New-York tribune., 1922-11-26
Jyncis,eo Ber,qvsnse

II u NCE MORE the Nobel Prize
n M season has come round, the
award Of che Goncourt Acad-
eniy is imminent. and soon
the two outstanding literary honors Of
the year will have been conferred,
amid the usual chorus of dissent, in
dignation and astonishment, with the
recipient and his publisher almost
alone In their belief that God is in
His heaven and all is right with the
world of letters. The Nobel and Con
court prizes have these two points In
common: They are awarded about the
same time, they invariably fall to
some person whose name has not been
mentioned among the favorites in the
race. and the list of prize-winners in
each case defes any attempt to dis
cover the principle which has guided
the Judges.
Paris at this moment seethes with
gossip and speculation concerning the
fortunate choice Of the ten Goneourt
academicians. Names are freely men
toned, but it would be strange if any
one of them ever appears with the tri-
umphant inscription across the cover
Of book, "Prix Gencourt 1922.
Awards are not made that way. Simi-
larly, the Scandinavian press has
talked of all sorts of distinguished
writer's as likely to obtain the Nobel
Prize. but 1t has gone, not to Thomas
Hardy, Johannes V. Jensen or Georg
Brandes, but to the Spanish play.
wright. Jacinto Benavente. There will
be weeping and waillng and gnashing
Of teeth, fancy, in England, now that
Hardy has again been passed ever.
The last time that spaniard re-
ceived, this prize---and the only time
was In 1904, when Echegaray was
bracketed with Mistral and divided the
honors. Are we TO conclude that the
Nobel committee considers the Spanish
drama peculiarly rich in great works i?
Are either of these dramati sts~to be
compared with Hauptmann, their only
fellow-craftsman on the list of Nobel
prize winners? Hardly, | think, al
though In saying so risk the eensure
OF my friend. John Garrett Underhill,
the translator Of Benavente, and his
ever, cheerfully grant that Benavente
Is infinitely superior to Eehegsray.
whose Ibsenism and water aroused the
enthusiasm of Shaw in the dark ages
OF the English theater, when Gel Hijo
de Don Juan" seemed second only to
Ghosts" for revolutionary obscenity.
On the other hand. for that reason
precisely Echegaray was obviously a
predestined candidate for Nobel hon.
ors, SINCE nothing is more conseling to
the orthodox than opinions that were
once heretical and advanced. These
are preferable to no opinions at all,
because they lend an air Of spurious
verisimilitude to an uuconvincing eff.
a na t.
Jacinto Benavente ID safe, at least.
from this form of intellectually pos
thumous piety. He never was an Ad-
vanced Thinker, and he is entirely free
from those qualities, whether legitimate
or bogus, which are indiserim inateiy
labeled "idealism." Now az we all
know, Nobel was an idesIist. He made
a fortune out Of war munitions and
was merchant prince of peace. Nat
urally his last will and testament spe-
citically declared that the uplifting of
humanity should be the dominant pre-
occupation of those whose works were
rewarded by his prize for literature.
The awards, in the main, have perfect
ly corresponded to the inherent incon-
gruity of their founders position,
The world may be brighter and bet
ter place as a result of the idealism Of
Rudyard Kipling and Sienkiewicz.
dare not pursue such speculation very
far. Spain is assuredly no nearer to
the kingdom Of heaven to-day than In
1894, when Benavente's first play, Gel
Nido aieno," was produced, and In the
ll4 plays which he has since written
you will search In vain for d message.
That, indeed, is the chief reproach
made against him by section of his
own eornpatriots, for Spanish opinion
isj very far from being unanimous In
his praise. His admirers have ranked
him with Caider6n and Shakespeare,
But the mandarins OF criticism and the
more intelligent spokesmen Of the
younger generation agree in regarding
charge him with being cynical inn
moralist; the latter have no patience
with what they regard rs the frittering
away OF q distinguished talent on triv-
ial artifcialitiss.
Two volumes of Benavente's plays
have already been published, and one
of his more recent works, "Campo de
Armifio," will shortly be seen In New
York as THE Fields Of Ermine." !"
Enough of his work is available in
English to enable those unacquainted
with the original texts to form an ade-
quate opinion OF MIN. During the first
ten years Of his career he made his
name as q playwright of the French
school, adopting the technique of men
like Lavedan and Capus, and applying
to Madrid society their method Of light
satire, which concerns itself with the
surface of life in special class, and
has, the pursuit of sex for its main
theme.
The mere titles of the plays of that
first period from "El Nido ajeno" to
Alma triunfante" (1so2) are ON indi-
cation of their manner: eIn Society"
"A Tale Of Love-" "Fashions," "The
Husbands Train," to mention a few
Of them. Then followed, after the
satirieal, the dramatic period, which
includes plays like ''La Noehe del sa-
bado,n LOS Malhechores del Bien"--
translated by Underhill as "The Evil
doers Of Good"--J'Resas de Otofio"
laAutumnel Roaes'')s ALa Prineesa
BebS" ("Princess BebS"), In short,