The poetic fantasies of the latter certainly recall the fanciful creations of the great English poet.
In the limited space of this Introduction it will be impossible to analyze the plots of any, save only the most important.[114] The following comedies are about the only ones presented regularly at the Comédie- Française: le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard, le Legs, les Fausses Confidences, and l'Épreuve; but this brief list by no means embraces all of his exquisite sketches of eighteenth century society. Add to these la Mère confidente, for which both Larroumet[115] and Sarcey[116] plead, or, at the suggestion of Lemaître,[117] la Surprise de l'Amour, les Sincères, la Double Inconstance, and les Serments indiscrets, and we shall still have left a whole series of treasures unexplored, especially in the realm of the fanciful. As we have already examined one of the most delightful pieces of the latter class, Arlequin poli par l'Amour, a hasty survey of his best known plays will have to suffice. It might be well to add here that Marivaux's favourite plays were the following: la Double Inconstance, the two Surprises de l'Amour, la Mère confidente, les Serments indiscrets, les Sincères and l'Ile des Esclaves.[118]
Le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard, a comedy in three acts, presented on January 23, 1730, at the Théâtre-Italien, is generally considered as the masterpiece of Marivaux, although he did not include it in the number of his favourites. It is certainly his best-known play. Its success was great and immediate, according to the Mercure of January, 1730. The plot is as follows: With the characteristic caution of the heroines of Marivaux, ever on their guard against an ill-assorted marriage, and with the sad experiences of certain friends of hers in mind to make her still more cautious, Silvia determines not to accept Dorante, the suitor chosen for her, until she has had an opportunity to study him in secret. She therefore modifies her dress to suit the rôle of her maid Lisette, which she assumes; but Dorante, who is no more willing to be mismated than is Silvia, determines upon the same stratagem, and arrives in the livery of Harlequin, who in turn is to play the part of the master.
This artifice is not absolutely new to the French stage, and it is possible, as Fleury[119] thinks, that the idea of the double disguise may have been borrowed from a short play by Legrand, le Galant Coureur, The situation, most difficult to handle successfully, is treated with inimitable skill by Marivaux, especially that of the two lovers, whose disguise as servants is not enough to guarantee their hearts. The prejudice of birth, against which Marivaux contended so often, is overthrown, and the lovers are willing, if necessary, to yield all for love. Silvia is still struggling with her sense of duty, when she discovers Dorante's identity, but is unwilling to disclose herself and say the final word, until she is convinced that Dorante loves her for herself alone. The scenes between Harlequin and Lisette, their language, now exaggerated, now trivial, and their haste to fall in love, lend the comic to the play.
Le Legs, a comedy in one act, was produced at the Théâtre-Français, January 11, 1736. Its reception was rather cold the first night, but enthusiastic on subsequent performances. Lenient says of it: "Le Legs est entre toutes ses oeuvres le spécimen de la bluette réduite à sa plus simple expression, joignant la finesse et la ténuité de la trame à l'exiguïté de la donnée. Tout cela tiendrait dans une coquille de noix, et finit par remplir un acte. Les personnages, aussi légers, aussi volatils que le sujet lui-même, s'appellent le Marquis, la Comtesse, le Chevalier; ils représentent, comme nous l'avons dit, des espèces plus encore que des individus."[120]
A relative has left the Marquis six hundred thousand francs on condition that he marry Hortense, and if not, that he pay over to her two hundred thousand. The Marquis, in love with the Comtesse, to whom, through excessive timidity,—and here we have the motive of the play,—he dares not declare his passion, although encouraged in every way, is in business matters of a decidedly less timid nature, and seeks to secure all of the property, and at the same time preserve his heart for the one he loves. Hortense, likewise in love with another, the Chevalier, whose fortune is not large, seeks naturally to come into her inheritance without sacrificing herself to an odious marriage. In order to deceive the other into renouncing his share of the property, each feigns willingness to enter into the marriage as stipulated in the will.
The servants, as is usually the case in Marivaux's comedies, play an important rôle, and seek to further their own selfish interests. Lépine, un Gascon froid, with a genius for intrigue, urges on the marriage of the Marquis with the Comtesse, the more readily to secure for himself the hand of Lisette, who, in turn, opposes artfully the marriage of her mistress to further her own interests and to retain her freedom.
The play ends with the renunciation of the two hundred thousand francs on the part of the Marquis, who has at last become bold enough to declare himself, after manifold hints on the part of the Comtesse; and love triumphs. Thus with apparently little to work upon has been wrought out an entire comedy, interesting from beginning to end. Alfred de Musset has made over this comedy in his l'Ane et le Ruisseau, but has come far short of the original.
Les Fausses Confidences, a comedy in three acts, was brought out at the Comédie-Italienne, March 16, 1737. This piece has sometimes vied with le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard for the title of Marivaux's chef-d'oeuvre. Without doubt, it is one of the most charming of the author's works. The Mercure for March, 1737, informs us that the play "was received with favor by the public." Although it may be fittingly classed in the number of the Surprises de l'amour, it contains as well elements of the Préjugé vaincu, the prejudice overcome being that of wealth and position, which held a place, not only in the foolish vanity of Madame Argante, but even in the tender reserve of Araminte.
Dorante, a young man of honorable extraction, but poor, finds himself reduced to the position of steward or director in the house of Araminte, a rich young widow, to whose hand he is induced to aspire by Dubois, his former servant, now in her employ, who, by his profound knowledge of the feminine heart, aided by his master's comeliness, succeeds in overcoming the prejudice of social standing in the mind of Araminte, and triumphantly marries her to Dorante, in spite of Madame Argante's horror at the match and her enthusiastic support of the Count's suit.