FRANCE. (LITERATURE.) 



by using masks and inscriptions, in order to de- 

 signate individuals, a new order of parliament 

 became necessary. Their most brilliant period was 

 under Louis XII., and shortly after the famous poet 

 Clement Marot (the favourite of the great queen 

 Margaret of Valois) became a member or the society, 

 which was finally abolished in 1612. Both these 

 latter societies played gratuitously. Not so the 

 brethren of the passion, whose prices the parliament 

 was even obliged to limit. On condition of an 

 annual payment of 1 000 livres to the poor, they 

 received the exclusive privilege of exhibiting all 

 plays for money at Paris, and thus prevented those 

 societies from performing which occasionally came 

 from the provinces. Meanwhile the acquaintance 

 with the Roman and Greek literature had become 

 more general in France, through the invention of 

 printing. Several tragedies of Sophocles and Euri- 

 pides, and the comedies of Terence, had appeared in 

 French translations, and thus the French drama,which 

 appeared under Henry II., was silently preparing 

 under Francis I. Jodelle (died 1557), who had been 

 formed in the school of the classics, wrote plays, of 

 which there had hitherto been no model in France, 

 and which gave the French drama that direction 

 which it has ever since retained. Jodelle conceived 

 the bold idea of making the Greek drama the model 

 of the French, and effected a total reform of the 

 French drama. The first piece of this kind, in 

 French dramatical literature, was his comedy in 

 verses of eight syllables, Eugene ou le Rencontre, and 

 his tragedy, the Captive Cleopatra (in which we 

 find the ancient chorus), which Jodelle wrote with 

 all the fire of youth, and in which he played himself, 

 with some of his friends, as Remi Belleau and Jean- 

 de-la-Peruse, in 1552. This performance, which 

 decided the fall of the old theatre in Paris, was re- 

 ceived with the greatest applause, by a numerous 

 audience. Henry II., who was present, rewarded 

 the author with 500 crowns from his private purse. 

 Jodelle's last and best work is the tragedy of Dido, 

 which contains great beauties. Within the next half 

 century after Jodelle, Spain had her Lope de Vega, 

 and England her Shakspeare. Jodelle introduced the 

 strict observance of the three Aristotelian unities, 

 chose the purely historical manner, excluded every- 

 thing supernatural, and took his subjects from Ro- 

 man and Greek history ; but his personages all 

 spoke like modern Frenchmen, and with a most vio- 

 lent exaggeration of the rhetorical character of the 

 old tragedy. Jodelle's friends followed in the path 

 which he had opened ; they formed the society cal- 

 led the Pleiade Francaise, of which Ronsard was the 

 most brilliant star. Jodelle was successfully fol- 

 lowed by La Peyrouse, author of Medea (appeared 

 in 1555), the first tragedy in the rhymed Alexan- 

 drines, which are still used ; by Grevin, a writer of 

 comedies; by Massin-de-St-Gelais, author of the 

 tragedy of Sophonisba, in prose ; by Jean de la 

 Taiile, author of the touching tragedy La Famine ; 

 by Gamier, who, in his chef-d'oeuvre, Hippolyte 

 (1573), eclipsed all his predecessors by the harmony 

 of his verse, and who first ventured to bring other 

 personages besides Greeks, Romans, and Turks, 

 upon the stage, as his Juives and Bradamante show; 

 and by Pierre-de-la-Rivey, who distinguished him- 

 self as much in comedy. Thus the second half of 

 the sixteenth century was the period in which 

 French dramatic poetry was formed, with some pe- 

 culiarities, after the model of the ancient classics. 

 The succeeding poets, until the time of Louis XIII., 

 the prolific Alexander Hardy, of whose 800 plays 

 forty remain on the stage, Nepee, The"ophile, &c., 

 contributed little to the progress of the French 

 drama. Mairet, author of a piece called Sophonisbe, 



which is still esteemed ; Rotrou, whose f'enceslat is 

 yet played at the theatre Francais; Duryer, Baro, 

 &c., who united elegance of expression, sound judg- 

 ment, and a refined taste, went far beyond those 

 who preceded them. At length appeared the great 

 Pierre Corneille, eclipsing all his predecessors. He 

 had the rare talent of making great characters 

 speak the language of passion with dignity. He 

 first showed his nation a model of tragic power and 

 elevated style ; yet he himself bent under the yoke 

 of rigid criticism and prejudice. He is the onlj 

 French poet, on whom the French bestow the epi- 

 thet of great. Medea was his first tragedy ; the 

 Cid, Cinna, Polyeucte, and Rodogune are considered 

 his masterpieces. Jean Racine became the favourite 

 of the nation in tragedy. His first tragedy was 

 Les Freres Ennemis. His Andromache (1667) was 

 received with as much applause as the Cid had been 

 thirty years before. Racine became the man of his 

 age and his nation. He is the most polished and 

 most elegant of the tragic writers of France. Poeti- 

 cal boldness appeared to him contrary to good 

 taste ; the tone of the court was his constant model. 

 Athalie is his best piece. Voltaire is the third great 

 tragic poet of the French, and his Zaire and Maho- 

 met are admired as masterpieces. Voltaire caused 

 the stage to be enlarged and more highly adorned ; 

 but the costume still remained incongruous with the 

 characters; Roman and Greek tragedies were played 

 in hoops and long perukes. At the time of the revo- 

 lution, Talma, guided by David, first reformed this 

 abuse, after the impulse had already been given by 

 Clairon (q. v.). The elder Crebillon closes the list 

 of French tragic writers of the first class. To the 

 second belong Thomas Corneille, Lafosse, Guimonde- 

 de-la-Touche, Lefranc, Laharpe, Lemierre, De 

 Belloi, &c. Diderot introduced the sentimental 

 comedy in his Pere de Famille and his Fils Naturel. 

 Among the more recent tragedians are Duels, who 

 adapted several tragedies of Shakspeare to the 

 French stage, and showed much originality and fire 

 in his Abufar ; Arnault, whose tragedies are distin- 

 guished by power and tenderness ; Legouve, Le- 

 mercier, &c. Les Templiers, by Raynouard, his 

 only tragedy, has given him a deserved reputation. 

 The hero of Manlius was the favourite part of Talma. 

 Jouy's Sylla, the Vepres Siciliennes and the Paria of 

 Delavignc, and the Clovis of Viennet, are among the 

 chief ornaments of modern French tragedy. These 

 authors have entered on a new path, overstepping 

 the limits which the imitation of the classics had set 

 to French tragedy, and leaving the declamatory elo- 

 quence which had previously formed so essential a 

 part of it. It has been already mentioned, that 

 French comedy originated with the farces of the 

 Bazoche, particularly with that of the Avocat Patelin 

 and the soties of the enfans sans souci. Jodelle in- 

 troduced a reform into the comedy likewise. His 

 first comedy, the Abbot Eugene, in the manner of 

 Terence, was admired by the court and the city. It 

 was the first regular national comedy, with charac- 

 ters adapted to the age, and without allegoric per- 

 sonages. The wit in it is rude and indecent. In 

 1562, the brothers De-la-Tailie wrote comedies in 

 prose. Attempts were made to unite the favourite 

 pastoral poetry with the drama. The moralities 

 were turned into pastoral plays, in which Christ was 

 the bridegroom and the church the bride. The cul 

 tivatiou of true comedy was continued by Pierre-de- 

 la-Rivey ; his comedies were founded chiefly on in- 

 trigues and comic surprises. In 1552, the " brethren 

 of the passion " leased their privilege to a society of 

 actors, which, under the name of troupe de la come- 

 die Francaise, exists to this day. They played in the 

 hotel de Bourgogne. Shortly after, Henry III, filled 



