Chapter III: Introduction (2)

As can be seen by a _Compliment_ in prose and verse, addressed to Mlle. Silvia the same year that the first _Surprise de l'Amour_ appeared. Marivaux joined also in the well-nigh universal chorus of praise which rose on all sides in celebration of the graceful actress. If the author contributed much to the perfection of her talent, she, too, lent no small part to the popularity which many of Marivaux's plays attained.

In the year of the presentation of the first _Surprise de l'Amour_, and the more speedily and surely to relieve his financial embarrassment, Marivaux turned his mind to journalism, and began the publication of what he termed _le Spectateur francais_, modelled after Addison's _Spectator_. He adopted a literary fiction to introduce his observations and moral reflections similar to that which gave life to Sir Roger de Coverly, but the whole was carried out with less simplicity, logical development, and power in the creation of types, though, perhaps, with greater subtlety. Strange to say, the _Spectateur_ has never been as much appreciated in France as in England, where Marivaux has been compared not unfavorably with La Bruyere.[74]

Germany was a scarcely less enthusiastic admirer, and even so severe a critic of French literature, as was Lessing, could find words of commendation for Marivaux; but the latter was less prodigal in his admiration of the works of foreign literatures. "and preferred unhesitatingly our writers to those of any nation, ancient or modern," says d'Alembert.[75]

The journal is composed of a series of _feuilles_ or leaflets, more or less closely connected, familiar and conversational in character. Most of the sketches are characterized by that intuitive and feminine delicacy of perception and that subtlety sometimes lacking in Addison, and, while perhaps too often they appear over quintessenced or subtilized, at times they attain an eloquent and virile tone. Aside from their literary value, they are of great interest in the study of the author's character.

The humanity of the man and his sensitiveness to the wrongs of others are manifest in the description of a young girl forced to beg for a mother, sick and in want, or to accept dishonor with the assistance of a rich man, whose aid is offered at so dear a price. The concluding words of this sketch contain a confession of his own weakness, but with an eloquent and vigorous attack upon those who basely sacrifice the happiness of others for the gratification of their own pleasures. "Homme riche, vous qui voulez triompher de sa vertu par sa misere, de grace, pretez-moi votre attention. Ce n'est point une exhortation pieuse, ce ne sont point des sentiments devots que vous allez entendre; non, je vais seulement tacher de vous tenir les discours d'un galant homme, sujet a ses sens aussi bien que vous; faible, et, si vous voulez, vicieux; mais chez qui les vices et les faiblesses ne sont point feroces, et ne subsistent qu'avec l'aveu d'une humanite genereuse. Oui, vicieux encore une fois, mais en honnete homme, dont le coeur est heureusement force, quand il le faut, de menager les interets d'autrui dans les siens, et ne peut vouloir d'un plaisir qui ferait la douleur d'un autre."[76]

Perhaps in no other writing has he attained the eloquence, sustained throughout the description, that characterizes the letter[77] from a father self-impoverished for his son's advancement and then abandoned by that same son.

One is not accustomed to think of Marivaux as a moralist, yet this frilled and powdered representative of the _beau monde_, this courtly gentleman, this graceful writer, was one of the powers for good of his time. Throughout his plays and novels, and particularly in his journals, may be seen this nobler side of the man's nature. He was a practical moralist, with little love for abstract theories, and a morality far from asceticism, but, with profound unselfishness and pity for his fellow-man, he strove to right the wrongs and correct the abuses of a cruelly indifferent and light-hearted society. He once said of himself: "Je serais peu flatte d'entendre dire que je suis un bel esprit; mais si on m'apprenait que mes ecrits eussent corrige quelques vices, ou seulement quelque vicieux, je serais vraiment sensible a cet eloge."[78] However, he was tolerant, as one who knows the weaknesses that flesh is heir to, and, whether his attack was aimed at the petty foibles or graver weaknesses of the individual, coquetry, ambition, avarice, hypocrisy, vanity, and the like, or at certain social evils, the reprimand was always given with a tone of moderation.

Throughout his writings Marivaux showed himself heartily opposed to the loose ideas then prevalent upon the marriage relation, and, as though to emphasize his convictions in this matter, his comedies all end with "the triumph of love in marriage." In certain ones, as for example _le Petit Maitre corrige_ (acte I, scene XII) and _l'Heritier de Village_ (scene II), this social evil is more directly attacked, as it is also in several portions of the _Spectateur francais_, and particularly in the sixteenth _feuille_.

He was likewise an opponent of the strained relations that existed in most families between parents and children. Instead of the deplorable custom of making of each household a miniature court, in which the parents reigned over timid but unwilling subjects, he advocated intimate and loving relations. "Voulez-vous faire d'honnetes gens de vos enfants? Ne soyez que leur pere, et non pas leur juge et leur tyran. Et qu'est-ce que c'est qu'etre leur pere? c'est leur persuader que vous les aimez. Cette persuasion-la commence par vous gagner leur coeur. Nous aimons toujours ceux dont nous sommes surs d'etre aimes."[79]

Was it not Mme. de Lambert, from whom Marivaux gained many of his ideas, who had said: "Les enfants aiment a etre traites en personnes raisonnables. Il faut entretenir en eux cette espece de fierte, et s'en servir comme d'un moyen pour les conduire ou l'on veut"? Where is there a more charming character than that of _la Mere confidente_, willing to sacrifice the dreaded name of mother in order to become her daughter's friend and confidante, or than the indulgent father of _le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard_? Such examples indicate the kindly philosophy that permeates his writings.

Marivaux has been said to have held revolutionary ideas, and, in some degree, to have forecast the terrible rending of society of 1789. While the unqualified statement may give rise to a false conception, and tend to exaggerate the part that he played in the progress of social emancipation, it is not difficult to discover in him the sentiments, if not of a revolutionist,[80] at least of a reformer. The prejudice of birth is attacked in the comedies _les Fausses Confidences_, _le Prejuge vaincu_, _la Double Inconstance_ (acte III, scene IV), and in many a passage in other plays, _le Denoument imprevu_, _l'Heritier de Village_, etc., as well as in his novels and other writings, while the comedy _l'Ile des Esclaves_ is a social satire on the abuses of the day. The increasing importance and the social elevation of servants in his drama is but another tendency along the same line.

One of the most obvious faults of the _Spectateur francais_ was the irregular and disconnected manner of its publication. Perhaps through natural indolence, but more likely through over conscientiousness and too high an ideal of artistic perfection, which caused him to magnify his own shortcomings and to soon tire of the subject in hand, he was inclined to abandon his work unfinished and to turn to newer interests. This tendency may be seen in the _Spectateur_, which, after sundry interruptions, finally reaches the twenty-fifth leaflet, after which it suddenly, and without warning, comes to an end.

Another journal in the same vein, _l'Indigent Philosophe_, undertaken in 1728, fared even worse, for it was carried only through the seventh leaflet, when it too succumbed, to be revived, however, in 1734, under the title of _le Cabinet du Philosophe_. The same fate awaited the latter, and Marivaux's enthusiasm forsook him at the end of the eleventh leaflet, Fleury[81] characterizes this as the best of his three periodical publications. but I am of the opinion of Lavollee,[82] who does not consider it comparable "either in interest or variety" with the _Spectateur_.

It is not alone in this style of literature that our author wearies of his theme and drops his pen, for neither of his novels _Marianne_ nor _le Paysan parvenu_ was completed. The former was begun in 1731, and the publication of its eleven parts was not completed until 1741, ten years later; but the periodical publication of novels was common at that epoch,[83] and the _chef-d'oeuvre_ of Le Sage, contemporary with it (1715- 1735), was double that time in appearing.

It has long been thought that the twelfth part, which concludes the story of _Marianne_, was by Mme. Riccoboni; but Fleury[84] has proved quite satisfactorily that the _Conclusion_, which appeared in 1745, in an Amsterdam edition of _Marianne_, was written by one of those who, as d'Alembert says, "se sont charges, sans qu'on les en priat, de finir les romans de M. de Marivaux, et (qui) ont eu dans cette entreprise un succes digne de leurs talents:" while a simple _Continuation_, written, in fact, by Mme. Riccoboni, and so cleverly, too, as to almost deceive the critics of the eighteenth century, did not appear until 1751.[85]

Marianne is a young girl, beautiful and of high birth, who, when but a small child, has the misfortune to lose her parents in an attack by robbers on the road to Bordeaux. Sheltered by a priest and his sister, she reaches the age of fifteen, without, however, having discovered who her parents were. Deprived by death of her guardians, she finds herself at this early age alone and unprotected in the streets of Paris. She seeks the counsel of a kindly priest, who refers her to a rich and apparently respectable man, but in reality the personification of hypocrisy. Of his character study of M. de Climal, Marivaux was justly proud. Few, if any, however, will justify him in rating it superior to Moliere's Tartuffe.[86] Throughout her trials and temptations Marianne preserves her innocence and her hand for M. de Valville, a handsome and wealthy young aristocrat, who is really enamoured of Marianne, despite certain infidelities of which he is guilty, and which Marianne pardons with the same forbearing charity and kindly philosophy that characterize our author himself.[87]

The story of _Marianne_ is interesting, though never of so absorbing an interest as to hold the reader's attention more closely than was held that of the writer himself. It is a book to be read by piecemeal, and it may be laid down at any time. Indeed, one is not surprised, nor much distressed, when the author fails to grasp again his fallen pen after the eleventh part. I would not in any way detract from the literary value of a work which, as even critical La Harpe declares, "assures him one of the first places among French novelists;"[88] but the interest inspired by _Marianne_ is of much the same sort as that inspired by the _Spectateur_. The thread of the story serves merely to join the analyses of character, moral reflections, and digressions of various kinds which abound. The style is conversational, very similar to that of his journals.

Taken as a whole it may be considered as a psychological study of a young girl's heart, as viewed by herself in maturer years. I am half inclined to say the heart of a coquette, for Marianne has much of the coquette in her nature, but she has, too, the nobler qualities of heart and mind. She is an epitome, in short, of the feminine side of Marivaux.

One of the chief faults of the author's style is apparent in _Marianne_ to a degree unparalleled by most of his other writings, and that is the fault of over-elaborate description or definition. His subtle mind could perceive so many delicate shades of character, which the less cultivated eye could not detect, that, by elaborating thereupon and endeavoring to disclose to others what he saw, he seemed to overdefine, or even to repeat himself, and sometimes became monotonous. His was the delicate ear of the musical prodigy, capable of grasping half-tones quite beyond the range of the normal ear, and his attempt to cause them to be heard and appreciated by his coarser fellows brought him only criticism and abuse. He realized at times his own powerlessness to convey in words all that he felt, and once said: "On ne saurait rendre en entier ce que sont les personnes; du moins cela ne me serait pas possible; je connais bien mieux celles avec qui je vis, que je ne les definirais; il y a des choses en elles que je ne saisis point assez pour les dire, et que je n'apercois que pour moi, et non pas pour les autres: ou, si je les disais je les dirais mal: ce sont des objets de sentiment si compliques, et d'une nettete si delicate, qu'ils se brouillent des que ma reflexion s'en mele; je ne sais plus par ou les prendre pour les exprimer; de sorte qu'ils sont en moi et non pas a moi. N'etes-vous pas de meme? Il me semble que mon ame, en mille occasions, en sait plus qu'elle n'en peut dire, et qu'elle a un esprit a part, qui est bien superieur a celui que j'ai d'ordinaire. Je crois aussi que les hommes sont bien au-dessus de tous les livres qu'ils font."[89]

It was with great difficulty that Marivaux could prevail upon himself to draw a description or a reflection to an end, feeling, as he did, that there was always something left unsaid. His struggle with himself and his apology to the reader are sometimes quite amusing in their naivete. "Me voila au bout de ma reflexion," he says: "j'aurais pourtant grande envie d'y ajouter quelques mots pour la rendre complete: le voulez-vous bien? Oui, je vous en prie. Heureusement que mon defaut la-dessus n'a rien de nouveau pour vous. Je suis insupportable avec mes reflexions, vous le savez bien."[90]

The success that greeted _Marianne_ was calculated to make his rivals in the field of fiction jealous. Perhaps no one felt more keenly than did Crebillon _fils_ the growing popularity of a novel the purity of which but enhanced the obscenity of his own writings. To this feeling may be attributed his attack upon Marivaux's style in a very free and tiresome story, entitled _Tanzai et Neadarne, ou l'Ecumoire_, in which his rival's muse is represented as a mole. The mole relates her life, in a most diffuse and wearisome manner, constantly interrupting the story with reflections and digressions. The imitation was so clever that it deceived even Marivaux himself into thinking that a justification of his style was intended. Doubtless the offense that he felt was the greater, owing to this additional wound to his _amour-propre_. At any rate, for the first time he dignified a criticism by a reply in print. Even here he did not go so far as to mention any name, but the allusion to Crebillon _fils_ was evident. "Il est vrai, monsieur, que nous sommes naturellement libertins, ou, pour mieux dire, corrompus; mais en fait d'ouvrages d'esprit, il ne faut pas prendre cela a la lettre ni nous traiter d'emblee sur ce pied-la. Un lecteur veut etre menage. Vous, auteur, voulez-vous mettre sa corruption dans vos interets? Allez-y doucement du moins, apprivoisez-la, mais ne la poussez pas a bout.

Ce lecteur aime pourtant les licences, mais non pas les licences extremes, excessives; celles-la ne sont supportables que dans la realite qui en adoucit l'effronterie; elles ne sont a leur place que la, et nous les y passons, parceque nous y sommes plus hommes qu'ailleurs; mais non pas dans un livre, ou elles deviennent plates, sales et rebutantes, a cause du peu de convenance qu'elles ont avec l'etat tranquille d'un lecteur."[91]

The morality set forth in this passage is not stringent. Attention has already been called to the leniency of Marivaux with regard to weaknesses of a certain type, and to his confession of his own shortcomings. When we consider the extreme immorality of French society in the eighteenth century, to which taste Crebillon _fils_ truckled, as did most of the dramatists and novelists to a certain degree, to which even Montesquieu in the _Lettres persanes_ paid his tribute, we can esteem at its full value the "chaste pen" of Marivaux, in whose theatre the dignity and sacredness of marriage is never once abused, the moral tone of whose journals and of _Marianne_ is uplifting, and even in whose _Paysan parvenu_ the tone stops short of license, and illegitimate love is left unsatisfied.[92]

Mention has been made of the feminine side of Marivaux's writings, but the _Paysan parvenu_, published in 1735, some six years before the last publication of _Marianne_ is of an entirely different type. Its principal character is not here a woman, but a young man, Jacob by name, a peasant boy, who, finding provincial life distasteful to him, comes to Paris, and, by the aid of his good looks, loose morals, self-assurance, adaptability, ambition, and a peculiar power over women, succeeds in gaining for himself an enviable position in the upper circles of the _bourgeoisie_, as well as the hand and fortune of a rich and pious old maid, Mlle. Habert, whom his youth and charms entice. Quite another _Bel Ami_, as Jules Lemaitre[93] remarks; but the dissimilarity is no less striking than the resemblance. While the hero of Marivaux yields easily to temptation, we feel that it is due to youth, a lack of moral training and a desire to please, along with a shrewd ambition, to be sure, and after each step upward in the social scale a moral development takes place, rendered possible by a natural sentiment of honor, which was with him from the first, so that though the story has been left unfinished by Marivaux after the fifth part, we are led to expect at least a complete emancipation from the sins of the flesh, if not a high ethical status. The hero of Maupassant, on the other hand, is basely sensual and cruelly self-interested from the first, and totally lacking in those heart-qualities which, in spite of his vices, gain our sympathies for Jacob.

The style of the _Paysan parvenu_ is simpler, less diffuse, bolder, and more virile, than that of _Marianne_; but its characters are uniformly less noble, and, if its general intent is not immoral, at least many of the scenes verge upon the _risque_. What is the cause of this digression from a style of writing so much more natural to Marivaux? Fleury attributes the reason to his pique with Crebillon _fils_ and his desire to prove to him "that in a work that borders upon license, brutal license is not enough; that it must be presented in a delicate form, and seasoned with wit and observation."[94] Certain it is that _les Egarements de l'esprit et du coeur_, published the following year (in 1736), shows the least immorality, as well as the most talent, of any of the works of this author.

The scene of _Marianne_ is laid in aristocratic circles, while that of the _Paysan_ presents to us the _bourgeoisie_ and the world of finance. Though there are many differences between these two novels, there are likewise many points of similarity. We have to do with the same cunning observer, and with one who did not consider the common people beneath his notice. Marivaux has in his style of description many traits of the realist, as we understand the term to-day. Witness the quarrel of the linen dealer and the cabman in _Marianne_, of which Grimm writes as follows: "On est excede, par exemple, de cette querelle de la lingere et du fiacre, dans la _Marianne_ de M. de Marivaux: rien n'est mieux rendu d'apres nature, et d'un gout plus detestable que le tableau que je cite."[95]

Another trait common to _Marianne_ and _le Paysan parvenu_, and indeed in a degree to all of his writings, is his detestation of false piety and his attack upon hypocrisy in all its forms, whether in the person of M. de Climal, M. Doucin or Mlle. Habert ainee; but, while false devotion was constantly the object of his most bitter hatred, his attitude toward true religion was noteworthy, especially for the time in which he lived. "A Dieu ne plaise qu'on me soupconne d'avoir, un seul instant de ma vie, doute de ce que nous dit cette religion,"[96] he exclaims through the lips of one of his characters.

His whole nature, his kindliness, his compassion for human suffering, his hope for the ultimate welfare of all, inclined him to a kindly dogmatism, which included even those unbelievers "qui ont beau faire, pour s'etourdir sur l'autre monde, et qui finiront par etre sauves malgre eux."[97] "La religion, disait-il, est la ressource du malheureux, quelquefois meme celle du philosophe; n'enlevons pas a la pauvre espece humaine cette consolation, que la Providence divine lui a menagee."[98] He had a distinct dislike for philosophical arguments in refutation of things spiritual, and one day on being asked as to what he considered the nature of the soul, he replied, "Je sais qu'elle est spirituelle et immortelle, et je n'en sais rien de plus "; and when it was suggested to refer the discussion to Fontenelle, with his characteristic readiness of speech retorted, "Il a trop d'esprit pour en savoir la-dessus plus que moi."[99]

If Marivaux was preeminently admired in England for his _Spectateur_, he was scarcely less so for his novels; there is no doubt that _Marianne_ inspired Richardson's _Pamela_ and _Clarissa Harlowe_, and that _le Paysan parvenu_ had its influence upon Fielding's _Joseph Andrews_ and _Tom Jones_.[100]

Opinions differ greatly as to the comparative merits of Marivaux the novelist and Marivaux the dramatist. His contemporaries[101] considered him superior in the former capacity. Larroumet classes him in the "small number of those who have shown themselves equally fitted for the drama and the novel,"[102] while Sainte-Beuve [103] declares for the superiority of his drama. Certainly, one does not weary of his delightful comedies, never long enough to tire, even were they less fascinating than they are, for they never exceed three acts, except in the case of the _Serments indiscrets_, which is in five. His creative genius is seen, as nowhere else, in these brief comedies.

After the _haute comedie_ of Moliere, with its presentation of types of character rather than of individuals, and with its general lessons to mankind, it would have been impossible for Marivaux to have gained glory in the same field. His fondness for originality forbade him from following the traces of his predecessors. He preferred, he said, "etre humblement assis sur le dernier banc dans la petite troupe des auteurs originaux, qu'orgueilleusement place a la premiere ligne dans le nombreux betail des singes litteraires."[104] So, in the midst of the society in which he moved, a society of idlers, rich, elegant, refined, men in periwigs, in rich brocades and laces, women too, bewitching with their powdered hair, their delicate complexions enhanced by rouge and patches coquettishly arranged, their caught-up skirts and low-cut bodices, Marivaux, with his keen eyes open to the love intrigues so artfully conducted, with his mind awake to all the witty sayings rife on everybody's tongue, and with his kindly, charitable heart, found inspiration for those dainty creations, so picturesque, so subtle, and so fascinating that they have never ceased to charm, perhaps less truly creations than sketches of the society about him, although no other writer has been able to handle his elusive pen in the portrayal of similar scenes.

In what does the originality of the comedies of Marivaux consist? In general, one may say, in his treatment of love, their prevailing theme. "Chez mes confreres," says Marivaux, "l'amour est en querelle avec ce qui l'environne, et finit par etre heureux, malgre les opposants; chez moi, il n'est en querelle qu'avec lui seul, et finit par etre heureux malgre lui. Il apprendra dans mes pieces a se defier encore plus des tours qu'il se joue, que des pieges qui lui sont tendus par des mains etrangeres." It is true that throughout his plays the lovers rarely encounter any hindrance from without. There is very little action or intrigue. The dialogue, witty, brilliant, and ingenious, is all-important, and the denouement often depends upon a misunderstanding, so easy to explain that one sometimes wonders at the wilfulness of the characters in failing to set the matter right until the end.[105] As in all of his plays, marriage follows closely upon the solution of the difficulty; it has been said that his lovers "s'aiment le plus tard qu'ils peuvent, et se marient le plus tot qu'il est possible." [106] With the respect which we have seen in Marivaux for the marriage relation, we are not surprised to note in his characters such fear of _poorly assorted unions_, that it is only with much questioning into their own and each other's hearts, and with manifold misgivings, that they are brought at last to say the final word.

Marivaux is the first of the French writers of comedy to treat love seriously,[107] but, though he freed the theme from the malice or flippancy with which it had been treated by his predecessors, he was nevertheless a stranger to that intense and passionate love that we have come to associate with the romantic drama. Some have gone so far as to say that it is not _amour_ at all that he portrays, but only _amour-propre_. It is a gentle, courtly love, respectful, almost reverential, though not confiding. "Marivaux pense et dit de l'amour ce qu'en pensait, ce qu'en disait l'auteur de la premiere partie de ce _Roman de la Rose_,

Ou l'art d'Amour est toute enclose.

Par sa fine sentimentalite, par sa casuistique amoureuse, par son gout pour l'allegorie, Marivaux aurait fraternise, au XIIIe siecle, avec le suave Guillaume de Lorris."[108] His drama is eminently psychological. "J'ai guette dans le coeur humain," says Marivaux "toutes les niches differentes ou peut se cacher l'amour lorsqu'il craint de se montrer, et chacune de mes comedies a pour objet de le faire sortir d'une de ces niches."[109]

The absence of the broad comic of Moliere, Regnard, or Beaumarchais is conspicuous. The comedies of Marivaux rarely provoke more than a smile, and never bursts of merriment. The pathetic is no less lacking, and yet the interest never flags. Where, then, is their charm? It lies in the brilliant dialogue and in the interest Marivaux has been able to awaken in the psychological development of love in the hearts of the chief characters. With so much similarity, it is yet wonderful to note the variety that the author has been able to introduce into his comedies, which some critics and envious ones of his time have dubbed, one and all, as so many _Surprises de l'amour_, D'Alembert, who was often so just, and at times so unjust, towards Marivaux, blames him for having made but one comedy in twenty different fashions,[110] but is fair enough to quote the author's own defence of the accusation, "Dans mes pieces, c'est tantot un amour ignore des deux amants, tantot un amour qu'ils sentent et qu'ils veulent se cacher l'un a l'autre, tantot un amour timide, qui n'ose se declarer; tantot enfin un amour incertain et comme indecis, un amour a demi-ne, pour ainsi dire, dont ils se doutent sans etre bien surs, et qu'ils epient au-dedans d'eux-memes avant de lui laisser prendre l'essor. Ou est en cela toute cette ressemblance qu'on ne cesse de m'objecter?"[111]

The years have passed, and critics have fully justified this plea. The most convincing argument is undoubtedly the examination of the plays themselves. Leaving out of account _le Pere prudent_ and _Annibal_, the following more or less arbitrary classification may serve to show the predominating note in each comedy:--

I. Surprises de l'Amour.--The two _Surprises de l'Amour_ (1722 and 1727), _la Double Inconstance_ (1723), _le Denouement imprevu_ (1724), _le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard_ (1730), _les Serments indiscrets_ (1732), _l'Heureux Stratageme_ (1733), _la Meprise_ (1734), _le Legs_ (1736), _les Fausses Confidences_ (1737), _la Joie imprevue_ (1738).

II. Comedies de caractere.--_La Fausse Suivante_ (1724), _le Petit-maitre corrige_(1734), _la Mere confidente_ (1735), _les Sinceres_ (1739), _l'Epreuve_ (1740).

III. Comedies de moeurs.--_L'Heritier de Village_ (1725), _l'Ecole des Meres_ (1732), _le Prejuge vaincu_ (1746).

IV. Comedies heroiques.--_Le Prince travesti_ (1724), _le Triomphe de l'Amour_ (1732), _la Dispute_ (1744).

V. Comedies philosophiques.--_L'Ile des Esclaves_ (1725), _l'Ile de la Raison_ (1727), _la Colonie_ (1729).

VI. Comedies mythologiques.--_Le Triomphe de Plutus_ (1728), _la Reunion des Amours_ (1731).

VII. Comedies feeries.--_Arlequin poli par l'Amour_ (1720), _Felicie_ (1757).

VIII. Fantaisie.--_Les Acteurs de bonne foi_ (1757).

Comedies which have been lost, wholly or in part, cannot be classified; but the following list may be of value for reference: --_L'Amour et la Verite_ (of which the prologue only has come down to us), _la Commere_, _l'Heureuse Surprise_ (possibly the same as _la Joie imprevue_), _l'Amante frivole_, _la Femme fidele_ (fragments of which play have been printed by Larroumet [pp. 313-319] and by Fleury [pp. 365-371]).

From this classification it will be seen that by no means all of Marivaux's comedies could be termed _Surprises de l'amour_, although some of his best come within that category. There is a whole series of plays, to which Larroumet[112] calls attention, in which Marivaux has left the real for the imaginary world. There are times when we are almost inclined to admit with Lemaitre "that fancy's wing, which bears so high and so far the poet of _A Midsummer Night's Dream_, has at least grazed the powdered brow of Marivaux." [113]

The poetic fantasies of the latter certainly recall the fanciful creations of the great English poet.

In the limited space of this Introduction it will be impossible to analyze the plots of any, save only the most important.[114] The following comedies are about the only ones presented regularly at the Comedie- Francaise: _le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard_, _le Legs_, _les Fausses Confidences_, and _l'Epreuve_; but this brief list by no means embraces all of his exquisite sketches of eighteenth century society. Add to these _la Mere confidente_, for which both Larroumet[115] and Sarcey[116] plead, or, at the suggestion of Lemaitre,[117] _la Surprise de l'Amour_, _les Sinceres_, _la Double Inconstance_, and _les Serments indiscrets_, and we shall still have left a whole series of treasures unexplored, especially in the realm of the fanciful. As we have already examined one of the most delightful pieces of the latter class, _Arlequin poli par l'Amour_, a hasty survey of his best known plays will have to suffice. It might be well to add here that Marivaux's favourite plays were the following: _la Double Inconstance_, the two _Surprises de l'Amour_, _la Mere confidente_, _les Serments indiscrets_, _les Sinceres_ and _l'Ile des Esclaves_.[118]

_Le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard_, a comedy in three acts, presented on January 23, 1730, at the Theatre-Italien, is generally considered as the masterpiece of Marivaux, although he did not include it in the number of his favourites. It is certainly his best-known play. Its success was great and immediate, according to the _Mercure_ of January, 1730. The plot is as follows: With the characteristic caution of the heroines of Marivaux, ever on their guard against an ill-assorted marriage, and with the sad experiences of certain friends of hers in mind to make her still more cautious, Silvia determines not to accept Dorante, the suitor chosen for her, until she has had an opportunity to study him in secret. She therefore modifies her dress to suit the role of her maid Lisette, which she assumes; but Dorante, who is no more willing to be mismated than is Silvia, determines upon the same stratagem, and arrives in the livery of Harlequin, who in turn is to play the part of the master.

This artifice is not absolutely new to the French stage, and it is possible, as Fleury[119] thinks, that the idea of the double disguise may have been borrowed from a short play by Legrand, _le Galant Coureur_, The situation, most difficult to handle successfully, is treated with inimitable skill by Marivaux, especially that of the two lovers, whose disguise as servants is not enough to guarantee their hearts. The prejudice of birth, against which Marivaux contended so often, is overthrown, and the lovers are willing, if necessary, to yield all for love. Silvia is still struggling with her sense of duty, when she discovers Dorante's identity, but is unwilling to disclose herself and say the final word, until she is convinced that Dorante loves her for herself alone. The scenes between Harlequin and Lisette, their language, now exaggerated, now trivial, and their haste to fall in love, lend the comic to the play.

_Le Legs_, a comedy in one act, was produced at the Theatre-Francais, January 11, 1736. Its reception was rather cold the first night, but enthusiastic on subsequent performances. Lenient says of it: "_Le Legs_ est entre toutes ses oeuvres le specimen de la bluette reduite a sa plus simple expression, joignant la finesse et la tenuite de la trame a l'exiguite de la donnee. Tout cela tiendrait dans une coquille de noix, et finit par remplir un acte. Les personnages, aussi legers, aussi volatils que le sujet lui-meme, s'appellent le _Marquis_, la _Comtesse_, le _Chevalier_; ils representent, comme nous l'avons dit, des especes plus encore que des individus."[120]

A relative has left the _Marquis_ six hundred thousand francs on condition that he marry Hortense, and if not, that he pay over to her two hundred thousand. The _Marquis_, in love with the _Comtesse_, to whom, through excessive timidity,--and here we have the motive of the play,--he dares not declare his passion, although encouraged in every way, is in business matters of a decidedly less timid nature, and seeks to secure all of the property, and at the same time preserve his heart for the one he loves. Hortense, likewise in love with another, the _Chevalier_, whose fortune is not large, seeks naturally to come into her inheritance without sacrificing herself to an odious marriage. In order to deceive the other into renouncing his share of the property, each feigns willingness to enter into the marriage as stipulated in the will.

The servants, as is usually the case in Marivaux's comedies, play an important role, and seek to further their own selfish interests. Lepine, _un Gascon froid_, with a genius for intrigue, urges on the marriage of the _Marquis_ with the _Comtesse_, the more readily to secure for himself the hand of Lisette, who, in turn, opposes artfully the marriage of her mistress to further her own interests and to retain her freedom.

The play ends with the renunciation of the two hundred thousand francs on the part of the _Marquis_, who has at last become bold enough to declare himself, after manifold hints on the part of the _Comtesse_; and love triumphs. Thus with apparently little to work upon has been wrought out an entire comedy, interesting from beginning to end. Alfred de Musset has made over this comedy in his _l'Ane et le Ruisseau_, but has come far short of the original.

_Les Fausses Confidences_, a comedy in three acts, was brought out at the Comedie-Italienne, March 16, 1737. This piece has sometimes vied with _le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard_ for the title of Marivaux's _chef-d'oeuvre_. Without doubt, it is one of the most charming of the author's works. The _Mercure_ for March, 1737, informs us that the play "was received with favor by the public." Although it may be fittingly classed in the number of the _Surprises de l'amour_, it contains as well elements of the _Prejuge vaincu_, the prejudice overcome being that of wealth and position, which held a place, not only in the foolish vanity of Madame Argante, but even in the tender reserve of Araminte.

Dorante, a young man of honorable extraction, but poor, finds himself reduced to the position of steward or director in the house of Araminte, a rich young widow, to whose hand he is induced to aspire by Dubois, his former servant, now in her employ, who, by his profound knowledge of the feminine heart, aided by his master's comeliness, succeeds in overcoming the prejudice of social standing in the mind of Araminte, and triumphantly marries her to Dorante, in spite of Madame Argante's horror at the match and her enthusiastic support of the Count's suit.

The intrigue is all to the credit of Dubois, who not only has to fan the flame of love in the heart of Araminte, but also finds himself obliged to rally his master's failing courage, as when Dorante objects that she is too much above him, since he has neither rank nor wealth, and the valet replies: "Point de bien! votre bonne mine est un Perou. Tournez-vous un peu, que je vous considere encore; allons, monsieur, vous vous moquez; il n'y a point de plus grand seigneur que vous a Paris; voila une taille qui vaut toutes les dignites possibles, et notre affaire est infaillible absolument infaillible." His genius for intrigue is certainly admirable, and, were that a sufficient claim for glory, we would chime in with him in his final cry of victory, as the piece closes: "Ouf! ma gloire m'accable. Je meriterais bien d'appeler cette femme-la ma bru." The plot is complicated by the role of Mlle. Marton, companion to Araminte, who is led by M. Remy, Dorante's uncle, to consider herself the object of the young man's affection, and thus to second his ambition. She is easily consoled for her disappointment, however, and all ends to the honor of Dorante, who frankly confesses to Araminte his share in the intrigue, but assures her that a desire for her hand and property has culminated in a more noble passion, and we have again the _triumph of love_.

Marivaux, made use of the same theme in a later comedy, _le Prejuge vaincu_, but the prejudice attacked was that of birth, instead of wealth, as here, where both parties belong to the world of the _bourgeoisie_.[121]

_L'Epreuve_ has been called _le chant du cygne_ of Marivaux. It was the last play he gave to the Theatre-Italien, and was performed November 19, 1740. It is a little comedy in one act, and belongs to the small number of those that were enthusiastically received on their "first night." Marivaux admits this characteristic of his plays in the _Avertissement_ to _les Serments indiscrets_. "Presque aucune des miennes n'a bien pris d'abord; leur succes n'est venu que dans la suite, et je l'aime bien autant venu de cette maniere-la."

This time it is a question of a rich young man, Lucidor, who loses his heart to a poor girl, another Angelique, but, to test her love and to learn, if possible, whether her affection is for himself rather than for his wealth, he puts her to a cruel test. He informs her that he has in mind for her a wealthy party and an intimate friend of his. In her artlessness Angelique concludes from his description that he means himself. In her joy she confides the matter to Lisette.

LISETTE. He bien! Mademoiselle, etes-vous instruite? A qui vous marie-t-on?

ANGELIQUE. A lui, ma chere Lisette, a lui-meme, et je l'attends.

LISETTE. A lui, dites-vous? Et quel est donc cet homme qui s'appelle lui par excellence? Est-ce qu'il est ici?

A charming bit of dialogue, and but another proof of Marivaux's insight into a young girl's heart. What is her chagrin, therefore, when he presents his valet, Frontin, disguised as the rich Parisian! She refuses his offer, and in desperation is about to consent to marry the peasant farmer Blaise, who had long sighed for the five thousand _livres_ which are her marriage portion. This character is the amusing factor of the play, Lucidor urges him to win her hand, but offers, as a compensation, if he loses, twelve thousand _livres_. This, of course, is sufficient to turn the tide and to enlist the interest of Blaise to fail, if possible, in his forced suit of Angelique. The trial proves Angelique superior to money considerations, and love triumphs.

Why does the money question occupy so important a place in the works of Marivaux? Is it not, as some one has suggested, because in his own life he constantly felt the lack of it? Lesage's _Turcaret_ and Sedaine's _le Philosophe sans le savoir_ indicate, likewise, the new importance of wealth in the eighteenth century, which Marivaux could not have failed to notice or to incorporate in his works.

I cannot pass over in silence _la Mere confidente_, which, as Sainte-Beuve claims, is of an "ordre a part" among his comedies, and in which "il a touche des cordes plus franches, plus sensibles et d'une nature meilleure."[122] Like so many of his best plays, it was first presented at the Comedie-Italienne, May 9, 1735. This too was one of the plays, the reception of which was favorable. The lesson that it intended to teach, for it has a lesson, was one that we have already seen emphasized, by Marivaux, the rights of children, the duty of parents to respect them, and the advisability of gaining their love and confidence.

In Madame Argante of _la Mere confidente_ we have the counterpart of the arrogant mother of the same name of _les Fausses Confidences_, indifferent to her daughter's real welfare, but powerless to control her will. Madame Argante of _la Mere confidente_ believes in gentle government by love. Her daughter Angelique is a charming girl, anxious to do the right, but deeply in love with, a young man, Dorante, unknown to her mother, and without fortune. Madame Argante has already made her choice of an older man, Ergaste, for whose wealth and respectability she has a natural admiration, but, with her characteristic kindliness, determines not to force her choice upon her daughter. "Vous ne l'epouserez pas malgre vous, ma chere enfant," she says, meeting the objection of Angelique, and then, seeing that there is some secret trouble, she seeks in the most graceful, tactful way to learn the truth.

MADAME ARGANTE. ... Parle-moi a coeur ouvert; fais-moi ta confidente.

ANGELIQUE. Vous, la confidente de votre fille?

MADAME ARGANTE. Oh! votre fille, et qui te parle d'elle? Ce n'est point ta mere qui veut etre ta confidente; c'est ton amie, encore une fois.

ANGELIQUE, _riant_. D'accord; mais mon amie redira tout a ma mere; l'une est inseparable de l'autre.

MADAME ARGANTE. Eh bien! je les separe, moi; je t'en fais serment. Oui, mets-toi dans l'esprit que ce que tu me confieras sur ce pied-la, c'est comme si ta mere ne l'entendait pas....

Little by little the mother gains the daughter's confidence, until at last, emboldened, Angelique confesses:

Vous m'avez demande si on avait attaque mon coeur? Que trop, puisque j'aime!

MADAME ARGANTE, _d'un air serieux_. Vous aimez?...

ANGELIQUE, _riant_. Eh bien! ne voila-t-il pas cette mere qui est absente? C'est pourtant elle qui me repond; mais rassurez-vous, car je badine.[123]

Nothing could be more graceful or more natural. This, then, is that _marivaudage_, against which so much has been said!

Madame Argante has discovered the secret, and, fearful for her daughter's welfare, she allows the mother nature to assume the upper hand, and points out the danger of her course to Angelique, who, at last, comprehends, and agrees to renounce her lover. This she attempts to do, but love will have its way, and will not be put down. An elopement is arranged, which is interrupted by the arrival of Madame Argante, who takes Dorante to task for his indifference to the real happiness of Angelique. He is covered with confusion, confesses his mistake, and by his manly attitude gains the mother's heart and the daughter's hand. Ergaste, the rejected suitor, proves to be an uncle of Dorante, and in a spirit of self-abnegation, well nigh superhuman, devotes himself to celibacy and his fortune to the lovers. Lisette plays the role of the _intrigante_ and temptress of her mistress. The comic of the piece is in the hands of Lubin, a peasant in the service of the family, who is bribed by each party to spy upon the other.

Lack of space forbids more than a mere mention of the remaining plays, many of which are worthy of being compared favourably with those which have been outlined. We have seen enough to convince us that, although his drama may be classified in general as psychological and _feminin_ there is great diversity in the individual plays, and never monotony.

It has been said by certain of his contemporaries that in all the characters of his comedies he has but embodied himself, that they all have "the imprint of the style _precieux_, for which he has been reproached with so much reason in his novels and in his comedies,"[124] and that all,--"masters, valets, courtiers, peasants, lovers, mistresses, old men, and young men have the _esprit_ of Marivaux."[125] To this accusation he makes reply in these words, quoted by d'Alembert: "On croit voir partout le meme genre de style dans mes comedies, parce que le dialogue y est partout l'expression simple des mouvements du coeur: la verite de cette expression fait croire que je n'ai qu'un meme ton et qu'une meme langue; mais ce n'est pas moi que j'ai voulu copier, c'est la nature et c'est peut-etre parce que ce ton est naturel, qu'il a paru singulier."[126]

Both the accusation and the reply are somewhat justifiable. With all the diversity that may be found in his different characters, there is yet a similarity of sentiments and of expression, which is due, not to a desire of representing himself in his plays, but to looking for models to a society the very natural of which was artificial, and to looking always from one point of view. To the careful student of the human heart the infinite variety that Marivaux has known how to introduce into his characters, which are always clearly distinct from one another, even if by mere delicate shades of difference, is a greater cause for wonder than the general family resemblance that unites them all.[127]

The roles of women are the important ones in the works of this author. In this particular the comedies of Marivaux recall the tragedies of Racine. Brunetiere[128] goes so far as to claim that "the roles of women in Marivaux's drama are almost the only women's roles" in the whole repertory of French comedies. Of Moliere's drama he recognizes only three such roles as clearly individualized, those of Agnes, Elmire and Celimene. "The others, whatever their name--Marianne, Elise, Henriette --are about the same _ingenue_, or--Dorine, Nicole, Toinon-- about the same _soubrette_." Marivaux excels in his portrayal of the _ingenue_ and of the coquette, but perhaps no role is more sympathetically developed than that of the young widow, now tender and yielding like Araminte of the _Fausses Confidences_, now vivacious and positive, but no less kindly, like the countess of the _Legs_.

His soubrettes resemble closely their mistresses, to such a degree that by exchanging roles they may readily be mistaken for them, as we have seen in _le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard_. Unlike those of Moliere, they are always refined and graceful, and are none the less witty. Contrary to their more cautious mistresses, they all, or nearly all, believe in love, and seek to further the marriage of the former. Lisette of _le Legs_ is an exception. In short, all of the younger women of Marivaux are the perfection of grace, beauty, delicacy, wit or artlessness, and are simply irresistible.

It is only the mothers that merit our aversion. With few exceptions, notably Mme. Argante in _la Mere confidente_, he paints them "laides, vaines, imperieuses, avares, entichees de prejuges." "Il ne pare pas du moindre rayon de coquetterie leurs maussades et acariatres personnes. Il a de la peine a ne pas ceder, quand il s'agit d'elles, a la tentation de la caricature. On dirait qu'il se venge."[129] The roles of fathers, on the other hand, are treated with great affection. They are always kind and indulgent, and exercise their authority as little as possible. Their motto is that of the good Monsieur Orgon of _le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard_: "_Il faut etre un peu trop bon pour l'etre assez_."

His _amoureux_ are less varied and less attractive than his _amoureuses_, and, while no less refined and exquisite, are less sincere, more calculating and self-interested.

His valets, like his soubrettes, are more refined than those of Moliere, that is to say, are higher in the social scale, and are treated by their masters with more consideration. The changes, soon to be wrought in the old regime, are already germinating. While almost rivalling their masters in wit, they yet occupy a secondary place upon the stage, and rarely dwarf by their own cleverness, as do often those of Moliere, their master's roles.[130] "Three of these valets are real creations. Dubois of _les Fausses Confidences_, Trivelin, of _la Fausse Suivante_, Lepine of _le Legs_."[131] Trivelin is the ancestor of Beaumarchais' Figaro.[132]

Marivaux has introduced into a number of his plays peasants of the cunning, calculating, Norman type, who speak a Norman patois, which may be a souvenir of his own Norman origin.

Piron, who could not resist an occasional thrust at his rivals, was guilty of the following witticism: "Fontenelle a engendre Marivaux, Marivaux a engendre Moncrif, et Moncrif n'engendrera personne." The _boutade_ is amusing, but not just. Moncrif can hardly be considered an offspring of Marivaux, although he imitated certain of his coquettish graces,[133] any more, or perhaps even much less, than the latter, may be considered an offspring of Fontenelle. Larroumet[134] mentions as true successors to Marivaux, in the line of _proverbes_ and _comedies de societe_, Florian, in the eighteenth century, and in the nineteenth, Picard, Andrieux, Colin d'Harleville, Carmontelle, Theodore Leclercq, Alfred de Vigny and Alfred de Musset,[135] in the novel Paul Bourget and his school, and particularly Paul Hervieu, and in the journal, the masters of the modern _chronique_.

One feature common to all of the writings of our author, as to many of his contemporaries, is their lack of the sentiment of nature. There are no streams, no flowers, no birds throughout his works. The two slight exceptions, mentioned by Larroumet,[136] show so evident a lack of interest in the beauties of nature that they offer the strongest proof in support of the rule. Here they are, the first from the eighth and the second from the eleventh part of _Marianne_: "Pendant qu'on etait la- dessus, je feignis quelque curiosite de voir un cabinet de verdure qui etait au bout de la terrasse. Il me parait fort joli, dis-je a Valville, pour l'engager a m'y mener." [137] --"Il faisait un fort beau jour, et il y avait dans l'hotellerie un jardin qui me parut assez joli. Je fus curieuse de le voir, et j'y entrai. Je m'y promenai meme quelques instants."[138] This passage, from the sixth part of the same work, shows a somewhat greater appreciation: " Ah, ca! vous n'avez pas vu notre jardin; il est fort beau; madame nous a dit de vous y mener; venez y faire un tour; la promenade dissipe, cela rejouit. Nous avons les plus belles allees du monde!"[139] There is one passage, however, in the fifth part, in which Marivaux gives evidence of a frank and simple enjoyment of nature: "Nous nous promenions tous trois dans le bois de la maison;... et comme les tendresses de Valvilie interrompaient ce que nous disions, cette aimable fille et moi, nous nous avisames, par un mouvement de gaite, de le fuir, de l'ecarter d'aupres de nous, et de lui jeter des feuilles que nous arrachions des bosquets."[140]

Marivaux has had the singular honor of causing the creation of a new word in the French literary vocabulary, to designate his peculiar style, _le marivaudage_, a term which has had in the past rather more of discredit than of esteem in its general acceptation. Sainte-Beuve thus defines it: "Qui dit _marivaudage_, dit plus ou moins badinage a froid, espieglerie compassee et prolongee, petillement redouble et pretentieux, enfin une sorte de pedantisme semillant et joli; mais l'homme, considere dans l'ensemble, vaut mieux que la definition a laquelle il a fourni occasion et sujet."[141] With the increasing popularity of Marivaux, there has gradually arisen a different and more complimentary idea of the term. Deschamps, in his excellent work on the author, thus defines it: "Cet examen de conscience, dicte par une probite inquiete,--cette application a eviter les illusions qui trompent, a dejouer les pieges du caprice et de la fantaisie, a mettre au service du sentiment les plus subtiles lumieres de la raison,...--l'esprit de finesse employe a decouvrir les plus secrets mouvements de notre sensibilite,--par consequent l'usage conscient d'un style ajuste a la tenuite de ces enquetes, style qui n'est pas exempt de recherche, mais qui abonde en trouvailles decisives,--voila precisement le marivaudage."[142]

Marivaux has been blamed for an affectation, an ingenuity, a delicacy of style, together with a diffuseness, which led him to turn a thought in so many different ways as to weary the reader, a habit of clothing in popular expressions subtle and over-refined ideas, and, finally, a studied and far-fetched neologism.[143]