(1820-1889)
As an observer of society, a satirist, and a painter of types and
characters of modern life, Émile Augier ranks among the greatest French
dramatists of this century. Critics consider him in the line of direct
descent from Molière and Beaumarchais. His collected works ('Theatre
Complet') number twenty-seven plays, of which nine are in verse. Eight
of these were written with a literary partner. Three are now called
classics: 'Le Gendre de M. Poirier' (M. Poirier's Son-in-Law),
'L'Aventurière' (The Adventuress), and 'Fils de Giboyer' (Giboyer's
Boy). 'Le Gendre de M. Poirier' was written with Jules Sandeau, but the
admirers of Augier have proved by internal evidence that his share in
its composition was the greater. It is a comedy of manners based on the
old antagonism between vulgar ignorant energy and ability on the one
side, and lazy empty birth and breeding on the other; embodied in
Poirier, a wealthy shopkeeper, and M. de Presles, his son-in-law, an
impoverished nobleman. Guillaume Victor Émile Augier was born in
Valence, France, September 17th, 1820, and was intended for the law; but
inheriting literary tastes from his grandfather, Pigault Lebrun the
romance writer, he devoted himself to letters. When his first play, 'La
Ciguë' (The Hemlock),--in the preface to which he defended his
grandfather's memory,--was presented at the Odéon in 1844, it made the
author famous. Théophile Gautier describes it at length in Vol. iii. of
his 'Art Dramatique,' and compares it to Shakespeare's 'Timon of
Athens.' It is a classic play, and the hero closes his career by a
draught of hemlock.
Augier's works are:--'Un Homme de Bien' (A Good Man); 'L'Aventurière'
(The Adventuress); 'Gabrielle'; 'Le Joueur de Flute' (The Flute Player);
'Diane' (Diana), a romantic play on the same theme as Victor Hugo's
'Marion Delorme,' written for and played by Rachel; 'La Pierre de
Touche' (The Touchstone), with Jules Sandeau; 'Philberte,' a comedy of
the last century; 'Le Mariage d'Olympe' (Olympia's Marriage); 'Le Gendre
de M. Poirier' (M. Poirier's Son-in-Law); 'Ceinture Dorée' (The Golden
Belt), with Edouard Foussier; 'La Jeunesse' (Youth); 'Les Lionnes
Pauvres' (Ambition and Poverty),--a bold story of social life in Paris
during the Second Empire, also with Foussier; 'Les Effrontés' (Brass),
an attack on the worship of money; 'Le Fils de Giboyer' (Giboyer's Boy),
the story of a father's devotion, ambitions, and self-sacrifice; 'Maître
Guérin' (Guérin the Notary), the hero being an inventor; 'La Contagion'
(Contagion), the theme of which is skepticism; 'Paul Forestier,' the
story of a young artist; 'Le Post-Scriptum' (The Postscript); 'Lions et
Renards' (Lions and Foxes), whose motive is love of power; 'Jean
Thommeray,' the hero of which is drawn from Sandeau's novel of the same
title; 'Madame Caverlet,' hinging on the divorce question; 'Les
Fourchambault' (The Fourchambaults), a plea for family union; 'La Chasse
au Roman' (Pursuit of a Romance), and 'L'Habit Vert' (The Green Coat),
with Sandeau and Alfred de Musset; and the libretto for Gounod's opera
'Sappho.' Augier wrote one volume of verse, which he modestly called
'Pariétaire,' the name of a common little vine, the English danewort. In
1858 he was elected to the French Academy, and in 1868 became a
Commander of the Legion of Honor. He died at Croissy, October 25th,
1889. An analysis of his dramas by Émile Montégut is published in the
Revue de Deux Mondes for April, 1878.