Introduction to the Dramas of Balzac | Page 4

"pals" are the only characters borrowed from that series, but his part in the titular play is new beyond the initial situation.
The /Premiere Edition/ of the /Theatre Complet/ was published in a single duodecimo volume from the press of Giraud & Dagneau in 1853. It contained: /Vautrin/, /Les Ressources de Quinola/, /Pamela Giraud/, and /La Maratre/. All prefaces were omitted. /Mercadet/ was not given with them in this printing, but appeared in a separate duodecimo, under the title of /Le Faiseur/, from the press of Cadot, in 1853. The next edition of the /Theatre Complet/, in 1855, reinstated the prefaces. It was not until 1865 that /Mercadet/ joined the other four in a single volume published by Mme. Houssiaux.
/Vautrin/, a drama in five acts, was presented for the first time in the Porte-Saint-Martin theatre, March 14, 1840. The preface, dated May 1, 1840, was not ready in time for the printing of the first edition, which was a small octavo volume published by Delloye & Tresse. It appeared in the second edition, two months later. The dedication was to Laurent-Jan. [See "Jan" in Repertory.] The play was a distinct failure, but its construction and temper combine to explain this. At the same time it makes interesting reading; and it will prove especially entertaining to readers of the /Comedie Humaine/ who have dreaded and half-admired the redoubtable law-breaker, who makes his initial entrance in /Le Pere Goriot/ and plays so important a part in /Illusions Perdues/, and /Splendeurs et Miseres des Courtisanes/. Here we find Vautrin in a favorite situation. He becomes the powerful protector of an unknown young man--much as he picked up Lucien de Rubempre in /Illusions Perdues/, and attempted to aid Rastignac in /Le Pere Goriot/--and devotes all his sinister craft to his protege's material interests. The playwright is careful to preserve some degree of the young man's self-respect. Chance favors the two by providing the unknown hero with worthy parents; and Vautrin's schemes unexpectedly work out for good. As in the story of /Pere Goriot/ again, Vautrin, after furthering matrimonial deals and other quasi- benevolent projects, ends in the clutches of the law. Of Raoul little need be said. He is the foil for his dread protector and he is saved from dishonor by a narrow margin. The scene is laid at Paris, just after the second accession of the House of Bourbon, in 1816. Titles and families are in some confusion on account of the change of dynasties. It is therefore an opportune time for Vautrin to manufacture scutcheons as occasion may demand. Since this story of Vautrin is not included in the /Comedie/, it will not be found among the biographical facts recorded in the /Repertory/.
/Les Ressources de Quinola/, a comedy in a prologue and five acts, was presented at the Theatre de l'Odeon, Paris, March 19, 1842. Souverain published it in an octavo volume. Balzac was disposed to complain bitterly of the treatment this play received (note his preface), but of it may be said, as in the case of its predecessor, that it makes better reading than it must have made acting, for the scenes are loosely constructed and often illogical. Our playwright yet betrays the amateur touch. It is regrettable, too, for he chose an excellent theme and setting. The time is near the close of the sixteenth century, under the rule of Philip II. of Spain and the much-dreaded Inquisition. An inventor, a pupil of Galileo, barely escapes the Holy Office because of having discovered the secret of the steamboat. Referring to the preface again, we find Balzac maintaining, in apparent candor, that he had historic authority for the statement that a boat propelled by steam-machinery had been in existence for a short time in those days. Be that as it may, one can accept the statement for dramatic purposes; and the story of the early inventor's struggles and his servant's "resources" is promising enough to leave but one regret--that the master-romancer did not make a novel instead of a play out of the material. Though this is called a comedy, it contains more than one element of tragedy in it, and the tone is moody and satirical. The climax, with its abortive love episode, is anything but satisfactory.
/Pamela Giraud/, a drama in five acts, was first presented in the Gaite Theatre, Paris, September 26, 1843. It was published by Marchand in a single octavo volume, in the same year. The action takes place at Paris in 1815-24, during the Napoleonic conspiracies, under Louis XVIII. The Restoration has brought its strong undertow of subdued loyalty for the Corsican--an undertow of plots, among the old soldiers particularly, which for several years were of concern to more than one throne outside of France. The hero of this play becomes involved in one of