LE °ENDRE DE MONSIEUR POI RLER, le shindr' de ine'syer pwa'ryer ('Mr. Poirier's is regarded as a model of the modern French comedy , of manners and by some as 'supreme in this class since • 'The Marriage of Figaro.' Jules Sandeau (1811-82) furnished the general scheme for it; Ilmite .Angier as is • clear from comparison with his other dramas,— it was the 12th of 28— gave to its social. satire the distinctive-touch of genius. It appeared in 1854, two, yearsafar the French had made Napole9n 1 I emperor by popular election. The play s Su ject is the conflict in ideals and ethics between the new plutocracy, half-deceived by its own demo cratic catch-words, and the old aristocracy, proud of its aloofness from the spirit of the times. The immediate, mark of satire is the new aristocracy of wealth,, which had first gained social recognition in' the reign of the wined king,) Louis Philippe (1830-48). The millionaire Poirier, ,a retired cloth mer chant, is an aspirant to the peerage. 'To aid his political and social ambitions he has mar ried his daughter Antoinette to Gaston, a noble, whose debts he has paid and whose idleness he would like to reform. The finer aristocratic
qualities are represented in Gaston's friend, Hector, the sturdy virtues of the capitalist class in Verdelet. There is no hero in the play and no villain. Each of the five characters has a winning side. The play develops into a contest in magnanimity, each acting after his kind. Antoinette wins Gaston to active life and to her love. Hector and Verdelet find ground for mutual respect and esteem. The' weakness of Poirier's confidence in the power of money to work a change of heart or mind is ex hibited with lambent irony, yet he never for feits a sympathetic interest. Each actor in th'e domestic drama has gained by contact with ever); other, has helped and grown in the help ing. That is the social moral. The plot is developed with and dramatic skill, but the great distinction the comedy Is in its unfolding of character. There are four editions of this drama with, English introduc tiona and notes, and a translation 'by B. H. Clark in (FOur Plays by E. Angier) (New York 1915).
littgAmitt W. WELLS.