These scenes are unmistakably _scenes a faire_, dictated by the logic of
the theme; but they belong to a conception of art in which the free
rhythms of life are ruthlessly sacrificed to the needs of a
demonstration. Obligatory scenes of this order are mere diagrams drawn
with ruler and compass--the obligatory illustrations of an extravagantly
over-systematic lecture.
M. Brieux in some of his plays (not in all) is no less logic-ridden than
M. Hervieu. Take, for instance, _Les Trois Filles de M. Dupont_: every
character is a term in a syllogism, every scene is dictated by an
imperious craving for symmetry. The main theorem may be stated in some
such terms as these: "The French marriage system is immoral and
abominable; yet the married woman is, on the whole, less pitiable than
her unmarried sisters." In order to prove this thesis in due form, we
begin at the beginning, and show how the marriage of Antonin Mairaut and
Julie Dupont is brought about by the dishonest cupidity of the parents
on both sides.
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