All the plays written by the above-mentioned authors, and by those who follow in their steps, have been said to constitute the "new comedy." But one may question the advisability of applying the same name to literary works which present so little, if any, family likeness. It was tacitly agreed to remove the intricacies of the plot and the forced _dénouement_. But no one will trace in those plays the uniformity of moral purpose which would justify us in comprising them under the same head, as products of the same school. Then, before the Naturalistic, or half-Naturalistic, School had attained to a practical result or taken a definite shape, a wave of Romanticism swept over the French public, and in a measure brought back the old artistic and literary dogmas propounded by Victor Hugo and the generation of 1830. Signs of a revival in French dramatic poetry were not lacking. The success of _La Fille de Roland_, by the Vicomte de Bornier, was restricted to the more cultivated classes, but the vogue of Jean Richepin's _Chemineau_ was at once general and lasting. _Cyrano de Bergerac_, produced in the last days of 1897, brought a world-wide reputation to its young author, Edmond Rostand. This play combines sparkling wit and brilliancy of imagination with delightful touches of pathos and delicate tenderness. It was assumed that Rostand was endowed to an extraordinary degree both with theatrical genius and the poetic faculty. _L'Aiglon_ fell short of this too favourable judgment. It is more a dramatic poem than a real drama, and the author handles history with the same childish incompetence and inaccuracy as Hugo did in _Cromwell_, in _Ruy Blas_ and _Hernani_. The persistent approbation of the public seemed, however, to indicate a growing taste for poetry, even when unsupported by dramatic interest--a curious symptom among the least poetical of modern European races. To sum up, the French, as regards the present condition of their drama, were confronted with two alternative movements. Naturalism, furthered by science and philosophy, was contending against traditions three centuries old, and seemed unable to crystallize into masterly works; while romantic drama, founded on vague and exploded theories, had become embodied in productions of real artistic beauty, which have been warmly welcomed by the general playgoer. It should nevertheless be noted that in _Cyrano_ and _L'Aiglon_ human will, which was the main-spring of Corneille's tragedy and Hugo's drama, tried to reassert itself, but was baffled by circumstance, and had to submit to inexorable laws. This showed that the victorious school would have to reckon with the doctrines of the defeated party, and suggested that a determinist theatre might be the ultimate outcome of a compromise. (A. FI.) (f) _English Drama._