144 UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDIES 



has been converted into an operetta for Mme Fritzi Scheff under the 

 title The Love Wager. The plays are furthermore so different from one 

 another from every point of view that, in order to show the variety in 

 the present-day dramatic output in Hungary, it will be worth while 

 to outline briefly their plots. 



The Devil in its general purport has much in common with El Gran 

 Galeoto {The World and His Wife) of the Spanish dramatist Echegaray. 

 In the Spanish play the catastrophe is precipitated by the breath of 

 scandal. A young married woman, adored by her husband, and of 

 blameless character, happens to cross the public square in Madrid with 

 a young man who is a close friend of the family. The couple are seen 

 by an evil-minded person. A malicious rumor is started, which out 

 of nothing nevertheless gathers such proportions that the once happy 

 family is wrecked. At last the innocent couple, overwhelmed by the 

 charges and being equally unable to prove or disprove anything, are 

 forced to rally each to the support of the other. Left alone, deserted 

 by all, they are forced to fly together to begin life anew. 



In The Devil, the element of evil appears in the form of the devil 

 himself. In this play a young married woman and a young artist, who 

 is painting her portrait, are tempted by the devil, and quite against 

 their will, to sin. The young woman is happily married and trusted 

 by her husband, whom she adores. The artist has a sweetheart and 

 has no wish to wrong the husband of the lady who comes to his studio. 

 Both parties are honest at heart. Nevertheless temptation, in the 

 allegorical form of the devil in modern garb, besets them. At every 

 juncture he turns up, suave and insinuating, to tempt them. Both 

 struggle, but in vain. The devil wins, and as the distracted couple 

 flee at last together he stands in the red and green light, rubbing his 

 hands in glee. The Devil as a play is frankly pessimistic, but it is 

 interesting and brilliant as to situations and dialogue. Moreover, it 

 is not untrue to the actual facts of life as we know them. The devil 

 does triumph, not always, to be sure, but often. There is not a day 

 that the newspaper does not register some new victory for him. 



At the time that The Devil was produced in this country in the fall 

 of 1908, the yellow press, taking advantage of the rather daring and 



