V. THE ROMANTIC PERIOD.
The 19th century, following on the political revolution, was also to be marked by'a revolu tion in French literary art. Romanticism was especially in open revolt against classicism. It clamored for liberty in art, rebelling against those rules to which it was bound by classicism and which did not give free scope for its gen ius. In future, the poet would compose his works without being impeded by hard. and fast rules. The principal lines this new art would follow would be: free scope in imagination, sensibility provoked to its highest pitch and hypertrophy of personality. It would be lyr ical rather than dramatical.
We accordingly find ourselves in the pres ence of an original conception which has no precedent in the past literature of France. It has produced masterpieces of incomparable vigor and brilliancy. But this victory of sen timent over reason, of liberty over control, had certain dangers and weaknesses which are felt in the theatre even more than elsewhere.
The Theory.— In order to understand the dramatic art of the epoch it is necessary to examine the theory under which it was in spired. In this way it is possible to make a comparison between what it was desired to do and what has been accomplished. A brilliant example of the conception of romantic drama will be found in Victor Hugo's Preface de Cromwell,' and a more simple, if perhaps more forcible, one in Vigny's 'Letters.' La Preface de Cromwell' was one of the earliest works of Victor Hugo, who in 1827 was only 25, which accounts for the boldness of his concep tons. According to his theory drama should aim at the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. On this basis it must conse quently include everything: comedy, tragedy, the grotesque and the sublime. This was, moreover, Shakespeare's dictum: uShakespeare, c'est le drame, le drame qui fond sous un merne souffle . . . le terrible et le bouffon, la tragedie et la comedic. La poesie complet est dans l'harmonie des deux contrairesu ((Shakes peare is the drama, the drama that sinks even below a whisper . . . the terrible and the clown, tragedy and comedy. Perfect poetry lies in the harmony of the two contrarieties”.
Therefore, according to this formula drama comprises everything. It does not choose. Se lection was the greatest mistake made by the classical authors; to choose is to mutilate a reality which is whole and indivisible. In Vic tor Hugo's works, Hernani, the vagabond, rubs shoulders with Charles Quint the Emperor; Didier, the foundling, jostles King Louis XIII.
Drama is spread over time and place. Unity of place disappears — from the Louvre of Francois Premier we are transported to a pros titute's den, from Valladolid in Spain to Aix la-Chapelle in Germany. Unity of time like wise disappears — days, months, sometimes years, elapse between the opening scenes of the piece and its denouement. The action is no longer confined to the four walls of a room and the 24 hours of a day.
Unity of action, however, is respected, to which is added unity of impression. Interest must be sustained and the play proceed along its appointed lines. Terror and pity must be kept up to the end, and we no longer have, as in the fifth act of melodrama, a happy ending belying at the last minute the normal and tragic action of the piece. Romantic drama must wind up in misfortune and therefore be true to life.
When compared with melodrama it presents still another essential difference: the style is maintained and verse is employed in preference to prose. These verses contain the classical 12 syllables of Alexandria, but they tend to im prove in versatility and color. Lines are cut up to suit a new cadence of verses, the pause displaced and encroachments on the next verse to complete the phrase are risked. We all re member the great outcry which saluted the first verse of —a daring innovation of the poet: " . On vient per l'escalier derob6." . . . Coming along the stairs—undressed.") Finally, no hesitation is made in using the right word, the familiar or trivial one if neces sary: Instead of the noble style we have: " Un vers libre. franc, loyal, osant tout dire sanspuderie. tout exposer sans recherche." ("A free verse, frank and loyal, daring to tell everything, without prudery, expose everything without inquiry").