The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-07-27
rnE MODERN FRENCH NOVEL.


That, when we go. We 90 together
Eugene Field, ia Chicago Ne"s.
TdE MODERN FRENCH NOVEL.
Dramatic literature, as we may all
convince ourselves. has been steadily
declining. from Victor Hugo To Vic
torien S4rdou, as ia power 80 m the
quality OF the genius employed IN It's
creation or manufacture. Inc stage,
even in Paris. threatens more and more
TO degenerate into "a great spectacular
exhibition or pantOminle Tor grown up
chill .ren Barnum 5 show minus the
performing elephants. Scene-paintinG
has usurped the place of passionate,
h:gh-reasOned dialogue. Not what men
do. bnt what actors wear (and the ac-
trcsscs do not. has become the prlnci-
pal concern of mara-oIs, critics, and
audience. L. Is the hour OF so
called realism. Tie senses are to
be fascinated. while leaving the
heart untouched save by gross
and violent caricaturcs OF the
tragedies Of the police court and the
Old Bailey. Aud the artist intellect
which. i'm Aristo'le's pregnant phrase.
seek TO be purified by pity and ter
ror. in suborduation t. the eternal
laws If beauty and the sublime, Is now
in course of bauisnm"nt from the
modern stage. rs though lt were an ap.
,ondage of the ancient regime, and
thereby suspect. Ia lis aims and ideals
never. perhaps. was that stage more he
graded than at tine moment m when
we write. Doubtless, q not unlike ca
tastrophe may be hanging over the
novel For materialism is the conquer
ing anarch 81 our time. But, ma any
event its record will differ greatly from
that of the acted drama-in this respect
above all. that it is the one form OF
literature wherein the century has
proved itself daIingiy original. ItD-
mantle literature has, IN fact under
gone the most striking development to
which any form Of art could be submit
ted-like. as a fanciiul observer might
suooest. 20 that whereby woman. the
plaything of Oriental luxury without
significance for the serious concerns OF
existerco. Ina, been raised tO the dig-
nifty Of q European wife ard mother.
What WAS some hundred years ago
mere story telling, rot distinct ih KIND
from The Arabian Knights or the
enormous lies Of g professional
lester. paid to make his hearers laugh.
has become a miCrOsCOplc-One had
almost said a OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
into the modes OF the actual breathing
lie which goes on around AS, ana am
effort &c reproduce them faithfully,
with adequate force and passion m the
recital. The drama. We repeat, has
sunk from the soul to scene painting.
Othello and Shylock sugges. To London
audiences forms IF Venetian architect
ure and canals with moonlight upon
them. rather than the demonlac plngs
Of jealousy. the breaking of a noble
heart or the man. dcyouriDg iudigna
tion Of the per.ecuted medieval jew.
But " it'll the novel precisely the reverse
has happened and even those grotos que
interpreters IF a fundamental canon OF
art. " no call Themselves "impresslon-
ISIS. are aware thdt scene painting
nav. photography-s reveal tie
spirit which looks out through eyes OF
flesh. Aud of this immense movcmen
or transformation the moss remarkable
outcome. taken in Che whole, is the
mod, I'm French novel. Fiction, we
hold. in the stage ID which 1t has al
voncfd among our Gallo neighbors.
has become department of our ma
uonal autobiography. We may liken
il 10 the battle pieces which cover SO
many acres Of canvas at Versailles.
But II is "A picture more than equal In
extert. and far superior IN merit. to
that flaming. smoke begrlt exhibition
of All the glories OF France. The group
ing. if largely fantastic, J.. IN many IN
stances. faithful; the cOlOIing, though
smutched and dadbed, reveals-lL NAV
hn i'm a single conner ike BalZ1c s
"Chqf d'guvre incOnnu the hand
Of the master Much is caricature,
lille dreaming. impossible cOnjectures.
/ And more philosophical century VIII
be entitled to write IN the margin
" Fgri Somnia such things I'D fever
stricken. G0d-foTsaken time murmur ln
its sleep" But amid thee dreams may
b4 discovered. on a careful inspection,
"reminiscences OF truth and reality.
They reveal the political convictions.
the moral aXiOms. nay, some OF the ele-
mepts of religion-or what snail We
call il (which have gone far 10 make
the France Of our time kissing and an
astonishment to the res Il civilized
mankind. This great movement, how
ever. which began with romantclsm Is
ending in realism. From Rousseau
through Chateaubriand, Hugo and
George Sand, it has descend d, by the
way of Balzac and Flaubert, to the
Z)las who degrade literature TO the
1 photography of the moment" hous-
! seau appeals throughout his writings to
pa,sion kindled. not by the ideals OF
/ reason, but by sensuous instincts
+ bent on their own qualification. lie
substitutes for reason sentiment, as,
instead Of duty, he breaches the pur-
suit of happiness as the aimof life. His
/ favorite, nay. his supreme state OF
confciousnessn is a kind of voluptuous
ldaV-dreaming, into which the severe
mowers of the spirit DO not enter. Pas
/ sion. reverie. intrOspectiOn. with huge
development of the ego-ihese are the
elements or instruments wherewith he
builds up his scheme OF the Vita Beata.
| Not strenuous eXertiOn, not the eu0du'
ing of instinct 20 law, but the free sur
render TO every passing fancy IS what
makes the staple of his life and doc
trine. Nor could il be otherwise If sen
timent is to be the governing principle
in human nature; for OF this It may oe
coil with absolute truth. that no man