SOURCE: "Jules Vallès, La Commune de Paris (1872)," in his The Paris Commune on the Stage: Vallès, Grieg, Brecht, Adamov, European University Studies, Series 1: German Language and Literature, Vol. 422, Peter Lang, 1981, pp. 36-52.

In the following excerpt, Fischer demonstrates the value of Vallès's play La Commune de Paris as a detailed and personal history of the Paris Commune of 1871, arguing that although the plot and characterizations are unrealistic, the drama vividly portrays the social and political conflicts surrounding the event.

La Commune de Paris, subtitled by its author a "grand drame historique,"¹ is an extraordinarily long play, designed indeed on an impressive scale. The text of the book edition covers 341 pages, not counting the title pages preceding numerous textual divisions. The five acts of the play are subdivided into eleven tableaux, or scenic units, each requiring a new stage setting and each in turn consisting of...