MAIN CURRENTS IN NINETEENTH CENTURY LITERATURE BY GEORG BRANDES IN SIX VOLUMES V. THE ROMANTIC SCHOOL IN FRANCE THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1904 _Dis-nous mil huit cent trente._ _Époque fulgurante,_ _Ses luttes, ses ardeurs...._ --TH. DE BANVILLE _Nicht was lebendig, kraftvoll sich verkündigt_ _Ist das gefährlich Furchtbare. Das ganz_ _Gemeine ist's, das ewig Gestrige,_ _Was immer war und immer wiederkehrt_ _Und morgen gilt, weil's heute hat gegolten._ --SCHILLER. CONTENTS I. THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND II. THE GENERATION OF 1830 III. ROMANTICISM IV. CHARLES NODIER V. RETROSPECT--FOREIGN INFLUENCES VI. RETROSPECT--INDIGENOUS SOURCES VII. DE VIGNY'S POETRY AND HUGO'S "ORIENTALES" VIII. HUGO AND DE MUSSET IX. DE MUSSET AND GEORGE SAND X. ALFRED DE MUSSET XI. GEORGE SAND XII. BALZAC XIII. BALZAC XIV. BALZAC XV. BALZAC XVI. BALZAC XVII. BALZAC XVIII. BEYLE XIX. BEYLE XX. BEYLE XXI. MÉRIMÉE XXII. BEYLE AND MÉRIMÉE XXIII. MÉRIMÉE XXXIV. MÉRIMÉE XXV. MÉRIMÉE XXVI. MÉRIMÉE AND GAUTIER XXVII. THÉOPHILE GAUTIER XXVIII. THÉOPHILE GAUTIER XXIX. SAINTE-BEUVE XXX. SAINTE-BEUVE XXXI. SAINTE-BEUVE AND MODERN CRITICISM XXXII. THE DRAMA: VITET, DUMAS, DE VIGNY, HUGO XXXIII. LITERATURE IN ITS RELATION TO THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL MOVEMENTS OF THE DAY XXXIV. THE OVERLOOKED AND FORGOTTEN XXXV. CONCLUSION LIST OF PORTRAITS DE MUSSET GEORGE SAND BALZAC HENRY BEYLE (STENDHAL) MÉRIMÉE THÉOPHILE GAUTIER SAINTE-BEUVE I THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND The literature produced in France between the years 1824 and 1828 is important and admirable. After the upheavals of the Revolution, the wars of the Empire, and the lassitude of the reign of Louis XVIII., there arose a young generation that applied itself with eager enthusiasm to those highest intellectual pursuits which had so long been neglected. During the Revolution and the wars of Napoleon the youths of France had had other vocations than the reformation of literature and art. The best energies of the nation had been diverted into the channels of politics, military enterprise, and civil administration. Now a great volume of intellectual force which had long been confined was suddenly set free.