X INTRODUCTION

cared for in his old âge by a devoted friend, Mlle, de Saint- Jean, to whom he bequeathed, says M. Deschamps, "his books, his debts and his poor." M. Larroumet says that he was not absolutely in need in his declining years.

/ - JJic influence on ^rench literatureh as been considérabl e, and \ among the greatest of his admirers and imitators are^^fied-de J Vigny, and Alfred de Tyfn<reet r whnsejyefic a V rornflr.Hr f fantasv reminds us sometimes of the graceful and charming c rea- V Hons of Marivaux s Le Jeu de V Amour et du Hasard was played for the first time / at the Théâtre-Italien, on January 23, 1730. It is the masteri pièce of Marivaux, but les Fausses Confidences is scarcely inl ferior to it. We hardly know whether to prefer Silvia's playful \ frankness to Araminte's kindness and absolute truthfulness. I In both plays we see real love, which is expressed in a deikate / and^ehatmifig inanner, and which we see rewarded, at the end \ oTthe play, af ter we hâve enjoyed an interesting and somewhat \ cômplicated plot. Marivaux séems, like Lamartine, to hâve [ had but one note in his compositions, and when one has read his / masterpiece, le Jeu de V Amour et du Hasard, the student hardly / needs to read his other comédies, where is found the same thème I developed in the same manner. Nevertheless the plots are ' différent, and, after having been delighted with le Jeu de V Amour et du Hasard, we read other comédies of his with pleasure. ; It would be strange indeed if, after having read le Lac by Lamartine, we should not read the other beautiful poems in the / Méditations and in the Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, because \ the great poet had but one chord to his lyre. We shall always \ listen with delight to the music of Lamartine^ admirable lyrics, \ and we shall always be charmed with the délicate and inter- \ esting talk of Marivaux's lovers, in whatever comedy # we see Uhem. None are more pleasing, however, than the charming bersonages whom we see in le Jeu de V Amour et du Hasard.

Comédie

Représentée pour la première fois par les Comédiens Italiens ordinaires du Roi, le 23 janvier 1730.