Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 July 1884 — The Purpose of a Play. [ARTICLE]

The Purpose of a Play.

Alexandre Dumas, in his preface to “L’Etrangere,” published in the sixth volume of his dramatic works, says that the dominant idea of that play is divorce. “If we had it in France,” he argues, “it would not be necessary to send to America for Clarkson to free the unhappy Catherine de Septmonts from her atrocious husband. When we attack a law on the stage it can only be by stage effects and generally without the particular law being even mentioned. The public must draw its own conclusions and say, ‘ln such a case as that the law is at fault.’” When a tea broker -fails, he injures his chest.