Jean Jullien's La Sérénade: A Comédie Rosse Study

Jean Jullien's La Serenade: A Comedie Rosse Study JEANNE KLEIN Jean Jullien's La Serenade, subtitled "A Bourgeois Study," ushered in a unique French drame later labeled comedie rosse. 1 The play opened two days before Christmas in 1887, nine months after Antoine established the Theatre Libre as the first independent theatre in Europe. Antoine wrote that La Serenade, "written with the novelty and daring ofan unusual comic form, stimulated both astonishment and genuine interest.... Jullien's play clearly caused a sensation; his comedy of middle-class life is said to herald a new and original talent...2 Other playwrights followed Jullien's example to the point where comedie rosse was proclaimed the"genre Theatre Libre...3 In his attempt to surpass Henri Becque, considered France's father of naturalism, Jullien took his trallche de vie to its extremes. His work violated both dramatic conventions, sparking a debate which blurred the issues of naturalism, and French notions of decorum and honneur. As aresult critics not only questioned his literary motives, but his pessimistic portrayal of Parisian life lost favor as well, while in America Jullien's violations of sexual and moral codes ruled out any immediate possibility of stage production' Partly for this reason, his work was denied wide recognition abroad. In addition, the English translation of La Serenade failed to capture the full potency of French rosserie.5 Jullien crystallized the dramatic principles of naturalism in 1892 in his book Le Theatre Vivant. Here he explained the style and structure which he sought in La Serenade: As for taking the audience into your confidence before-hand, never! The public insists upon surprise, for life is nothing but surprises. Does it not thwart our plans almost wantonly? I believe that the interest of a play resides in this unknown quality. If the spectatorknows from the first act what is going to happen in those which follow, how the deuce can you expect to hold his attention? ... Ieven aver that, without allowing scenes Jean Jullien's La Serenade: A ComMie Rosse Study 529 to be confused or misinterpreted, one should prepare the succession of scenes and the progression of the plot as little as possible,6 True to his word, Jullien derived his humor from unexpected twists in situation as he exposed one rosse character at a time even to the bewilderment of the characters themselves. Simultaneously he played upon anticipations of well-made play devices to thwart predictions in character decorum. This tactic proved both a strength and weakness as he rewarded his audiences too late with full knowledge of character secrets. These techniques did, in fact, confuse audience responses and triggered misinterpretations of his true motives, and the literary and social controversy distracted attention from his experimental search for a living theatre. A closer look at La Serenade reveals Jullien's craft. Act I dismisses exposition and establishes the unifying theme - "where the wisest of us are fooled.'" Cottin's business partner, Poujade, warns his young nephew, Prosper. against marriage whereby angelic women become femmes coquines and husbands are turned into criminals in being forced to kill the guilty parties. Ironically, Cottin's own wife, Nathalie, is conducting a love affair with Maxime, her son's tutor. To conceal their affair, she has falsely told Prosper that Maxime loves her daughter, Genevieve, Prosper's intended. Maxime suddenly goes pale and the audience wonders why. As the contemporary critic Filon recognized, Act I generally leads the audience to expect vaudeville, while Act II plunges into serious drama. 8 After seeing his wife and Maxime kiss, Cottin interrogates them at Poujade's insistence. Nathalie denies Maxime's presence in her bedroom and Genevieve defends her by revealing the truth. The fact of the matter is that not only are Genevieve, the daughter, and Maxime lovers, but she carries his child. Thus, at key points both acts present misguided expectations for characters and audience alike. Rather than unravel these complications in Act III, Jullien extends the discomfiture of rosserie even further. Poujade and Nathalie manipulatively persuade Couio to marry Genevieve and Maxime in order to achieve divergent ulterior motives of their own. Cottin's position becomes untenable when he unwittingly succumbs...