ly scheme and plot to get herself married by the son of the
family, she did instinctively all that had to be done for that. She was
very deep in an innocent way, and I have come to the conclusion that
such deepness is the most to be feared.

I see quite well all that is lacking in these pieces, and that they are
not very great, but all the same they form a "theatre" apart. There is
unity in this theatrical work of George Sand. Whether it makes a hero of
the natural son, rehabilitates the seduced girl, or cries down the idea
of _mesalliances_, it is always the same fight in which it is
engaged; it is always fighting against the same enemies, prejudice and
narrow-mindedness. On the stage, we call every opinion contrary to our
own prejudice or narrow-mindedness. The theatre lives by fighting.
It matters little what the author is attacking. He may wage war with
principles, prejudices, giants, or windmills. Provided that there be a
battle, there will be a theatre for it.

The fact that George Sand's theatre was the forerunner of the theatre
of Dumas _fils_ gives it additional value. We have already noticed the
analogy of situations and the kinship of theories contained in George
Sand's best plays and in the most noted ones by Dumas. I have no doubt
that Dumas owed a great deal to George Sand. We shall see that he paid
his debt as only he could have done. He knew the novelist when he was
quite young, as Dumas _pere_ and George Sand were on very friendly
terms. In her letter telling Sainte-Beuve not to take Musset to call
on her, as she thought him impertinent, she tells him to bring Dumas
_pere_, whom she evidently considered well bred. As she was a friend of
his father's, she was like a mother for the son. The first letter to him
in the _Correspondance_ is dated 1850. Dumas _fils_ was then twenty-six
years of age, and she calls him "my son."

He had not written _La Dame aux Camelias_ then. It was performed for
the first time in February, 1852. He was merely the author of a few
second-rate novels and of a volume of execrable poetry. He had not found
out his capabilities at that time. There is no doubt that he was greatly
struck by George Sand's plays, imbued as they were with the ideas we
have just pointed out.

All this is worthy of note, as it is essential for understanding the
work of Alexandre Dumas _fils_. He, too, was a natural son, and his
illegitimate birth had caused him much suffering. He was sent to
the Pension