SOURCE: Clark, Barrett H. “Henry Becque.” In A Study of Modern Drama: A Handbook for the Study and Appreciation of Typical Plays, European, English and American, of the Last Three-Quarters of a Century, pp. 122-26. New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 1938.

In the following essay, Clark discusses Becque's life, career, and the plot of The Vultures.

Henry Becque, the father of the modern French Naturalistic school, was born at Paris in 1837. His early works were produced in the sixties, but The Parisian Woman and The Vultures, his most important plays, were peddled about for years before they were performed. During the last years of his life, Becque was recognized as the master, the founder of one of the most important movements of modern times. He died in 1899.

The production of The Vultures in 1882 and The Parisian Woman in 1885 marked the beginning of the new school which, in 1887, under the...