pleaded more eloquently for the relief of maimed humanity downtrodden by carnal lust. Albert Samain is original and charming, gentle, suave, sincere, the poet of the fair sex. Jean Moréas, Viollé Griffen and, above all, Verhaeren, are the enchanting songstresses of restless nature. Henri de Regnier is grand and sad. Paul Claudel disappointing but genial. André Gide disquieting and uneasy. Charles Peguy an ardent adherent to the land. Francis Jammes, the monk, and Paul Fort, the troubadour. Léon Bloy, the theological and Rabelesian poet; above all, Remy de Gourmont, whose considerable work and enlightened intellect apply to all systems; an admirable writer whose works will surely develop. André Suares, an obviously great mind; Comtesse Mathieu de Noaille, vibrant and thrilling, of an exuberant lyricism greatly captivating; Lucie Delarue Mardrus, more classical, more moderate, less genial; Jeanne d'Orliac, with her multiple and curious essays on the affirmation of a creative and commanding will; Marguerite Bornat Provins, of an amorous lyricism, whose 'Livre pour toi is the model of a task accomplished. Finally, Charles Demaye and Henri Franck, whose early demise is ever to be regretted. They have both left masterpieces; the former, 'Le Livre du Désir); the latter, 'La Danse devant l'Arche.> Symbolist Theatre.- Claudel is the great pontiff. His Annonce faite à Marie, a play in a mysterious vein, is, in its archaic form, a > 'L'Otage, a deeper work, disturbing vision. less æsthetic, more closely resembles a superior piece of realism. Maurice Maeterlinck has endowed the theatre with that engrossing and always disturbing theme consisting in the portrayal of the mysterious 'sides and moods of man; masterpieces indeed are his chaste and profound dramas in which every word tells. Henri Gheon is responsible for 'Le Pain,' a powerfully-composed work; and H. R. Lenormant writes desponding and disconcerting plays. J. d'Orliac, with 'Pulcinella' and 'le Chiffonnier,' affirms the right of the picturesque and irony in tragedy. The Future.- What will be the literary future of France? With the war a generation has died while another is springing up. We have followed the sinuous line of French thought from 1800 to the present time. Born directly after the Revolution it is like that animated with an inspiration of gaiety and is powerful. It feels it has a mission to accomplish, i.e., to bring to humanity - liberty, deliverance. Romanticism clamored for liberty; political errors deceived it, difficulties arose in 1848 continuing to 1870. The war, defeat, humiliation are accepted. A generation then arose, the naturalists, seeing only the gloomier aspect of life, ceding the place later to the symbolists. A reaction finally sets in. Two schools rise in opposition to each other; on the one hand is Charles Maurras and his followers of the Action Française championing the cause of the royalists, on the other the young school of the Rappel and Foi et Vie favoring the revolutionary tradition, both ardent and enthusiastic. The present world crisis arrives and unites them in a common ideal, that of showing to the world at large the real rôle of France which is to save civilization. This is the basis for a new school. Gaston Riou in his magnificent work 'aux écoutes de la France qui vient' has already formulated it. The awakening had already been prepared by the félibrige, that is to say, the grouping of the Provençal poets desirous of reviving their local language and customs on the point of being forgotten or swept away. Mistral, our great Mistral, is the indefatigable leader and champion of this reactionary spirit. All honor to this illustrious and noble figure so passionately fond of his country. Among the rising generation a choice is difficult. Of the classic writers we have Abel Bonnard and Léo Larguiez, Cécile Sauvage, André Lafon, Drouot, Charles Dumas, some of whom, alas! are inscribed on the roll of honor-pro patria mori! There are the dilettante elegant writers like Vaudoyer and Henriot, the delightful belated adolescents Jean Cocteau, Maurice Rostand and Géraldy. There are the authors of free verse such as André Salmon and Canudo, Guy-Charles Cros, Fernand Divoire; Jules Romaine, the founder of unanimism; Chenevière and Duhamel, impressed by Walt Whitman; Porché whose (Arrêt sur la Marne' denotes an ardent and rich temperament. Max Jacob, Reverdy, Cendral are incomprehensible and complicated in their simultaneity, but make their presence felt with their Montparnassian school. Finally there is Spire, replete with bitterness and Israelitish irony. Of all these names which ones will establish themselves? It is of little import. Time will show. One thing is certain that all will spare no effort in making an even greater nation of their beloved and eventually victorious France! JEANNE D'ORLIAC, Poet and Dramatic Author; Author of 'Grand Blessé. 15. FRENCH DRAMATIC ART. Dramatic art occupies one of the foremost places, probably even the first place, in French literature. If, as has been said, the Frenchman "n'a pas la tête épique," it is none the less certain that he has a predilection for drama. To-day, as in the past, he is passionately devoted to his theatre, and French plays are more than ever translated and produced throughout the world. Evolutions of the French Theatre. There are six principal periods in the evolution of the French theatre: 1. The Middle Age.-This was the tentative and experimental period. Dramatic art was rudimentary, allegorical and coarsely realistic in general. Despite the number and diversity of its productions it has left no remarkable work of a durable nature. 2. The Renaissance.- From the end of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th GrecoLatin culture became more widely disseminated and the knowledge of ancient Greek and Roman literature engendered a taste for the classics. We were still in the experimental period, but poetical expression improved and tragedy made its appearance. 3. The Classical Era. This marked the zenith of dramatic art in France. In it was discovered the mode of expression best harmonizing with the genius of the nation, which approached perfection in the great tragedies of Racine and Corneille, and in the foremost comedies of all times, those of Molière. 4. The Eighteenth Century. This represented for the theatre, as it did for political and social life, a transitory era. The literary output was poor, tragedy became inextant, comedy was transformed and diversified, and drama first made its appearance. 5. The Romantic Period. This marked a renaissance in dramatic art which was decidedly brilliant but ephemeral. The theatre became epical, lyrical, even philosophical. The attempt had been a bold one but ended in failure. 6. The Realistic Period. This dates from the end of the last century and still predominates in the French theatre. The period was characterized by a return to nature, and to the portrayal of contemporary life and customs. I. THE MIDDLE AGE. The French theatre originated from two distinct sources and from its inception has been developed in two different directions. On the one hand, the religious theatre, with its miracles and mysteries, was a natural development of the simple religious ceremonies; while the profane or secular theatre, of more humble origin, found its setting in the farcical exhibitions at fairs and the vernacular of strolling players. The Religious Theatre. Origin (from the 5th to 14th Century).- The Church may be regarded as the first theatre. It was the only exhibition offered to the public during the early centuries. In order to attract the people the priests introduced variety into their services. They began by adding to the liturgies certain developments known as tropes (or metaphors). These were followed by religious chants, by psalms, as solos, and then the choir. Finally, for the celebration of religious festivals, simple dramas were composed, with a rough staging: for instance, at Christmas, the Manger, the Virgin and the Child, the Ass and the Ox, the Three Wise Men of the East; at Easter, the Holy Women at the Tomb of Christ. Emotion was aroused both of a religious and theatrical nature, by striking the imagination and appealing to the visual as well as the oracular senses. Up to the 12th century drama was played in churches only, at which time it left them. Devout laymen, organized into a brotherhood, erected a sort of stage on the spaces round the churches, and on the public highway, Complicated scenery represented at one and the same time Heaven, Earth and Hell. Everything was confused. In the production of 'Adam there parade, in turn, God in a long white cloak, Adam in a red tunic, Eve in a white robe. Then we have Satan and the demons and the prophets of Israel. In the 13th century, Jean Bodel produced at Arras the 'Jeu de Saint Nicolas, wherein a crusade is presented. We are transported successively from a Turkish palace to a Picardy tavern, from a battlefield in Palestine to a common prison. No distinction is made either in epochs or customs. Tragedy intermingles with comedy, and the purse-snatchers of the Rue Vide Gousset rub shoulders with the Mohammedan. These crude plays were followed in the 14th century by the Miracle. This was a complete and lengthy drama which owed its title to the fact that the dénouement always lay in the miraculous intervention either on the part of a Saint, of God, or more particularly, the Holy Virgin, the latter appealing to popular imagination. There was much scenery, the plot was complicated and called for a large number of executants. There exist 40 Miracles de Notre Dame.' They are complete plays, fairly well arranged and containing not more than 1,000 to 3,000 verses. They ignore both unity of time and unity of place, but they do observe unity of action. The dramatic interest is generally sustained. Les Mistères.* (15th and 16th Century).— The same thing cannot be said of mystères, or more correctly mistères (from ministerium, signifying action, drama, and not musterion, a mysterious thing). These are works of exaggerated length, many parts of which have little apparent relation to the whole. Le Mistère du Vieil Testament' contains 60,000 verses, 'le Mistère de la Passion,' by Gréban, 35,000, and 'les Actes des Apôtres' more than 50,000. Their performance lasted several days, sometimes weeks. The subject is almost exclusively taken from the Scripture. There exist, however, a few secular mistères, such as 'le Mistère de Troie' (1463), 'le Mistère du Siège d'Orléans' (1439). But even these are religiously inspired and were performed in honor of God for the instruction of the poor." The entire population participated in the preparation and organization of a mistère. There were no professional actors to play these numerous rôles, sometimes as many as 100, 200 or even 500, in addition to a host of other figurants. The corporations and the brotherhoods supervised the enterprise. The most celebrated brotherhood was the Confrérie de la Passion, organized in Paris at the end of the 14th century, which had the monopoly for mistères as regards the capital, and continued in existence for 250 years. The actors, nearly all giving their services free, were recruited from every class of society: artisans, commoners and even priests; the rôle of Christ was always chosen from among them. Women only played mute rôles, at any rate at first, the female characters being impersonated by young men. formances were announced several weeks in advance by means of a cry, i.e., a solemn proclamation. An imposing procession, preceded by trumpeters and including the actors, arrayed in gorgeous costumes, paraded the town collecting alms and recruiting the figurants or parties playing secondary roles. The stage, which was very large, with a width of from 30 to 50 meters, showed several scenes in juxtaposition: Paradise a house, a church, a forest, a cavern. was represented by a loggia erected at the back of the stage, and Hell by a sort of cavity arranged in the place which is now occupied by the prompter's box, from which the demons rushed out on to the stage. Per Everything was arranged with a view to striking the imagination; flames escaped from the jaws of Hell, drums were beaten and claps of thunder were heard. By mechanical means, angels were shown descending from Heaven, Name given in the Middle Ages to plays dealing with religious subjects wherein are found the intervention of God, the saints, the angels and devils. and the "damned" disappeared through trapdoors. Scenes were shown of torture, crucifixion and decapitation. It was a highly realistic performance and as bold as it was simple. These plays on a prodigious scale were absolutely incoherent, they took the form of a review of the acts of men, saints and demons. Comedy continually intermingled with tragedy. The devil was usually represented as a kind of buffoon or big booby, flouted and beaten to the great delight of the spectators. It must be borne in mind that these simple-minded people had to be supplied with plays suited to their particular_mentality. Their emotions required variety. They would weep at the sufferings of Christ, but shake with laughter at a coarse farce or a drunken brawl in a disreputable gaming house. After a mystical oration they expected, and often demanded, licentious and even obscene entertainment. Performed with the object of pleasing the populace, the mistères possessed all those defects inherent to pieces created for popular consumption, eventually descending to the level of common melodrama or farce. They were almost altogether devoid of artistic merit and the rare poetical passages they contained could not save them from well-deserved oblivion. These dramatic poems, quite inferior to the Miracles of the 14th century, contain practically nothing of interest to the modern reader. They had an enormous success at the time and they retained their popularity until about the middle of the 16th century, but their coarse humor, which approached the sacreligious, ultimately alarmed the Church, and by a decree of the Paris Parliament, voted in 1548, they were suppressed in the capital. They survived a few years longer in the provinces but finally disappeared. Public taste, which had been influenced by the Renaissance, demanded art of a more refined character. The Secular Theatre. Origin (from the 11th to the 14th Century).—The secular theatre -wrongly styled the comedy theatre inasmuch as all subjects are treated by it except those which fell into the category of the miracle or mistère is of very humble origin. It originated more particularly from those strolling players who peddled their wares from town to town in the shape of tales, monologues, disputes and debates. Traces can also be found of the influence of the ancient Greek and Roman theatre, known vaguely to the university scholars. The first works with which we are acquainted are 'le Jeu de la Feuillée,' and le Jeu de Robin et de Marion,' both by Adam de la Halle, the former produced in 1262 and the latter about 1285. The first play reproduces with a fair amount of spirit the adventures and misfortunes of the author's life. The second, of quite a different character, is a pastoral play, a kind of comedy-ballet interspersed with songs wherein is related the simple story of a shepherdess who prefers her shepherd-lover to her Seigneur. This play, as has been rightly stated, is the first of our comic operas. No comedy has been handed down to us from the 14th century, but we find a play with the title 'Histoire de Grisélidis,' a sentimental story of a wife unjustly condemned and deserted by her husband but to whom justice is finally rendered. It contains some passages of exquisite tenderness, as, for instance, that in which the forsaken wife begs her husband to treat his second wife less harshly than he dealt her more frail and more "delicately nurtured" she cannot "suffer as I have suffered." Merrymakers Clubs (Les Sociétés Joyeuses). In the 15th century considerable interest in comedy was revealed in plays of a satirical, moral and farcical nature. Numerous amateur clubs supplied the actors, the most important being 'la Basoche' and 'les Enfants sans souci.' The Basochians were clerks to the attorneys attached to the Paris Parliament. They formed an important corporation which elected its king, and every year, in spring and July, played farces and moralities at the Palais de Justice. The Enfants sans souci, or Sots, were young men of good family, having literary and artistic tastes. They were arrayed in green and yellow like the Court Jesters. At their head was the Prince of Sots, assisted by Mother Sot. They played what were called Soties, a kind of satirical comedy or revue with a contemporary tendency. self The Moralities.- The morality play was less a comedy than a drama, or rather a melodrama. Its characters were allegorical: Hope, Faith, Pity, Wealth, Poverty, the Prodigal Son, the Ungrateful Child. Like all respecting melodramas, these morality plays always punished vice and rewarded virtue; as for instance the greedy son who offers his father a piece of coarse bread while reserving for himself a succulent pie, but this pie when opened contains a toad which jumps out, striking the boy in the face. Or again, in the 'Condamnation de Banquet,' Banquet, in the person of Gluttony, is condemned to be hanged by Diet. The Soties. If the morality plays were pedantic and morose, the Soties were alert and realistic and the dialogue satirical. The plot, based on a feint, permitted great liberty of treatment; the characters were all represented as being mad, the dialogue was free and easy. The Prince of Sots took the rôle of King Louis XII, mad, Mother Sot impersonated the Holy Mother of the Church, mad. The community was also represented as mad, or Sotte Commune, the soldier, Sot Glorieux, the merchant, Sot Corrompu, the woman, Sotte Folle. All the eccentricities and abuses of the epoch were criticized. The voluminous works handed down to us by the Sotie plays furnish us to-day with the record of a period when journalism did not exist. The Farces.-The morality and sotie plays quickly disappeared but the farce remained. We find it in all our later day comedies, especially those of Molière. It expresses the French, or rather Gallic, temperament and finds its embodiment in that hearty laugh so dear to Rabelais "pour ce que rire est le propre de l'homme" ("laughter belongs to man"). Nothing escapes it, everyone and everything is subjected to its raillery and wit: commoners, soldiers, the clergy, tradesmen. But its animated spirit and biting humor, which never fear to employ the right word, coarse or not, are above all reserved for matrimonial affairs and domestic wranglings. In these farces we are shown the husband, flouted, beaten, deceived by his wicked wife . . . against whom he is revenged. In the 'Farce du Cuvier, the husband is little more than a slave; his wife has drawn up a list of tasks he is to perform: sweep, draw water, buy the provisions, look after the brat of a boy and a host of other things. But one day it so happens that our good wife falls into a tank and to her supplications for help the husband merely replies "That isn't on my list." We are indebted to the farce plays for a really artistic piece: 'Patelin. Here we are shown the biter bit. A crafty lawyer wins a suit for his client, the shepherd Agnelet, who, before the jury, pretends to be an idiot and whose replies consist in the one word "Bé." When the lawyer comes to collect his fee, Agnelet merely keeps on repeating his "Bé» and the man of law is obliged to depart without a sou. The plot is amusing and the characters, cleverly played, make it a forerunner of true comedy. But Patelin' is an exception only, and, on the whole, the prolific output of the Middle Age is condemned to sink into oblivion. This unrefined public clamored for amusing actors and not real artistes. Chance did not bring to light among all these anonymous authors the man of genius, the Shakespeare or the Lope de Vega who would have developed dramatic art in France in the same way they did for the English and Spanish theatre. The change did take place but by a return to antiquity, The French spirit ever seeking lucidity and method could only reach its true goal and only produce works of art by taking a leaf out of the literary perfections of the Romans and especially the Greeks. II. THE RENAISSANCE. After the prolific but sterile productions of the Middle Age, we now enter a rather short transitory period not extending beyond threequarters of a century, i.e., the second half of the 16th and the first years of the 17th. Nothing remarkable stands out in this period and it did not produce any masterpiece, but it is of great importance, marking as it does a real revolution in dramatic art. Thanks to the humanists, whose minds had been elevated by a closer acquaintance with Homer and Virgil, dramatic art was of a more refined character, the language richer, and the colored but confused realism of the Middle Age was succeeded by classicism, undoubtedly poorer but certainly of a more finished quality, the real perfection of which moreover was not to be attained until a later period which was felt to be imminent. The 16th century was creating the instrument with which the 17th century would write masterpieces. We here witness the birth of tragedy, which has no precedent in France, being directly inspired from the ancient literature, while comedy for a time is eclipsed. In the 16th century we find the founders and pioneers of dramatic art. Tragedy. Origin. The populace always took delight in the old sotie, farce, morality and mistère plays, but literary men had already conceived a form of art of a higher tone. Emulating the Italians, the humanists of the colleges composed Latin tragedies, played by the pupils before their professors and fellow students. 'La Jephté' by Buchanan was great success at the College de Guyenne. Italian a tragedies, such as 'Sophonisbe by Trissin, adapted by Mellin de Saint Gelais, were also translated and played under the same conditions. To these should be added translations of some of the ancient works, such at 'Electre' and 'Hécube by Lazare de Baif, 'Iphigénie à Aulis by Thomas Sibilet. These were not, however, original works in the French lan guage. The first French tragedy was 'Cléopâtre' by Jodelle, played in 1552 at the Hotel de Reims before Henri II. This is a date to be remembered as it marks the appearance of a new style. It was undoubtedly tragedy in the true meaning of the word, the study of a moral crisis, treated just prior to its close and culminating in the death of the hero. The work was clumsy and confused but this is not of great importance. We are shown Cleopatra, after the death of Antony, discussing with Octavius, deliberating with her confidants, hesitating before taking a decision, finally deciding and then killing herself. This was the commencement of a psychological development of a character in a tragic situation, in fact a domestic drama transported to the stage. It was tragedy itself. He Among the successors of Jodelle, two really talented authors should be mentioned: Robert Garnier and Antoine de Montchrestien. The masterpiece of the first named was 'Les Juives (1580), a spirited work which paved the way for Racine's l'Athalie.' Garnier, although a fine orator, was too verbose. lacked taste but his style was vigorous. Quite different was Montchrestien. Elegiac and gentle, the real poet with a melancholy tendency. In sensitiveness he resembled Racine and sometimes even Lamartine. His works include l'Ecossaise' (1605) where we meet the unfortunate Marie Stuart. Tragedy of the 16th century like that of the 17th obeys "the three unities." >>* But it was dull and declamatory, and contained lyrical parts and choruses which, however, disappeared later. More pathetic than dramatic, it left its mark on poetry rather than the theatre. The first years of the 17th century mark a step backward rather than forward. Once again the different styles become confused. The bestknown author was Alexandre Hardy, the officially appointed playwright to the."Grands Comédiens de l'Hotel de Bourgogne." He was indefatigable, turning out pieces by the hundred comedies, tragedies, romantic dramas, popular pieces and pastoral plays. He understood the theatre and knew how to create a dramatic situation, but never troubled about art, merely aiming at making money. Bergeries by Racan, might also be mentioned which was a very delicate pastoral play; 'Pyrame et Thisbé' by Théophile de Viau, a masterpiece of bad taste, which has become im-> mortalized by the two ridiculous lines: "Le voilà ce poignard qui, du sang de son maître S'est souillé lâchement; il en rougit le traître!" ("See this dagger, basely stained with the blood of its master; it blushes, the traitor!") and Sophonisbe' by Mairet where, for the first time, the Aristotelian rules were strictly observed. A man of genius only was missing, *Note by translator -- the three unities in the Drama are: time, place and action, and he will be revealed to us later in 'Le Cid' (1636). Comedy. The transformation was less marked than for tragedy. There was evolution rather than creation, properly speaking. Farce combined with Morality, and we witnessed, under Italian influence, the comedy of intrigue with its artificial and complicated imbroglios its conventional and stereotyped figures of wily valets, dishonest servants, bullying assassins and innocent and coquettish maidens. At the beginning we find a few poetical works, 'Eugène by Jodelle, played in 1552_after_his 'Cléopâtre, la Trésorière' and 'Les Esbahis by Jacques Grévin. These were merely farces, amusing in a coarse and rough sense. Pierre Larivey, a direct descendant by his father of the Giunti, the famous printers of Venice, introduced into France the Italian comedy. Everything was of foreign extraction, the plot, dialogue and the different characters. The style alone was original, the language spirited and colored. It will be seen later that Molière borrowed quite a lot of ideas from this theatre, notably in l'Avare' where Harpagon losing his cash-box appears to be inspired by the miser in Larivey's piece 'les Esprits' who has been robbed of "sa chère bourse." This is not much, but it is practically all worth mentioning. Toward the end of the 16th century, tragicalcomedy and pastoral plays replaced comedy proper. The latter was not revived until 1629 with 'Mélite' by Corneille. III. THE CLASSICAL ERA. We have now arrived at a glorious period in French dramatic art, in which it reaches its zenith. It is incarnated in three great names: Corneille, Racine and Molière. The two first mentioned have immortalized tragedy. The latter is the undisputed master of comedy not only in France but throughout the world. Molière did for comedy what Shakespeare did for drama. In order to understand this period it is not sufficient to study the works only, it is above all necessary to understand the nature of this classicism and the part it plays in French dramatic art. Classicism in the French Theatre. Character of Classical Art.- The classical mind, defined by Malherbe and confirmed by Boileau, possesses a certain number of essential traits which have a direct bearing on dramatic art, and more especially in regard to tragedy. Classical literature emulates the ancient authors. But this does not mean a mere servile copying of the works. Masters are looked for rather than models; these ancient works furnish themes which can be developed and subjects which are capable of expansion. For example, the Roman historians, Tite-Live and Tacite, the epical poets, Homer and Virgil, the great tragedy writers Sophocles, Euripides and even Sénèque, afforded inspiration to Corneille and Racine in most of their tragedies. Classical literature is governed by reason. In this it admirably suits French genius with its lucid and enlightened mind. This faculty of reasoning power restrains and disciplines the imagination and sensibility without in any way suppressing them. Classical literature follows nature. Therefore it avoids allegorical subjects, abstract ideas and symbols so inherent to the theatre of the Middle Age, and which we shall find in the works of the romantic writers. Classical literature portrays individuals and humanity in the supreme moments of passion or self-assertiveness. It is psychological, devoted to the analysis of the intellectual and moral faculties, to the observation and development of the decisions they provoke. It is not descriptive and does not concern itself, to any great extent, with local color; neither physical nature nor the customs of society interest it. It only recognizes concrete man, resolute and active. It is not pathetic and does not endeavor to excite emotion without appealing to intelligence. As classical literature obeys the laws of reason and nature it therefore follows that it respects the rule of the three-unities: (1) Unity of Place. It is not in the nature of things that a drama which is limited as to time should lead the actors and spectators to the four corners of the world. (2) Unity of Time.- It is unnatural that a violent crisis occasioning a tension of the entire being should last years, months or even days; it must be confined to a few hours. (3) Unity of Action-Above all it is absolutely unnatural for the interest to be scattered over a multiplicity of disconnected episodes; it must be concentrated on a single action. In this connection we cannot do better than quote Boileau's famous precept: "Qu'en un lieu, qu'en un jour un seul fait accompli, It will be seen that it is the exact opposite of the diversified and confused art of the Middle Age, which, in its interminable plays, paid no attention to time, place or action. Finally, classical literature required a distinction to be made in the different styles: tragedy, a noble style, and comedy, a popular style, thus forming two distinct spheres separated by an impassable barrier. This is yet another difference distinguishing it both from the art of the Middle Age and that of the Romantic period. It now remains to be seen how, on such lines France was able to produce in the 17th century such perfect, if not the most vigorous, works in dramatic art of modern times. The Classical Tragedy.-The date 1636 is unique in the annals of the French theatre. The appearance of 'Le Cid' by Corneille marks the birth of a new dramatic art. This young poet, born at Rouen in 1606, had already made himself known by a few pleasant comedies which will be referred to later, and by a tragedy, 'Medée,' gloomy and confused but which, nevertheless, was not devoid of beauty. Nothing however, in his first works could lead anyone to suppose that this was the author whose genius would be revealed later in Le Cid.' The piece had a phenomenal success. Paris pour Chimène a les yeux de Rodrigue ("All Paris sees Chimène with the eyes of Rodrigue"), wrote Boileau. For the first time we now leave melodrama with its sensational features and improbable situations. Here we have no need to rely on outward show, the plot itself being of sufficient interest. Characters are now seen acting in harmony with their feelings the events represented are of their own volition, and even when such characters are the object of these events the will of the "Tout |