George Sand never pretended to have this immense disdain for the theatre which is professed by ultra-refined writers.  She had always loved the theatre, and she bore it no grudge, although her pieces had been hissed.  In those days plays that did not find favour were hissed.  At present they are not hissed, either because there are no more poor plays, or because the public has seen so many bad ones that it has become philosophical, and does not take the trouble to show its displeasure.  George Sand’s first piece, Cosima, was a noted failure.  About the year 1850, she turned to the theatre once more, hoping to find a new form of expression for her energy and talent. Francois le Champi was a great success.  In January, 1851, she wrote as follows, after the performance of Claudie: “A tearful success and a financial one.  The house is full every day; not a ticket given away, and not even a seat for Maurice.  The piece is played admirably; Bocage is magnificent.  The public weeps and blows its nose, as though it were in church.  I am told that never in the memory of man has there been such a first night.  I was not present myself.”

There may be a slight exaggeration in the words “never in the memory of man,” but the success was really great. Claudie is still given, and I remember seeing Paul Mounet interpret the part of Remy admirably at the Odeon Theatre.  As to the Mariage de Victorine, it figures every year on the programme of the Conservatoire competitions.  It is the typical piece for would-be ingenues.

Francois le Champi, Claudie and the Mariage de Victorine may be considered as the series representing George Sand’s dramatic writings.  These pieces were all her own, and, in her own opinion, that was their principal merit.  The dramatic author is frequently obliged to accept the collaboration of persons who know nothing of literature.

“Your characters say this,” observes the manager; “it is all very well, but, believe me, it will be better for him to say just the opposite.  The piece will run at least sixty nights longer.”  There was a manager at the Gymnase Theatre in those days named Montigny.  He was a very clever manager, and knew exactly what the characters ought to say for making the piece run.  George Sand complained of his mania for changing every play, and she added:  “Every piece that I did not change, such, for instance, as Champi, Claudie, Victorine, Le Demon du foyer and Le Pressoir, was a success, whilst all the others were either failures or they had a very short run."(48)

     (48) Correspondance: To Maurice Sand, February 24, 1855.