SOURCE: “Splendors of Hell: A Tragic Farce,” in Renascence, Vol. 20, No. 1, Autumn 1967, pp. 30-38.

In the following essay, Hellman discusses elements of The Splendors of Hell that outraged audiences at the time of its first performances, arguing that Ghelderode uses the play's profane aspects to emphasize a sense of faith.

The play Splendors of Hell is interesting from a biographical point of view because its success in Paris in 1949 brought wide public attention to the Belgian playwright, Michel de Ghelderode, who until then had lived in relative obscurity. Although he had chosen the life of a recluse, this somewhat belated success, and the recognition and acclaim by an admiring group of young actors and directors in Paris amazed and delighted him. In the five or six years following the success of Splendors of Hell, which had won first prize in a theatrical competition, “Concours des Jeunes Compagnies,” eight...