Divorçons
Divorçons is a French play by Victorien Sardou and Émile de Najac produced in 1880. A farcical comedy about seeking a divorce, it had theatrical runs over the following decades in England and the United States.[1] It is about a young wife who wants to divorce her husband for a handsome ne'er do well.[2] It was adapted into various films.[3][4][5]
Inspiration
[edit]The play was inspired by plans of the French government to legalize divorce. Legal divorce in France was established by law on 27 July 1884.
Plot
[edit]Its set in Reims and is about Monsieur Des Prunelles and his marriage troubles when his wife (Cyprienne) falls in love with and wants to marry another man (Adhemar) Des Prunelles discovers the relationship. Amicably he accepts his wifes wish to be divorced after they both believe a fake report about a bill having been passed legalizing marriage in France. He pretends to have dinner with another woman but this drives Cyprienne to become jealous and realize that she indeed loves her husband.
They are reconciled and the play ends on a moral tone with the adultery punished and traditional family values being upheld.
Roles and original cast
[edit]Henri Des Prunelles (Daubray) -husband of Cyprienne. His main interest is scientific and mechanical experiments.
Cyprienne (Celine Chaumont) The young wife of M. de Prunelles.
Adhemar de Gratignan - Cypriennes lover
Clavignac - (Rene Luguet) A friend of Des Prunelles who is separated from his wife who is always badgering him to increase her allowance.
Bafourdin
Bastien -a servant
Josepha -a chambermaid
Madame de Brionne -friend of Cyprienne and a young widow
Mademoiselle de Lusignan -A spinster
Madame de Valfontaine
Reception
[edit]The play had its premiere in 1880 at the Palais Royal[6] and became so popular that it ran without break for nine months.
In 1881 also prompted an Italian journalist from the Messagero newspaper in the guise of a review of the play[7] to bring up the topic and condemn the Roman-Catholic movement named Opera dei Congressi which strongly opposed legalizing divorce in Italy.
When the play premiered in England it shocked reviewers by its blatant references to the female sexuality exhibited by the main female character.[8][9] In translations Des Prunelles comment to his romantic rival to "not eat before lunch" (ie to not have intercourse before marriage was bowdlerized into the more morally acceptale "do not let the present spoil the future[8]"
Comments were also made that Celine Chaumont who originated the role portrayed the character with too much vulgarity.[8]
The author Andre Gide who viewed an 1889 production of the play proclaimed it to be "...extremely strong and marvellously made . It even frightened me a little by its extreme boldness.[10]"
Later stagings of the play featuring Eleonora Duse[11] and Betty Hennings[8] were said to have toned down this aspect of the character.
In 1896 an adaption of the play was made by Herman Merivale under the name "The Queens Proctor" In this version that was said by a reviewer "to have been scrubbed of all offense" the husbsnd is transformed into Englishman,his wife and lover are Italians.
The New York Times reviewed an 1897 staging of the play.[12] The Los Angeles Times gave a favorable review of a 1998 theatrical revival of the play.[13]
Film adaptations
[edit]- Divorçons (1912 film), short
- Divorçons (1915 film), short
- Let's Get a Divorce (1918)
- Kiss Me Again (1925 film)
- That Uncertain Feeling (film) (1943)
References
[edit]- ^ Sardou and the Sardou Plays. J.B. Lippincott. 1913.
- ^ "Divorçons". Oxford Reference.
- ^ The AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Let's Get a Divorce(Wayback)
- ^ Progressive Silent Film List: Let's Get a Divorce at silentera.com
- ^ "Divorçons – Broadway Show – Play | IBDB".
- ^ Foley, S.; Sowerwine, C. (2012-03-20). A Political Romance: Léon Gambetta, Léonie Léon and the Making of the French Republic, 1872-82. Springer. ISBN 978-0-230-36948-1.
- ^ Seymour, M. (2006-12-11). Debating Divorce in Italy: Marriage and the Making of Modern Italians, 1860-1974. Springer. ISBN 978-0-230-60174-1.
- ^ a b c d Archer, William (1895). The Theatrical World of 1894: With an Introd. by George Bernard Shaw, and a Synopsis of Playbills of the Year by Henry George Hibbert. W. Scott.
- ^ Eltis, Sos (2013-04-18). Acts of Desire: Women and Sex on Stage 1800-1930. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-969135-7.
- ^ Pollard, Patrick (1991-01-01). André Gide: Homosexual Moralist. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-04998-5.
- ^ Archer, William (1895). The Theatrical World of 1894: With an Introd. by George Bernard Shaw, and a Synopsis of Playbills of the Year by Henry George Hibbert. W. Scott.
- ^ "MRS. FISKE AS CYPRIENNE.; Sardou's "Divorcons" Acted in English at the Fifth Avenue Theatre for a Charitable Purpose". The New York Times. May 8, 1897 – via NYTimes.com.
- ^ Brandes, Philip (November 13, 1998). "Insightful Performances Give a Timely Lift to 'Divorcons'". Los Angeles Times.
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