INTRODUCTION VU

of his contemporaries, which he has portrayed so pleasantly in hîs charming comédies.

It was on March 4, 1720, that Marivaux really beganhisliterary career by a comedy played at the Théâtre-Italien, V Amour \ et la Vérité, written in collaboration with the Chevalier de Saint- ( Jory. The play was not successful, but M. Gaston Deschamps ^ calls our âTtêntîôn to the'title which is so characteristic of Ma- V, » rivâôxTwnô tned ail hisTîfe to reconcile Love ^p^ Tri1tK A **~ r ^ little later Marivaux, strangely enough, wrote a tragedy, Annibal, represented at the Théâtre-Français on December 16, 1720. He is t he least tragic of writers* but the glory of Corneille and of feacine tempted beginners in literature, and almost ail of them, in the eighteenth century, endeavored to produce » a Cid or an Andromaque, but did not succeed (with the exception of Voltaire) in producing even an Agésilas or an Alexandre. It is strange, as we hâve said, that Marivaux should hâve given a tragedy to the actors of the Théâtre-Français in December, after he had been successful at the Théâtre-Italien, on October 18, 1720, with a comedy, Arlequin poli par V Amour, which marked the style which chàracterized ail his later comédies.

The Italian troupe, which had been popular during the reigns of the last Valois and during the seventeenth century, had been expelled from France by Louis XIV in 1697, for having satirized Mme. de Maintenon, for the immoralité of their plays, and the improper buffoonery of their acting. They had returned to Paris, recalled by the Régent, and on their stage used only the French language from that time. Their knowledge of French was not great, and their pronunciation produced a comic effect. Their mimicry was excellent, and they interpreted admirably by gesture and look, says M. Gustave Larroumet, the words and intimate thoughts of Marivaux's personages. The chief of the troupe was the celebrated actor and writer, Riccoboni, known on the stage as Lelio. The principal actress was Giovanna- Rosa Benozzi, the beautiful and intelligent Silvia, for whom

Vlii INTRODUCTION

Marivaux wrote his most important rôles, and whose name hc gave to the characters she was to represent.

Silvia had great success in la Surprise de l'Amour, May 3, 1722, and Marivaux continuel his career as a dramatic writer to the year 1 746. He produced thirty-two plays, of which several failed and others had but little success. Of ail thèse only six hâve remained in the répertoire: La Surprise de V Amour (1722), le Jeu de V Amour et du Hasard (1730), V Ecole des Mères (1732), le Legs (1736), lès Fausses Confidences (1737), and l'Epreuve (1740). Of thèse six, only one, le Legs, was represented originally at the Théâtre-Français, where Marivaux was not as successful as at the Théâtre-Italien. Few of his plays had great / success when first represented. He had enemies, among whom 3 were Voltaire and Crébillon, and a cabal of envious confrères \often harmed him. He had, however, a simple modesty and a gentle philosophy, which sustained him in his reverses, and he' did not f"g a g* in personal polemics with his detractors. M. Deschamps has well said: "He counted naively on posterity, which indeed has done him justice."

Marivaux had inherited a small fortune from his father, but he was ruined in 1720 by the failure of John Law's bank, by the spéculations in Rue Quincampoix into which he had been inveigled by some friends. His ruin arrived at a very inopportune time, as he had married, only a few months before, a Mlle. Martin. The latter died in 1723, leaving a daughter, who eventuaUy became a nun. Forced to work for a living, Marivaux became a journalist and published irregularly for two years le Spectateur français, in imitation of Addison's Spectator. He made two other attempts at journalism with l'Indigent philosophe and le Cabinet du Philosophe. We see in his articles the ) same gracejind pleasing analysis of character as in his comédies, but his journals met with small sales and were short-lived. In his youth he had contributed articles to the Nouveau Mercure and had written a parody, Pharsamon ou les Folies romanesques, ou le Don Quichotte moderne and two other novels in which are