]
_CHAPTER XIII_
THE OBLIGATORY SCENE
I do not know whether it was Francisque Sarcey who invented the phrase
_scene a faire_; but it certainly owes its currency to that valiant
champion of the theatrical theatre, if I may so express it. Note that in
this term I intend no disrespect. My conception of the theatrical
theatre may not be exactly the same as M. Sarcey's; but at all events I
share his abhorrence of the untheatrical theatre.
What is the _scene a faire_? Sarcey has used the phrase so often, and in
so many contexts, that it is impossible to tie him down to any strict
definition. Instead of trying to do so, I will give a typical example of
the way in which he usually employs the term.
In _Les Fourchambault_, by Emile Augier, the first act introduces us to
the household of a merchant, of Havre, who has married a wealthy, but
extravagant woman, and has a son and daughter who are being gradually
corrupted by their mother's worldliness. We learn that Fourchambault,
senior, has, in his youth, betrayed a young woman who was a governess in
his family.
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