and Don Cesar, the great Seigneur, who, ruined, associates with the ruffians of Madrid: " Un pauvre grelot vide oh manque ce qui tonne." (" A poor, empty rattle, lacking that which'sounde).
In reality they are not individuals but mere symbols. Ruy Bias represents the People; the Queen, the eternal Woman. InAlo,) Catherina is the woman of society is the woman whom society scorns, but both are types of the weaker sex, both stand for Womanhood.
In these large generalizations and empty syntheses reality is motionless and senseless. There are no really life-like characters, only puppets, magnificently presented it is true, but without a trace of psychology or the least sign of individual life.
What matter! Strictly speaking it is not real 'dramatic art but it is undoubtedly a dazzling stage picture. We are irresistibly carried away by the effusion and spirit of the poet. Of drama in the real meaning of the word we find practically nothing. The plots are childish and the situations often descend to the level of common vaudeville; for in stance, we have a king hiding in a cupboard, an emperor disguised as a beggar, a cabinet minister answering the door or performing other menial offices like any properly trained domestic servant. If we stopped to think we could not refrain from smiling, but we are not given time for reflection, overwhelmed as we are by Victor Hugo's hardy conceptions, bril liant metaphors and striking contrasts. The poet makes up in richness of language for the poor dramatic quality of his works with their weak psychology and scenic effects.
Alfred de Musset did not write with a view to his works being staged, the result being that dramatic art was enriched to a greater degree than might otherwise have been the case. Being free from theatrical considera tions, his imagination took wings and gently flying from flower to flower, so to speak, he composed rare and beautiful bouquets. In his (Comedies et Proverbes) we see Musset at all stages and conditions of his life. We see his personality in Fortunio, that Cherubin of Beau marchais' creation, but more poetical, sacri ficing his life for a smile from his adored one; and we meet him again in Uncle Van Buck, whom 50 years of life has rendered wise and only gently chiding. But we find a more life like portrait of Musset in Perdican or Octave, Valentin or Fantasio, the gentle hero, voluptu ous yet sensitive,jesting yet sincere, sceptical yet passionate. lie frolicked with love,
laughed and mocked at love, but he was in turn tricked and fooled by love. He sought to trifle too much with love but uon ne badine pas avec l'amour.)) In this we have an explanation of his works, which, while light, were at the same time pro found, those arnarivaudagee) (works of a highly affected style) but infinitely more sad and more dramatic, nearly always ending in melancholy and suffering, sometimes even in death. He roamed in a world of dreams, hi almost unreal surroundings, calling to mind the fairy scenes of Shakespeare. His imagination, left to itself, wandered at random. It was pure lyrlcism without the slightest philosophical or other pretension. These proses of Musset have furnished the French theatre with its purest poetical productions, Classical Reaction.—The Romantic theatre was doomed to disappear. Its success had been brilliant but ephemeral, It should not be for.
gotten that dramatic art lives essentially on action, and romanticism which is the expression of mind in its most personal conception does not respond to this fundamental condition. The reaction was not long in taking place. 'Louis XI) (1832), and 'Les Enfants d'Edouard) (1833), the pseudo-classical works of Casimir Delavigne, were frantically applauded, less for their intrinsic worth, which was poor, than be cause they were against Victor Hugo's style. Ponsard, the author of 'Lilo-ice> (1843), and 'Charlotte Corday) (1850), was more eloquent, if not more dramatic, and his prosaicism was not quite so flat.
Toward the end of the 19th century, Henri de Bornier wrote, just after the war of 1870, 'La Fille de Roland' (1875), the plot of which was fairly well arranged,. evoking the national glory of France, and obtaining an immense suc cess. Francois Coppee, with 'Severo Torelli' and 'Pour la Couronne,' and Jean Richepin with 'Nana Sahib' and 'Par le Glaive> re vived the popular taste for drama in verse. Still more recently, Rostand with 'Cyrano de Bergerac,' 'L'Aiglon) and 'Chantecler> made an effort to renovate the style of romanticism. We all know the success he obtained with these pieces, especially the first which was applauded to the skies.