Goubaux, and for several years he endured the torture
he describes with such harshness at the beginning of _L'Affaire
Clemenceau_. He was exposed to all kinds of insults and blows. His first
contact with society taught him that this society was unjust, and that
it made the innocent suffer. The first experience he had was that of the
cruelty and cowardice of men. His mind was deeply impressed by this,
and he never lost the impression. He did not forgive, but made it his
mission to denounce the pharisaical attitude of society. His idea was to
treat men according to their merits, and to pay them back for the blows
he had received as a child.(49) It is easy, therefore, to understand how
the private grievances of Dumas _fils_ had prepared his mind to welcome
a theatre which took the part of the oppressed and waged war with social
prejudices. I am fully aware of the difference in temperament of the two
writers. Dumas _fils_, with his keen observation, was a pessimist. He
despised woman, and he advises us to kill her, under the pretext that
she has always remained "the strumpet of the land of No." although she
may be dressed in a Worth costume and wear a Reboux hat.

(49) See our study of Dumas _fils_ in a volume entitled _Portraits
d'ecrivains._

As a dramatic author, Alexandre Dumas _fils_ had just what George
Sand lacked. He was vigorous, he had the art of brevity and brilliant
dialogue. It is thanks to all this that we have one of the masterpieces
of the French theatre, _Le Marquis de Villemer_, as a result of their
collaboration.

We know from George Sand's letters the share that Dumas _fils_ had in
this work. He helped her to take the play from her novel, and to write
the scenario. After this, when once the play was written, he touched
up the dialogue, putting in more emphasis and brilliancy. It was Dumas,
therefore, who constructed the play. We all know how careless George
Sand was with her composition. She wrote with scarcely any plan in her
mind beforehand, and let herself be carried away by events. Dumas'
idea was that the _denouement_ is a mathematical total, and that before
writing the first word of a piece the author must know the end and have
decided the action. Theatrical managers complained of the sadness of
George Sand's plays. It is to Dumas that we owe the gaiety of the Duc
d'Aleria's _role_. It is one continual flow of amusing speeches, and it
saves the piece from the danger of falling into tea