a miracle of wisdom. The parents delight in showing her off; their joy is beyond measure. But the post of teacher "promised" by the Govern- ment is very long coming, and Pere Rousset grudges bitterly the money he has spent. Blanchette, in putting into practice the "science" she has learnt, makes some terrific blunders, to the detriment of her father's crops. She refuses to debase herself by serving ordinary customers in the wine shop. At last Rousset gets BLANCHETTE TO LA ROBE ROUGE 15 exasperated; there is a scene, which ends in the de- parture of Blanchette. Rousset (banging his fist on the table). She will do what I told her or she will leave this house. Blanchette. Well then! I will leave. And then she comes into contact with the harsh realities of life, or, at any rate, with the harsh realities of life as these are understood at the Theatre Libre. This part of the play has been rewritten, the harsh realities softened, a sentimental, conventional ending substituted for the original one, which had more point. According to the original third act, Blanchette becomes a governess, a companion, etc., in various places, but always has to leave on account of the men in the family. Unable to find a post as teacher, she tries to earn her living by sewing, but does not get paid enough to keep herself. Finally, in despair, she becomes a prostitute. The moral of it all is that the State is committing a crime in preparing more teachers than are necessary, unfitting girls of humble origin for life in their own station, and giving them nothing in return. Blanchette is said to be the first French play dealing with the problem of popular education. The grievance aired is a real one. There is no doubt that the point of the play was one well worth making. To what extent it has influenced public opinion it is impossible to say. The author has this end in view "My plays are designed to influence the public." This to him is the purpose of playing. Even granted that its influence has been nil, the play stands on its own merits, especially on the merits of the first two acts. Seldom has the life of humble folk been 16 THE PLAYS OF EUGENE BRIEUX rendered on the stage so truly. M. Brieux is at his best when interpreting such people; he is most at home with them; he thoroughly understands their life and their point of view. By a hundred significant little details, grouped with unobtrusive skill, he manages to convey a vivid sense of the reality of their lives, their surroundings, their soul states. There is no singularity, no accident in the case of Blanchette. The close observation and skilful arrange- ment of details remains characteristic of the best work of M. Brieux. There is hardly a play which does not contain some humble character rendered to the life, some portrait worthy of standing beside Pre Rousset; le p&re Guernoche, the shepherd healer of U Evasion; le p&re-la-Joie in Rfoultat des Courses; the peasants in La Robe Rouge and Les Remplagantes to mention only the most notable examples. To appreciate this fully the first two acts should be read entire. M. Brieux is at home with the people, sympathizes with them, and takes joy in interpreting their lives; whereas people in the least degree fashionable are almost foreigners to him. He is too sincere to see through the pose that hides the human insect struggling in its chrysalis. The woman of fashion is a sealed book to him, 1 he, as a rule, fails to make her live; sometimes the failure is more glaring than at others, but he never really succeeds. Human nature appeals to him most at its most human, at its most natural. M. DE REBOVAL. Comedy in four acts in prose, originally called M. le S6nateur. First played Septem- ber 15, 1892, at the Od6on. Not a great success, played 1 Vide U Evasion and Les Remplafantts. BLANCHETTE TO LA ROBE ROUGE 17 only twenty-two times. It has never been printed. M. Brieux said of it: "There are two acts in it that I would still stand by; as to the rest " (here a shrug). The play begins at the chateau of M. le Senateur, the Chateau de Mesnil, some distance from Paris. Mme. de Re'boval is very ill ill with grief, for she knows that her husband keeps a mistress, spends half his income on her, and has had by her one son, Paul Loindet, who passes for the natural son of a dead friend of M. de Re'boval. But it must not be imagined that Re'boval is a debauche; he is a great political figure and has a splendid public reputation for integrity a very upright man. Mme. de Re'boval is in despair at the prospect of her daughter Beatrice being ruined, for has not her husband just paid the gambling debts of Paul Loindet to the tune of 30,000 francs? Beatrice is a high-minded young lady, deeply touched by her mother's abandonment. She vows she will never marry, unless she meets an exceptional male, a veritable hero. M. de Re'boval has just made a big official speech at the Senate and is expected to spend two days at the chateau with his wife, a thing which does not often happen. The way he greets his wife is eloquent of the man, pompous, official, correct, patronizing the great personage to the life: "Good morning, my dear. Are you better? I met the doctor ... he promised me to bring you around. Ah, by the way, I have received some fabrics from Pe r sia which are perfectly beautiful. I am going to send you a selection from them." The conversation continues, cold and matter-of-fact 1 8 THE PLAYS OF EUGENE BRIEUX for his part, while the women celebrate the occasion by making much of him. This would-be agreeable family party is suddenly interrupted by a telegram calling him back to Paris an imperative duty. Paul Loindet leaves that very night for le Gabon, on a special mission obtained from the minister by Reboval. It is his duty to see Loindet before he leaves, and he cannot neglect his duty. The second act is in Paris. Loindet, as he packs his trunks, confides his regrets for his past and his hopes for his future to Mademoiselle, his mother, the mistress of Removal. Removal is announced; his entrance is in exactly the same tone as in the first act. "Good morning, my dear." "How is Mme. de Removal?" "Thank you, not very well, but I have seen the doctor and he has promised to bring her around. Ah, by the way, I have been thinking of you; I have received some fabrics from Persia which are perfectly beautiful. I am going to send you a selection from them." Loindet says good-bye to his protector, the severe but generous friend of his father, promising to perform his duty like a man of honour in the new world to which he goes to make a fresh start, and M. de Removal wipes the silent tear, filled with the consciousness of having performed his duty. Loindet departs and Reboval is just making himself comfortable in this his other home when a telegram comes from the chateau announcing that Mme. de Removal's condition is serious. M. le Se*nateur excuses himself to his mistress in the same terms as to his wife an imperative duty, etc. 19 Two years intervene. Mme. de Reboval is dead. M. de Removal has married his mistress. Loindet has returned from Africa covered with glory a veritable hero after the heart of Beatrice. He loves her, Beatrice adores him, but M. de Reboval forbids the marriage. Why? Why? and Why? He is forced to explain that it is impossible, monstrous, that they are brother and sister. This scene is a very strong one, very well constructed, the best in the play according to some. The last act falls flat. Loindet questions his mother: " I must know whether M. de Reboval lied in saying he was my father. If he did, I can marry Beatrice." "He told the truth." The children turn on their parents for hiding the truth, for ruining their lives, railing at the hypocrisy and evil behind a correct exterior. M. de Reboval pleads extenuating circumstances (and there are extenuating circumstances, but it is not worth while going into these), asks pardon of his daughter, who throws herself into his arms before fleeing to a convent. The first two acts, couched in the form of true comedy, are universally admired; then the tone of the play changes, becomes overstrained, melodramatic, and ends in flaming rhetoric. ^This play has already been referred to as having "a bearing on the more intimate institution of the family, already showing our author's preoccupation with the position of the children, pointing out how this is affected by a liaison." 1 _ This is only a part of the truth. The Cf.p.i 3 . 2O i THE PLAYS OF EUGENE BRIEUX play is in effect an attack on the bourgeois; it shows the hollowness of what the bourgeois admires and looks up to. From one point of view (what, if we screw our imagination to the sticking-place, we might call the plebeian point of view) existing social institutions are based upon a platform, a bourgeois platform, made up to a large extent of compromise, for the sake of material comfort. Removal is a type of the successful bourgeois, a great man, a great public man, and M. Brieux says, smiling at first No, he is ridiculous, in an absurd position; then sharply No, he is a dishonest, cruel man; then, at the top of his voice at last No, he is a miserable wretch who ought to beg for pardon. The attack on the bourgeois is implicit rather than direct, but it must be remembered that the author of M. de Reboval is a Thedlre Libre man. 1 M. Brieux is not a socialist partisan, he appeals here for no progressive measure, rather he goes back to the nearest common point of departure, to a moral cleanliness and simplicity that has gone out of fashion, to a mode of life that fundamentally accords with the dictates of Christian morality. LA COUVEE. Comedy in three acts. First played in a private club in Rouen in 1893; first public perform- ance in Paris at the Co-operation des Idees, Universite populaire du Faubourg Saint Antoine, July 9, 1903. This comedy is interesting as a study of life in a provincial town, such as Rouen. It is a satire on the fussy interference of parents in the lives of their children, 1 What this implies may be gathered from the description of the Thedtre Libre by M. Jules Lemaltre, quoted p. 101. BLANCHETTE TO LA ROBE ROUGE 21 of the hen who cannot allow "the brood" to stray from under her wing. In the last act the respective mothers-in-law clash. After this explosion everything is made up; it is ad- mitted that the chickens are big enough to be allowed to live: "The brood has grown up; the little ones are flying away." It is agreeable and amusing enough. The clash of the mothers-in-law is repeated word for "word in UEcole des Belles-Meres. 1 So far, in spite of the success of Blanchette, none of the plays by M. Brieux are completely satisfying, whether it is that he is working to a pattern (the Theatre Libre pattern to some extent) which does not suit his talent, or whether he is not yet completely master of his means and method. The next play, UEngrenage, is more satisfying. L'ENGRANAGE 3 . Comedy in three acts. Played for the first time by the Cercle des Escholiers (at the Theatre de la Comedie Parisienne), May 1 6, 1894. It was so highly approved of by good judges, so many expressed a wish to see it on the public stage, that it was revived a few weeks later at the Theatre des Nouveaute's, June 4, 2 1894, and was there performed twenty-one times. Re"moussin, a manufacturer in a small country town, a self-made man, honest and anxious to do good, is persuaded, in spite of himself, to go into politics. After a good deal of pressure on the part of his wife, his 1 Cf. p. 44. The Machine's Clutch. 8 An error in the printed edition gives June I. 22 THE PLAYS OF EUGENE BRIEUX daughter, and his son-in-law, and of Morin, a " Snateur Scapin," he consents to stand for election, but on condition that the campaign is to be free from any of the usual corrupt practices, that his ideas must be respected, and that no compromise or concession is to be made for the sake of his election. The inevitable happens. He is forced to make one compromise after another, he is caught in the political machine. He undertakes to do the very opposite of what he feels to be right, and his friends go further still in what they promise for him. He is elected. He leaves his works and his home, goes to Paris, and quickly degenerates from bad to worse. His position, his growing influence, go to his head, and the changes in the new environment are so gradual, they come about by such easy transitions, that he has not the slightest idea that he is being demoralized. He is merely changing his opinion as a wise man should; one cannot always be right, es- pecially in a provincial town where no one ever gets things at first hand. Thus, without his knowledge, he gets more and more caught in the engrenage. During his absence the works do not do so well; his expenditure, naturally enough, has increased rapidly; the well-to-do, honest man finds himself in financial difficulties before he knows it. As luck will have it there is a big deal going on. The pro- moters of the Simplon tunnel are getting the Govern- ment to buy them out for a mere trifle of a hundred million francs, and they must know who are their friends when it comes to the vote. The Marquis de Storn calls on Rdmoussin and explains the situation, BLANCHETTE TO LA ROBE ROUGE 23 shows him the balance sheet to be approved, and, in departing, casually leaves a cheque for 25,000 francs on the table. Re"moussin perceives it and calls him back. "Take this back! I am not for sale." Mme. Remoussin happens to come in just in time to help out the explanatory Marquis de Storn. Storn. Come to my rescue, Madame. M. Re"- moussin refuses to let me have a little share in your charities. [And of course it is not corruption; in fact,'it is'the usual thing.] Storn. What could be more proper? It is quite customary. Your colleagues have accepted. Remoussin. Very well, if it is customary. It is not to buy his vote, since he has always oeen favorable to the deal. He accepts the money on behalf of needy charities in his arrondissement. Nor does he realize that he has been caught and crushed by the machine until Morin slaps him on the back as he says "I have just met Storn; he tells me you are in favor of buying up the Simplon interests. So, my friend, you too are in the procession!" Punishment comes quickly; the scandal is out, lists of the "chequards" are published. Remoussin, in his anger, accuses Morin of drawing him into the sphere of corruption. " But for you, I should have remained what I was an honest man." Morin. An honest man! Oh, no! merely a greater hypocrite than we, that's all. Was it I who sent you 24 THE PLAYS OF EUGENE BRIEUX to the minister to ask for favors? Was it I who made your speech on the corn laws? Was it I who took your money? Re'moussin is obliged to acknowledge the truth of this, recognizes his responsibility, curses the day he entered politics, and bursts into tears at the thought of what he has been brought to, so that even Morin is touched and comforts him as well as he can. Re- moussin begs his family to forgive him; he feels guilty towards them: "There is only one way for a man to get back his self-respect and the respect of the public. I am going to take it,'* and he goes out without any explanation. As soon as he has left a telegram arrives to say that the whole affair is to be hushed up by the Government, the "chequards" are not to be sued. Every one is overjoyed. Amid the universal rejoicings Re'moussin returns. He has made good, he has done his duty, he has written to Le Reveil to acknowledge his dishonesty, he has sent in his resignation to the President of the Chamber, he has returned the 25,000 francs to the Attorney-General. He owes no one a farthing, he can hold up his head once more, he is an honest man again. Morin makes his escape before he can be contami- nated. Re'moussin is covered with reproaches from the family; the crowd without gather beneath his windows to shout, "Robber! robber! why don't you resign?" Re'moussin tries to make a speech, to explain to them, but they shout him down and throw stones at him. In the distance is heard the voice of Morin: BLANCHETTE TO LA ROBE ROUGE 25 "What I desire is the welfare of the nation, the welfare of this proud and intelligent nation." "Hurrah for Morin! Hurrah for Morinl" The play ends ironically. It is an effective satire on politics as they are carried on under the present system of universal suffrage. M. Brieux has held aloof from politics, but he is not cynically indifferent. His general attitude is clearly shown in the Discours de Reception at the Academy sixteen years after the production of this play. "The first part of Criquette also shows the sympathy which he (Halevy) felt for the people of Paris, so little understood, so slandered, whose greatest fault and the least understood, is that vanity which has been incul- cated and fostered by the blandishments of politicians. So many unfulfilled promises, so many fine dreams followed by unsatisfied awakenings, so much expendi- ture of effort, apparently without result, have given rise to the belief among our townspeoples that uni- versal suffrage has proved a failure, or at least that, like all political revolutions, it has been beneficial chiefly to the substantial urban classes. It is by the formation of groups, from which politics is excluded, by the power of syndicalism, strong from its beginning, portentous and disquieting as to its future, that the people, disillusioned and determined to depend upon themselves alone, and with no aid from the upper classes, propose hereafter to succeed in the conquest of their share of the earth's fullness. Let us hope that they may not see leaders rise from their own ranks who will become their masters, and let us hope that they 26 THE PLAYS OF EUGENE BRIEUX may not one day discover that they have set up tyranny in another quarter while seeking for freedom." The ironical ending of UEngrenage is very different from anything the three preceding plays can show, and it can hardly be disputed that this style suits M. Brieux much better. Not that he has shaken off the Theatre Libre influence for all time; it clings to him almost throughout his career, and every now and then comes into evidence; but in this play he has laid it aside and is very much his own man. He has done what he wanted to do and has thoroughly enjoyed doing it. "Je manifeste pour influencer le public'* is the truth, but it is not the whole truth. It is also true that M. Brieux takes the satirist's joy in catching and rendering human folly. It would be hard to draw up the mani- festo of this play, harder to trace its influence on the public. He wrote this play because he is a playwright, rather than because he is a missionary. He has the "don" (pace Zola): "I am aware how far UEngrenage of M. Brieux falls short of being a great comedy of politics, but it is a wholesome and strong work which, following Blanchette, and M. de R6boval, confirms us in the estimate we had made of its author. He was born to the theatre, he is one of our chief hopes." 1 Sarcey's opinion in such matters is as good as another's. UEngrenage is not a perfect play. Sarcey hints at superficiality of observation and "missing scenes" that have been left out. It is a pity that Sarcey was not more explicit. Apparently it is not a masterpiece, but it is good enough; it is one of the ' Francisque Sarcey. Le Temps, Lundi, 4 Juin, 1894. BLANCHETTE TO LA ROBE ROUGE 27 characteristic plays of M. Brieux, more essentially a part of the man's work than anything that has preceded it and than much that is to follow it. LA ROSE BLEUE is not one of the characteristic plays; it is a trifle, specially written to show off an infant prodigy. The subject is the "reconciliation" of an elderly couple who belong to the grand-monde, the infant prodigy playing gooseberry. It might have been written by anybody; it might be performed at any Academy for young ladies. As a matter of fact, it was performed at Geneva at the Grand Thedtre, July 20, 1895, as a comedy-vaudeville in one act. LES BIENFAITEURS. Comedy in four acts. Played for the first time in Paris at the t Thedtre de la Porte St. Martin, October 22, 1896, and was played only twelve times. It is a satire on organized charity as it is carried on by people (chiefly women) who have nothing else to do. Such a subject could hardly be to the taste of a Porte St. Martin audience. It was not a success; M. Brieux has made his point in a way he has raised a question rather than solved a problem. In collaboration with Henri, fianc6 of his little cousin Georgette, Landrecy has invented an electric accumu- lator. Being a generous optimist, not to say Utopian, he would like to start a factory on a co-operative basis. Wages of the workmen are to be increased, and he dreams of founding all kinds of institutions homes, schools, etc. if only he had the money! His wife Pauline is more charitably inclined than her husband, if that were possible and, if only she had the money 28 Hereupon Valentin Salviat, her long-lost brother, turns up from Africa in the nick of time, as rich as Croesus. He is only too ready to empty his overloaded purse at their feet so soon as he discovers their dreams. Secretly, he promises himself some fun over their dis- illusioning, and he loves "la petite Georgette" and hopes thus to please her. (The sentimental theme is quite unimportant, no further reference will be made to it.) And now we come to the real meat of the play the under-side of Society charitable organizations, into which the beautiful dreams of the Landr6cys soon degenerate. The conventional charity, made up of committees, patronesses, routine and condescension to the poor, automatically substitutes itself for their generous imaginings. The machine of charity takes hold of the Landrcys (just as the machine of politics took hold of Re'moussin), grinds all the humanity out of their aims, until nothing is left but a cold, cruel system. It is impossible to tell the story of this; there is no action in the ordinary sense of the word; scene after scene of telling satirical power slices of life picture the wily hypocrisy of the professional pauper, the inanity of committees, the vain folly of patronesses, the tragedy of help withheld because regulations and conditions had not been fulfilled, and (even worse) indifference to human suffering. Here are two selec- tions, let them speak for themselves: Act 77, Scene 16. The Committee meets. After some difficulty the usual feminine conversation is dominated sufficiently for business to proceed. Mme. Le Catelier (standing). Mesdames, Messieurs: Thanks to the initiative of Mme. Landr6cy, we have BLANCHETTE TO LA ROBE ROUGE 29 succeeded in bringing together in a kind of friendly union all the presidents of the various charitable interests in our city. In contrast to what happens too often elsewhere, we have been able to unite these societies regardless of political or religious distinctions. We have merged a part of our different funds, and all of our good will. The results, while not being all that could be desired, are promising. Our secretary will read to you the report of our activities for our first year. Before yielding the floor to her, please allow me to thank all you ladies and gentlemen for your zeal and devotion to the cause. (Soft applauding of gloved hands.) The secretary now has the floor. Mme. Destournel. Mesdames et Messieurs: In these times of scepticism and doubt, one man has been found (No one is listening; personal conversations are re- sumed, drowning the voice of Mme. Destournel during all that follows of an interminable report, bristling with figures. Realizing that no one is paying the least atten- tion to her, Mme. Destournel gradually lowers her voice and finally reads audibly to herself, in fulfilling her duty. All are talking at once, fashions, theatres, etc. ; (It amounts' to an uproar. Georgette, with' a troubled look, comes in. She goes to Pauline and speaks low in her ear. Pauline in turn is disturbed and leads her to the front of the scene.) Pauline (low to Georgette). Oh! The poor creatures! And has nobody gone to help them? Georgette. No one. Pauline. Come! (She goes out at the right and re- turns immediately with coat and hat. They notice her. 3O THE PLAYS OF EUGENE BRIEUX "What is the matter?" "/ don't know" Pauline goes to Mme. Le Catelier , speaks a few words in a low tone to her t and leaves with Georgette, who had waited near the door. There is a silence.) Mme. Le Catelier. Mesdames, Mme. Landre*cy is called away on a matter of the greatest importance. Several voices (timidly). May we know? Mme. Le Catelier. I know that this matter is con- nected with our work, and nothing more. Mme. Landre*cy begs you to wait for her. The secretary will continue the reading of her report. Mme. Destournel. I have finished, Madame. (There is a little conference between Mme. Le Catelier and Mme. Destournel^ during which the various groups become animated again.) Mme. Le Catelier (ringing a little belt). The question comes on the acceptance of the report. (The hands go up) Contrary? The report is accepted. (Ringing again.) Has any one any communication to lay before the meeting? Mme. Paillencourt. Oh, yes! I almost forgot. (She searches for a letter in her reticule) I would like to speak. Mme. Le Catelier. Mme.' Paillencourt has the floor. Mme. Paillencourt (searching for her letter, reads from another). "The smallest sum will be gratefully received." That is not it One receives so many letters Ah! here it is! It is a request for aid which was sent to us several days ago. It is worded in the usual way, with a threat of suicide. I think (She looks it over) Yes: "If God forsakes us, we shall seek BLANCHETTE TO LA ROBE ROUGE 31 refuge in death." Signed, "Naclette, rue auz Juifs." That is it! Mme. Le Catelier. We will have it investigated. (She hands the letter over to Mme. Destournel.) Mme. Destournel. It is only a few steps. I will go today, or tomorrow. But the threat of suicide was no vain one, and this was why Pauline was called out: and as she comes back with her "Mesdames! Mesdames! A dreadful thing has happened, a perfectly dreadful thing " the bourgeois platform cracks and reveals the yawning abyss beneath. In order to suggest the range of the play the other selection shall be of a totally different nature the episode of Fe"chain le re'gene're", Act II, Scene 8, and A.ct III, Scene 2. Act II, Scene 8. (Enter Fechain, poor, but very neatly dressed.) Mme. Guerlot (low to Pauline"). Just see how neat Fe*chain manages to look, with the little aid that we allow him. Pauline (low}. Isn't it wonderful? It's a fortunate thing for a charity to have a poor man who makes such a good appearance. (Aloud} Come here, Fechain. Fechain. Mesdames! (A dignified bow to each.) Pauline. My good man, your benefactor, M. Valentin Salviat, has expressed the wish to see you. So I sent to tell you. Ftchain. I am at your service, and at his, Mme. la Pr6sidente. I shall have only one regret, that I shall not be able to tell him properly how very grateful I am. 32 THE PLAYS OF EUGENE BRIEUX Mme. Guerlot (low to Pauline). And he expresses himself so correctly! Pauline (in the same tone). He is remarkable. (Aloud) M. Valentin Salviat will perhaps question you about your past life. I must ask you to excuse him. You will not mind that? F&chain. No, madame. Pauline. What are you going to say to him? Ffahain. I have already thought about that, Mme. la Pre*sidente. I shall tell him about all my faults, and how I Pauline. Yes but won't you won't you speak now as if I were M. Valentin Salviat? FSchain. Certainly, Madame la Presidente. (A pause.) As the father of five children, I had the misfortune to allow myself to be tempted by the prop- erty of others. I had a moment of forgetfulness and was condemned by the laws of my country for em- bezzlement and burglary. (Glances of admiration between Mme. Guerlot and Pauline.) After having undergone the just punishment for my crime, I should have again fallen fatally into sin, if God (correcting himself) if my good star Mme. Guerlot. You may say "God." (Low to Pauline) What do you think? Do you see any objection? Pauline. Not at all. Ffrhain. If God Jiad not led me to two lovely ladies Pauline (gently). Oh! oh! Ffahain. Mustn't I say that? Mme. Guerlot. Why, certainly, certainly. BLANCHETTE TO LA ROBE ROUGE 33 Fechain. Two lovely ladies who led me back to the straight path. Since then I have returned to my family and I should be living in modest, but complete happiness, if the health of my poor wife were all that it might be. Pauline. It is perfect Is your wife still sick? Mme. Guerlot. You didn't speak of that. Fechain. That was because I was ashamed to have recourse so often to your inexhaustible bounty. Ah, if only my palpitation did not forbid me to do any work! (He wipes away a tear. Pauline, turning about, takes a coin from her purse.) Pauline (low, to Mme. Guerlot). Ten francs? Mme. Guerlot. Yes. Pauline. Take this, my good man. Fechain. No, Mme. la Presidente! no, really! Pauline. Oh, come now, you must! Fechain (accepting). It's too much! It's too much! Act III. Scene 2. Pauline. Come in! (Fechain enters,) Ah, it is you. (To the servant) TellM. Salviat that I will see him now. (The servant goes out.) Pauline. He will be here presently. You may wait. Fechain. Will you kindly allow me to sit down? Because, I don't know whether it is my palpitation, but everything seems to be going around you seem to be rising up to the ceiling and coming down. It makes me feel dizzy. Pauline (astonished). Be seated. (Aside) If I didn't know him as I do I could take an oath that he is drunk. Fechain (sitting down very near the table). Listen to me, Mme. la Presidente. 34 THE PLAYS OF EUGENE BRIEUX Pauline. Why, you smell of alcohol! Ffahain. That must be because I rubbed myself with it before coming. I was in terrible pain, and if it hadn't been for you, understand, I wouldn't have left the house. Only I heard you say to the other lady that you had only one reformed man to show to my benefactor, so I didn't want to leave you in the lurch. Pauline. You are drunk, my good man. Go away. Ffahain (gets up). Me? I haven't taken a drop of anything. Pauline. You can scarcely stand on your feet; you are reeking with alcohol. I tell you to go away. F&chain. That seem so? Honest, madame must be the open air b'cause when I left the the whose- its I was as straight as a string. Pauline. Go away! Ffahain. No. I don' want to dis'point you get over this I know m'self get over this. You'll see m* ben'factor won't notice a thing. As th' father o' five children I had th' misfortune t' be tempted by the property of others Pauline. If you don't leave here of your own accord, I shall call Jean to put you out. Fechain. Don't you worry. You'll see I just don' want to dis'point you [Enter Salviat]. Ffahain (to himself). There he is my benefactor. M'sieu, I'm th' r' formed man. Salviat (laughing, to Pauline). Oh, oh! Why, why the reformed man is drunk. Pauline. Oh, dear! He was so nice yesterday morning. BLANCHETTE TO LA ROBE ROUGE 35 Ftchain. As th' father o* five children had th' misfortune t'low m'self t* b' tempted by th' prop'ty offuthers Salviat. You are drunk, my man. Fechain. By th' prop'ty offuthers had moment of forgetfulness, and was condemned by th' laws of m' country Salviat. Shut up, or I'll throw you out of the window. Fechain. Yes, my benefactor. Pauline (to Salviat). I am really ashamed. Salviat. Pooh! You're not going to worry about that a drunken man I've seen plenty of them. This one may be interesting; we will draw him out. Fechain. As th' father o' five children I had th' misforchun Salviat. You are going to have the misfortune of receiving a beating if you don't behave yourself. You are to speak when you are asked a question. Fechain. Yes, my benefactor. Salviat. Stand up! Fechain. Can't stand up, my benefactor. Salviat (laughing). And don't call me your benefactor again. If I ever was, I am so no longer why don't you goto work? Fechain. On 'count of my palpitation. Salviat. Oh, ho! (He gives him a vigorous slap on the shoulder.) Palpitation of the heart! Come now, don't jest with me. Fechain. I have a doctor's certificate. Salviat (sitting down). Goon. You're doing wrong. What you are doing now is a swindle. If you don't 36 THE PLAYS OF EUGENE BRIEUX tell me the whole truth you know what a prison is like, don't you? Ftchain. No, M'sieu. Salviat. What! No, m'sieu! So you were not condemned by the laws of your country as you said you were? Ftchain (looking towards Pauline). Yes? Salviat. You did not serve time? (He does not answer.) If you don't answer I am going to have you grabbed when you leave here. Ftchain (looking at Pauline). It was Salviat. Come now, have you lost your tongue? It embarrasses you to tell it all before Madame because you have been lying to her? Ffahain. Yes, M'sieu. Salviat. You did tell her that you had stolen ? Fechain. I never stole. Pauline. You never stole! Why, I have your court record. Ftchain (weeping) . 'S not mine. Salviat. That's a good one! Now tell us all about that. Fechain. All right; 't was this way. M' name isn't Fechain. That was the name of my wife's first hus- band she was a widow. When we came here, honest, I wanted to go to work. But what could you expect; work I I can't stand it. It goes all right for two or three days and then, good-night! So, when we found out there was a society for the reformed when we found out what it was like, my wife gave me her other man's papers and there you are! The co-operative factory of Landrcy fares no better BLANCHETTE TO LA ROBE ROUGE 37 than the charity organizations of his wife. In spite of all Landrecy has done for the men they threaten to strike unless he takes back a workman dismissed for insubordination. When everything has gone suf- ficiently wrong, Salviat turns up, preaches a sermon on the folly of it all, and retires from the position of suitor to Georgette in order that she may marry the young man she loves. The ending is very tame. Nothing is easier to say than that M. Brieux has solved no problem; 1 it is open to question whether he thought of trying to solve one. The problem here is the greatest of all social problems, the problem of poverty. Is it not another attack on the social hypocrisy of the Bourgeois, with his liberal ideals in one hand and his complacency in the other, while the social problem remains untouched? The essence of his preaching is that we must understand each other, poor and rich, that we must realize the position of affairs in order to cope with them. If only we would try to realize the position and try to understand each other instead of making fools of ourselves and of each other, instead of going on in the present way, where the rich complacently dupe themselves and demoralize the poor, where the poor take a certain delight in fooling the charity- mongers, and where the real evil goes untouched. 1 "Then Salviat takes the opportunity to read the Landre"cys a little lecture, and a not very effective one, on the familiar truth that the method of giving counts for more than what is given. Then, on my word, he has the air of instructing society that charity would be much more effective if it were applied without the aid of inter- mediary associations. And we had for a moment hoped that M. Brieux was going to solve this social problem. A paltry conclusion for a play so full of talent." (Les Annales, 1909. Article on Let BienfaiUurs, pp. 190 ft seq.) 38 THE PLAYS OF EUGENE BRIEUX Whether it has had any influence it is impossible to say, but the play, in spite of its faults, and because of its merits, is very much worth while. L'EvASioN 1 . Comedy in three acts. Played for the first time December 7, 1896, at the Comedie Frangaise; given thirteen times in December, 1896, thirty-eight times in 1897, five times in 1898; the first play by M. Brieux produced at the Comedie Franqaise; crowned by the Academy. Doctor Bertry is a successful physician, honoured and ambitious for more honours yet. Believing thoroughly in advertisement, he is busy on his biography, assisted by his assistant, La Belleuse; he writes himself down as one of the medical celebrities of the age, and especially plumes himself on his great work, "douze volumes chez Alcan" dealing with the subject of heredity, going beyond Lucas, Morel, Galton, in proving the invincible force of its laws. In spite of all his science he cannot cure himself. He is at heart a quack, and a tyrannical quack. Jean Belmont, his stepson, is doomed to com- mit suicide (according to the Bertry theory of heredity) because his father was a hypochondriac and committed suicide. Lucienne Bertry, niece to the doctor, is doomed to an immoral life because her mother was a courtesan. The romance brewing between Lucienne and Belmont has to fight its way against the imperious dictates of "science." But the two prisoners escape together; summoning up sufficient will-power, they defy "science'* and marry, Jean, unconscious of the humor of it, threatening to kill himself unless Bertry consents. Bertry yields, but only to the threat, and still clings to his dogma. The test comes when Lu- i The Escape. BLANCHETTE TO LA ROBE ROUGE 39 cienne, now the wife of Belmont, is made love to by Paul de Maucourt. She is for a while fascinated by the terror of her heredity, but her love for her husband tells in the end, for Maucourt is a blackguard. Meanwhile Jean has grown fat on good food and country air and his melancholia disappears. The play closes ironically, Bertry, near the agony pulling himself together to keep up appearances and get through a public speech. There is some admirable satire on the medical pro- fession, 1 there are some splendid bits of character painting (le p&re Guernoche, the shepherd-healer, is a telling part, created by Coquelin cadet), but it is not a good play. It is not well focussed. It is not satisfied with being a satire on the medical profession, it is an attempt to do what M. Curel has done better in La Nouvelle Idole an attempt to dethrone science from its arrogant position as successor to religion. M. Curel is not the dramatist that M. Brieux is, but he is more the man of ideas; he can handle ideas better; he has chosen a better instance of the arrogance of science. What serious member of the medical profession would dream of maintaining the attitude of Bertry? He is only a charlatan, an imbecile, whereas the doctor in La Nouvelle Idole is an enthusiastic specialist, a martyr to his work. UEvasion is an attack on charlatanism, it is not an attack on science. Charlatanism and science cannot be hit by the same stone. 1 " The admirable thing about this play of M. Brieux is the vehicle, the satirical portions. I will not say that these are equal to Moltere, seeing that I don't pretend to judge of that, but I believe it is the most frank and realistic satire on medicine and doctors that has appeared since Moltere.", (Lemaitre, Impressions, Xme. Serif, P. S2-) 40 THE PLAYS OF EUGENE BRIEUX UEvasion, one of the least satisfying plays by M. Brieux, was crowned by the Academy; it is even an irritating play, irritating in the same way as Menages