CHAPTER X GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF HUMAN BEINGS.

General Classification of
Human Beings
CHAPTER X
I PLAN OF THE CLASSIFICATION
Each of our 12 Types will necessarily be divided
into two, according to the TWO SEXES which affect
it.
How many are the masculine roles for which
we find no feminine equivalent in literature,
or even in history, equally blind and partial, it
would seem, by contagion! The simple observation
of this fact alone suffices to cause to spring
up in each of these lacunae a feminine type heretofore
unperceived. To this useful evocation,
announced in the early pages of this book, the
present chapter will be primarily devoted.
But the binary subclassification of our human
Museum will soon become quaternary, as soon
as we shall observe it in the light of the two great
aspects of life, the TRAGIC and COMIC. And even
from the colorless mass of intermediaries ("serious
characters," a species of hermaphrodite adapted
to double usage) how many phantoms may be
brought under one or another of these lights to
be animated! We have already seen the devel
opment of this method in Chapter III (NEW
COMBINATIONS), and have seen thus produced
by the combination of Comic and Tragic characters,
the secondary series of characters Parodic,
Paradoxical, Odious presented sympathetically,
Sympathetic rendered repugnant, Grotesque
treated seriously, Serious treated with derision,
etc.
Finally, we shall see, at the end of the following
chapter, how this quadruple hypostasis, inevitable
for each of our 12 divine Types (male and
female, tragic and comic) will be multiplied by
the various ages of life and the various social
ranks, in which, turn by turn, it may be studied.
What penury we find, in our letters, of Old
People differentiated one from another! How
little varied are the Bachelors, or the Children!
In contrast to the Intellectual (brahmin,
artist, scholar, etc.), to the Warrior and to the
Man of Money (bourgeois, merchant, etc.), how
little shaded are the people of the masses! Even
our "naturalistic" writers still confound the souls
of a cabinet-maker of the Faubourg St. Antoine,
of a mason, of a day-laborer, that modern pariah
without hope, and of that pretentious aristocrat
the house-painter!
We shall content ourselves, in this classification
neglecting for the moment the questions
of Rank and Age as secondary nuances with
submitting the tetrad which inevitably results
from the two sexes and the two principal aspects,
comic and tragic, to a simple TERNARY SUBDIVISION
of each Divine Type.
We may, in short, inscribe under Vesta (whose
line forms, it will be remembered, the frontier
between idealization and emotion) natures PIOUS
and FAITHFUL, placing between them the SAGES
in the broadest sense of the word. Under Juno
(ARETE, as we have seen, between activity and
possessivity) we place natures JEALOUS and
SEVERE; between them the VINDICTIVE. Under
Neptune (possessivity and idealization or abstraction)
will be ranged the AVARICIOUS and AMBITIOUS,
flanking the DESPOTIC. Under Minerva
(idealization and self-manifestation) natures ELOQUENT
and DARING, and between these two groups
the ADVENTURERS. Under Venus (emotionalism
and materialism) we will inscribe the SEDUCTIVE
and the VICIOUS, on either side the PROSTITUTES.
Under Apollo (emotion and self-manifestation)
natures PASSIONATE and ARTISTIC, between them
that which our century, fathoming an antique
presentiment, has called the FATED or ILLSTARRED.
Under Mercury (who marks the limit
of abstract idealization and energetic activity)
will be disposed the SHREWD and the UNSCRUPULOUS,
beside the TRAITOROUS and PERFIDIOUS.
Under Jupiter (self-manifestation and activity)
natures ARROGANT and PROTECTING; between these
groups the LOFTY and MAJESTIC. Under Ceres
(materialism and possessivity) the PRODIGAL and
the PRACTICAL, between them inserting the SENSUAL.
Under Vulcan (manifestation and materialism)
the LABORIOUS and also the DUPED or
DELUDED, between whom the SELF-SACRIFICING
will take their place. Under Mars (energetic
activity and materialism) natures VIOLENT to a
murderous degree, and the most AUDACIOUS,
surrounding the REBELLIOUS. Finally, under
Diana (emotion and possessivity) the SENTIMENTAL
and the CHASTE, succeeding to the WEAK
or TIMID.
The terms of the classification are necessarily
imperfect and too elastic, and less important than
the groups themselves, under whose heads I have
used them only in default of better; each of these
36 groups exhibits nevertheless a remarkable
coherence, and it is this alone which concerns us-
This coherence will extend to each one of the
sub-groups. These will present themselves in
variable numbers, thus providing lacunae more
and more numerous, which we shall observe and
measure in descending into the individual realities
here explored. But their number, although variable,
tends always, in curious fashion, toward
the Dozen.
II CLASSIFICATION
VESTA
I THE Pious
1. The Constant. Examples: besides the Virgin,
the purest of the Saints, the Mexican Koatlikoe,
the Hindu Aghdi and Andjani, Liane
(in Richter's TITAN); Louis IX, Joachim in THE
POWER OF DARKNESS. This category does not
admit of parody, a case perhaps unique. A
nuance of serene resignation, that of Job or of
Celestin V, is wanting in the feminine examples
(apart, of course, from the Virgin).
2. Religious Scholars, Theologians: TCHANG
THE ANCHORET, Aeneas, St. Thomas Aquinas.
In the feminine: Peta, Anouke the Egyptian,
Beatrice (PARADISE), Clementine de Rothschild,
St. Gertrude. In this last there appears, in
softened and milder form, the venerable physiognomy
of Friar Laurence (ROMEO AND JULIET),
Friar Bonaventure (in Ford's 'TIS PITY . .)>
Mordecai (ESTHER), Noah under his various
names, Hebrew, Chinese, Hindu, Aztec, Chaldean,
etc.
3. Mystics: Madame Swetchine, Marie Alacoque,
Bernadette, SALAMMB6, Angelique (Zola,
LE RfivE), HANNELE MATERNE; Don Sebastian
(Calderon, FOR SECRET OUTRAGE . .), Ruben
(in Picard's JERICHO). Nekhludoff (in Tolstoi's
RESURRECTION) connects this type with modern
humanitarianism.
4. The Superstitious (the comic aspect of 2 and
3). Examples: masculine, none; feminine, possibly
the vague Madame de Noares (BOUVARD
AND PECUCHET). Menander had painted Phidias
as THE SUPERSTITIOUS, in using the 14 fundamental
traits indicated by THEOPHRASTUS.
5. Bigots. Examples are few. What fine
parodies of 6 and 7 could here be made!
6. The Ardently Devout. Examples: BARLAAM
(St. John Chrysostom), POLYEUCTE, THE
CONSTANT PRINCE (Calderon), SAINT LUDWINE
(Huysmans), THEODORE (Corneille).
7. Fanatics: TORQUEMADA, Pastor Kroll
(Ibsen, ROSMERSHOLM), Jin THE FANATIC of the
Chinese theatre; the Protestant Madame Moise
Piedefer and the Catholic Angelique de Granville
(Balzac, THE MUSE OF THE DEPARTMENT, A
DOUBLE FAMILY), MADAME GERVAISAIS (the Goncourts).
8. Hypocrites are not connected with this
group except as its opposites; they are to it what
Braggarts are to the Brave. After Plutarch, La
Bruydre carefully indicated the identity of the
hypocrite, the unbeliever and the libertine ; Molidre
also, in his DON JUAN as in his TARTUFE.
Examples: Thwackum in Fielding's TOM JONES,
the modern and philanthropic De Climal (Man.
vaux, LA VIE DE MARIANNE) . Feminine examples
are less marked: Papelardie in the ROMAN DE
LA ROSE, or the Marta of the genial Tirso de
Molina.
9. The feminine sex alone, however, has given
consistent Prudes to literature: Arsino6 in
Moliere, GLYCfiRE (La Bruyere, CHARACTERS),
and, more sympathetic, LA FAUSSE AGNES and
Angelique in THE PARISIENNE (Destouches) .
10. Hypocrite by Necessity, Madame Graslin
(Balzac, C6UNTRY PARSON) is connected with
11. Tragic Hypocrites: Cromwell, Elizabeth
of England. There are few good modern studies.
II --THE WISE
I trust the Hellenists will here pardon me: the
Wise appear to me to belong to Vesta, even
though captured, in adventurous Greece, by
Athene, whom we have seen grow equally at the
expense of Ares, Artemis, Hermes and Apollo.
Let us first inspect the cortege of
1. The Impious: THE LIBERTINE (Lessing);
Barbarina (Gozzi, THE GREEN BIRD).
2. Sarcastic Philosophers : Voltaire, Mephisto,
Schopenhauer; feminine examples are lacking.
3. They are likewise lacking for the Sceptics:
Dr. Relling (Ibsen, THE WILD DUCK).
4. Jovial Sages: Rabelais, Guido Cavalcanti
(Boccacio, DECAMERON VI, 4), Luc (Gorki, THE
LOWER DEPTHS) . Olympe (Dancourt, THE PARISIENNE)
is weak by comparison.
5. JEsopic Sages: JEsop in the two comedies
of Boursault, the Socrates of the BANQUETS,
Melchisedec (Decameron I, 3), that prototype
of NATHAN THE WISE, the ingenious and loquacious
M. Bergeret; the young Chinese woman,
PEACH-BLOSSOM, and, in Plutarch, the wife of
the covetous Pythes.
6. Adventurous Sages: ZANONI (Bulwer-
Lytton), the Marquis de Posa (DON CARLOS),
Anarcharsis, Abaris the Hyperborean, ARCHYTAS
DE METAPONTE (Mazel) and his Theano; Parthenia
(Halm, INGOMAR THE BARBARIAN).
7. Soothsayers and Good Counsellors: the
Argonaut Idmon, Helenus, Protes, Poltis the
Thracian king; Egeria, Cassandra, the Sybils,
Bertha and Gertrude in WILLIAM TELL.
8. Healers: Borvo the god of Gaulish origin
and his wife Damona, Aesculapius, the physicians
of the modern novel and the MIRES of the Middle
Ages, as much masculine as feminine; not a
single case of the latter sex has been well drawn
in literature.
9. Venerable Sages: Prospero (THE TEMPEST),
Nestor, Naimes (CHANSON DE ROLAND),
Sahadeva; feminine, Marguerite de Parma
(EGMONT).
10. Sad or Stern Sages: Cato (PHARSALIA),
Hegesias, the Buddha; Anne (d'Annunzio, THE
DEAD CITY).
11. Feeble Sages: Lambert (Claudel, LA
VlLLE), Titurel (PARSIFAL); no feminine examples.
12. Sages of Comic Aspect: Primrose in THE
VICAR OF WAKEFIELD.
13. Simple Sages: Vincent (Mowinsky, THE
BLOWS OF FATE), the FIELD MOUSE (La Fontaine). t
14. Sages of Deep Understanding: Christine
de Pisane, Blanche of Castile, Isabella (Lope,
DISCOVERY OF THE NEW WORLD), Juliana
D'Acosta; Sully.
15. Intellectual Sages: Dr. Nangel (Ibsen,
THE LADY FROM THE SEA), Liu-thong-pin in THE
TRANSMIGRATION OF YO-CHEOU.
16. Prudent Sages: Northumberland in KING
HENRY IV, the wandering ascetic in SAKUNTALA;
no feminine examples unless it be in comedy, the
Elise, Eliante and Henriette of Moliere.
17. Home-lovers: Domicius the god of the
home, the Lares and Penates, Deverrona. No
particularized literary studies.
III THE FAITHFUL
1. Spouses: Penelope (ODYSSEY), Sita
(RAMAYANA), Tchaou-nyang (THE Pl-PA-KI),
Kadidjah, Madame Stockmann (AN ENEMY OF
THE PEOPLE), Savitri (MAHABHARATA), Marguerite
de Provence, etc. Masculine examples
are rare: Xedor the Japanese saint, and the
husband in LA DORMEUSE (A. de. Lorde).
2. In Comedy: Angela (Gozzi, THE STAG
KING), Elvire (TARTUFE); no masculine examples-
3. Spouses Faithful from Duty alone, without
Love. Examples: masculine, none; feminine:
Monime (BAJAZET).
4. Faithful even to Sacrifice: Madame Hulot
(COUSIN BETTE), Madame Claes (QUEST OF THE
ABSOLUTE), Silvia (d'Annunzio, GlOCONDA),
Madame Royre (Bernstein, JOUJOU). No masculine
examples.
5. Constant Fiancees: Solveig (PEER GYNT),
Elizabeth (TANNHAUSER), Julie (NOUVELLE
HELOISE). One masculine example, which comes
from the Far East: the student Kouo-hoa in
THE PLEDGED SLIPPER.
6. Sacrificed Mistresses: GERTRUDE (Bouchinet),
LA RICKE DU PASTEUR (Erik Schlaikjers).
See others under Diana. The masculine type
hardly exists.
7. Obstinately Faithful Widowhood: ANDROMAQUE,
Cornelia (PHARSALIA), Madri (MAHABHARATA),
Arganthonis (Parthenius, EROTICS), Jacques
Brigaut (Balzac, PIERRETTE).
8. Misunderstood Fidelity: SAKUNTALA, Genevieve
de Brabant, (Tieck, Jean Conan), Griselda
(Boccacio, Silvestre), BERTHE AU GRAND PIE
(Adenes le Roi); masculine examples, different
enough: COLONEL CHABERT (Balzac), JACQUES
DAMOUR (Zola).
9. Fathers and Mothers: Dacaratha (RAMAYANA),
Timour (Gozzi, TURANDOT), OLD GORIOT
(Balzac), A#se (PEER GYNT), Sabine (Hervieu,
THE TRAIL OF THE TORCH). In comic aspect:
Pantalon (Gozzi, THE STAG KING), Sostrate
(Terence, HAUTONTIMORUMENOS).
10. Comic Brothers: no notable cases. Comic
Sisters: BRIGITTE (Meilhac and Halevy), Serious:
Bartholomew Columbus (Lope, DISCOVERY OF THE
NEW WORLD), Valentine (FAUST); they are much
inferior to the Sisters: ELECTRA, Anna (Marlowe,
DUX)).
11. Daughters and Sons: ANTIGONE, Cordelia
(LEAR), TELEMAQUE, TCHAO-LI, Pourouvaca,
Lausus (AENEID). No interesting examples in
the comic genre.
12. Other Relatives: LA GRAND' MERE
(Hugo), the aunts Zephirine de Guenic and
Countess d'Esgrignon in Balzac's BEATRIX ; sisterin-
law, his Duchess de Soria (MEMOIRS OF TWO
YOUNG WIVES); nieces, his Pierrette Cambremer
(A SEA-SHORE DRAMA) ; daughter-in-law, the surprising
Li in SlE-JIN-KOUEI; UNCLE VANIA
(Chekhov) and the Abb6 Lefvre, uncle of LOUIS
LAMBERT.
13. Adoptive Parents: MANOUNE (Marni),
Josabeth (ATHALIE), BENOITE (AND BENOIT,
Haraucourt) ; Ananda, St. Joseph. For Fosterers
see Vulcan.
14. Disciples: The Apostles, the Holy
Women.
15. Friends: No good feminine types in the
comic but LlDOIRE (Courteline) ; the academician
Ho-tchi-tchan (THE GAGE OF LOVE). In the
tragic: the Princess de Lamballe, Isabelle (Zelinski,
BARBARA RADZIWILL) and Mile Gay (Duranty,
FRANCOISE DE QUESNAY) do not equal either
Pylade or Schmucke (COUSIN PONS) or Paz
(THE FALSE MISTRESS) or Horatio (HAMLET).
JUNO
I THE JEALOUS
1. Wives and Husbands: Dejanira (THE
TRACHINIANS etc.), MJ&ROPE, OTHELLO, MITHRIDATE,
ANGELO. Comic: the husband confessor
in Boccacio and various "Sganarelles" who will
be found under Vulcan; Alcmene (AMPHITRYON).
2. Lovers: Comic feminine example : the Marquise
(Baron, LE COQUET TROMPE); tragic: Hermione,
MARIE TUDOR. Tragic masculine example :
Montes de Montejanos (COUSIN BETTE); comic:
Robin (LE JEU DU BERGER ET DE LA BERGERE),
Albert (LES FOLIES AMOUREUSES), FLORENTIN
(La Fontaine).
3. Jealous Adulterers: there are few but tragic
and feminine cases: Roxane (BAJAZET), Vasilissa
(Gorki, THE LOWER DEPTHS), Addle (Descaves
and Donnay', LA CLAIRIERE).
4. The Scorned and Revengefully Jealous:
Countess Orsina (Lessing, EMILIA GALOTTl),
MADAME DE LA POMMERAYE (Diderot); Fulbert
the butcher of Abelard. No comic examples.
5. Jealousy without the Desire of Possessing:
Diana de Belflor (Lope, THE GARDENER'S DOG).
No equivalent masculine case.
6. Love through Jealousy: Morin (Candillot,
CONJUGAL DUTY). Few distinct feminine examples.
7. Retrospective Jealousy: Michel (Wilhelm
Feldmann, THE SHADOW); the too theoretical
Svava Bjornson, A GAUNTLET).
8. Jealousy of a Pure Affection (for a child):
George Braux (Fleg, THE MESSAGE) ; no feminine
examples. There is no symmetric masculine for
Heldne d'Aiglemont drowning her little brother
from jealousy (A WOMAN OF THIRTY).
9. Jealousy of Friends: no examples.
10. Jealousy of a Mother's New Loves: the
little Grandjean (Zola, UNE PAGE D'AMOUR).
11. Of a Father's: no examples.
II THE VENGEFUL AND JUST
1. The Passionately Revengeful: ROUSSALKA
(Pushkin), Olympias the terrible mother of Alexander
the Great ; Jean-sans-peur, MONTE CRISTO.
No comic examples.
2. Righteous Avengers of their Cause: Gideon.
No comic examples.
3. The Irascible: Madame Guillemot (Boursault,
LE MERCURE GALANT); THRASILLE (La
Bruyere). There are no romantic and almost
no tragic examples.
4. Avengers of their Honor: Vera Gelo,
Mathilde (Frank Verax, Sanglante probldme) ; Don
Diego in THE ClD. No comic examples.
5. Avengers of the Honor of Relatives: Triboulet
(LE ROI S'AMUSE), Odard (EMILIA GALOTTl) ;
few good feminine examples.
6. Avengers of Kindred: Hamon (Beaumont
and Fletcher, ROLLO); Emilie (ClNNA), the ROSAMONDES
of Rucellai and of Alfieri; Constance
(KING JOHN), Althee.
7. Avenger of a Mistress: Tuzani (Calderon,
LOVE AFTER DEATH): of a wife: Macduff; of a
husband or lover: LA TOSCA (Sardou).
8. Avenger of Friends : SON POTEAU (Metenier) .
No symmetric example in the other sex.
9. Avenger of Compatriots: Xenocrite ridding
Cumes of the tyrant Aristodeme the Delicate,
Charlotte. Corday, Judith; see the following group,
also masculine examples under Tyrannicides in
Mars.
10. Judges or Enforcers of Justice: Nemesis
and her counterparts in various paganisms;
Aeschylus (Alfieri, TlMOLEON), the elder Brutus.
A parody, which is lacking in the preceding case,
is here sketched in Ibsen's Gregers Wefle (THE
WILD DUCK).
Ill THE STRICT AND SEVERE
1. Unmerciful Scolds: Grietje (Mitchell and
Leborne, THE ABSENT) insufficiently counterbalances
the physician Coitier (Delavigne, LOUIS
XI) or Brother Archangias (Zola, LA FAUTE DE
L'ABBE MOURET). These are parodied in
2. Grumblers and Faultfinders: Madame
Pernelle (Tartufe), Madame Grognac (Regnard,
LE DISTRAIT); Clistorel, that Coitier of comedy
(Regnard, LE LEGATAIRE), Geronte in LE JOUEUR,
THE PHILOSOPHER MARRIED (Destouches), Antiphon,
(Plautus, STICHUS), Simon, Demea, Demiphon,
and Menedemus in the works of Terence,
a specialist in this type.
3. THE MISANTHROPE of Molidre, purely
comic, derives from this class. There are no
feminine examples for this, nor for the more
serious case of Jacques (As YOU LIKE IT).
4. Misogynists: We have lost Menander's,
who was called Demyle. Lessing's MISOGYNIST
is Wumshoeter, La Fontaine's is Anselme (THE
ENCHANTED CUP). The corresponding feminine
man-hater is lacking and both masculine and
feminine are lacking in the tragic!
5. Puritans: Pastor Holm (Engel, ON THE
WATERS) ; Miss Stevens in Balzac.
6. Scathing Critics: TlMON OF ATHENS, the
Prophets, Juvenal, Leon Bloy; no feminine examples.
Cato and Jean-Jacques lead to
7. Malcontents: Prince Andrei (Tolstoi, WAR
AND PEACE), parodied in
8. The Morose and Churlish: Leroy (Janvier,
LES APPELEURS).
9. The Harsh and Resolute: Stockmann
(ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE), Burrhus (BRITANNICUS) ,
Michael Angelo; comic: William Thornwill in
THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD. Neither 6, 7 nor 8
has good feminine examples, nor has
10. The Sarcastic: Mauly in THE PLAIN
DEALER (Wycherly). Thersite la Brige, in Courteline,
leads to
11. The Litigious: Lanternois and Chiquinoux
in PANTAGRUEL, Protais (Mickiewicz, THADDEUS
SOPLITZA); the Countess de Pimbeche (LES
PLAIDEURS, Chicane (LUTRIN).
12. Vixens and Scolds : Xantippe; LaBruyeYe's
DISAGREEABLE MAN, his BUSYBODY and his
CRABBED MAN. In the tragic : Eleanor of Acquitaine,
Amate and Juno in the ILIAD. Here masculine
examples are lacking.
13. The Uneven-tempered: La Bruyere's
EUTICHRATE has as yet no worthy feminine. Nor
has the following:
14. The Headstrong: L'OPINIONATRE (Brueys),
nor
15. THE SINGULAR MAN (Balzac).
NEPTUNE
I THE GREEDY AND AVARICIOUS
1. The Selfish: Dr. Halpersohn (Balzac),
Madame Kriwdine (Mowinsky, THE BLOWS OF
FATE). More dramatic: Klechtch (Gorki, THE
LOWER DEPTHS), Madame Ambroise (Decameron
VIII, 1).
2. The Covetous: Louise of Savoy, MANETTE
SALOMON (Goncourt) ; Remonencq (COUSIN PONS).
Comic: the Fish-vendors of the Greek drama,
Rabelais' Dindenault.
3. Speculators, Stock-jobbers, etc.: TURCARET,
MERCADET, Isidor Lechat (Mirbeau, LES
AFFAIRES . . . ), Saccard (Zola, LA CURE,
L'ARGENT, etc. There are no feminine examples,
at least in literature. Nor are there for the
4. Unscrupulous Rascals: Kovacs (Zola, THE
LAND), Prince Basil (Tolstoi, WAR AND PEACE).
5. The Criminally Covetous: Tarpeia, Taillefer
in Balzac, Buteau (Zola, THE LAND), Dick
Hatteraick (Scott, GUY MANNERING). No comic
examples.
6. Cajolers of Parents or Rich Masters:
Madame Massin-Bevrault (URSULE MlROUET),
Francoise (A DOUBLE FAMILY), Voltore and
Corvino (Ben Jonson, VOLPONE).
7. Go-betweens and Procurers: the Lenons
of the Greco-Latin stage, Kaled (Chamfort, THE
SLAVE-DEALER), Bordenave (Zola, NANA),
MADAME CARDINAL (Halevy), MACETTE (Regnier).
8. Keepers of Gaming Houses: Feminine ex
amples are wanting in literature. Masculine:
the Croupier in THE EARTHEN CHARIOT (Sudraka),
Lie-chi-ki-ouen (THE STORY OF THE RIVER BANKS).
9. Keepers of Opium Dens: One feminine
example in THE MYSTERY OP EDWIN DROOD
(Dickens).
10. Saloon-keepers : No thorough study as yet.
11. Usurers: Madame la Ressource (Regnard,
LE JOUEUR), poorly counterbalances GOBSECK
and his twelve rivals of THE HUMAN COMEDY,
Shylock, Barrabas THE JEW OF MALTA (Marlowe).
12. Misers: Harpagon follows old precedents ;
Euclion (Plautus, AULULARIA), Isaac of York
Tragic: Koujin the Chinese MISER, GRANDET.
Feminine examples, either tragic or comic, are
mediocre.
13. Luxurious Misers: the Baroness in LE
CHEVALIER A LA MODE.
II THE DESPOTIC
1. Domestic Despots: GRANDET, whom we
have just noted in his principal aspect under
Misers; the president Walter (Schiller, CABAL
AND LOVE), Commander Siesi (Butti, THE TEMPEST),
Sorel (Stendhal, LE ROUGE ET LE NOIR);
Madame Josserand (POT-BOUILLE), Mistress Otter
(Ben Jonson, EPICOENE).
2. Imperious Despots: TURANDOT (Gozzi),
SAINT-CENDRE (Maindron).
3. Tyrannical Subordinates: Gessler (WILLIAM
TELL), Galerius (THE MARTYRS), Wolsey
(Calderon, THE SCHISM OF ENGLAND), Haman
(ESTHER). Comic: LE COMMISSAIRE and LE
GENDARME of Courteline; no feminine examples.
4. Tyrannical and Lustful Subordinates: the
Commissaire (Mirbeau, LE PORTEFEUILLE), LE
BON JUGE (Brisson). Tragic: Appius Claudius
of the innumerable VIRGINIAS, Giannetino Doria
(Schiller, FlESCO). No feminine examples in lit.
erature.
5. Despotic and Fanatical Subordinates:
Angelique Arnauld; Saul (the future St. Paul).
6. Fanatical and Intolerant Tyrants: Catherine
de Medicis (Marlowe, THE MASSACRE AT
PARIS), Pentheus (Euripides, BACCHAE), Philip II
in score of plays.
7. Tyrants: Catherine de Medicis after Balzac,
who paints her #s shrewd and unbelieving,
ATHALIE, Cleopatra (RODOGUNE); Bone in BARBARA
RADZIWILL, CAMBYSES (Preston), Atar
(Beaumarchais, TARARE), Grimoald (Corneille,
PERTHARITE), Al-Hassan (LALLA ROOKH), Diocletian
(Rotrou, SAINT-GENEST), Creon in the
Tragics, ATTILA (Herbert, Corneille, Werner,
Bornier), TAMERLANE (Marlowe), Napoleon.
8. Pitiless Parents: Acrisius, Orchame, Echete,
etc. No good feminine examples.
9. Evil Geniuses: monsters: Satan, Ahriman
and other synonyms, Adamastor (LUSIADE), Polyphemus
(ODYSSEY), Polemos (Aristophanes, THE
PEACE), the CYCLOPS (Euripides), the Old Man
of the Dovre (PEER GYNT); ogres: Morgane
(THE LOVE OF THE THREE ORANGES), L'lNTRUSE,
Death in the DANSES MACABRES.
10. Base Despots: Menelaus after Euripides,
Phocas (Corneille, HERACLIUS). Comic: Rabelais'
Grippeminaud. Feminine examples are
lacking. %
11. Voluptuous Tyrants; SEMIRAMIS (Crebillon),
Catherine II, Christina of Sweden; Nero,
Tiberius, Henry VIII. See also the Vicious under
Venus.
Ill THE AMBITIOUS
1. Ordinary Ambition : Few women: Madame
Rogron (Balzac, PIERRETTE); masculine: Rastignac,
THEONAS (La Bruyere), EUGENE ROUGON
(Zola). No comic examples.
2. The Ambitious Troubled in Mind, or
Already Guilty: Comic: Jules Hniot (Fdvre,
LES BEAUX MARIAGES), Morin (Janvier, PRESTIGE).
Tragic: Mouzon (Brieux, THE RED
ROBE), Henri Mauperin (the Goncourts), LlUTHONG-
PIN. No feminine examples either comic
or tragic.
3. Presumptuous Ambition: a comic example
may be found in Perrault's SOUHAITS RIDICULES;
tragic: Maurice Leon in LE LlVRE DU PETIT
GENDELETTRE. Feminine examples might be
found among our modern poetesses and artists.
4. Forceful Ambition: Solness THE MASTER
BUILDER (Ibsen), BORIS GODOUNOPF (Pushkin),
CAESAR (Plutarch, Mommsen).
5. Hard Ambition: Caesar in Lucan's PHARSALIA,
Jean de Giscale, Napoleon (P. Adam, LA
FORCE); Mesdames Thuillier and Camusotet de
Lenoncourt in Balzac are very inferior.
6. Unbecoming Ambition: the Byzantine
Placidia; Caesar after Suetonius, Shakespeare's
HENRY IV.
7. Infatuated by Ambition: LA MONTESPAN
(Rolland); Julien Sorel (LE ROUGE ET LE NOIR),
Ruggero Flamma (d'Annunzio, LA GLORIA).
8. Murderers through Ambition: MACBETH,
KING JOHN, Knut the Great, the uncle of HAMLET;
Agrippina, Lady Macbeth, Tullia the parricide.
9. Vague Comic Ambitions: JEROME PATUROT,
a general parody of this class.
MINERVA
I THE DARING AND ROMANTIC
1. Daring by Circumstance: Imogene (CYMBELINE),
Helena (ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL),
our Henri IV.
2. Greatly Daring Men: Hannibal, SERTORIUS
(Corneille), David, Cyrus, Ulysses, Wainamoinen
in the KALEVALA; no feminine equivalents.
3. Conspirators: Mile de Cinq-Cygne (Balzac,
A DARK AFFAIR), Procida (Delavigne, SICILIAN
VESPERS). Comic: Lysistrata and Praxagora
(Aristophanes, ASSEMBLY OF WOMEN), Gavard
(Zola, VENTflE DE PARIS), the pharmacist Don
Franco (Verga, I MALAVOGLIA).
4. Daring Conquerors: Charles VIII, the
young Cyrus of the ANABASIS, Brutus, legendary
founder of England (THE BRUT) and other great
colonizers, Dardanus, etc.
5. Knightly Adventurers: LOHENGRIN, Perseus,
St. George, AMADIS, ANTAR the Arab,
EVIRADNUS (Hugo), HUON (Wieland). A parody:
DON QUIXOTE. Feminine: the Valkyrie, THE
AMAZONS (Mazel), Jeanne d'Arc.
6. The Chevaleresque : tragic: ALEXANDRELE-
GRAND (Racine) , the hideous and good Tchang-
KOUE (THE VICTORY OVER DEMONS), La Fayette.
Comic: Pickwick (Dickens) and Mattheus (Erck
mann-Chatrian) belong rather to the Utopian
type of Apollo.
7. Explorers: Christopher Columbus, Livingstone,
Marco Polo, the Conquistadores, the heroes
of Jules Verne; Lady Hester Stanhope, Madame
Dieulafoy, etc., are inferior. In the comic there
are only masculine examples: GULLIVER, PETER
WILKINS.
8. Travellers: comic: CAPTAIN PAMPHILE
(Dumas), Evelpide (Aristophanes, THE BIRDS);
tragic: ROBINSON CRUSOE, JAMBULE, Nauplius
(Sophocles, THE NAVIGATIONS), Sindbad, WILHELM
MEISTER.
9. The Curious and Imprudent: Psyche, Eve,
Pandora, Elsa (LOHENGRIN), Bluebeard's wife
and, in the comic, Schirina (Gozzi, TURANDOT)
and L'lNDISCRETE (Destouches). Masculine,
tragic: Actaeon; comic: LE CURIEUX IMPERTINENT
(Destouches).
10. The Romantic: Jehan de Paris, Prince
Rodolphe (Sue, THE MYSTERIES OF PARIS),
Valentin (Sandeau, LA CHASSE 'AU ROMAN);
feminine, tragic: Ellida THE LADY FROM THE
SEA (Ibsen), Bettina von Arnim; no good comic
examples.
11. Daring in Love: MADEMOISELLE DE
MAUPIN (Gautier), CAPTAIN THERESE (Bisson
and Planquette), LA CAVALIERE (Jacques Richepin),
Jessica in THE MERCHANT OF VENICE.
There are no strictly corresponding masculine
types; they oscillate between 11 and
12. The Daring by Nature: D'Artagnan and
other heroes of cloak and sword; Hilda in THE
MASTER BUILDER.
II ADVENTURERS
1. Adventurers Painted by their Enemies:
the Conquistadores, Routiers, etc.
2. Adventurers by Nature: GIL BLAS, DON
PABLO DE SEGOVIA.
3. Corsairs, etc.: JEAN-BART (Haraucourt) ,
CAPTAIN PAUL (Dumas), Duryodhana (MAHABHARATA),
Roger de Flor, the CONDOTTIERI.
4. False Pretenders: Demetrius (Schiller,
Pushkin), the heroes of THE IMPERIAL DRAGON
(Judith Gautier), the false Smerdis, Naundorff.
No feminine examples.
5. Criminal Adventurers: Buridan (LA TOUR
DE NESLE), Cartouche, MOLL FLANDERS, (Defoe);
comic: Don Caesar de Bazan (RUY BLAS).
6. Mysterious Strangers: THE FLYING DUTCHMAN,
the Stranger in THE LADY FROM THE SEA
(Ibsen), the Byronic heroes, THE BLUE BIRD.
No feminine examples.
7. Intellectual Adventurers: Benvenuto Cellini,
Beaumarchais, Villon, the Trouvdres. No
feminine examples.
8. Plotters: Therese Humbert, LA FEMME
D'INTRIGUES (Dancourt), the Countess in DER
GROSSKOPHTA (Goethe); VOLPONE, ROBERT MACAIRE,
ZYGMUNT PODFILIPSKI (Wissenhoff).
9. Occultists: THE ALCHEMIST (Ben Jonson),
DER GROSSKOPHTA (Goethe), Chaffery (Wells,
LOVE AND MR. LEWISHAM), Dousterwivel (Scott,
THE ANTIQUARY) ; Mile Lenormand, Madame Fontaine
(THE HUMAN COMEDY).
10. Tragic Sorcerers: the heroes of LE LAC
NOIR (Bordeaux); LA SORCIERE and other repugnant
criminals.
11. Liars: LE MENTEUR (Corneille), MONSIEUR
DE CRAC (Harleville). No good tragic
masculine examples; no good comic feminine
examples. A sad feminine example is LA MENTEUSE
(Daudet).
Ill THE ELOQUENT
1. Imaginative Story-tellers: Ulysses (ODYSSEY),
the Hindu Vampire of the 25 TALES OF THE
VAMPIRE; Scheherezade. Tragic: the Author
. of the Parables.
2. The Loquacious: Oriane and Elise (Boursault,
MERCURE GALANT); the Marquis in THE
COUNTRY HOUSE (Dancourt), Dinacion (Plautus,
STICHUS).
3. Fluent and Ready Talkers: MADAME
ANGOT, MADAME SANS-GENE (Sardou); Molidre's
Dorine and Martine. No symmetric masculine
examples.
4. The Garrulous: Milpertius (Flers and
Caillavet, LE SIRE DE VERGY). No notable feminine
examples.
5. The Witty: Mercutio, Benedict; Rosalind,
Beatrice.
6. Jesters and Banterers: Regnard's Marine
and Lisette (LA SERENADE, LE DISTRAIT), Baron's
Marton tmd Marion (THE JEALOUS, THE
COQUETTE and THE SHAM PRUDE) ; the Satirics.
7. Mystificators and Mockers: Panurge
(PANTAGRUEL), Cabrion (MYSTERIES OF PARIS),
Truewit (Ben Jonson, (EPICOENE). Few women.
8. Brazen Boasters: Cleon (Aristophanes,
THE KNIGHTS), NUMA ROUMESTAN (Daudet),
RABAGAS (Sardou). No good feminine examples.
9. The Eloquent: John Chrysostom, a greater
than Demosthenes and Pericles. Feminine reductions:
Portia (MERCHANT OF VENICE), Sophia
(Beaumont and Fletcher, THE LITTLE FRENCH
LAWYER).
10. Adventurers Luring and Misleading by
their Language : Bassanio, Lemminkainen (KALEVALA)
; few women.
VENUS >
I THE SEDUCTIVE AND SEDUCING
1. Seductive and Persuasive Talkers: Leicester
(Schiller, MARY STUART).
2. Seduction and Base Conduct : IRIS (Pinero) ;
Paris (ILIAD), Egisthus in the Tragics, Mahomet
(Lope, CONQUEST OP GRANADA), Leon (MADAME
BOVARY). Comic: Agathon (Aristophanes, THE
FEASTS OF CERES AND PROSERPINE); no similar
satire in the feminine.
3. Ingenuous Impurity: Cherubin (MARRIAGE
OF FIGARO), TOM JONES (Fielding), LE PETIT AMI
(Leautaud); Nicette (LA CHERCHEUSE D'ESPRIT,
Favart).
4. Lofty Allurement: Aspasia, the future St.
Aglae of THE MARTYRS, Beatrice, Laura; St. John
the Evangelist.
5. The Pretentious: MADAME GlBOU and
various "snobs."
6. Tender Coquetry: Anne the wigmaker
(LUTRIN), Criseis (Regnard, DEMOCRITE). No
masculine examples.
7. Coquettes in Love: Titania (MIDSUMMER
NIGHT'S DREAM), Pyrrha (DEUCALION AND
PYRRHA, St. Foix), the Countess (Marivaux,
SURPRISES OF LOVE); masculine: Aubert (Adam
de la Halle, LE JEU DU BERGER ET DE LA BERGERE),
RoySre (Bernstein, JOUJOU), CLAVIGO (Goethe).
8. Coquettes par excellence: LA VIE DE
MARIANNE (Marivaux); the symmetric masculine
would necessarily be ridiculous.
9. Fickle Triflers: The traditional Marquis
of repertoire has no tragic side. Comic feminine
examples: Madame de Plouah (Donnay, LA
BASCULE); tragic: Ida de Barancy (Daudet,
JACK), Marie-Louise (Pouvillon, LE ROI DE ROME)
and Rostand (L'AlGLON).
10. The Immodest and Provocative: Rosette
(Gautier, MLLE DE MAUPINJ, many heroines of
Boccacio. A symmetric masculine is Butti's Aldo
(THE PATH OF PLEASURE).
11. Great Seducers: Don Juan (Tirso de
Molina and two score authors of various lands),
Lavedan's MARQUIS DE PRIOLA; Celimdne, Laura
(Lope de Vega, The Mill), Cleopatra, the Queen
of Sheba (Flaubert, Salomon).
12. Fops and Coxcombs: Armado (Shakespeare,
LOVE'S LABOR LOST), Kalb (Schiller, CABAL
AND LOVE), Dorante (Regnard, AlTENDEZ-MOI
SOUS L'ORME). Who can say that no feminine
cases are to be found?
13. Fatal Seductions: Helen (ILIAD), Mohini-
Maia (BHAGAVAD-GITA) , Delilah, CARMEN, LA
GlOCONDA (d'Annunzio). A single masculine
example, which, on the contrary, is comic: the
admirable SATYROS of Goethe.
14. Machiavellian Seducers: Lovelace, THE
LIBERTINE, Lou-tchai-long; VlTTORIA COROMBONA
(Webster), the Princess d'Eboli (Schiller, DON
CARLOS), Adelaide (Goethe, GOETZ).
II COURTESANS
1. Cold and Selfish: Sidonie, FROMONT JUNIOR
AND RlSLER SENIOR (Daudet), MADAME LUPAR
(Lemonnier), Ellen (Tolstoi, WAR AND PEACE).
2. Dangerous and Perfidious: Madame Marneffe
(COUSIN BETTE), Euphrasie (THE MAGIC
SKIN); masculine: Jupillon (GERMINIE LACERTEAUX).
3. Hypocritical Parasitic Men: ANDRfi TOURETTE
(Muhlfield), BEL AMI (Maupassant).
4. Profligate Girls : Dol Common (Ben Jonson,
THE ALCHEMIST), Anitra (PEER GYNT), Toudou
of the Turkish theatre; tragic: SALOME (Oscar
Wilde), Kundry (PARSIFAL), Circe (ODYSSEY),
Armide (JERUSALEM DELIVERED).
5. Powerful Courtesans: MADAME DU BARRY
(Belasco), Comnena (d'Annunzio, LA GLORIA),
NANA. Comic: THE GIRL FROM MAXIM'S
(Feydeau); masculine: the academician Alain
Valran (Berton, LA MARCHE A L'ETOILE) ; tragic:
Fabriani (MARIE TUDOR), Gaveston (Marlowe,
EDWARD II). A higher type: Madame de
Pompadour.
6. Courtesans of Antiquity: the Bacchae, etc.,
or, in the Orient, the Princesses of Love (Judith
Gautier) are related to
7. Humble, Tender or Innocent Girls: Maslova
(Tolstoi, RESURRECTION), Sonia (Dostoievsky,
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT), Petite-Secousse (Barres,
THE GARDEN OF BERENICE).
8. Amorous Courtesans: Esther van Gobseck
(HUMAN COMEDY), Goncourt's ELIZA, the courtesan
in THE EARTHEN CHARIOT (Sudraka).
9. Affectionate Girls: Riquette (Meilhac and
Halevy, MY COUSIN), THE LITTLE DUCHESS
(Temens), NELLY ROZIER (Bilhaud and Hennequin).
Ill THE Vicious
1. The Inhumanly Vicious: Pasiphae, Stellius,
Aristonyme of Ephesus (Plutarch, PARALLELS OF
HISTORY, an apocryphal work).
2. The Infatuated: ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA
(Shakespeare), the hero of VOLUPTE (Sainte-
Beuve), Frantz in GOETZ VON BERLICHINGEN.
3. Gross Libertines: Catherine II, George
Sand, Serenissime, ABBE PROUT (Ranson), the
Turkish Karaghuez, Priapus, etc.
4. Mature Sensualists: Lycemon (Longus,
DAPHNIS AND CHLOE), THE DUENNA (Sheridan),
Lady Bellaston (Fielding, TOM JONES), Marceline
(MARRIAGE OF FIGARO), Hulot (COUSIN BETTE),
Muffat (NANA).
5. The Disgraced and Degraded: Chevalier
des Grieux (MANON LESCAUT), ROLLA, TANNHAUSER.
6. Cruel Debauchees: Nero, Gilles de Retz,
Marquis de Sade, etc.; LUCRECE BORGIA (Hugo).
7. The Insatiable: Messalina, ISABEL OF
BAVARIA (Dumas), THEODORA.
8. Perfidious Debauchees: Nicele, Potiphar's
wife (Lope, LABORS OF JACOB), Anne (Maeterlinck,
PRINCESS MALEINE), PHAEDRA; Streckmann
(Hauptmann, ROSE BERNDT).
9. Impious Debauchees: Madame de Chantelouve
(Huysmans, LA-BAS); masculine examples,
such as the wicked Monks of the fables, are all
comic.
10. Pedantic Debauchees: Dr. Pangloss
(CANDIDE), ARISTOTE and VlRGILE in the two
mediaeval Lays.
11. The Abnormal: VAUTRIN (Balzac), Jupiter
(Marlowe, DlDO), EDWARD II (Marlowe);
comic: THE CYCLOPS (Euripides); feminine:
Paquita Valdes (Balzac), MLLE DE MAUPIN, etc.
12. Morphomaniacs and Opium-eaters:
Marthe (Luguet and Lauras, LA PlQURE), LELIE
(Willy).
13. Masochists and other Bizarre Cases:
NINI L'ASSOMMEUR (Maurice Bernhardt), Albert
(MLLE DE MAUPIN).
APOLLO
I THE IMPASSIONED
1 . Hysterical Temperaments : Adelaide Fouque
(Zola, Fortune of THE ROUGONS), GERMINIE
LACERTEUX (Goncourt) ; LE POSSEDE (Lemonnier).
2. The Incestuous: MYRRHA (Alfieri); Giovanni
(Ford, 'TIS PITY . . . ), Cenci (Shelley)
Antiochus (Shakespeare, PERICLES).
3. Adulterers: THERESE RAQUIN (Zola),
Clytemnestra (Aeschylus, AGAMEMNON).
4. Impassioned Profaners of Religion : Marthe
Rougon (Zola, CONQUETE DE PLASSANS), Henriette
(Ancey, CES MESSIEURS), Luther, etc.
5. Generous Sacrifices of Love: Fersen (Lenoir
and Lavedan, VARENNES), Lord Grenville (A
WOMAN OF THIRTY), THE SORCERESS (Sardou),
MADAME DE SOMMERVILLE (Sandeau).
6. Brisk Gallants: Henri IV. No symmetric
feminine.
7. Noble Hearts: TARARE (Beaumarchais),
(Severus (POLYEUCTE), Nearchus (Ford, THE
BROKEN HEART), Tancred (JERUSALEM DELIVERED),
Max (Schiller, WALLENSTEIN) ; Minna von
Barnhelm (Lessing). In comedy: Annette (Mowinsky,
BLOWS OF FATE), Ferdinand (Shakespeare,
THE TEMPEST) Tchao-ju-tcheou (THE PEARBLOSSOM,
and the majority of the classic "JEUNES
PREMIERS," a trifle vague, to be sure.
8. Sinners Redeemed by Love: MARION
DELORME, CAMILLE, Lady Milford (Schiller, CABAL
AND LOVE). No exact masculine equivalents.
9. Unfortunate in their Loves: Isis (Flaubert,
TEMPTATION OP ST. ANTHONY), Heloise;
Hialmar (PRINCESS MALEINE), APOLLO which
is remarkable in all his amours.
10. Proscribed Lovers: RHADAMISTE (Crebillon),
Almachilde (Alfieri, ROSAMONDE), HERNANI;
none feminine.
11. Forsaken or Forlorn Lovers: GRAZIELLA,
DIDO, Balzac's ARIANE, Viola (Shakespeare,
TWELFTH NIGHT); Antiochus (BERENICE).
12. Lovers of Married Women, not less Unfortunate:
WERTHER, ANTONY, TRISTAN, PELLEAS.
No good feminine equivalents.
II THE CHIMERICAL AND ILL-FATED
1. Vowed to Unhappiness for the Sake of
Love: Camille (HORACE), PRINCESS MALEINE
(Maeterlinck, DUCHESS D'AMALFl) ; Lope, Webster,
Bandello and others.
2. Shamed by their Children: Priam (ILIAD),
HECUBA (Euripides).
3. Victims: Cassandra (Aeschylus, AGAMEMNON),
KING LEAR, the old Moor in Schiller's
ROBBERS, CEDIPUS AT COLONUS, the little Prince
of Wales in Shakespeare's RICHARD III, TlNTAGILES
(Maeterlinck), Arthur (KING JOHN); see
others among the Weak under Diana.
4. The Sorrowful : THE MERCHANT OF VENICE,
Louis XIII, Madame du Deffant.
5. Victims of Courts: Lesurques (COURRIER
DE LYON), etc.
6. The Morbidly Scrupulous: HEAUTONTIMORUMENOS
(Terence). Feminine cases, tragic
cases and modern cases are lacking.
7. Vanquished by Weakness: ARMANCE
(Stendhal), Leonard (LUSIADS). No feminine
examples.
8. Tormented by an Obligatory Crime: ORESTES,
IDOMENEUS, JEPHTE.
9. Consequences of an Involuntary Sin:
Jocasta' (CEDIPUS THE KING), Manuel (Schiller,
THE BRIDE OF MESSINA).
10. Remorse: MANFRED, Amfortas (PARSIFAL)
; no feminine example.
11. Vanquished by Misery or Social Injustice:
Gervaise (L'ASSOMMOIR), La Bruydre's ORONTE;
the Morels in THE MYSTERIES OF PARIS, PHILOCTETES.
12. Pessimists: Buddha, ST. JOSAPHAT, TlMON
OF ATHENS (Shakespeare), Athos (THREE MUSKETEERS),
Schopenhauer. No good feminine examples.
13. The Unlucky: Comic: CRAINQUEBILLE
(Anatole France) , and the hero of LE PORTEFEUILLE
(Mirbeau). Tragic: JACK (Daudet), RUY BLAS;
Fantine in LES MlSERABLES.
14. Stricken by Madness: HERCULES FURENS,
ATHAMAS, PENTHEUS, AJAX, Charles VI; Ophelia,
Gretchen, ALICE (Bulwer-Lytton).
15. The Eccentric and Insane: the characters
of Hoffman; few feminine cases.
16. Chimerical Lovers: MODESTE MlGNON,
MADAME BOVARY, Mile de la Motte (Stendhal,
LE ROUGE ET LE NOIR), the Troubadours of LA
PRINCESSE LOINTAINE (Rostand). Comic: LES
ROMANESQUES (Rostand), the Count in THADDEUS
SOPLITZA, Andrason (Goethe, DER TRIUMPH DER
EMPFINDSAMKEIT).
17. Superstitious but not Religious: Matthew
Nikititch in RESURRECTION. There are no good
literary studies.
18. Utopians: Olga Kroutchinine (Bariatinsky,
THE SAND BANKS), Catherine Theot, the
Gnostics, Comtean Positivists, Fourrierists, Esperantists,
etc.; Sir Politic Would-be (Ben Jonson).
19. Sincere Occultists: Julie (St. Foix, THE
SYLPH), FRUITS of CULTURE (Tolstoi), all comic.
20. Cnimerical Philosophers: Socrates (Aristophanes,
THE CLOUDS), Louis LAMBERT. No
women.
21. Collectors and Statisticians: COUSIN PONS,
SYLVESTRE BONNARD (France); no good feminine
examples.
Ill THE INTELLECTUAL
1. Savants: Oldbuck THE ANTIQUARY (Scott) ;
Madame Dacier. Pedants: Madame du Chatelet;
MARGITES, Zoile and his follower Wolff,
Lessing's YOUNG SCHOLAR, Begriffenfeld (PEER
GYNT), Rondibilis (PANTAGRUEL) .
2. Sham Savants: Clarice (Gozzi, LOVES of
THE THREE ORANGES), Square (TOM JONES).
See also, under Neptune, Emperor Claude, Chilperic,
etc.
3. Pretentious Patrons of the Arts: Laurent
(Lavedan, THE MEDICIS); feminine examples are
lacking.
4. Enthusiastic Dilettantes: Maecenas, Prince
Touan (STORY OF THE RIVER BANKS), Louis II
of Bavaria. In literature, no feminine examples;
in history: Elizabeth, Christina, our Countess of
Beam.
5. Theorists of Art: Paolo Gambara and
Garangeot (HUMAN COMEDY) might also be
classed with either 3 or 4. No feminine examples.
6. Pedantic Scribblers: THE BLUE-STOCKINGS
(Byron); THE SYMBOLIST (Kozlowski), the Scholar
Limousin (PANTAGRUEL), d'Argenson (JACK).
7. Professional Pedants: our CORDONS BLEUS;
the Cooks of Greco-Latin comedy, the Utopian
pedicure Publicola Masson (HUMAN COMEDY),
Daudet's Delobelle.
8. Sham Intellectuals: LES PRfcCIEUSES RIDICULES,
FEMMES SAVANTES; Oronte in THE
MISANTHROPE.
9. Intellectual Natures: the young Pascal,
the Breton Jean Conan; Madame Leprince (LES
EMPLOYES); comic: PECUCHET.
10. Fatal Intellectuality: REMBRANDT (Dumur
and Josz), Poe, La Bruyere's ANTISTHENE and
THfeOBALDE, TASSO (Goethe).
11. Heroes of an Idea: CORINNE (Stael),
Marie Bashkirtseff, Flaubert, Palissy.
MERCURY
I THE SHREWD
1. Physical Adroitness: Arachne; no literary
examples in the feminine. Hamouman (RAMAYANA),
Puck (MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM), Passepartout
(Verne, AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY
DAYS).
2. Valets or Slaves: Grotesque: JODELET, the
Shakespearean Clowns, the Graciosos ; no feminine
examples. Sly: Scapin, Face (Ben Jonson, THE
ALCHEMIST) ; our soubrettes.
3. Mental adroitness: Rebecca (Lope, Story
of Jacob and Esau); Saccard (Zola, LA CUREE),
SHERLOCK HOLMES, Rastignac and Desroches
(THE HUMAN COMEDY).
4. The Subtle: Claude Vignon (HUMAN
COMEDY), Renan, Sainte-Beuve ; no very good
feminine examples in literature.
5. Wise Diplomats: Acomat (BAJAZET) ;
Madame de Lausac (Balzac, LA PAIX DU MENAGE),
Anne de ^eaujeu.
6. Keen Diplomats: Antonio (Goethe, TASSO).
7. Odious Diplomats: Felix (POLYEUCTE),
Metternich (Rostand, L'AlGLON), d'Albe (Schiller,
DON CARLOS), Talleyrand.
8. The Witty and Adaptable: Beaumarchais ;
LYSISTRATA.
9. Flattering Demagogues: Cleon (THE
KNIGHTS).
10. Courtiers: Commines (Delavigne, LOUIS
XI), THfiODOTE (La Bruydre), Agaz in the Persian
romance of AGAZ AND MAHMOUD, THE FLATTERER
(J. B. Rousseau). Not a feminine example.
1 1 . Too Crafty Counsellors : PHAEDRA ; Carlos
(Goethe, ClAVIGO).
12. The Cunning: Madame Bordin (BOUVARD
AND PECUCHET) ; the elder Fourchon (Balzac, THE
PEASANTS), the Host in THE MERRY WIVES OF
WINDSOR.
13. The Insinuating: Anna Mikhailovna
(Tolstoi, WAR AND PEACE) ; the Lupeaulx nephews
(THE HUMAN COMEDY).
14. Deceivers and Cheats: Philip (DECAMERON
VII, 5), the REYNARD of ^Esop and La Fontaine,
the Jackal of the PANCATANTRA.
15. The Artful: Melitta (Wildmann, DAUGHTERS
OF LYSANDER), the Buddhist nun in AGNIMITRA
AND MALAVIKA (Kalidasa) ; Chilon (Quo
Vadis?), Bdelycleon (Aristophanes, THE WASPS),
the vagabond Diccon in GAMMER GURTON'S
NEEDLE.
16. The Unscrupulous: Monticelse (Webster,
VlTTORIA COROMBONA), LOUIS XI (Mercier,
Delavigne, Paul Fort), Frederick the Great,
Tamerlane; in the feminine, but one aspect of
Catherine de Medicis.
II THE TRAITOROUS
1. Informers: . . . .
2. Spies (more honorable, on the whole):
Corentin, Bibi-Lupin, etc. (HUMAN COMEDY);
Mile Michonneau (from Balzac also).
3. Spies of War: Sinon, etc.
4. Traitors through Cupidity: Pylis of Troy;
Tarpeia, Eriphyle, Delilah. No good literary
studies in the masculine.
5. Treachery of Mean Natures: Pierrotin
(the little valet of Dassoucy); no good feminine
examples.
6. Traitors from Jealousy or Scorned Love:
Rosalie de Watteville (Balzac, ALBERT SAVARUS),
Eriphile (Iphigenie); Don Salluste (RUY BLAS),
Laffemas (MARION DELORME), Pharnaces
(MlTHRIDATE).
7. Revengeful Treachery: Guanhumara (BURGRAVES),
Ithamore (Marlowe, THE JEW OF
MALTA), lago (OTHELLO).
8. "Third Roles" in general: Feminine, tragic:
Matrena (THE POWER OF DARKNESS); comic:
SmeraJdine (Gozzi, THE GREEN BIRD), Tartagliona
(Gozzi, LOVES OF THE THREE ORANGES). Masculine,
tragic: Begearss (Beaumarchais, THE GUILTY
MOTHER), Catual (Camoens, THE LUSIADS),
Philippe-le-Bel, lachimo (CYMBELINE), Ganelon
(CHANSON DE ROLAND), Narcisse (BRITANNICUS) ,
Valin (RAMAYANA) ... I may be excused
for not lingering over the nuances of this repugnant
collection.
9. Traitors to Love: the Wife of Bisclavaret
(Marie de France), Delilah already cited; LE
VAINQUEUR (Brahm).
10. Ingrates: THE INGRATE (Destouches), the
minister Rassati-Rouchen (Bokhari, THE CROWN
OF KINGS); see others under Ceres.
11. Betrayers of Friends or Brothers: Salieri
(MOZART AND SALIERI, Pushkin), Judas, Franz
Moor (Schiller, THE ROBBERS), Piccolomini
WALLENSTEIN), Polymnestor (HECUBA); no good
feminine examples.
12. The Envious: Tcheladin (Wenzyk,
GLINSKI), Mortensgaard (Ibsen, ROSMERSHOLM) ;
comic: L'ENVIEUX (Destouches). No good
feminine examples.
Ill THE KNAVISH
1. Evil Speakers and Backbiters: Madame
Popinot (THE HUMAN COMEDY), De Chandour,
also from Balzac, Thersites (Homer and Shakespeare),
Palinure (Plautus, THE WEEVIL).
2. Calumniators: Basile (Beaumarchais), Don
Mendo (Alarcon, WALLS HAVE EARS), our official
historians, etc. Almost no feminine examples.
3. Degraded by Cupidity: Li-chi (THE ENEMY
CREDITOR), Cibot (COUSIN PONS); Truffaldin
(Gozzi, TURANDOT).
4. The Base and Mean: Jenkinson (VICAR OF
WAKEFIELD).
5. The Sinister: Europe (HUMAN COMEDY),
Tristan (Delavigne, LOUIS XI).
6. Knaves: MOLL FLANDERS; Gabrillon
(Dancourt, FEMME D' INTRIGUES), Agavos after
Homer; tragic: Jacqueline Collin (HUMAN
COMEDY).
7. Daring Rogues (see also Minerva): Tchinkhi
(THE ACCOMPLISHED WIFE), Don Gabriel de
Herrera (Tirso, THE PEASANT OF VALLECAS).
JUPITER
I THE ARROGANT AND INSOLENT
1. Parvenus: the SANNIONS (La Bruyere),
LE BOURGEOIS GENTILHOMME, Trimalcion (SATYRICON),
Crevel and Phileas Beauvisage in THE
HUMAN COMEDY; Zanthia (Massinger, THE SLAVE).
The feminine parvenue has been insufficiently
studied.
2. Pedants (the parvenus of the intellectual
life): our sham scientists, our "philosophers" of
the 18th century, which produced neither a
Descartes nor a Malebranche.
3. The Impious: FAUST (Lenau), LUCIFERO
(Butti) Campaneus (Aeschylus, SEVEN AGAINST
THEBES), Pentheus (Euripides, BACCHAE). No
feminine examples.
4. Vanity of Connections: Deborah (VlCAR
OF WAKEFIELD), Madame Muller (Shiller, CABAL
AND LOVE).
5. Naive Insolence: ERGASTI (La Bruyere),
THE CHURL (Plautus).
6. Insolent Beggars: Irus (ODYSSEY).
7. The Haughty and Harsh : Herodiade, Vashti,
(ESTHER), Madame de Montespan (Nota, DUCHESS
DE LA VALLIRE), Honoria (Massinger, THE PORTRAIT),
Edward III (Belloy, THE BURGHERS OF
CALAIS), Diocletian (Massinger, THE VIRGIN
MARTYR) ,Viriate (SERTORIUS).
8. The Proud: Niobe, Dryden's Indamora,
Almeria and Lyndaraxa (AURENG-ZEB, THE
EMPEROR OF INDIA, THE CONQUEST OF GRANADA),
Diana de Belflor (Lope, THE GARDENER'S DOG),
the Empress-mother in Werner's ATTILA, Paulo
(Tirso, DAMNED FOR LACK OP FAITH), Bertrand
de Rousillon (Boccacio, DECAMERON II, 8) Shakespeare,
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL), GLINSKI
(Wenzyk).
9. The Vain: Smeraldine (Gozzi, THE STAG
KING), Lisette de Caquerino (DECAMERON IV, 2).
10. Exaggerated Pretensions: CESAR BlROTTEAU,
Fungoso (Ben Jonson, EVERY MAN HIS
HUMOUR), THE FROG WHO WOULD IMITATE THE
Ox. No feminine examples.
11. Vain Imitators: THE JAY IN PEACOCK'S
PLUMAGE. Too few examples.
12. The Self-important: Mistress Western
(TOM JONES), JOSEPH PRUDHOMME (Monnier),
Worms-Clavelin (Anatole France), De Renal
(Stendhal, LE ROUGE ET LE NOIR), MONSIEUR
CARDINAL (Halevy), De Faverges (BOUVARD AND
PECUCHET).
II. THE HAUGHTY AND DIGNIFIED
1. Haughty by Nature: Duchess de Verneuil
(Balzac, MODESTE MlGNON) ; CORIOLANUS
(Plutarch, Shakespeare).
2. The Haughty and Ambitious: JULIUS
CAESAR (Shakespeare) ; SURENA (Corneille),
Honorie (Corneille, ATTILA), Zenobia.
3. Sorrowful Pride: Calantha (Ford, THE
BROKEN HEART), Cleora (Massinger, THE SLAVE),
Marie Antoinette before the tribunal.
4. Lofty Dignity: Cornelia, mother of the
Gracchi; LE PHILOSOPHE SANS LE SAVOIR.
5. Sham Distinction: Raoula (Nau, FORCE
ENNEMl). See the Pretentious under Venus.
6. Old Beaux of Fine Manners: Vigneraie
(Regnier, LES VACANCES D'UN JEUNE HOMME
SAGE). See Venus.
7. See others of the Proud under Mars.
Ill THE MAJESTIC AND PROTECTING
1. Royal Protectors: Ahasuerus (ESTHER),
Saladin (DECAMERON I, 3), Theseus of the Greek
Tragics and his son Demiphon (Euripides, HERACLIDES),
Pelasgos (Aeschylus, THE SUPPLIANTS),
Arthur (LAI DE LANVAL). No great feminine
examples.
2. Severe Majesty: WALLENSTEIN (Schiller),
Don Pedro (Calderon, THREE PUNISHMENTS IN
ONE).
3. Scorned and Buffeted Majesty: Noble
(REYNARD).
4. Majestic by Nature: the supreme Gods of
all the religions, and their maritime counterparts,
Neptune (^ENEID), ^Eolus (ODYSSEY), Noah or
the king-patriarch of the Chaldeans, Assyrians,
Chinese, Armenians, Iranians, Hindus, Germans,
Scandinavians, Arabs, etc., under his many names,
Moses, Pythagoras (Mazel, ARCHYTAS DE METAPONTE),
Vasco de Gama (LUSIADS); no feminine
examples.
5. Lofty Bearing: QUEEN OF THE OCCIDENT
(Chinese), Constantin (THE MARTYRS), Goethe,
Chateaubriand.
6. The Venerable: Dhiritarastra (MAHABHARATA),
Charles-Quint (Werner, LUTHER), Marquis
de Nangis and Monsieur de St. Vallier (Hugo,
MARION DELORME, LE Roi S'AMUSE).
7. The Calm: Madame Hedouin (Zola, POTBOUILLE),
the family aspect of Madame Lupar
(Lemonnier); WILLIAM TELL (Schiller).
8. The Merciful: No feminine examples. Masculine:
August (ClNNA), Joseph (Lope, LABORS
OF JACOB).
9. Generous Tenderness : Stratonica (Plutarch,
GENEROUS ACTS OF WOMEN), Sarah in the Bible;
no masculine examples.
10. The Hospitable: Thespius, Acestes
GENEID), Alcinous (ODYSSEY).
11. Protectors: the Manitous, Fetiches, Lares.
Modern allegorical figures (Republic, Fatherland,
Agriculture, Hygiene, etc.). Countess Mathilde,
benefactress of the Papacy; Lord Chang (Pl-PA-Kl).
12. Protection by the Weak: the aged Kin-lao
(STORY OF THE RIVER BANKS) . No great feminine
examples.
13. See others under the Chevaleresques of
Minerva.
CERES
I THE GENEROUS AND PRODIGAL
1. Benevolent Good-nature: Madame Hans
(THE ACCOMPLISHED SOUBRETTE) ; Hannon, Periplectomenes,
Lysimachus and Hegion (Plautus,
THE CARTHAGINIAN, THE BRAGGART SOLDIER,
THE MERCHANT, THE CAPTIVES), ABB CONSTANTIN
(Halevy).
2. The Charitable: Saints by the hundred,
Bhima (MAHABHARATA), Squire AUworthy (TOM
JONES), Omar Abd-el-Aziz (Bokhari, THE CROWN
OF KINGS), Tchang-touan (THE JADE SCEPTER);
Madame de la Chantrie (Balzac, THE OTHER
SIDE OF CONTEMPORARY HISTORY).
3. The Generous: Ceres ; Aristeus (GEORGICS) .
4. The Liberal: PLUTUS (Aristophanes);
Lakchmi (BHAGAVAD-GITA) .
5. The Sumptuous: Haroun-al-Raschid (THOUSAND
AND ONE NIGHTS), Hatim-tsai (KlTABADAB
ES SELATHIN), JEAN DE PARIS.
6. The Ostentatious: Few women; possibly
La Bruyere's ZENOBIE; his MAN OF STRANGE
COSTUMES, Brussac (Capus, LA BOURSE OU LA
VIE).
7. The Prodigal: Madame Ranevsky (Chekhov,
THE CHERRY ORCHARD), ^Esop's GRASSHOPPER,
La Bruydre's EGINE; Cleante (Molidre,
THE MISER), Phidippides (Aristophanes, THE
CLOUDS).
8. Gamesters: The heroines of Dancourt; LE
JOUEUR (Regnard), Sacco (Fiesco). Tragic:
several in THE LAND OF COCKAIGNE (Serao),
Diard (THE HUMAN COMEDY), Yudhistira (MAHABHARATA).
II THE GAY AND SENSUAL
1. The Gay: THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR,
Baubo, Mistress Waters (TOM JONES), Roger
Bontemps, LE ROI D'YVETOT, FANFAN-LA-TULIPE.
2. Optimists: BASILIDE (La Bruyere), THE
OPTIMIST (Collin d'Harleville). No notable feminine
cases.
3. Quiet Epicureans: Helvetius; no women.
4. Bohemians: Jerome Coignard (Anatole
France, AT THE SIGN OF THE REINE PEDAUQUE),
THE CHEVALIER DE GRAMMONT (Hamilton), the
heroes of Murger, Jean Frollo (NOTRE-DAME DE
PARIS), Ha-fei-kinh (THE GAGE OF LOVE), Giboyer
(LES EFFRONTES). No feminine examples.
5. Buffoons: the Fool in KING LEAR, Karpindala
(Rajacekhara, KARPAMANJARI), Wamba (Scott,
IVANHOE), Sancho Panza, KARADSCHOUSCHE the
Turkish hump-back, the Graciosos, Tabarin; no
good feminine examples.
6. Kindly Old People: Dicepolis (Aristophanes,
THE BIRDS), Calliphon (Plautus, PSEUDOLUS),
Chremes and Micion (Terence, HAUTONTIMORUMENOS,
THE ADELPHI), Lovewit (Ben Jonson,
THE ALCHEMIST); few feminine examples.
7. Jovial Drunkards: Pleydell (Scott, GUY
MANNERING), Bardolph and Sir Toby in Shakespeare,
Gnafron of the puppet-theatre, Silenus
(Euripides, CYCLOPS) ; the Bacchantes, Anais
(Berton and Simon, ZAZA), Aunt Caroline (Mandelstamm,
SUSANNAH).
8. Estimable Drunkards: DON PIER CARUSO
(Bracco).
9. Degraded by Drunkenness: Victorine the
ragpicker (Balzac, COMTE DE SALLENEUVE), and
Victoria the queen; Eilert Lovborg, Molvik and
Ulric Brendel (Ibsen, HEDDA GABLER, THE WILD
DUCK and ROSMERSHOLM) the Baron in THE
LOWER DEPTHS (Gorki), THEAGENE and THEODAS
(La BruyeYe), Santeul, Coupeau (Zola, L'ASSOMMOffi).
10. Sinister Drunkards: Emperor Wenceslaus,
Emeric Baracs (Geza Gardenyi, THE WINE),
Macquart (Zola, THE FORTUNE OF THE ROUGONS),
Agave (Euripides, BACCHANTES).
11. Drunken Rogues: Vermichel (Balzac, THE
PEASANTS), Champagne (Regnard, THE SERENADE)
; feminine examples are wanting.
12. Gluttons: Gargamelle (Rabelais), various
Ogresses (notably the stepmother of THE SLEEPING
BEAUTY), GARGANTUA, Falstaff (HENRY IV,
HENRY VI, MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR), the
antique Hercules and Mercurys, HANSWURST
(Goethe), Vitellius.
13. Gourmands and Epicures: Brillat-Savarin,
Rossini, HERMIPPE and PHILIPPE (La Bruydre).
No feminine examples.
14. Parasites: COUSIN PONS (the unique
sympathetic case), the Greek, Latin and Hindu
parasites, notably in THE EARTHEN CHARIOT,
Italians like Chiaco in the DECAMERON (IV, 8)
and Frenchmen like Des Rillettes (Courteline,
THE BOWLING-GREEN).
Ill THE VULGAR AND PRACTICAL
1. The Lazy: MONSIEUR BADIN (Courteline);
no fetninine examples.
2. Egoists: Madame de Grignan and a number
of the MONDAINES of Balzac (Baronnes
d'Aldrigger and du Chatelet, Countess de St.
Herem, etc.); the husband in Mirbeau's VlEUX
MENAGE, Berg (Tolstoi, WAR AND PEACE), GNATHON,
the opulent GlTON and the intestate
GERONTE (La Bruyere).
3. The Too Prudent: Chrysothemis (Sophocles,
ANTIGONE).
4. The Pusillanimous: Prusias (Corneille,
NlCOMEDE), Drances (^ENEID), said to be a portrait
of Cicero. Comic: Chrysale (FEMMES
SAVANTES) ; Lepic (J. Renard, POIL DECAROTTE).
No feminine examples.
5. The Craven: Calyphas (Marlowe, TAMERLANE).
Very few good studies.
6. Comic Poltroons: One side of Falstaff and
of the Greek Hermes, Dionysos (Aristophanes,
THE FROGS), John Daw (Ben Jonson, EPICOENE).
7. Moral Cowardice: Monsieur Lupar (Lemonnier,
MADAME LUPAR). No good feminine examples.
8. The Rustic and Simple: the comic Nurses
(ROMEO, THE LITTLE FRENCH LAWYER), masseuses,
etc.
9. The Vulgar-souled: Madame Lechat
(Mirbeau, LES AFFAIRES . . . ), ARTISTS'
WIVES (Daudet). Masculine examples are gayer:
Baron le Cogne (Monjoyeux) corresponding
rather to Ursule (CESAR BlROTTEAU), or to
Mesdames Verson and Lupin, also from Balzac.
10. The Squalid and Dirty: Agatha Picquetard
(HUMAN COMEDY), the Slave in THE CHAIN
(Menander), Dulcinea del Toboso (DON QUIXOTE),
the Marquis de Senantes (Hamilton, MEMOIRS OF
THE CHEVALIER DE GRAMMONT), Gryllus
(ODYSSEY).
11. The Stupid: Catoblepas (Flaubert, TEMPTATION
OF ST. ANTHONY). Almost no good literary
studies as yet.
12. Good Sense: Sarcey, Boileau, etc.
13. Vulgar Common Sense: Don Paolo
(Bracco, THE TRIUMPH), BOUVARD (Flaubert).
VULCAN
I THE EARNEST AND SERIOUS
1. Narrow Professionals: Duchess d'Olivares
(DON CARLOS) and other duennas (RUY BLAS,
HERNANI etc.) ; the prefect Julien Brignac (Brieux,
MATERNITY), J avert (LES MISERABLES), Fix
(AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS), our
categorical "scientific minds," Bridoie (PANTAGRUEL>.
2. The Clumsy and Awkward: Vanidre (THE
MAGIC SKIN); Clotilde de Grandlieu (SPLENDORS
AND MISERIES OF COURTESANS). Comic: our old
men on bicycles; the American woman in JE NE
SAIS QUOI (Croisset and Waleffe), and our provincials
aping Parisians.
3. The Resigned and Stoical : Zeno, Epictetus,
Job, Aritchandra, Hector (Hiade), Curiace
(HORACE), Oliver (CHANSON DE ROLAND), Jean
(Zola, THE DOWNFALL), Eustache de St. Pierre
(Belloy, BURGHERS OF CALAIS), the ascetics; St.
Felicite, the mother of the Maccabees, Epicharis,
Le6na, Veturia. No good literary examples in
the feminine.
4. The Just and Upright: Vera (RESURRECTION),
few other feminine examples; Bayard in
GASTON AND BAYARD (Belloy), the ugly Don
Juan (Alarcon, WALLS HAVE EARS), Godfrey de
Bouillon (JERUSALEM DELIVERED), Lakchmana
(RAMAYANA).
5. The Honest and Straightforward: Cornelia,
mother of VlTTORIA COROMBONA (Webster);
Abner (ATHALIE), the peasant SlE-JIN-KOUEI, a
score of fine figures in THE HUMAN COMEDY, not
long since taxed with immorality, Muller (Schiller,
CABAL AND LOVE), Thomas Mowbray (Shakespeare,
RICHARD II), BENOIT (AND BENOITE,
Haraucourt). Comic: the Spartans of the Greek
stage, our Alsatians.
6. The Inflexible: the honest and fierce Lise
Macquart of the VENTRE DE PARIS (Zola), the
elder Brutus, Timoleon (Massinger, THE SLAVE).
See also the Just under Juno.
7. The Austere and Correct: Bronte (d'Annunzio,
LA GLORIA), Casca (JULIUS CAESAR). Fewer
and fewer feminine examples.
8. The Grave and Laborious: RUTH, Martha
in the Gospels, Denise (Zola, L'OEUVRE), Giotto
as drawn by Boccacio (DECAMERON VI, 5),
Demosthenes.
9. The Pious and Honorable: Mesdames
Vaillant and Mathurine in Balzac; his Jean-Jules
Popinot, Washington, Louis XVI, Kruger.
10. Laborious Enthusiasts: Flaubert.
11. The Physically Strong, often Weak in
Character: Hercules, INGOMAR THE BARBARIAN
(Halm), Pierre (Tolstoi, WAR AND PEACE),
Samson, Ursus (QUO VADIS?). No very good
feminine examples.
II THE DELUDED AND DISCOURAGED
1. The Weak: Pierre (Tolstoi, POWER OF
DARKNESS), DRAYMAN HENSCHEL (Hauptmann).
No goc^d feminine examples.
2. The Forgiving: Richard (Daudet, THE
LITTLE PARISH), Maurice Darlay (Capus and
Arene, THE ADVERSARY): comic: BOUBOUROCHE
(Courteline). No notable feminine examples.
3. Victims of Perfidy: Alessandro Faro (Praga,
ALLELUIA), Risler in FROMONT JUNIOR AND RISLER
SENIOR (Daudet), Count de Restaud (Balzac,
GOBSECK, OLD GORIOT), BISCLAVARET (Marie de
France).
4. The Unloved: larbas (Marlowe, DIDO),
De Granville (HUMAN COMEDY), MISS HARRIETT
(Maupassant).
5. Ridiculous Young Wooers: the Bridegroom
in PEER GYNT, De Leon (Madame du Deffand) .
6. Ridiculous Old Wooers: Don Guritan
(RUY BLAS), Des Soupirs and Cheurpied (Dancourt,
COQUETTES' SUMMER), Ferdinand (Boursault,
THE LIVING CORPSE).
7. The Deceived: Chaumette (Marcelle
Tinayre, THE STORM BIRD), Theseus (PHAEDRA);
Marie Leczinska.
8. Deceived and Unlucky; the Freethinker
in THE TWO CONSCIENCES (Anthelme), the
Governor (Benavente, LA GOBERNADORA).
9. Deceived but Repellant: Marie-Therse
(Rolland, LA MONTESPAN).
10. Deceived Philosophers: Thoas, Laertes.
11. Cuckolds: Dandin, Charles Bovary, Menelaus
(Shakespeare, TROILUS AND CRESSIDA) , Amphitryon
(Plautus, Moliere, Dryden), Marcus Aurelius.
No good feminine types.
12. The Flouted and Derided: Strepsiades
(Aristophanes, THE CLOUDS), the People (Aristophanes,
THE KNIGHTS), Bruin in REYNARD,
"initiates" into secret societies.
13. Hypochondriacs: THE IMAGINARY INVALID
(Moliere), THE HYPOCHONDRIAC (J. B. Rousseau),
Morose (Ben Jonson, EPICOENE), IRENE (La
Bruyere) .
14. The Ingenuous, more touching, will be
classed with the Weak under Diana, with the
exception of
III THE UNSELFISH AND DEVOTED
1. The Ingenuously Unselfish: Marion Kolb
(LOST ILLUSIONS) and other old servants. Comic :
Mysis and Sophronia (Terence) , Crocotia, Staphyla
and Syra (Plautus), Smeraldine (Gozzi, THE
GREEN BIRD), Pantalon (Gozzi, THE RAVEN,
THE SERPENT WOMAN), Parmenon, Strasime,
Trachalion, Stratilex, Tyndarus, Messenion, Grumon,
Simon and Charion (Plautus), Geta (Terence,
ADELPHI), Gilotin (Boileau, LUTRIN), Gervais
(Mickiewicz, THADDEUS SOPLITZA).
2. purses and Foster-fathers: Masculine,
comic: Pantalon; tragic: Christemo, Jonathas
and Perez de Lagounia (Balzac, THE GIRL WITH
GOLDEN EYES, THE MAGIC SKIN, THE MARANAS),
Chao-Koung (841 A. C.) whose history is repeated
in that of Matsuo in THE VILLAGE SCHOOL (by
the Japanese Tokido Izuma). Feminine: Brangaene
(TRISTAN AND ISEULT), Euryclea (ODYSSEY),
Euriclea (Alfieri, MYRRHA), Gilissa (Aeschylus,
CHOEPHORES). Lycoris of Tarsus (APOLLONIUS
OF TYRE). And above all these, St. Joseph,
veritable emblem of the paternity which is not
physical, but an act of faith and love.
3. Unselfish Devotion: the Moujiks of Tolstoi,
Gurnemanz and Kurwenal (Wagner, PARSIFAL,
TRISTAN) ; Pauline (Shakespeare, WINTER'S TALE),
Coriola (Webster, DUCHESS OF AMALFI), and, in
the comic, Lisette (MARIVAUX, THE GAME OF
LOVE AND CHANCE), Suzanne (Beaumarchais,
THE GUILTY MOTHER).
4. Devotion to the Point of Sacrifice: the
servant Keou-tching-yu (THE MYSTERIOUS BOX),
Manon Godard (THE OTHER SIDE OF CONTEMPORARY
HISTORY), Paolo (Anne Radcliffe, THE
ITALIAN).
5. Devotion for Love of God: GENEVIEVE
(Lamartine), many servants misunderstood by
the masters who exploit and laugh at them, the
Sisters of Charity, missionaries, etc.
6. Artful Devotion: Francoise Cochet, Mesdames
Olivier and Gobain in THE HUMAN COMEDY;
the servant of Kouo-hoa in THE PLEDGED SLIPPER.
7. Important Guardians or Servitors : Heimdall
standing on the rainbow, Argus, Cerberus, Charon,
the Douvalapalaias ; Iris, Heve.
8. Devotion Freely Given: Kent (KING LEAR),
Achates (^NEID), Pisanio (CYMBELINE), Barach
called Hussan (Gozzi, TURANDOT), Aubrey (Beaumont
and Fletcher, ROLLO). These border upon
Friends (see Vesta); likewise upon the following:
9. Devotion because of an Unrealizable Love:
Quasimodo, Butscha (MODESTE MlGNON), Grantaire
(LES MlSERABLES); no feminine examples
which equal these.
i
10. Disciples (see also Vesta): the Friends of
Socrates, Mile de Gournay, Heloise, etc.
11. Zealots: Seide (Voltaire, MAHOMET),
Lelius (Lucan, PHARSALIA), Argillan (Tasso,
JERUSALEM DELIVERED), Ujitomo in THE SHOGUN
(Japanese), Ivan (De Maistre, PRISONERS OF THE
CAUCASUS); the female adorers of Robespierre.
Devotion here serves as a pretext for satisfying
the instinct of cruelty.
MARS
I MURDERERS AND ASSASSINS
1. Hired Murderers: Ithamore (Marlowe,
THE JEW OF MALTA), the Moor in FIESCO
(Schiller), Gubetta (Hugo, LUCRECE BORGIA),
Franchissini (Balzac, OLD GORIOT).
2. Bravos and Assassins: the Scythians in
Athens, Cossacks, Baxter (VlCAR OF WAKEFIELD),
etc.
3. Poisoners: the most notable cases are
feminine: the wife of the poet Lucretius, Mesdames
Lafarge and Syveton (in the opinions, perhaps
erroneous, of their contemporaries), La Brinvilliers,
Myrille (Prodrome, RHODANTHE AND DOSICLES).
4. Vindictive Murderers: Clytemnestra, the
Danaides, Yanetta (Brieux, THE RED ROBE),
the athlete Cleometes.
5. Slayers of Children: Medea, THYESTES
(Euripides, Seneca, Crebillon, etc.)
6. Fratricides and Parricides: Cain (GENESIS,
Byron, Gessner), Eteocles in a dozen famous
tragedies, Balthasar (Verhaeren, THE CLOISTER),
Albert (Pushkin, THE MISER BARON). No great
feminine examples.
7. Unconscious Murderers: Etienne Lantier
(Zola, LA BfiTE HUMAINE) ; the mythologic Scylla.
8. Cunning and Cynical Murderers: Joseph
(Mirbeau, JOURNAL D'UNE FEMME DE CHAMBRE),
Bernadille (Montfleury, LA FEMME JUGE ET
PARTEE). No women.
9. Murderers through Desire of Wealth and
Advancement: the young Tascheron (Balzac, A
COUNTRY PARSON) ; no feminine examples.
10. Murderous but Ridiculous Brigands:
Choppart, called the Amiable (THE COURIER OF
LYONS), Jean Hiroux. No feminine examples.
11. Sinister Brigands: Dubosc (COURIER OF
LYONS), Pilla Borsa (Marlowe, THE JEW OF
MALTA), Taillefer (HUMAN COMEDY), Kirata
(STORY OF THE TEN CHILDREN, by the Hindu
Dandin), Cartouche, Mandrin; no feminine examples.
12. Furious Bandits: Those who subdued
Hercules, Antiphates the cannibal (ODYSSEY),
Bhakas (MAHABHARATA), Polyphemus.
13. Cold-blooded Murderers: M. Thiers,
author of the greatest massacre in the history of
civil wars, Sylla, Marius, etc.
H THE VIOLENT AND REBELLIOUS
1. Rebels against the Law: THE ROBBERS
(Schiller), Pisander called Marullo THE SLAVE
(Massinger), Enrico (Tirso de Molina, DAMNED
FOR LACK OF FAITH), the savage and edifying
Eusebio (Calderon, DEVOTION TO THE CROSS),
FRA DlAVOLO, Ferrante Palla (Stendhal, CHARTREUSE
DE PARME). No good feminine examples
of this nature.
2. The Brutal and Primitive: Nimrod (GENESIS),
Matho (SALAMMB6), Zamolxis (Mazel, ARCHTAS
DE METAPONTE); LA FILLE SAUVAGE (Curel).
3. The Quarrelsome: Don Fernand the bully,
the only violent "character" in La Bruydre,
Bianchi (Balzac, THE MARANAS).
4. "Mousquetaires:" THE THREE MUSKETEERS
and similar heroes of cloak and sword.
5. Braggarts: Lamachus (Aristophanes, THE
ACHARNIANS), the MILES GLORIOSUS of Plautus,
Thrason (Terence, THE EUNUCH), Olibrius of
the MYSTERIES, the Rodomont of Boiardo and
Ariosto. No feminine examples.
6. Cruel Warriors: Han-yen-tcheo (THE
PAGODA OF HEAVEN), Duhcasana (MAHABHARATA),
Alarcon in JERUSALEM DELIVERED, Davout
(Tolstoi, WAR AND PEACE), THE AMAZONS (Mazel).
7. Savage Hunters: Nimrod again, ST. JULIAN
THE HOSPITALLER (Flaubert), the father in THE
FOSSILS (Curel), ESAU (Jehan Behourt), Hippolyte.
8. The Abusive: Vallenod (Stendhal, LE
ROUGE ET LE NOIR), our polemists who fancy
themselves Juvenals; the Elder Sister of the
fairy tale, from whose mouth came toads.
9. The Uncivil: THE PEASANT (Epicharmus) ,
L'OPINIONATRE (Brueys) ; Boileau's BRUSQUE
IMPERTINENTE" in the SATIRE ON WOMEN.
10. The Shrewish or Surly : Marianne (Grimm,
THE COLLIER OF CROYDON), Katherine (TAMING
OF THE SHREW); Ajax (Shakespeare, TROILUS
AND CRESSIDA), Cleomachus and Antemonides
(Plautus, THE BACCHAE, THE CARTHAGINIAN),
Squire Western (TOM JONES), Isegrim (Regard);
MLLE FIFI (Maupassant). Tragic: AJAX (Sophocles,
etc.), Cloten (Shakespeare, CYMBELINE),
HORACE (Corneille), Romulus, Sigismond (Calderon,
LIFE IS A DREAM), Philippe Brideau
(HUMAN COMEDY), Caliban (THE TEMPEST).
11. The Irascible: Achilles (ILIAD), HAKON
JARL (Oehlenschlager).
12. Ravishers: Besides the Violators (Venus),
the Turk Asena, Agassamenes, Boreas, the Centaurs,
those "picadors of antiquity."
13. The Impulsive: Mile Dumesnil; Varembaud
(Bruyerre, IN PEACE).
14. Revolutionaries by Temperament: The
Titans (Hesiod, THEOGONY), DANTON (Buchner,
Rolland, etc.), our Communards, Souvorine (Zola,
GERMINAL), our anarchists.
15. Tyrannicides: Harmodius, Aristogiton,
Caserio; CHARLOTTE CORDAY (Ponsard, Silvestre,
etc.). The Regicides might here be added.
Ill THE BOLD AND FEARLESS
s
1. Heroines of Sacred History: Jahel, Judith;
no equivalent masculine examples.
2. Patriot Heroes: Jeanne Hachette, Clelie,
the Amazons of Dahomey; NlCOMEDE, Gustav
Conrad (Mickiewicz, FEAST OF THE DEAD).
3. Intrepid Warriors: SIEGFRIED, RHESUS
(Euripides; ILIAD), Richard Coeur-de-lion, Hotspur
(Shakespeare, HENRY IV), THE ClD, CHARLES
XII, SlE-JIN-KOUEI (by the courtesan Tchangkoue-
pin), and all the Mars of all the cults.
4. Calm and Noble Courage: Porus (Racine,
ALEXANDRE-LE-GRAND), Xiphares (MITHRIDATE).
5. Moral Rebels: The Prophets, St. John the
Baptist; HEDDA GABLER (Ibsen), RENEE MAUPERIN
(Goncourt).
6. Enthusiasts: Nicolas Rostof (Tolstoi, WAR
AND PEACE), Silvere (Zola, FORTUNE OF THE
ROUGONS).
7. Ridiculous Enthusiasts: Bambaef (Tourgeneff,
SMOKE).
8. The Generous and Honest: Neoptolemes
(Sophocles, PHILOCTETES), Nemours (Delavigne,
LOUIS XI), BRITANNICUS, Seleucus (Corneille,
RODOGUNE), Hemon (Sophocles, ANTIGONE),
Antoninus (Massinger and Dekker, THE VIRGIN
MARTYR).
9. Comic Audacity: Cecile (Labiche, DEUX
TlMIDES). No masculine examples.
DIANA
I THE TENDER AND SENTIMENTAL
1. The Indiscreetly Sentimental : Dona Leonor
and Dona Mencia (Calderon), Dona Sol
(HERNANI), Schiller's MARY STUART and the
Queen in his DON CARLOS, Madame de Renal
(Stendhal, LE ROUGE ET LE NOIR). No good
masculine examples.
2. Easily Disposed to Follow the Beloved:
Abigail (Marlowe, THE JEW OF MALTA), Sieglinde
(Wagner, WALKtiRE), JULIET, THISBE; Fan in
THE SACRIFICE OF FAN (Kong-ta-yong), Calyste
du Guenic (Balzac).
3. The Tender: Jacqueline (Marivaux, SURPRISES
OF LOVE), Leonie (Regnard, THE SERENADE)
Glycere (Alciphron, EROTIC LETTERS), Charlotte
de Kergarouet (Balzac, BEATRIX), Lieou-mei
(Kiao-meng-fou, THE GAGE OF LOVE), Ingrid
(Ibsen, PEER GYNT).
4. Amorous Adolescents and Children: PETITCOEUR
(Jean Viollis), Georges (NANA), Justin
(MADAME BOVARY); Jeannine (Bataille, THE
ENCHANTMENT).
5. Passionate Friendships of Childhood and
Adolescence: not well studied as yet.
6. Lover-friends: Pauline (THE MAGIC SKIN);
no good masculine equivalents.
7. Pure Lovers: Jean-Paul Richter; Madame
Rcamier.
8. Tender Visionaries: Elsa (LOHENGRIN);
St. Francis of Assisi, Frederic in Picard's JERICHO.
9. The Silently Tender: Aude (CHANSON DE
ROLAND).
10. Tender Self-sacrifice: BERENICE (Racine;
Corneille), DUCHESS DE LA VALLIERE (Bulwer-
Lytton, Dumas, Nota, etc.); Attale (NlCOMEDE).
11. Humble Lovers: GERTRUDE (Bouchinot),
Cecile (Pharamond, MONSIEUR BONNET); no corresponding
masculine examples.
12. The Seduced and Betrayed: Fantine in
LES MlSERABLES, Annette (Brieux, MATERNITY),
Gretchen (FAUST), Marie Beaumarchais (Goethe,
CLAVIGO), Elvira (DON JUAN). Comic: Molidre's
Charlotte and Mathurine.
II THE WEAK
1. Tenderness to Terrible Rivals: lo (Aeschylus,
PROMETHEUS BOUND), Atalide (BAJAZET),
PRINCESS MALEINE (Maeterlinck), Romilde
(Alfieri, ROSAMONDE), Madame Elvsted (HEDDA
GABLER). No entirely symmetrical masculine
examples.
2. Beloved by Formidable Men: Junia
(BRITANNICUS), Palmire (MAHOMET), Esmeralda
(NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS), Fleur-de-Marie (MYSTERIES
OF PARIS).
3. Espoused by Imposing Men: Zenocrate
(Marlowe, TAMERLANE), Calphurnia (Shakespeare,
JULIUS CAESAR), Leonora (FIESCO). Parodies:
Madame Vital (Balzac, COMEDIENS SANS LE
SAVOIR), Gina (Ibsen, THE WILD DUCK). Masculine
parodies would be highly amusing.
4. Victims of Husbands: Desdemona
(OTHELLO) and, in another nuance, Jane Grey
(Webster and Dekker, SIR THOMAS WYAT),
MADAME DE CHAMBLAY (Dumas), the wife of the
Brigand in MAROUSSIA (Stahl). No symmetric
cases in the masculine.
5. Persecution by Rejected Suitors: CLARISSA
HARLOWE, the chaste Suzanne.
6. Pure and Gentle Victims: Iphigenia in a
dozen tragedies, Polyxena in as many more, the
daughter of JEPHTHA (Boyer, Buchanan) ; Balder.
7. Helpless Children or Young Girls: TlNTAGILES,
the LAMB of ^Esop and of Scripture,
ASTYANAX in half a dozen tragedies, CHILDREN
OF EDWARD (Delavigne), Arthur (Shakespeare,
KJNG JOHN), ladjnadatta (RAMAYANA), Andromeda.
8. Youthful Victims: ATYS (Quinault), Adonis,
Hyacinth, etc.
9. Victims of Social Corruption: MADAME
BAPTISTE (Maupassant).
10. Moral Weakness : Lisa Bolkousky (Tolstoi,
WAR AND PEACE), Madame Grandet (Balzac);
Wenceslas Steinbock (COUSIN BETTE), Carlo
(Praga, UNDINE), EDWARD II (Marlowe), RICHARD
II (Shakespeare), Jonathan (A. Gide, SAUL).
11. Weak Parents: the Miller (Pushkin,
ROUSSALKA), Juan Roxo (Lope de Vega, FONTOVEJUNE).
12. The Shy: Orlando (Shakespeare, As YOU
LIKE IT), LES DEUX TIMIDES (Labiche).
13. The Hesitant: L'lRRESOLU (Destouches),
L'lRRESOLU (Berr), L'lNDECIS (Fontainas).
14. Boobies: MONSIEUR MUSARD (Picard).
15. The Capricious: Emma Regoli (Torelli,
THE HUSBANDS), Angelique in ROLAND FURIEUX;
THE INCONSTANT (Collin d'Harleville), PROTEUS
and THE SPOILED CHILD (Destouches).
16. The Null and Banal: Many sketches in
THE HUMAN COMEDY.
17. Weak in Mind, but nevertheless superior:
ALICE (Bulwer-Lytton) ; THE IDIOT (Dostoievsky).
18. Madness: Ophelia (HAMLET) and Gretchen
(FAUST), the heroes of Poe; comic: Triboullet
(PANTAGRUEL), Androgyne (Ben Jonson, VOLPONE).
19. Artless Simpletons: Dame Pliant (Ben
Jonson, THE ALCHEMIST), the innumerable Jocrisses
and Janots, the Pierrots, the Shakespearean
Clowns, Wagner in Goethe's FAUST, the sceptic
Trouillogan so well scouted by our good Father
Rabelais, Voltaire's CANDIDE, Han in THE TRANSMIGRATION
OF YO-CHEO, the two Poirets in Balzac,
etc. We might here distinguish between (a) the
ordinary Artless Simpleton, (b) the Amorous
Simpleton, (c) the same married, before arriving
among the "Deceived," (d) the Poltroon, (e) the
Lofty Simpleton (bordering upon Jupiter), (f) the
Duped Simpleton, who belongs rather to Vulcan.
20. The Heedless and Absent-minded:
MENALQUE (La Bruyere), LE DISTRAIT (Regnard),
the Monk with the Pot of Meal (PANCATANTRA) .
No feminine examples.
21. The Ingenuously Sensible: the old Count
Rostof in WAR AND PEACE, LE JONGLEUR DE
NOTRE-DAME. Comic: the old Pantalon (Gozzi,
THE GREEN BIRD).
22. The Humble and Pathetic: the Child in
MOTHER AND CHILD (C. L. Philippe) ; CINDERELLA.
Ill THE PURE
s
1. Ingenues: Aminta (Tirso, THE SEDUCER
OF SEVILLE), Aute (Lope, DISCOVERY OF THE NEW
WORLD), Lelie (La Fontaine, THE ENCHANTED CUP.
2. Purity Despite Impure Environment:
YVETTE (Maupassant), seminarists in barracks,
a potential poet in a boarding-school, etc.
3. Purity of Soul Despite Physical Impurity:
Sonia (Dostoievsky, CRIME AND PUNISHMENT).
4. Purity Sweetened by Tenderness: Virginia
in PAUL AND VIRGINIA, Cymodocee in THE
MARTYRS, Miranda in THE TEMPEST, La Bruyere's
ARTEMIRE.
5. The Pure: ION (Euripides), Joas (ATHALIE),
Blanche (Huysmans, L'OBLAT), Dom Marc (Verhaeren,
THE CLOISTER).
6. The Simple: L'lNGENU (Voltaire), Friday
(ROBINSON CRUSOE).
7. The Upright: Gennaro and Didier (Hugo,
LUCRECE BORGIA, MARION DELORME), Rudenz
(WILLIAM TELL), TELEMAQUE (Fenelon); Blanche
of Castile, PIERRETTE (Balzac), Isabella (MEASURE
FOR MEASURE).
8. The Chaste: HlPPOLYTE (Euripides),
Joseph (PARSIFAL), St. Alexis, Daphne, Tarsia
(APOLLONIUS OF TYRE) ; Sts. Catherine and Claire,
and above all, of course, the Virgin Mother of
Christ.
Ill THE 369 UNPUBLISHED CHARACTERS
AND THEIR 154,980 VARIETIES
In the course of the preceding classification I
have noted the absence of 369 species of characters
in our literatures. 57 other species have been
but little studied. Among these 426 categories,
309 belong to the feminine, of which 155 are
comic and 154 tragic. 56 comic and 61 tragic
characters form the masculine contingent. Of
these 426 cases, if some are met with in fiction,
they are wanting in drama, or vice versa.
Now all, or nearly all, may be multiplied by
the 5 principal ages: Infancy, Adolescence,
Youth, Maturity, Old Age. It follows, in short,
that avarice, courage, love, ambition, etc., create,
as I have already said, types which differ widely
according as these passions reign in a child, in
an old man, in an old maid, in a young wife or
in a middle-aged man.
Let us take only the 369 cases entirely unused.
The 1845 varieties obtained by means of this
multiplication by 5 will be multiplied in turn
by the different social positions, for the ambition
of a CESAR BIROTTEAU, for example, shows necessarily
an aspect quite distinct from those offered
in MACBETH, or in a peasant anxious to extend
the boundaries of his field.
4$ince we can reckon 7 principal social classes
(Royalty, Aristocracy, Upper Middle-class, Lower
Middle-class, Working Class, Peasantry and Proletariat)
we have at the least 12,915 unpublished
types, and this by confining our multiplication
to the 369 cases entirely unused. Let us not
forget that not only among the 57 cases lightly
touched upon, but likewise among the cases
already analyzed in literature, some of the 4 or
5 ages (especially Infancy, Adolescence and Old
Age) and of the social ranks (notably the lowest)
have been for the most part neglected. So, after
a study of -these new lacunae, we can carry our
figure of 12,915 to 20, 30 or 40,000.
Let us keep for the present to our 12,915. In
our Classification we contented ourselves with
subdividing into 3 each of the 12 Divine Types,
considering them in relation to the two sexes, and
in both a tragic and a comic light. Each of these
sub-types in itself tends likewise, in curious
fashion, toward a new duodenary subdivision:
the Pious offered us 11 categories, the Faithful
14, the Jealous 12, etc. And I have rather
avoided than sought this perpetual grouping of
the Dozen, for I wished to leave the greatest
possible elasticity in the meshes of the net which
I was endeavoring to draw about Humanity.
"Very well," it may be said, "from your 369
unused types we see springing the 12,915 new
characters which you tell us to multiply by 12,
and thereby estimate 154,980 lacunae in our
literature. But tell us now how to fill them
these irritating lacunae! Tell us what to do,
direct our hands, if you can, in the drawing of
these 154,980 figures, or simply of these 12,915
characters, or even of the 369 unused types
which you have just pointed out!"
Nothing could please me better than such a
request.
In constituting each one of the characters
which are wanting in our literatures, it is necessary
first to establish its PROPORTIONS.
After which, it remains only to study the art
of presenting them, these proportions, by means
of the laws of LITERARY PERSPECTIVE. These
two studies the PROPORTIONS of the human
soul and PERSPECTIVE in matters of psychology
will form the objects of the two chapters
through which I now invite the reader to follow
me, before I bring this book to its conclusion.
A Treatise on the Proportions of
the Human Soul
CHAPTER XI
I THE COMPLETE SOUL
In each of us, it has been affirmed above, there
exists not simply one character, one individual,
one Self, nor a group of two or three, nor a
collectivist colony, as the more audacious psychologists
claim, but the sum of ALL human
souls, since the human soul is everywhere the
same and in every one complete.
But it has allowed itself not without struggles
to be to some extent enslaved, ankylosed:
1st : By EDUCATION, mental, moral and physical.
2nd: By verbal EQUIVOQUE, the base upon
which mythologists have raised their "etymological
system," which recalls to our minds that
Socrates likewise attributed all sins to misunderstanding,
to imperfect definitions.
3rd: By EXAMPLE, that vast "euhemerism"
which descends from the heights of legendary
history to the familiar relations of daily life.
Such are the three routes by which the Complete
Soul within every man is led to accept, to adopt
the special attitude to which his companions,
likewise artificially moulded, wish to reduce it,
in short, his "function." And by it the rest
of his free activity is suppressed. He has consented
to play a role, he has become an actor in
the human comedy, a hypocrite among hypocrites.
His soul, priestess of the PARTIAL HUMAN
TYPE which has been assigned to it, abjures for
the sake of this idol the totality which it rightly
should be, the image of God, which is infinite and
perfect. Henceforth, confused by the press of
unacknowledged revolts rising from the sacrificed
portions of its plenitude, it will deny, desperately
and boldly, the existence of this totality,
will endeavor "to conform its conduct to its
principles," becoming thus a double or multiple
being, contradictory at all points, instead of
remaining single, complete and harmonious.
So, into each of these fictions which constitute
a Character, we must descend. And in seeking
behind the PARTIAL HUMAN TYPE which has been
adopted, for the eleven others forced back into
shadow, we shall establish the "Proportions" of
the deformed and martyrized soul.
In even the noblest Olympians, these "proportions"
are in some degree imperfect. Among
those of Hellas, for example, no place is found
for tender purity. We must turn toward the
ancient India of the Aryans, or toward hyper
borean snows to find the image of innocence; in
Greece it is, so to speak, obliterated by the two
neighboring deities Ares and Hestia. From them,
in fact, Artemis-Hecate receives, on the one hand,
her cruelty and taste for violent exercises, and
on the other the shadow and parody of piety in
the sorceries of Thrace, while her Phcebean gentleness,
thus corrupted, does not shine in any myth
with the chaste light which our sentimentalism
vainly attributes to it. What a contrast dost
thou show us, O sainted Virgin of Judea!
Everywhere, in each religion, each nation,
each individual whom we shall find denying or
neglecting one of these twelve aspects and despising
it as "foreign," we shall, persevering, obtain
an acknowledgment of it. And it is the lacunae
thus filled which will illumine for us, by completing
it, the Individual, the Century, the People,
etc., heretofore false or illusory by role or by
custom, and for that reason superficially and ill
understood.
II FROM WITHOUT INWARD: POLITICS
AND PSYCHOLOGY: THEOPHRASTUS.
The Evolution of these divers aspects, these
divers instincts, these divers types through History
will explain for us their succession in the single
human heart.
Instead of proceeding, in short, from the latter,
invisible and consequently unknown, to the social
group, exterior, visible, tangible and known, as
our age is accustomed to do, is it not more in
accord with the scientific method of the age to
take the opposite course?
The idealist Plato, without doubt, powerfully
illuminated Politics by connecting the passions
with its diverse revolutions, showing in each
of the latter the consequence of one of the former,
and a Taine has in our own day made use, if not
of the idea, at least of the image, in explaining
the overthrow of the French social system. But
if, taking up the profound idea of the Greek
philosopher, we now examine it in an inverse
sense, which is to say scientifically, proceeding
from visible Politics to the mentality of the individual,
what a clearly personified and OBJECTIVATED
psychology will Politics incarnate for us !
This psychology history is daily broadening
and consolidating; we have begun to grasp the
rhythm of it through the ages (in the law of fourcentury
periods and of twelve generations). In
turn, epic or POETRY in general, if we may
believe Aristotle gives us its most durable
verities, as the DRAMA, with its action and mimicry,
presents its most perfect and tangible image,
according to the same author. We here catch
a glimpse of what PANTOMIME, which connects
these with the plastic arts, might become, were
it one day resuscitated from the pitiful shroud
of our Pierrots. The Roman alone perceived its
possibilities of greatness when he applied it not
only to the interpretation of Greek drama, but
to the events of his own civil life, which he knew
to be decisive in the history of the world.
Thus we emerge from the psychological mists
of philosophy to grasp at last concrete realities,
discarding the abstract phantoms of vague
' 'faculties" to seize upon actions and forces.
The irreconcilable (and hereditary) duality of
our nature, the four elements or "temperaments"
between which it continues to be torn,
their six possible combinations, identified with
the six directions in which our energy can move
within the three dimensions of space, finally
the twelve limits which are created when they
meet with the first obstacle which forces them
back, the twelve physiognomy-types which we
have re-encountered in all groupings, all these
we shall demand that every soul reveal and confess
to, in our conviction that every soul is identical
with the complete human soul, and that we
cannot know or account for the bases of its dominant
"character" without first having examined
it successively from these dozen angles.
We shall call to witness, in the first place, the
THEORISTS, eldest and most original of whom is
Theophrastus. A "character" in his collection
is usually preceded by a definition, in conformity
with the taste of his master Aristotle, and is
frequently summed up in a final formula.
Between these, it is sketched in traits whose
number varies from 6 to 16. There is, indeed,
but a single sketch in 6 traits, the TARDILY
EDUCATED, so little developed that Molidre could
draw from it only the first act of the BOURGEOIS
GENTILHOMME, and we find, on the other hand,
but two figures having 16 traits, the SHAMELESS
FELLOW and the BOOR, necessarily a little
heavy, while the sentences, purposely full of
repetitions, reach but 15 for the LOQUACIOUS.
If 8 strokes of the pencil were sufficient for the
DISCONTENTED, as for the SUSPICIOUS and the
IRRITATING MAN, 9 for the OSTENTATIOUS and
10 for the ZEALOUS, the PROUD and the RASCAL,
it is easily seen that, with its repetitions suppressed,
the DISSIMULATOR, and, with four of
his secondary traits readily reduced to two, the
SUPERSTITIOUS, both so admirable, will return
to the dozen ARfiTES under which are thus presented
to us twenty of these twenty-eight marvelous
"tanagras." Besides the two preceding,
five others consist of 11 traits each (the WHEEDLER,
the ABSENT-MINDED, the BRUTAL, the VAIN
GLORIOUS, the GRANDEE), three of 13 (the NEWSMONGER,
the SLOVEN, the BORE) and all the
rest of exactly 12 (the FLATTERER, the GARRULOUS,
the BOLDLY GREEDY, the NIGGARD, the MISER,
the SLANDERER and the COWARD.
Now these traits, these ARfiTES of a figurine,
may be themselves classed in 2 categories, which
is to say in a half-dozen couples; these in turn
can be re-divided, sometimes into two groups,
sometimes into three. The COWARD, for example,
is shown in 6 attitudes at sea and 6 in war. Or
again, we find in the ABSENT-MINDED, 3 groups
of 4 traits each, in themselves perfectly symmetric,
the 1st, 2nd, 5th and 10th traits, the
4th, 6th, llth and 12th, the 3rd, 7th, 8th and
9th. Of these three groups, the first shows the
personage IN THAT WHICH CONCERNS HIMSELF,
characterized here by a perpetual absence of
mind; the second tetrad describes him in the
ORDINARY RELATIONS of life; the third represents
him speaking and acting AS IF ON THE STAGE OF
A THEATRE: he appears at first LYRIC, then EPIC,
then DRAMATIC. And we need but study a little
the six facets thus coupled by each of these three
axes analogous to those which in Chapter VI
opposed the objective and possessive, active and
sensitive, intellectual and material to see appearing
at the 12 aretes the 12 eternal figures of the
gods.
Doubtless we have here exceeded altogether
the intention of the author (although a Greek),
but we perhaps exceed less the ideal' which he
instinctively pursued, just as it was unconsciously
pursued by the makers of Legend, full
of beautiful tales, naive and logical, whose episodes
have none the less been gathered by the
successors of Dupuis into a "solar myth" and
the twelve signs of the Zodiac!
Both Legend and Theophrastus were but obeying
an AESTHETIC INSTINCT which consists in
adaptation to the general rhythm of the universe;
this rhythm proceeds from the three dimensions
which oblige man, physical and moral, dynamic
man to distribute his energies in six directions,
until, forced back by conflicting energies, they
turn obliquely and are quickly condensed into
twelve laws, twelve "gods sprung from man."
We know that the 28 studies of Theophrastus
were drawn, as La Bruy&re says, "from the Ethics
and Morals of Aristotle," and that "the foundation
of the characters described therein comes
from the same source." The stream from that
source may be followed across the centuries,
from the day of the author of the POETICS to the
moment when, swollen by the tributaries which
from every direction have brought to it Christianity
with its amazing decrees, it became a
vast theological river carrying the sum of all
European moralities.
In each of the component items accorded by
St. Thomas Aquinas or his predecessors to a
vice, in each of the definitions or conclusions of
the Greek moralist and his successors
we may grasp a link of the DIDACTIC chain whereby
the monography of that vice is connected with
the whole of the general classification adopted
by the author; and each classification may be
brought back, as we have observed, to our tableau
of the Twelve Gods.
This didactic element comes finally to complete
the elements or tetrads, lyric, epic and
dramatic, above pointed out in each "figurine"
of character. In short, after having detached it
from one of the articles of moral theology, we
find that it exhibits, as we shall see, the 12 principal
traits.
Ill ST. BERNARD, ST. BENOIT AND SENECA:
THE VARIOUS LITERARY FORMS
Let us take from St. Bernard, for example,
the TREATISE ON THE DIFFERENT DEGREES OF
HUMILITY AND PRIDE. We find distributed in
3 groups the 12 steps by which the scholar descends
into Pride. He here retraces inversely precisely
the path by which he climbed the 12 degrees of
humility, according to the ride previously given
by St. Benoit. From the height to which the
great Patriarch led him with HUMILITY OF THE
EYES, the last of the Fathers shows him beginning
to descend by CURIOSITY OF MIND. LEVITY next
soon causes him to lose his CALM AND GENTLE
SPEECH. INAPPROPRIATE MIRTH will take from
him the benefit of INFREQUENT LAUGHTER.
BOASTFULNESS will destroy the work of SILENCE.
Individual PECULIARITY will make him detest the
COMMON RULE. ARROGANCE will replace the
HABIT OF ESTEEMING HIMSELF INFERIOR TO OTHERS,
a right and virtuous habit based upon a profound
reason, as may be seen by what was said
in Chapter II on THE IMITATION OF CHRIST.
Foolish PRESUMPTION triumphs over a wholesome
CONSCIOUSNESS OF HIS USELESSNESS. He UPHOLDS
HIS FAULTS like a poor pagan, instead of CANDIDLY
ACKNOWLEDGING EVEN HIS SINFUL
THOUGHTS. PRETENDED CONFESSION destroys
what edification he may have formerly given by
ENDURANCE IN THE SPIRIT OF OBEDIENCE. REBELLION
enters on the scene, in place of SUBMISSION
TO SUPERIORS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD; then follows
LIBERTY TO SIN, in place of SELF-DENIAL; finally,
at the bottom step, the HABIT OF SIN uproots the
CONSTANT FEAR OF GOD.
We may go now, if we wish, to the heart of the
details: the 12 types of Scholar, appearing on
the 12 steps of this ladder, may each be outlined
before the reader in a dozen traits, like the
Characters of Theophrastus.
Upon the step of ARROGANCE do we not see
standing out conspicuously the VAIN, whose
admirable portrait, by the same St. Bernard,
may here be quoted:
"The Vain Man is loud of voice or sulkily silent;
he is dissolute in joy, angry in grief; inwardly
dishonest and outwardly honest; he is stiff in his
demeanor, sharp in his responses; always ready
to attack, always weak in defense; he yields
with bad grace; he is importunate to obtain his
desires; he does not do those things which he can
and should do, but he is quick to attempt what
he cannot and should not do." (DE MOR.
XXXIV, 16).
And we could, without straining a point, reduce
to the same "Proportions" the portraits which
fill the writings of orators and moralists in all
literatures. Constantly does the effort to perfect
and condense one of these portraits lead
toward these duodenary Proportions.
Flaubert, that master of pure prose, observed
likewise that the labor of the stylist involuntarily
inclines the rhythm of a phrase toward the duodenary
proportions of the alexandrine. So innately
is this rhythm a part of us !
Need we recall the 12 visible signs of an angry
man, according to Seneca (DE IRA) ?
"His eyes flash and glitter; his face reddens;
his heart beats rapidly; his lips tremble; his
teeth grind; his hair bristles; he breathes hard
and with a hiss; his joints crack as he clenches
his hands; he growls or bellows; his hasty words
interrupt each other; he beats his hands together;
he stamps his foot," and, as the author summarizes
him in a final 13th trait, "all his agitated
being exhales menace."
But why enlarge further upon the THEORISTS?
It is the same with the HISTORIANS, although here
the painter inscribes a famous name under his
study. That of Seneca, above quoted, might be
entitled NERO.
We find simply that in reality the theoretical
essays upon this or that passion, vice or virtue
NEVER HAVE THE ABSTRACT CHARACTER they
are assumed to have. Each of these essays
represents a human being, duly constituted, a
little anthropomorphic god (there are no others,
since man, according to the Bible, is theomorphic),
a demon or an angel, as the Middle Ages
would have termed him, a personage necessarily
equipped with all his organs.
The Theatre of the subtile Middle Ages, with
its Moralities especially, abounds in such little
gods; despite their allegorical names they gambol
about, and in their animation display more real
life than has remained in their descendants of
the drama of Character, of Manners or of Plot.
FALSE-SEEMING here acts and speaks with another
verisimilitude, another resemblance to what we
see around us, than do the characters of Messieurs
C., D., L. etc.; mediaeval VAIN-GLORY is far
more a human being, walking, rejoicing, eating,
sleeping, than the GLORIEUX of Destouches,
adorned with twenty titles of nobility, yet is
not the comedy of Character superior in this
respect to that of Manners or of Plot?
If, instead of vaguely designating Don Fernand
as his AMBITIOUS, Destouches had transferred
his characteristic signs to this or that favored
celebrity, he would have written a so-called
HISTORIC DRAMA. In the majority of the
"Characters" of the moralist La Bruy&re, we can
recognize the figures drawn in the various Memoirs
of the period; Memoirs which, in restoring them
to their civil state, make of them also historic
studies. So purely imaginary is the distinction
between the art of the MORALIST and that of the
HISTORIAN!
Still more do the EPIC POET and the NOVELIST,
more generous in their types, mingle with the
moralists. The LYRIC POET in turn whether
he shows us one of the convulsions of his own
soul, or the reflection therein of a light from this
or that face of the external world does he not
also give us the "document" of an attitude, of
one of the ARfiTES of the Self everywhere identical,
just as the epic poet, the novelist, the theologian,
the historian and the moralist have already done?
Perspective in Matters of
Psychology
CHAPTER XII
I COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE
Certainly it is interesting, after having contemplated
the elements of a character at their
crisis in the LYRIC, and after having studied its
analysis by the THEORISTS of the soul, moralists,
technicians, casuists, to follow, through history,
epic, romance, in a word, through NARRATIVE,
the fashion in which these elements evolve,
in which they succeed one another, and to consider
them from the point of view of unilinear
time.
Two characters arranged in parallel, according
to the manner of Plutarch, whether characters
of individuals or of peoples, even three, four,
five or more, whose course we observe synchronically,
may form not merely a historian's diversion,
but may inaugurate a science as yet unstudied
and fecund: that of Comparative Biography.
Will it not be interesting to grasp them, these
characters, in an epitome which permits us to
perceive their reciprocal action in the group with
which they are intertwined, and that of their
constitutive elements upon each other, thanks to
certain actions?
It is this which is achieved, with rigorous economy,
in Comedy. From Aristophanes the art
springs complete. His Socrates in THE CLOUDS,
inspired apparently by the Homeric MARGITES
is shown us in 12 attitudes, farcical, odious or
absurd, corresponding to exactly as many episodes.
It is these episodes which, enriched by
what we call a Prologue and by the songs of the
Chorus, form the whole of the play.
Now, of these 12 attitudes, 4 are of ACTION
and FEELING, 4 of IDEALISM and REALISM, 4 of
APPEAKANCE and POSSESSIVITY, which corresponds,
as we perceive, to our distribution within
the 3 dimensions of space of the 6 directions of
our energy.
The 4 scenes of ACTION-FEELING are: the
impious teaching of the Philosopher (Socrates
here being but the incarnation of all novel philosophy
in the eyes of Aristophanes) ; his communication
of Wrong Reasoning to the young man
(who, it may be remembered, was brought by his
father with a view to obtaining from the Master
such sophisms as might permit them to evade
their Debts and escape the irritating Duties which
were knocking at the family door) ; the inevitable
consequence, the son ill-treating the father; the
avenging reaction postponed more or less, but
inevitable, the father of the family finally enlightened
and attacking the Philosopher.
The 4 scenes of IDEALISM-REALISM, of grotesque
contrasts, show us: the Philosopher suspended
"between earth and heaven" in a basket (the
same which we encounter again in the famous
LAI DE VlRGILE); then singing of the Clouds, his
cousins in metaphysics and the very worthy
emblems of ephemeral systems; the meditative
concentration . . . under the coverlet where
the unfortunate Strepsiade feels himself being
devoured by bugs; the scandalous triumph of
Wrong.
If these scenes describe the Master himself,
those which remain will tell us of his RELATIONS
WITH OTHERS, his teachings: the preposterous
inventions of the School; the bizarre posture of
the Disciples bent earthward; the lesson in Philology
(remembered, like Theophrastus' description
of the TARDILY EDUCATED, by MolieYe when
writing his BOURGEOIS GENTILHOMME) ; and,
above all, the principles of an "amoralism" and
of a "struggle for life," eternally modern.
Tartufe, more sinister, exhibits the hypocrisy
of the "roundheads," his contemporaries.
4 attitudes present him to us IN PERSON: at
church, multiplying his genuflections and signs
of the cross ; then his theatrical and formal entrance
into the action; then bashful and awkward before
Dorine, and lastly avidly usurping the property
of others.
4 scenes show the INFLUENCE of his deceptive
words on OTHERS: the first recounting the amazing
omnipotence of this mere layman; the second,
the foolish infatuation of Orgon for a man possessed
of no authority except through the blindness
of his victim; in the third, that of the "Et
Tartufe," we can put our finger on that colossal
naivete, almost amorous; another scene reminds
us of it sadly and ironically in the belated obstinacy
of Madame Pernelle.
4 scenes show Tartufe occupied in PURE ACTION :
his Declaration to Elmire; the Equivoque by
which he afterward withdraws himself so easily
from the affairs; the Confession which he makes
in Act IV of his true nature; and the final COUP
DE THEATRE when he expels from the house its
legitimate proprietors.
The impious DON JUAN is a very brother to
him; as pictured originally by Tirso de Molina;
a hypocrite and libertine, who likewise mocks
at Heaven and invokes it brazenly. Despite the
golden and rose-colored vestures which we have
since bestowed upon him, he still retains his Satanic
physiognomy.
In Molidre's portrait Don Juan ventures his
own Apology. His attitude toward the creditors
further differentiates him; he is a rich man, or at
least a man of credit, of reputation; he is a man of
today, while Tartufe is but a man of tomorrow.
The evil which Tartufe does to people of property
Don Juan does to the poor; his filial disrespect
lastly completes, with a 4th trait, his ORDINARY
RELATIONS WITH OTHERS, of which the rupture
with Elvire is also a part.
The 4 ARfiTES which outline his PERSONAL
PHYSIOGNOMY may be thus enumerated: his easy
conquests of Act II and his scepticism so clearly
proclaimed in Act III; then his libertinism in its
two aspects; then his attitude toward the weeping
Elvire, and his blasphemous parody of repentance.
The 4 parts most essential to the ACTION-SENTIMENT
seem to be: the warning felt by the poor
woman; the invitation to the Commander; the
fanfaronnade of the visit to him; the final and
damnatory obstinacy at the moment of the
avenging catastrophe.
In reality this GRAND SEIGNEUR, whom it
is as ridiculous for our comedians to represent
in a sympathetic light as it is to show the MISANTHROPE
pathetically this lofty personage
gives forth, as it were, in the world of deceit, the
highest note of a scale which is run by Goupil in
the ROMANS DE RENARD; it descends by Tartufe
and Socrates already cited, then by THE ALCHEMIST
of Jonson to the hero of the FOURBERIES DE
SCAPIN.
Although this farce has but two acts, Scapin
therein has time to make his Apology (Act II,
scene 3) like Don Juan. The 4 scenes of his
INTRIGUE are outlined by: the story of the pretended
forced Marriage; the bargaining for the
sum destined to break it off; the story of the
Galley; and the old parade of the Sack and the
blows of the Stick.
Scapin is especially CHARACTERIZED by: the
larcenies which he himself acknowledges; the
boldness with which he begs through Leandre
his indispensable support; his feigned reluctance
to accept the money which Argante confides to
him, and his ardor in vengeance.
The 4 last and secondary traits are sketched:
in the stratagem of Sylvestre, disguised by him
as a bravo; in that which procures him his final
pardon; in his malice, and in that repetition of
the paternal return which, taken from Plautus,
furnished Shakespeare with so good a theme for
the Falstaff of his HENRY IV.
In the latter drama Falstaff is likewise portrayed
in 12 essential lines: a Portrait by others
and an Apology by himself, corresponding t
the definition and the conclusion which frame
the figures of Theophrastus are added to the
rest, as in Moliere: the Apology in the scene to
which I have just referred, and the Portrait
under the form, so original, of contumely. (Act I.)
Here is the first tetrade of the 12 essential
lines: the amusing heaviness of the hero flying
from the ambuscade prepared for him by the
princely joker; his adulation when he sees, later,
his boastings belied; the gluttony of which the
note found in his pocket gives evidence; and, on
the field of battle, his superb tirade against honor.
The second tetrad consists of: his cries which
make his whole part in the ambuscade ; the notched
sword and the false wounds he exhibits in support
of his lying narrative; his brazen reproaches to
the hostess, his creditor, and his rhodomontade
belied by Prince Henry.
Lastly, in the tetrad of ACTION-SENTIMENT,
we have: the haste with which he recruits his
calamitous regiment; his conduct on the field of
battle; the fashion in which he there simulates
death, and that in which he claims the corpse of
the heroic Hotspur.
We have come to the play of TWO chief characters,
the dimensions of Shakespearean drama
permitting, in effect, their development at the
same time. Prince Henry is sketched in the
Portrait-monologue of Act I, pendant to the
character of Falstaff, almost as a Dionysos beside
his father Silenus.
Then we see him in turn: exhibiting his familiarity
with the porters at the tavern; mirthfully
mimicking the reproaches which he expects from
his father; dignified before the sheriff, and finally
rebuking his ex-companion Falstaff, thrust behind
him with all his past youthful folly. Such are
his RELATIONS WITH OTHERS.
His INDIVIDUALITY shows itself from the beginning:
a joker at the expense of Francis as of
Falstaff; haunted, at bottom, by the image of
Hotspur; later, superior to the vain-glory which
he abandons to the Falstaffian "bluff;" and,
beside this, full of fraternal delicacy.
The ACTION finally projects him: suddenly great
before his father; brave and happy on the field
of battle; obstinately gay despite his wounds,
and piously affected before Hotspur, slain by him.
Moliere, on the contrary, in default of the
same dimensions, could not similarly detail C6Hmdne
beside the MISANTHROPE.
The latter, however, reveals himself by: his
reproaches to Philinte; his attitude toward the
sonnet of Oronte; his attacks on worldly scandal,
and his obstinacy at the time of the intervention
of the marshals.
Coming to words with the prudish Arsinoe,
blundering and maladroit toward Eliante (IV, 2) ;
he is rejected by the former, whom he has wounded
(V, 6), and fails equally with the latter (V, 8);
all secondary actions and intended to portray
his ORDINARY RELATIONS WITH OTHERS.
The PRINCIPAL ACTION consists of: his quarrels
with Celimne (II, 1); his jealousy conflicting
with her coquetry (IV, 3); putting her to the
necessity of speaking out (V, 2), and exhibiting
toward her all the failings of his character, too
stiff and unyielding.
But the Coquette, having been once described
by him (II, 1), is but half-developed -in 6 scenes
instead of 12: that of the Portraits (II, 4) and
that in which she caricatures Arsinoe (III, 3);
that in which she contends with the said Arsinoe
(III, 5) and that in which she teases Alceste
(IV, 3) ; that in which she tries to steal away (V, 2)
and that in which, pardoned, she still remains
the coquette she has always been and will always
be (V, 7).
We have one Sketch of her by others (I, 1) and
her Apology by herself (III, 5).
The narrowness of the Classic framework
explains why the characters surrounding the
Protagonist are so little amplified; the breadth
of the Romantic frame, on the contrary, demands
that the number of chief characters be increased,
to avoid emptiness. For lack of an equal to his
ALCHEMIST, Ben Jonson permits him to drift
somewhat uncertainly, after the Portrait contumely
of the beginning. Nevertheless the essential
elements are re-encountered :
The rogue beseeching his innocent victim, to
dupe her; his role of go-between; his boldness in
defying the Spaniard in English and his feigned
divination of the name of Dame Pliant complete
the first drawing of our Cunning character.
After which, rival of his accomplice (the disguised
domestic Face) with the poor lady, he
attempts, having been unable to obtain her
himself, to make her sully herself; he flouts the
candid "godchild of the fairy" and exploits him,
or designs to make use of the prostitute Dol, his
instrument. Thus are presented the 4 outlines
of the occultist in his CONDUCT TOWARD HIS
DUPES AND HIS "BROTHERS."
The ACTION may be summarized in a quaternary
not less traditional : imposing, for the promised
success of the great work, a condition
which the neophyte cannot fulfill (drolly enough,
it is chastity which is here in question); bringing
the property with a view to "transmuting" it;
selling to the solemn Anabaptist rascals, more
scrupulous in words than in conscience, the said
property, and finally preparing the general pillage,
in which his professional vices cause him to be taken.
The relative lack of consistency with which
the rest of the characters may be charged (Dol
Common, Face, Lovewit, etc.), and which we
re-encounter today upon the modern stage, where,
likewise, attempts are made to disguise it by
frenzied action (romanticism), or, with less success,
by the idle talk and "MOTS" of modernism,
this lack might easily be found even in the Protagonist,
in default of a study sufficiently disclosing
to the author his various principal aspects.
Thus LE GLORIEUX, by Destouches, repeats,
even to satiety, the same effects, almost all too
weak. His Portrait drags through three successive
scenes (Act I, sc. 2, 3, 4) independently of
his sensational entrance (II, 10), a reminiscence
of TARTUFE.
The letter which exasperates his crisis of vanity
(II, 12); the pompous enumeration of his properties
aind distinctions (IV, 1) ; his shame of his
father (IV, 8) and the nomenclature of his titles
in the contract PORTRAY him well enough.
But his imprudent contempt for Lisette; her
advice (a weak feature) ; the disdain which Philinte
inspires in him, and the public denial of his father
merely add heaviness to the piece, and we seem
to feel the glacial breath of the THESIS-DRAMA.
As to the PURE ACTION, it is too long; the pretensions
of the GLORIEUX to Isabelle, repeated
three times (II, 11 and 13; III, 1); his haughty
bearing toward her, his blundering with his
partisan, his renewed blundering with Lisinon;
the final maladroitness by which he alienates
Isabelle, and especially his conversation, false
in tone and, to tell the truth, "theatrical."
Is there need to cite other proofs of duodenary
Perspective? Shall we enumerate the 12 fiTOURDERIES
of L'ETOURDI? These consist of:
1st, breaking off the apologue of Mascarille in
presence of Truffaldin; restitution of Anselme's
purse; his amnesia when disguised as an Armenian,
and his amorous abstraction even at the table
of Truffaldin.
2nd, preventing Anselme's buying of Celie;
the defense of her reputation, very MAL A PROPOS,
against the suspicions of his rival Leandre, which
Mascarille had already almost turned aside; denying
that the latter had quit his service, and delivering
Andrds, opportunely arrested.
3rd, the inopportune invention of a pretended
father of Celie, directing Truffaldin to guard her,
just when Leandre, abused by the ingenious
Mascarille, had imprudently confided to him the
purchase; the denouncing of the project for the
abduction by the said Leandre, preventing that
prepared by Mascarille; the confiding of the
latter's ruse to Andre's in avowing his love for
Celie; persistence in making Mascarille abandon
the jargon which he affects to speak.
And need we count the 12 falsehoods of LE
MENTEUR? Need we cite, from various epochs
and genres, THE MISER, THE BRAGGART SOLDIER,
LE JOUEUR, LE BOURGEOIS GENTILHOMME, THE
CONSTANT PRINCE, THE TAMING OF THE SHREW,
Bartholo in THE BARBER OF SEVILLE, Arnolphe
in THE SCHOOL FOR WIVES? Not to weary the
reader, I content myself with figuring their
analyses in the accompanying table.
We may here establish, for every well-marked
character:
A a, his Portrait by the persons who gravitate
about him, and
A b, the Apologies which he makes in person
(both portraits and apologies being divisible in
turn into a dozen features);
B a, 4 scenes in which he REVEALS HIMSELF in
his "idiosyncrasy," to speak in the philosophical
argot;
B b, 4 scenes in which his RELATIONS WITH
OTHERS especially appear;
B c, 4 scenes, lastly, in which his nature forms
the principal spring of the ACTION.
Note, in addition, that in each of these two
last groups, 2 of the 4 scenes almost always
counterbalance the 2 others: if the hero is at the
bottom in the first couple, he is at the top in the
second.
II THE CHARACTERS OF MOLI*IRE
SHAKESPEARE, PLAUTUS, BALZAC
Of TARTUFE, of DON JUAN, of THE MISER,
THE MISANTHROPE, etc., the epitomes offered us
differ, but not the point of view from which the
author makes us contemplate them.
The "Molieresque method" being once precisely
stated, it will be interesting to dispose his elements
under the angle, for example, at which the
Shakespearean characters appear to us, and
so on for other authors. This work will give us
PERSPECTIVE AS EACH MASTER HAS CONCEIVED IT.
I fear, as I have said, to weary the reader;
otherwise I would show how such a study, proceeding
from one literature, one school, one
writer successively to all the others, would create
for the first time a veritable philosophic and
scientific LITERARY HISTORY.
From a general character like the Greek Apollo,
we see separating and evolving the pure Artist
and the unfortunate Lover: these are reunited
in Orpheus. There is also the character of the
Unfortunate pure and simple. These three
branches produced, in the Homeric epoch, the
Unfortunate Artist (Demodocus), the Inspired
and Fatal Prophetess (Cassandra), the Lover
ill-fated and unknowingly criminal (CEDIPUS) and
the Parricide almost equally innocent (Orestes),
all overshadowed by the same god. To Parody
he has given Marsyas, then MARGITES, ancestor
of all pedants; elevated to a serious plane, these
furnish the Fantastic types of artists, intellectuals,
Utopians or their caricatures. The latitudes
and developments of races and the personalities
of authors being here mingled, we
obtain progressively, from the various branches
of this "genealogical tree:" Winckelmann, Ruy-
Blas, Abbe Mouret, the Misanthrope, Timon of
Athens, the cook Vatel, Philaminte, Trissotin,
Tribulat Bonhommet, Fourier, Balthazar Claes,
the heroes of Hoffman, Cousin Pons, etc.
As for the SPECIAL PERSPECTIVE of a single
work, we may ascertain, in the said work:
In what manner the twelve elements of a
character fit into those of surrounding characters;
how this relationship changes in a second work
by the same author;
how it changes when we pass to a new author
treating the same subject, or a different subject;
then when we pass to a new school, literature
or epoch;
how far these diverse works permit of sharply
drawn characters, and so on
But especially will it be interesting to study,
in the works of a single writer, the ENTIRE SCOPE
of the characters which he offers the public.
Every one of these incarnates one of the souls
of the "poet of a thousand souls." They distribute
themselves according to the inevitable
division of the main enclosing lines, and each of
these groups, showing us one side of the poet,
tells us on what number of points and at what
level will emerge the complete being, which he
felt in his heart and which he wished, by means
of these creations, to bring from out the shadow
wherein Society endeavors to compress the greater
part of our nature.
MolieYe's company of actors were, so to speak,
his organs ; his comedians represented and were
but the "lines of ARfiTE" of his great soul.
Of his women, by a curious illusion, he wished to
make VESTA types: Henriette, Elise, Elmire,
Psyche, Alcmene; and only little by little, in spite
of himself, it is said, did he consent to let them
slip toward the false and coquettish: Celimene,
Angelique, and Beline. La Grange long impersonated
his Lelies, his Valeres, his Horaces, his
Cleantes, his Erastes, his Leandres, his Clitandre,
his Cleonte and, above all, his Don Juan. Baron
came later to double the roles dedicated to the
eternal comic VENUS: Myrtil, I'Amour and Octave
in the FOURBERIES. The insufficiency of Bej art
(Don Louis, Madame Pernelle) obliged the Master
to assume besides the MERCURIES, his ordinary
roles (Mascarille, Miron, Sosie, Scapin, etc.)
the jealous, tyrannical and grumbling, the dotards,
the derided and the deceived (JUPITER, VULCAN,
NEPTUNE): the Sganarelles, Arnolphe, Georges
Dandin, Don Pedro, Orgon, Harpagon, Alceste,
Chrysale, Argan. He had even to substitute, in
the foolishly majestic, for Thorilliere, to whom
fell the JUPITERS, and who incarnated Geronimo,
Arbate, Philinte, Hali, Jupiter in AMPHITRYON,
Dorante in the BOURGEOIS GENTILHOMME, and
the King in PSYCHE. Another Jupiter, that of
PSYCHE, fell to Croisy, but that actor was better
suited, by his sombre visage, to ill-tempered and
pedantic types, odious or ridiculous (APOLLOVULCAN):
Metaphraste, Vadius, Lysidas, Marphurius
the Master of Philosophy, Oronte of the
sonnet, Dimanche, Harpin, Sotenville. The MARS
of the company was De Brie: La Rapidre, the
Commissioners, the Guards, the Master of Arms,
etc. The joyous CERES blossomed in Madeleine
Bejart: Marinette, Marotte, Lisette, Frosine,
Dorine; the DIANAS belonged to Mile de Brie:
Celie, Lucile, Madelon, Climdne, Agnes, Eliante,
Daphne, Claudine and Mathurine.*" Mile du Pare
was for long the MINERVA: Cathos, Climdne, the
formal Marquises, the prudes like Arsino6; sh<
did not live to play the FEMMES SAVANTES.
It would not be impossible for some Cuvier of
the mimic art to reconstitute, by means of the
characters of Shakespeare or Plautus, the physiognomies,
the roles and abilities of their actors,
who likewise were but the organs, but the members
of the magnified person of the poet.
In Shakespeare, VESTA appears, in religion, as
Sister Isabella, and in the home as Helena, Hermione,
Catherine of Aragon; by a change of
sex we have Friar Laurence, Horatio, etc. JUNO
animates Apemantus, Jacques, Ligarius, Margaret
of Anjou, Queen Constance, and Leontes, Posthumus
and Othello. The Satanic Neptune is
expressed in King John, Hamlet's uncle, Wolsey,
Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Shylock, Pandarus and
Polonius. MINERVA directs Imogen and Rosalind,
inspires Beatrice and Portia, Antony in
JULIUS CAESAR, Mercutio and even Autolycus.
VENUS appears in Cleopatra and Cressida; APOLLO
reigns over Hamlet as over the antique Orestes,
over Lear as over (EDIPUS AT COLONUS, and even
Timon; in the comedies he excites the passions of
Holofernes and of the young Ferdinand. Do we
not recognize MERCURY in Maria and in Puck;
then, degraded by a mingling with Juno, in Thersites
and lago? Of JUPITERS Shakespeare presents
few save in the far-away Julius Caesar,
Timon (in the beginning) or Oberon; I willingly
conclude that he lacked interpreters rather than
models. It is not thus with CERES; his actor
represented these when female characters (such
as the MERRY WIVES, Juliet's nurse, the hostesses,
etc.) as when males: Falstaff, Sir Toby
and the buffoons like Falconbridge or the Fool
in LEAR. It is curious that the comic VULCAN
everywhere most numerous appears on the
Shakespearean stage only in Menelaus in^ TROILUS,
while the "devoted" type is present in Pauline,
Gloster and Pisanio. His MARS actors could
play the women (Katherine THE SHREW) as well
as the savage hired murderers of KING JOHN,
MACBETH, etc., or the boasters like Parole or
Ajax. But the DIANA of the troupe must have
been indeed poetic to incarnate Juliet, Desdemona
and Ophelia!
In Plautus, likewise actor as well as author,
VESTA bears the names of Eunomia, Myrrhine
and Peristrate, and, in the masculine, Eutycus
and Sagaristion; JUNO only that of Antiphon;
NEPTUNE that of Euclion on the one hand, and,
in the darker roles, the names of Cappadox,
Dordale, Lycus, Ballion or Labrax. MINERVA
furnishes little but Simia and the little Pegnion;
VENUS, the Bacchis, Gymnasia, Erotia, Pasicompsa,
Philocomasia, Philematia, Delphium,
Lemniselene, Adelphasia, Thais, etc. APOLLO
brings the passionate lovers: Agorastocles, Calidore,
Lysiteles, Pleusidippides, Diabolus, Argyrippes,
Stratippocles and Charinus; he gives, too,
beside the pedants, his famous Cooks of THE
MERCHANT, CASINA, PSEUDOLUS and the
AULARIA. MERCURY is incarnated in the traitor
Stalagme and in Geta, Sophoclidiscus, Chrysale,
Chalinus, Lampadion, Toxile, Milphion and all
the cunning slaves. An actor of JUPITERS seems
to have been lacking in the company, for the
good-nature of Hegion, of Lysimachus, of Periplectomenes
relates them rather to some CERES
actor already charged with Calliphon, Micion,
Philton, Callicles, and various joyous roles in the
Masques. His VULCAN interpreted the slaves,
simple and limited, such as Syra, Crocotia, or
Gripus, Parmenion, Trachalion, Stratilax, Tyndarus,
Messenion, Grumion, Simon, Demones,
Charmide and Chorion, even the Dotards derived
from the imbecile Etruscan Papus: Theuropides,
Periphanes, etc. His MARS played Cleomachus,
Antemonides and THE BRAGGART SOLDIER. He
must have had two DIANAS among his interpreters,
to present Philenia, the daughter of Saturion,
Thelestis, Silenia, the unfortunate Philippa, and
Panegyris, conjointly with Pinacis and Ptolemocratia
or the timid Phedrome.
Again we have the 12 gods, under their quadruple
hypostasis masculine and feminine, tragic
and laughable in the novels of Balzac, for
example.
His Crevel, a conceited ninny, mayor of a Parisian
ARONDISSEMENT, his notary Lupin, his Phileas
Beauvisage; the haughty Delphine de Nucingen,
the elder Madame de Portenduere, the respectable
Marquis d'Esgrignon, the first Madame Matifat,
the beneficent and venerable Madame de la
Chanterie; his numerous Maecenases (Anselme
Popinot, the Marquis di Negro, the Due de Verneuil,
etc.) do they not proceed from the lofty
and protecting Jupiter? His prodigal and vicious
Marquis de Salleneuve, the Marquis de Rouvre,
Savinien de Portendudre, Georges Marest, Diard
the gamester, Plissoud the toper, the gay Mesdames
Vermut and Fontanien, Palferine (on one
side at least), the careless Merle, Oscar Husson
and Vatel, his drunkards (Chardin senior, Vermichel,
the lazy Cantinet), the glutton Bargeton,
the more delicate Montriveau and Montpersan
or the abbe Gondrand, the egoist Vicomte de
Beauseant, even the gross Agathe Picquetard or
the vulgar Ursule in CESAR BlROTTEAU, do
not all these recall our CERES type?
I need not continue. But the HUMAN COMEDY
furnishes a world in itself. It has supplied
examples for almost all the important subdivisions
of our Classification, and it leaves nothing to be
desired but the perfecting of some few among
these examples.
The richness of this work is truly unique.
Beside Balzac, how many illustrious authors show
an astonishing poverty in their creations! When
one of the 12 principal ARfiTES is found to be
altogether missing, the case becomes serious.
The antique Olympus perished, as I have intimated,
through failure to achieve a chastely
sentimental Diana, for the new faith succeeded in
entering through that breach. The same lacuna,
symmetrically, must have existed at heart in
each of the great gods, whence their increasing
corruption and insensibility, in the name of
which the men from the East attacked them
upon their altars and in the hearts of their followers,
whom they recalled to the complete and
primitive Ideal.
Everywhere this law asserts itself: to the
absence or inferior development of a charactertype,
of a "god," of a line important to the equilibrium
of the human total, there corresponds a
similar absence or inferior development of something
answering to that "line of ARfiTB" in all
other characters, since, at a certain depth, there
should be found in each the conception of the
complete man.
Thus the absence of the JUPITER type in Plautus,
of the CERES type in Corneille, of the MINERVA
type in Zola explains why, in each of their creations,
some one spot gives forth a hollow sound
and shows a puffed and exaggerated aspect,
the mask, in reality, of a vacancy.
Ill VACANCIES TO BE FILLED
How should the author have proceeded to fill
these? We have already seen. He would have
had only to complete his series of characters; he
would thus have studied man complete, not
forgetting one of his essential organs, one of his
possible general "attitudes," which is to say one
of the characters called individual because this
attitude is therein habitually accentuated, and
shows always this ARfiTE.
The shrouding of this or that ARfiTE in shadow
should never be a complete suppression. The
writer, if he wishes to make his work harmonious
and true, a chorus of the divine types, should
no more mutilate his study of life, of man complete,
or that of a "special character" when he
detaches it, than the great artist forgets the
existence of aspects painted by his predecessors,
although the style of his own work may be novel
and revolutionary. The total subsists, although
the parts emphasized may not be the same.
It is the imitators, the mediocrities, the sectarians
who, in literature as in art and elsewhere
fail to distinguish, in the shadows where
they lurk, the parts not clearly in evidence, who
forget or deny these, who despise or pretend to
abolish them.
Thus the work they produce is but that of a
school, a party, a fashion or a sect. They present,
instead of a profile in relief, a mere flat
silhouette; instead of a face, a mask; instead of a
human being, divinely supple, but a puppet of
limited and mechanical gestures.
The style of the Masters, I repeat once more,
has nothing in common with these caricatures
and partial characters.
They suppress nothing, even in their boldest
condensations of the eternal Proportions of the
soul. They know that the soul in this respect
differing from the body, and armed, we might
say, for infinite life has but one form, and that
form complete, a veritable image of the Divine.
These sublime Proportions the Masters put,
with all the art whose principal secrets I have
just revealed, in a new "Perspective," new
because the point of view of these Masters is
new, and because the attitude given by them to
their models is also new. Far from diminishing
or mutilating individuality, they each time unveil
and bring into light, supported by the organism
in its entirety, some hitherto unknown side.
Of these mysteries, nevertheless, 369 remain to
be revealed.
Conclusion
The 369 unused types which we have discovered
in the course of this classification represent unexplored
regions in the soul of each one of us. Open,
ing these regions in the individual as in Humanity,
we complete the geography of the Soul.
We maintain nevertheless, like parallels of
latitude and longitude, its Duodenary Proportions.
These we have found in all life, in everything
which, like ourselves, is Rhythm. We see them
everywhere in art and in poetry: epic (Song of
Izdhubal, Homeric Poems, ^Eneid, etc.) or tragic
(in China, Rome, France, etc.) of all ages, in
the cadences of all known verse-forms, as well
as in the movements of history (comparative
heredity, law of four-century periods) and in
theogonies.
We have just re-encountered them enclosed by
the indispensable lines with which a La Bruydre,
a St. Bernard, a Seneca or a Theophrastus encircle
their figurines; we have found them as unmistakably
in the silhouettes of dramatic or literary
heroes ; we have followed the pencils of the Masters
putting them into Perspective.
An entire volume would be necessary to follow
the application of this Perspective by each one
of them. But I have fulfilled the triple promise
made at the beginning of this book:
1st, to reduce each Character to elements
whose combinations suffice (the systems heretofore
contradictory being reconciled) to reconstitute
the most complex personality;
2nd, to classify methodically all the figures of
history, legend and poetry, taken from the most
widely separated countries and centuries, in
groups less and less dense, which is to say more
and more closely approaching individuality;
3rd, to count and measure exactly the lacunae
in our literary creations or psychological observations,
and to fill them with an equal number
of characters, whose proportions, according to
promise, I have likewise sketched.
And while we have seen issuing from this patient
labor several future structures already well begun,
those of Comparative Heredity, the Rhythms
of History, the mathematical laws of narrative
and dramatic Composition, a theory of Comparative
Literature, Comparative Biography, modernized
Rhetoric, Universal Versification, we have
had the certainty of building, for the first time,
a veritable "New Science," whose rules are not
sentimental but definite and exact: the SCIENCE
OF THE HUMAN HEART.