[I] Victor Hugo (see Vol. 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. GASSE: At Blois? You jest! The Queen of Beauty? Marion In a place like this? BRICHANTEAU: Saverny was attacked Last night by footpads. They were killing him, When a man beat them off, and took our friend Into a house. GASSE: But Marion de Lorme? BRICHANTEAU: It was her house. Saverny's rescuer Was the young man with whom she is in love. ROCHEBARON: What is the man like? BRICHANTEAU: Ask Saverny that.