Camille and Other Plays

by Stephen S. Stanton (Introduction), Eugène Scribe (Contributor), J.F.A. Bayard (Contributor)

In this classic anthology of French drama, Stephen S. Stanton has assembled the nineteenth century's finest well-made plays: The Glass of Water and A Peculiar Position by Eugène Scribe; Camille by Alexander Dumas fils; Olympe's Marriage by Emile Augier; A Scrap of Paper by Victorien Sardou. In an incisive introduction, Stanton fully diagrams these works and their seminal influence on modern theater. Whether Dumas's risqué study of courtesan love in Camille, or Augier's counterattack on the dangers of sentimentalizing such passions in Olympe's Marriage, these plays not only brilliantly evoke Second Empire and Third Republic French culture but also introduce domestic themes and theatrical devices that have influenced Western drama for the last one hundred and fifty years.

Genres: Drama, Plays, Theatre, 19th Century, Anthologies

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

One's enjoyment of this book is going to depend entirely on their taste. Do you like nineteenth century French comedy? Then you probably will have fun. If it's not exactly your cup of tea, as I'm discovering, then your reactions will likely be more mixed, if not neccesarily downright negative.

Of the four plays here, A Peculiar Position and A Scrap of Paper are outright farces, and thus, in my opinion, don't work particularly well on paper, even if they're wonderful when performed. The Glass of Water is a comedy, but less of a farce, and its unusual setting in Queen Anne's court in the eighteenth century lent a level of interest to it. La Dame aux Camelias, better known as Camille, is of course fragile and sad, and I loved it. Olympe's Marriage seems to be in the volume for the sole reason of being a direct critique of the morals that La Dame aux Camelias espouses. Having thus liked its target, I thought I would dislike Olympe's Marriage, but it was clever, and eventually won me over, even if I never agreed with its ideology.

Know your taste then, and read this book or not accordingly.

[Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've only read "A Glass of Water" and "A Scrap of Paper," and both for a class. I might try "Camille." I dunno, I'm not much of a pièce bien-faite person, but "A Scrap of Paper" was, I'll admit, fairly amusing. "A Glass of Water" was basically the duller side of "Three Musketeers": political intrigue, constant "turning of the screw" (as my professor likes to say), but not enough dueling to break the flow of the constant intellectual quibbling.