PIÈCE EN QUATRE ACTES

Représentée pour la première fois, à Paris, le ç Avril i88ç y sur le

Théâtre de VOdéon.

The heroine of the play, Hélène Rousseau, is a young woman of twenty-three, married to a professor, Pierre Rousseau, a man of thirtytwo, of fine moral character, but rather diffident, and lacking in those exterior qualities that worldly people appreciate. Out of pure love he has married Hélène, who, selfish, conceited, and cold-bearted, is unable to appreciate his real worth. Rousseau teaches in a collège the greater part of the day, and gives private lessons the rest of the time, in order to procure the money to pay for the expenses of Hélène, who is determined to hâve good times and to play a part in society. The misunderstanding between husband and wife has been going on from the beginning of the play. Hélène has gone so far as to favor the attentions of a young fop, Jacques de Bretigny. At the moment when the third act opens, she feels the narrowness of her married life more keenly than ever, and she has almost made up her mind to accept the bold propositions of M. de Bretigny.

This third act, perhaps the finest of the whole play, brings out the characters of the most conspicuous personages and prépares the dénouement by explaining what has yet been left in the dark of the real part played by the Comtesse de Voves, who had, from the first, shown herself deeply interested in Hélène's welfare.