THE PRICE OF A LIFE
THE PRICE OF A LIFE
BY AUGUSTIN EUGÈNE SCRIBE
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Eugène Scribe was born in 1791, at Paris, where he died in 1861. He soon tired of the law as a profession and between 1820 and 1825 wrote farces and little comedies.Then begins the second period of his career, during which he wrote the librettos, masterpieces themselves, of the familiar operas, “La Dame Blanche,†“Robert Le Diable,†“Les Huguenots,†“Fra Diavolo,†etc., and the serious comedy “Valerie,†in which he shows a most delightful and unique genius in prolonging interestingly his situations. With “Bertrand and Raton,†a five-act comedy, produced at the Theatre Français in 1833, he commenced a series of historical and political comedies. In all, Scribe wrote some three hundred and fifty pieces. In 1836 he was elected a member of the Academy.In style, Scribe is delicate and graceful, with an indescribable “charm,†as in his first manner, or lively and natural, as in his second; but he is not to be relied upon for the truth.
Eugène Scribe was born in 1791, at Paris, where he died in 1861. He soon tired of the law as a profession and between 1820 and 1825 wrote farces and little comedies.
Then begins the second period of his career, during which he wrote the librettos, masterpieces themselves, of the familiar operas, “La Dame Blanche,†“Robert Le Diable,†“Les Huguenots,†“Fra Diavolo,†etc., and the serious comedy “Valerie,†in which he shows a most delightful and unique genius in prolonging interestingly his situations. With “Bertrand and Raton,†a five-act comedy, produced at the Theatre Français in 1833, he commenced a series of historical and political comedies. In all, Scribe wrote some three hundred and fifty pieces. In 1836 he was elected a member of the Academy.
In style, Scribe is delicate and graceful, with an indescribable “charm,†as in his first manner, or lively and natural, as in his second; but he is not to be relied upon for the truth.
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