SANSCULLOTISED LITERATURE IN FRANCE. 37I 



application of the principles and maxims of their respective 

 masters. What may ha\e been the cause of this bankruptcy of 

 the dramatic art durino- the Revolution? Its cause seems to be 

 narrowly connected, tirst with the conditions claimed by the 

 public, and secondly with the interference of the rulers with 

 theatrical affairs. Public opinion and censors were here respon- 

 sible for this prostration of the drama, of which only the power- 

 ful influence of the romantic movement has been able to cure it. 

 The spectators were no longer the placid ladies and g-entlemen 

 of yore, who used to come to the theatre to spend a couple of 

 enjoyable hours and for a relaxation of the daily routine of 

 business. With the Revolution politics entered the theatre as it 

 did everywhere, and ere long it completel}- bossed the place. It 

 became an obsession. The citizens forcibly connected everything 

 with the revolutionary principle ; the words of the " Declaration 

 of Rights "' were dinning in their ears like the burden of a war- 

 chant. They were on the verge of the rage of persecution. 

 Anyone who evoked the slightest remembrance of the tone, the 

 .spirit, the manners and customs of the and en regime of " former 

 thraldom " became suspect. We have seen before how firmly 

 this same form of insanity had gripped the caterers for the guillo- 

 tine- The sansculottes prick up their ears at the first word the}^ 

 do not like; they rise, shout, bawl, order to actor to retract his 

 words, and only settle down again when what they call justice 

 has been done and the principle is once more safe. The busts 

 of Marat and Lcpeletier, those glorious (!) victims (!), Avho 

 fell under the knives of monstrous assassins, are i)ut on the 

 proscenium. The name of the theatre, which was an aristocratic 

 one, is changed into that of " Theatre des Sansculottes." At the 

 same time, the " Comite du Salut public " ordered that on cer- 

 tain days of the month free performances should be given for 

 the beaiefit of the people. None but the genuine patriots, wear- 

 ing a certain l^adge, were to be admitted. Thus the Revolution 

 revived the ancient Roman pan cm ct circcnscs! Besides, censors 

 dominated the theatres, who gradually succeeded in republicaniz- 

 ing and sanscullottizing Corneille, Racine, Aloliere, and eveii 

 Voltaire, who were unscrupulously mutilated and disfigured. 

 Sometimes these censors vetoed entirely the ])erformance of a 

 certain piece. Among others, Beaumarchais' " Alariage de 

 Figaro " became the victim of their evidently thoughtless ostra- 

 cism. The fact is hardly credible, since the Revolution ought to 

 liave honoured this comedy as the prophetic harl)inger of the 

 •new idea ! Beaumarchais' name occurs on the eve of the Revo- 

 lution, and is important both from a point of view of literature, 

 and as a sign of the coming storm. His " Figaro "' is one of the 

 great creations in French comedy, and a lineal descendant of 

 " Panurge '' and " Scapin." In the " Mariage de Figaro " the 

 hero is simply the mouthpiece of the author's second-hand revo- 

 lutionary ideas. So this amazing prohibition is a proof that 

 the revolutionary neurosis was complicated with a conspicuous 

 perversion of the critical sense. From its opening to its closing 



