New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-07-23

know Just how some readers will take
this announcement. There is an apt
saying of George Eliot's on the sub
ject There are some people" she re-
marks. who If you say 4 am buffalo
will let you pass" The world IS full of
such people But we like to believe that
there are a good many readers who
prefer to think about NJ. Brieux for
themselves and can accordingly remain
unterrified by the kind of assertion we
have just cited from Mr.. Shaw.
Let US clear our minds of cant. Mr..
Shaw is not the only man who is glad
70 beat the drum for NJ. Brieux. He has
a large following. and he has found his
way into the French Academy. He
thinks carefully and with unmistakable
sincerity on grave subjects with which
society must concern itself. But none
of these facts constitutes a reason for
our swallowing him whole. and there is.
indeed. one very real reason for our ask
ing whether we should swallow him at
ell. 1t hinges upon the conception OF
art which has been held by civilized
races since the theatre was first de-
signed TO give pleasure and edification
to mankind. on the nature Of that con-
ception one may philosophize and argue,
Of course, until all is blue. Hence, we
take the nearest short cut. which we
may gain by exposing NJ. Brieux's view
Of the matter He is intensely interested
in human beings. not the human beings
Of the fifteenth century or of the dim
future but the human beings of to-day.
He sees that in thousands Of cases they
are plunged into suffering through the
conflict between their own instincts and
the laws, written and unwritten. Of So
ciety. He would ask them TO do what
they can for themselves, through the ex-
ercise Of common sense and self-con
troll He would have society readjust its
present laws and make some new ones.
To these ends he would use the theatre
as an arena for tractarian activities
When he writes a play he begins by pos
iting a wrong. and though he will not
dogmatize unduly as 70 the mode Of cur
ing II, his purpose is to persuade the
audience TO recognize the wrong and to
think over the necessity for cure The
plays in the volume before us admirably
exempltfy his aim and his method.
The first of them, Maternity" is a
plea to society to "do something" in
amelioration of the penalties that fol-
low unlawful motherhood. The salient
victim Of the piece is young woman
whose sister is married to a government
official in the provinces. This function
ary seeks to serve the state-and adj
vance his own interests-by advocating
an increase in the birth rate. but when
his sister in-law comes upon the scene
with her trouble he is terribly perturbed
and instantly allies himself with those
social forces which would make her an
outcast The play amounts TO nothing
more nor less than a discussion between
the two sides. A kindred motive is de-
veloped in The Three Daughters of NJ.
Dupont" complicated with the question
of loveless marriages and the swindles
practised upon one another by CONNER
cial minded parents. who marry off their
sons and daughters with no thought of
the higher needs Of the human soul. In
Damaged Goods" M. Brieux again has
reflections to offer upon the status of
the mother and her child, placing in the
foreground the tragic issue Of mans in
difference to the penalty which he and
his family may pay for his evil living.
AL the back Of the book is a translation
of the second version Of Maternity"
one in which NJ. Brieux preserves his
main thesis, but throws In the added