"But you see, I represent the principal character, and I do not wish to take the responsibility of the failure of the play upon myself."
"So you believe it will be a failure?"
"It is my firm conviction.... I do not know how it comes to pass that you, who know the theatrical world intimately, have ventured to risk such a monotonous part.... Antony is a heavy twaddler, who from the first to the fifth act does nothing but repeat the same thing over and over again; who gets angry for no reason at all, a species of monomaniac who rages unceasingly, and wages furious warfare against his fellow-men."
"So that is the effect Antony produces on you?"
"Yes."
"It does not surprise me; it is exactly what I wished it to do."
"Well, that does not matter; I have warned you, remember."
"Yes, but it is not enough to warn a man of his fall: you should afford him a means of escaping his fall."
"Oh!" said Firmin, "I, as you know, am an actor and not an author; I act pieces, but I don't create them."
"But have you no suggestion to make?"