THE MARQUIS DE SAVERNY
THE MARQUIS DE NANGIS
THE COMTE DE GASSE
BRICHANTEAU
L'ANGELY, _the King's Jester_
ROCHEBARON LAFFEMAS
TOWN CRIER
HEADSMAN
TWO WORKMEN
SOLDIERS, OFFICIALS, _and a crowd of people_
ACT I
SCENE--_A street in Blois in 1638.
World's Greatest Books - Volume 17 - Poetry and Drama
V, p. 122) occupies an anomalous
position among the great dramatists of the world. He is really a poet
with a splendid lyrical inspiration; but he combines this in his plays
with an acquired but effective talent for stage-craft. "Hernani" is the
most famous play in the European literature of the nineteenth century.
This is partly due to the fact that it was the first great romantic
drama given on the French stage. When it was produced, on February 25,
1830, there was a fierce battle in the theatre between the followers
of the new movement and the adherents of the classic school of French
playwriting. Little of the play itself was heard on the first night.
The voices of the players were drowned in a storm of denunciations
from the classicists, and counter-cheers from the romanticists. The
admirers of Victor Hugo won. "Hernani" is certainly the most romantic
of romantic dramas. The plot is striking, and full of swift and
astonishing changes, but the characters are not always true to life.
Nevertheless, "Hernani" is a fine, interesting, poetic melodrama, with
a rather weak last act. The gloomy scene with which it closes lacks
the inevitability of true tragedy. Had the play ended happily it would
undoubtedly have retained its popularity.
Marion de Lorme[J]
_Persons in the Drama_
MARION DE LORME
DIDIER
LOUIS XIII.
THE MARQUIS DE SAVERNY
THE MARQUIS DE NANGIS
THE COMTE DE GASSE
BRICHANTEAU
L'ANGELY, _the King's Jester_
ROCHEBARON LAFFEMAS
TOWN CRIER
HEADSMAN
TWO WORKMEN
SOLDIERS, OFFICIALS, _and a crowd of people_
ACT I
SCENE--_A street in Blois in 1638.
Some officers are sitting in the
twilight outside a tavern, chatting, smoking, and drinking. They
rise up to welcome the_ COMTE DE GASSE.
BRICHANTEAU: You come to Blois to join the regiment?
We all condole with you. What is the news
From Paris?
GASSE: The duel has come in again. Richelieu
Is furious.
ROCHEBARON: That's no news. We duel here,
To pass the time away.
GASSE: But have you heard
Of the incredible, mysterious flight
Of Marion de Lorme?
BRICHANTEAU: We have some news,
Gasse, for you. Marion is here.
