New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-02-24
IMPURE FICTION.
THE GALLO TAINT IN AMERICAN No'Ll9'


1r.p,uA suypAM By Gertrude Uranium h'hcf'on
ii Current literature Publishing Co
rp ANsACyTION IN HEARTS. An Episodee. 10y
Fdgar sSltus. ilpplneotts Magazine February
,,n,u rocontlv American fiction, II frequently de-
-. en- or was irreproachable nom moral point
NJ view. Though manfestly inclined 10 experiment
-, a. ,5nd,c.te the National reputation for curiosity
I,t,le restrained by reverence. our authors hah oy
t,cIt consent avoided that field OF literary enterprise
evnloited 50 freely and iuny' anu vi"
such exemplary results, by thelr "Aihc
neighbors. The cult Oh inc "ou'o,S
brlcitv had not gained much as foothoid here
19,cro seemed no probability that an essay In that
direction would obtain any other response than con
s,sts I'm repuIson and avoidance. NeveHheiess the
French fiction Of the day, with us eVorihofoa''"e
morbidness and impuhy and its daphanous pre-
fences OF art for arts sake, had been silently ao-
sorbed and with a growth I'm eagerncSs oespsaAlhg
,o..dor, etbjeal princlpies The Engish-spcaldng
novessthosc Of Great Britain and the United sta'os
ae-beran to exhibit signs Of rcstlessness Presently
appeared curious sort Of plant or protest. addressed
10 whom n might concern, DcWalins
the conventional restraints put upon hcuon
In those countries, limiting yearninsy al the
superior freedom enjoyed by the French writer's ana
attacking yeneefuy the idea Of the Young Person
on behalf Of whose sdolescent morals the novel Oh
the period was thus chastened and restricted
realism of lola and his school awaited themselves OF
the opportunity 10 sneor at all the influences which
have combined keep English and American literature
nee from the faint OF salaeity. The latter being
human charne tcrlstc or quality, thsy contemoi'
ought 10 be frankly recognized and a. frankly repfo
sented IN fiction. When ZOla In La TeTe' pnshe1
this doctrine 10 It, rem0tcst implications, and boldly
grouped the carefully selected denominations OF
cioss class much after the manner OF an anatomical
museum if must be admitted that the pseudo feaiss
ware staggered, and that some even OF NJ Zolas OWE
countrymen and precious followers thought IL hne
10 set limit 10 this hind OF guiter-phoiography'
d. Paul Bourget and NJ. Guy dc Maupassant under
took 10 demonstrate the possibility OF writing DOORS
which should, while oven mole sensualy exciting
than Zolas be perfectly polite and free from coarse
ness We do not think either Of those authors sue
cceded in their demonstration On the
contrary, vo think they only succeeded
I'm proving that pscudo-realism Of the French
school destroys the moral sensibility so completely
as 10 engender the faacy that books Ike Tho Crime
DAmour7 are really less Objectionable than books
like "La Terre9 The shameless animalsm OF tho
French peasant Is in truth as far from being seductive
AZ the insanIties OF the Marquis de SADIE Both arc
too nasty to DO used In literature but neither Is worse
in kind. ana neither is moro fundamentally obnox-
ious, than the polished, cynical impudent immortality
Of tho Maupassants and Bourgets-
These. however had exercised a mailgn fascination
upon certain young English and Amenean writer's.
Among the former may be instanced MI George
Moore author OF o. MummoPs WIFE, ana other
stories OF striking ability and equally striking bad
taste. Among the latter are compelled TO numDer
the writer's Of the two tales whose tides appear at the
head OF this article. 10 IS somewhat singular that
In this country the tendency toward Gallo uneiean-
ness in fiction IS manifested even moro by women
than men. Perhaps the movement in favor OF fem
mime emancipation IS In part accouh'aoIo
for this phenomenon. Whether the atuao-
tons which are drawing American iemsie
wrliers-or, to speak more exactly, some American
female wrlters-n this direction, II Is however pus
too certain that they already exhibit an alarming
tendency toward an abandon which their masculine
colleagues are scarcely prepared 10 emulate Some
tines indeed solitary man makes bold squirt In
the race for inverted reputation, and no holder squirt
has vet been made than that OF Mr. Saius, to DO con-
siderod here.
Mrs Atherton's novel; "Hermia esuydam.' is a
curious Illustration OF morbid excess. AS rule, 10
is only IN the literature OF decadent cvllzanon that
wo find an inclination toward this type Of writing;
II is when healthy natural passion has been exhausted
as IN the period OF tho French Regency, that tho
corrupt minds OF stated voluptuares turn with faint
hope OF new sensations to the unexplored recesses
OF artificial sensuaism. Even to-day there are very
few French Writer'S who have recourse to this expo
dent and the success OF their tentative efforts has
not been 90 great 10 encourage Imitation But IN
this story we have for motive the fantasies OF a
young American girl who appears to have been born
blase and who lnheritlng million OF dollars forth
with proceeds 10 experiment upon herself In cold
blood by arranging an intrigue with man for whom
she cares nothing Tho style OF tho book Is wholly
extrayagant but the details in which the author ex-
palates upon the heroine scagreen eyes and brassy
hair, her oldiVory shoulders her lssome figure her
velvet gowns and her crazy-qult mansion, cannot
conceal tho ugly fact that she IS young woman
possessed Of a mind equally morbid and impure that
she Is coarse vulgar and lascivious and that the solo
distinction between such woman and the commonest
harot lies In the fact that she pollues herSef out
Of simple curiosity and not for money or fine clothing.
As to the society in which she moves II is enough
TO say that matronly chaperon listens placidly 10
Hermia's confession OF her amour, and then calmly.
and quite unshocrd, propounds the theory that OBJ
vlously It had TO be, and therefore Hernia need not
worry about IT, Tho measure Of Hermla's morals ls
given In her naive expression OF regret that she should
have chosen the wrong man-she having In the mean
time fancied herself really in love with another
person, Of unssvory reputation and-of course-grcat
/ personal magnetism more unwholesome story
&c would indeed DO difficult 10 name, and the pity OF
| II Is that &c should have been written by a woman
There Is a certain smartness about &C. though from
beginning TO end, II Is patent libel on American
soclety-or would b. weo It not 80 paipably an nj.
tempt TO engrat the exotic French lubriclty pon an
alien and uncongenlal soil There IS nothing real o,
natural about the people IN IT, They are one and ali
unpleasant and unprncipled phantoms, and might hay.
been imported direct from ono OF the dreadful eltIe,
described with much grim power IN Mrs. olph,nts
Land Of Darkness!H 0houinke as they
rare, however, there ID indication IN