Scribe, Eugène

Scribe, Eugène

▪ French dramatist
in full  Augustin-eugène Scribe  
born Dec. 24, 1791, Paris, France
died Feb. 20, 1861, Paris
 French dramatist whose works dominated the Parisian stage for more than 30 years.

      Scribe began his career as a playwright by resurrecting the vaudeville, an obsolete form of short satirical comedy that used rhymed and sung couplets and featured musical interludes. He soon began replacing its stock characters with ones drawn from contemporary society and introducing elements of the comedy of manners into his plays. He eliminated the musical interludes altogether and expanded the elements of comic intrigue until his plays had become genuine comedies. He went on to become one of the great masters of the neatly plotted, tightly constructed, “well-made” play.

      Scribe was a writer of prodigious industry who also achieved great popular success. He wrote almost 400 theatre pieces of every kind, often in collaboration in what was virtually a literary factory. His comedies, which express the values and predilections of bourgeois society and praise the virtues of commerce and family life, were intended to appeal to the material aspirations of a middle-class audience whose capacity for idealism was limited. Among his many comedies are Une Nuit de la garde nationale (1815; “A Night with the National Guard”), Le Charlatanisme (1825), and Le Mariage d'argent (1827; “Marriage for Money”). Scribe is also remembered for such historical plays as Le Verre d'eau (1840; “The Glass of Water”), which derives great historical events from a trivial incident, and Bertrand et Raton (1833), a historical comedy. His Adrienne Lecouvreur (1849), a melodrama about an actress who loves a nobleman, unaware of his high rank and true identity, was favoured as a vehicle by such notable actresses as Sarah Bernhardt and Helena Modjeska. Scribe also wrote a ballet and several opera libretti.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Scribe, Eugène — (1791 1861)    playwright    Born in Paris, Eugène Scribe was not well received initially, during the early years of the restoration. However, his comedies, influenced by Goldoni and diderot, soon gained great popularity, especially among the… …   France. A reference guide from Renaissance to the Present

  • SCRIBE, EUGENE —    French dramatist, a prolific and a successful, who produced plays for half a century, well adapted for the stage, if otherwise worthless (1791 1861) …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

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  • SCRIBE (E.) — SCRIBE EUGÈNE (1791 1861) Fils d’un marchand drapier de la rue Saint Denis, Eugène Scribe ne vient au théâtre que par goût du vaudeville, qui le détourne d’une carrière d’avocat où le poussent ses parents. Il débute au théâtre des Variétés avec… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • scribe — [ skrib ] n. m. • 1365 sens 3; lat. scriba « greffier », de scribere « écrire » 1 ♦ Anciennt Homme dont le métier était d écrire à la main. ⇒ copiste, écrivain (public), greffier. « Toute loi écrite est déjà périmée. Car la main du scribe est… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Scribe — steht für: Eugène Scribe, ein französischer Dichter Scribe (Multicast), eine Application Level Multicast Infrastruktur …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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