8. LA FOLLE DE CHAILLOT Dramatic Irony Is Found in Any Situation Where the Audience Knows Something Which Some of the Characters

8. LA FOLLE DE CHAILLOT

Dramatic irony is found in any situation where the audience knows something which some of the characters do not. In La Folle de Chaillot, the world is pretty evenly divided into two parts, the good and the wicked, and the ultimate victory of the good is due entirely to their foreknowledge of the wicked's plans. The mutual distrust and fear that separate the two camps constitute the framework of the play, held together by the familiar 'procédés ironiques' of Giraudoux. Before going into an analysis of specific instances of irony in this posthumous comedy by an author whose previous play, Sodome et Gomorrbe (1943), had been far from gay, it is necessary to say a few words about its production: Giraudoux had composed the Folle de Chaillot during the war, and the very fact that an easy-going peace- time Parisian atmosphere permeates the play's two acts is an indication of a writer's nostalgic return to a France 'entre (or perhaps 'après') deux guerres'. The author had sent the manuscript in 1943 to Louis Jouvet, who was then touring South America, and he had optimistically or whimsically written on the first page: "La Folle de Chaillot fut présentée pour la première fois le 17 octobre 1945, sur la scène du Théâtre de l'Athénée sous la direction de Louis Jouvet" [La Folle de Chaillot was presented for the first time on October 17, 1945, on the stage of the Théâtre de l'Athénée, under the direction of Louis Jouvet].1 As it turned out, Giraudoux' instinct did not fail him by much, since the play was actually put on by Jouvet at the Athénée on December 19, 1945. The success was instantaneous: here was the old familiar gaily ironic

1 As quoted by D. Inskip in Jean Giraudoux, the Making of a Dramatist (Oxford University Press, 1958), p. 130. 154 LA FOLLE DE CHAILLOT

Giraudoux, in a play that evoked the fairytale atmosphere of Inter- mezzo and Ondine rather than the apocalyptic gloom which had marked Sodome et Gomorrhe, the play that was being presented on that cold January night in 1944 when Giraudoux died. In many ways La Folle de Chaillot could not escape success (it ran for 297 performances): Marguerite Moreno was a magnificent Mad- woman, and Jouvet played, as usual, the role of the ironist, the Rag- picker, whose paradoxical duty it is to defend the wicked rich. As Donald Inskip has pointed out, "Of all Giraudoux' plays, in fact, the Madwoman is the one which comes closest to being an actor's play first and foremost, namely one of which the merit is more visible upon the stage than the peace and quiet of the study. The scintillating style is present, as always: but the reading of the Madwoman can convey little of the life and variety it takes on when animated by the players. There are few parts indeed in this play which are not rewarding for those called upon to interpret them."2 It seems therefore futile to look for elaborate symbolism in this play. The final voyage of the evil profiteers into the sewers of Paris might well signify their descent into Hell, but what of it ? La Folle de Chaillot is meant to be enjoyed rather than dissected. In another Tulane Drama Review article, Germaine Bree makes this very point: "One can, of course, infuse ethical or social intent into the play by recalling Giraudoux' indignation at the sight of the shoddy degrada- tion of our cities and his dislike of exploiters as such. One can recall the fundamental design of his dramatic universe and speak of the conflict between gods and men, the human and the non-human. But why? In connection with The Madwoman of Chaillot all this seems a rather dull and unnecessary surcharge. Of all Giraudoux' plays, The Madwoman of Chaillot is probably the one which yields least to any interpretation outside its own performance on the stage."3 Basically, given the hilarious exaggerations that fill the play, one can subscribe to this point of view. But a word of caution is necessary. There are, after all, some damning and pessimistic remarks about modern times which lead in just the opposite direction. The Rag-

1 Ibid., p. 143. ' G. Bree, "The Madwoman of Chaillot", Tulane Drama Review, (Summer 1959), pp. 51-52. LA FOLLE DE CHAILLOT 155 picker, bitterly comparing what he finds now in rubbish cans to the former treasures he used to discover, concludes: "Le monde n'est plus beau, le monde n'est plus heureux à cause de l'invasion." He adds: "L'époque des esclaves arrive" [The world is no longer beautiful, the world is no longer happy because of the invasion. ... The time of slaves is coming.. ,],4 a remark that may be as trenchantly strong as Rimbaud's "Voici le temps des ASSASSINS." Nor can one pass lightly over Aurélie's "L'occupation de l'humanité n'est qu'une entreprise universelle de démolition" [Humanity's occupation is only a universal enterprise of demolition],5 even if that lady adds that by humanity she is speaking of the masculine contingent only. One may lightly dismiss any thought of symbolism, yet Aurélie's lament that stables smell of petroleum rather than horse-dung may reach the nostalgic corner of many a mind. At any rate the Golden Calf is a symbolic target. Why are thieves almost universal? Because money is ruler of the world, answers Con- stance. La Folle de Chaillot does retain some characteristics of a morality play and this aspect is suggested by Professor Brée when she discusses the device of the "masque" in the play, the characters re- presenting vice and virtue in black and white, evoking a pageant of bygone days. And indeed among the numerous characters — over thirty-five in the original performance — there is a flower-vendor, a juggler, a street-singer, a waiter, all in the colorful costumes of their trade. Giraudoux has carefully balanced them against the Prospector, the Banker, the President and the 'sale monsieur'. Each group is satirized separately by the use of a formalized speech pattern that identifies the speaker and his role, whether it be among the good or the bad 'guys'. It is not always easy to sustain the "semi- sentimental, semi-ironic mood of affection and regret for an atmosphere that lives only in our memories".® The play is built upon a series of paradoxes of which the central figure, the 'good fairy' Mad- woman, is the outstanding example. Her attire, "Jupe de soie faisant la traine, mais relevée par une pince à linge à métal. Souliers Louis XIII. Chapeau Marie-Antoinette. Un face-à-main pendu par une chaîne,

4 La folle de Chaillot (Ides et Calendes, 1947), p. 61. 5 Ibid., p. 85. 6 G. Brée, article cited, p. 56. 156 LA FOLLE DE CHAILLOT

etc." [Silk skirt with a train, but held up with a metal clothes-pin. Louis XIII shoes. Marie Antoinette hat. Her lorgnette hanging by a chain .. .],7 is enough to proclaim her mad and her first words: "Mes os sont prêts, Irma?" would tend to substantiate this impression. As soon as the President wants her removed, the Madwoman be- comes sympathetic to »is, since she is the underdog, and her sub- sequent inquiry for her lost boa does not seem particularly odd. It is soon apparent that the Madwoman represents what the evil petroleum-seekers fear more than anything else: "Notre pouvoir expire là où subsistent la pauvreté joyeuse, la folie respectée et adulée. Car voyez cette folle ! Le garçon l'installe avec des grâces de pied, et sans qu'elle ait à consommer, au meilleur point de la terrasse. Et la fleuriste lui offre gratis un iris géant..." [Our power ends where joyful poverty and respected and adulated madness exist. For look at this madwoman! The waiter gives her a table, scraping and bowing and without her ordering a thing, the best spot on the terrace. And the flower girl offers her a giant iris for nothing .. .}.8 Giraudoux has given his heroine a name that evokes one of his favorite authors, Gérard de Nerval, and he has coupled the name of Aurélie with imaginary lovers of nineteenth-century French literature: Adolphe, Fabrice and Dominique, while the young man in the play has the most banal of names, Pierre. (He is naturally 'meant' for the little dishwasher, Irma.) Despite her extravagant appearance, the Madwoman, who is also a Countess, has eminently the 'esprit pratique' which is the pride of happy-go-lucky Frenchmen every- where. In the Manichean world revolving around the Café Francis, the Madwoman does not give an inch to anybody, whether they be her fellow Madwomen of Passy, Saint-Sulpice and Concorde, or the evil prospector who tries to wrench Pierre away from her. In char- acteristic irony, she explains why she holds on to her young man: "Je le tiens parce que c'est la seule fois depuis bien des jours sans doute, où il se sente en liberté..." [I hold on to him because this is doubtlessly the only time for many days when he feels free}.8 Girau- doux does not allow the Countess too easy a triumph, however. Pierre

7 La Folle de Chaillot, op. cit., p. 29. 8 Ibid., p. 32. ' Ibid., p. 57. LA FOLLE DE CHAILLOT 157 promptly says: "Laissez-moi partir, Madame", and consents to be held only when the Madwoman admits that she is holding him for Irma. Going from the ridiculous to the sublime, the Countess recalls the first great ironist, Socrates, since she too combines beautiful thoughts in a grotesque body, thus creating the paradoxical disharmony which irony feeds upon. On the one hand, her practical mind is aware of stock-market fluctuations, especially since she lost heavily in some speculation herself, on the other she expresses her confidence in ultimate victory against the menacing businessmen by simply asserting: "Avides! Alors ils sont perdus! S'ils sont avides, ils sont naïfs" [Greedy! Then they are lost! If they are greedy, they are naive].10 It would be nice to believe this adage. Technical aspects that are beyond the Madwoman's comprehension are quickly explained by her: "Les objets parlant, c'est normal. C'est le principe des disques phono- graphes" [Speaking objects are a normal thing! It is the principle of phonograph records}.11 Despite her basic good humor, the Madwoman at times expresses a sharp bitter irony in quips directed at others. When she wants Madame Constance to help her seal the fate of all the wicked of the world, or at least of her section of Paris, she summons her via the waiter in the following way: "Dites-lui que c'est pour un conseil dont dépend le bonheur de l'univers. Elle veut du mal au monde entier. Elle accourra à tire-d'aile" [Tell her that it is for advice on which the happiness of the universe depends. She hates everybody. She will come right away].12 When the street-singer offers to smash the face of the 'sale monsieur', Aurélie replies: "Non. Laissez-la lui. On ne le recon- naîtrait plus" [No. Let him keep it. He would no longer be rec- ognized].18 In delineating the sinister personages of the world of business, Giraudoux' irony is as mordant as in any of his most serious plays. Nevertheless he tempers his bitterness with hyperboles that are frankly comical. The Coulissier's business methods are a good example:

10 Ibid., p. 66. 11 Ibid., p. 93. " Ibid., pp. 66-67. " Ibid., p. 67. 158 LA FOLLE DE CHAILLOT

Primo, l'émission. Le titre était émis au pair, cent égal cent. Je fixe l'action d'actionnaire à cent dix, taux de l'action d'obligationnaire, ce qui me donne le droit de la revendre à cent douze, de sorte que sa quotation s'établit après flottement provoqué à 91 Vs- • • • Légère rumeur de guerre lancée par mes agents. D'où émotion dans la clientèle. D'où rachat par nous.14

First the issue. The title was issued at face value. I establish the stock- holder's share at one hundred ten, which allows me to sell it at one hundred twelve, so that its market quotation after an induced fluctuation is at 91 Vs. • •. My agents spread a slight rumor of war, our clients get up- set and we buy the stock back.

When the President asks how many shares are to be reserved for each member of the Directorship, the Coulissier suggests: "Cinquante, comme convenu." When the President wonders whether this figure might not be insufficient, he quickly says: "Bon, trois mille" [Fifty, as agreed. . .. All right, three thousand].15 It would be unwise, however, to consider this satire on the business world a sort of crusade on Giraudoux' part. Laurent LeSage in an article in the French Review suggests that there may be a certain amount of 'sour grapes' feeling involved, since Giraudoux himself had entertained some big business ambitions as far back as 1909-1910. Professor LeSage thinks, and rightly so, I believe, that the 'anti- capitalistic' theme of the play must not be taken too seriously or too literally. "It is primarily a poetic theme, not a sociological or political one."16 Giraudoux' revolt against realism was a particularly fecund source of irony in Intermezzo and he continues to explore the same vein in this play, where he is once again the plot's sole inventor. In both plays the elements of every-day banality are introduced at the beginning and severely undermined by irony of situation where paradox reigns. Isabelle's world is not so different from the Countess', the Inspector is related to the Prospector and the Druggist to the Rag- picker. Irma fulfills the somewhat hastily sketched role of the 'jeune fille', a possible 'sosie' of what the Madwoman might have been an

M Ibid., p. 18. 15 Ibid., p. 19- " L. LeSage, "Giraudoux and Big Business", French Review, (Feb. 1958), p. 279. LA FOLLE DE CHAILLOT 159 eternity ago. The young girl's long monologue at the end of the First Act, a rhetorical tour de force, is a little out of character, but it fits in well with Giraudoux' irony: a simple dishwasher speaks in eloquent poetic tones worthy of a street-Juliet:

... J'adore la liberté, je déteste l'esclavage. Etre plongeuse à Paris, cela n'a l'air de rien. Le mot séduit. Il est beau. Et cela semble tout. Mais qui a plus de relations qu'une plongeuse, à l'office, à la terrasse, sans compter que parfois je double le vestiaire, et moi je n'aime pas beaucoup les femmes, j'adore les hommes. ... Ils m'embrassent dans les couloirs, ils croient que je ne le sais pas.17

I adore liberty and I detest slavery. To be a dishwasher in Paris, this seems like nothing. The word is charming. It is beautiful. And this seems to be all. But who has more friends than a dishwasher, at work, on the terrace, without counting that sometimes I take the place of the check- girl, and I don't like women much, but I adore men. .. . They kiss me in the corridors. They think that I'm not aware of it.

And suddenly she feels that her man has come. He is none other than Pierre, who had tried to commit suicide rather than serve the wicked.

Car il viendra, il n'est plus loin. Il ressemble à ce jeune homme sauvé des eaux. A le voir, en tout cas, le mot gonfle déjà ma bouche, ce mot que je lui répéterai sans arrêt jusqu'à la vieillesse, sans arrêt, qu'il me caresse ou qu'il me batte, qu'il me soigne ou qu'il me tue. Il choisira. J'adore la vie. J'adore la mort.is

For he will come, he isn't far away. He looks like this young man saved from the water. Upon seeing him, in any case, the word fills my mouth, this word that I will repeat to him ceaselessly until I am old, whether he caresses me or beats me, whether he cares for me or kills me. He will choose. I adore life. I adore death.

When a harsh voice interrupts this dream by shouting: "La plongeuse!", Irma "lifting her head out of her reverie", answers simply: "La voilà!" Since the forces of good and evil are fairly evenly matched — in quality as well as in quantity — the outcome of La Folle de Chaillot might be in doubt were it not for the almost preposterous sentimental favoritism shown to the allies of joy and madness. The mysterious call

17 La Folle de Chaillot, op. cit., pp. 70-71. 18 Ibid., pp. 70-71. 160 LA FOLLE DE CHAILLOT from the beyond that made Intermezzo a charming fantasy is replaced by the nonsensical reminiscences of four crazy old ladies who have decided that mass murder is justified as long as the victims are guilty of destroying a world of fancy. On the stage the comic effect of this scene must be overwhelming, lest it become ridiculous, and it must rely on excellent actors and mimics to achieve this. The constant "is he there or isn't he?" concerning the imaginary dog Dicky which Con- stance may or may not have brought to the war council, is pure farce. Giraudoux does not often resort to such tricks, but La Folle de Chaillot is full of them. The naïve crookedness of the villains who say one thing when they mean another leads to sheer mockery in the gossip exchange among several businessmen. Here Giraudoux makes fun not only of the absurd social life led by the so-called leaders of industry, but also of the names of their mistresses.

Le Second: Je dîne avec Mimi et Rolande. Si tu veux venir avec Lu- cienne, fais signe à Loulou. Le Quatrième: Tu aurais pu nous le dire plus tôt. Je dîne avec Jean- nine, qui amène Mado. Elle est libre, Minouche dîne chez Paula. Le Cinquième: Jeannine prend l'apéritif avec Yvette. Tu n'as qu'à télé- phoner à Raymonde de lui faire téléphoner par Régina.1»

The Second: I am dining with Mimi and Rolande. If you want to come with Lucienne, tell Loulou. The Fourth: You could have told us sooner. I am dining with Jean- nine, who is bringing Mado. She is free, Minouche is dining at Paula's house. The Fifth: Jeannine is having cocktails with Yvette. You have only to telephone Raymonde and have her tell Regina to call her.

A new element of Giraudoux' irony is introduced by two examples of self-mockery: (1) at the very beginning of the play, a certain robber- baron is given the same first name, Jean Hippolyte, as the author's, and a biographical incident of Giraudoux' life, namely teaching a class at the Lycée Janson is mentioned. (2) The Rag-pieker's portray- ing the rich and defending them to the best of his ability is a high point of the play's irony. This turn-about is a form of self-mockery. Although the Rag-picker has been assigned this role by Aurélie, he

" Ibid., pp. 129-30. LA FOLLE DE CHAILLOT 161 plays it so well that he appears to be one of the 'others', the heartless and successful. The self-perpetuating wealth, the inability of the rich to get rid of their money, the vicious circle of accumulating profits, all point to. the moral that the rich get richer and the poor are responsible for their poverty. As a result of the Rag-picker's inverted role, it is difficult to place him with the poor. This is to be expected since, as the play's ironist, the Rag-picker does not have to take sides. Even the Madwomens' position is not always clear. They end their discussion of honesty and sincerity against evil by an absurd argument on invisible presences which destroys the seriousness of the preceding speeches.

Aurélie: (addressing Constance) Est-ce que tu deviens folle? Est- ce que tu es assez bornée pour croire que, quand nous sommes entre nous, comme tu le dis, nous sommes seules? Est-ce que tu nous crois assez déshéritées et assez gâteuses pour que, des millions d'êtres en quête de conversation ou d'amitié, illusions ou autres, pas un ne se plaise avec nous? ... D'ailleurs, tu baisses vraiment dans mon es- time, Constance, si tu ne parles pas toujours comme si l'univers entier t'entendait, celui des personnes réelles et des autres. C'est d'une hypocrisie sans bornes.20

Aurélia: (addressing Constance) Are you becoming crazy? Are you so stupid to think that, when we're among ourselves, as you say, we are alone? Do you think we're so outcast and senile enough so that millions of beings in search of conversation or friendship, illusions or others, not one is glad to be with us ... Besides, you go down in my es- teem, Constance, if you don't always speak as if the entire universe heard you, that of real persons and others. It is a limitless hypocrisy.

This is followed by: "Non seulement tu es visionnaire, mais tu es myope" [Not only are you a visionary, but you are myopic].21 The preceding example is only one of the many instances where the author quite definitely turns his irony against the public by intentionally mixing wisdom and foolishness. Despite this attempt at obviating a mellow romanticism, the play's conclusion is a sentimental fairy-tale ending. Irma, the dishwasher,

10 Ibid., p. 97. » Ibid., p. 98. 162 LA FOLLE DE CHAILLOT and Pierre, the young man whom the Madwoman had rescued from the clutches of the capitalist bosses, fall into each other's arms, because, as Aurélie says: "Embrassez-vouz, et vite, sinon ce sera trop tard" [Kiss each other quickly, or else it will be too late}.42 The indication is that if Irma does not obey, she will become a Madwoman herself, and there seem to be enough of them already. The constant and mannered interplay of reality and fantasy had puzzled Giraudoux' critics already in the 1920's when his contro- versial fame was based almost exclusively on his style as a novelist. The Folle de Chaillot retains much of this early manner and I believe it must be classified as one of Giraudoux' lesser plays precisely because it suffers from the author's constant preoccupation with remaining 'light'. Although Paul Géraldy, in a commemorative article, recalls having told Giraudoux: "Vous êtes la féerie vous-même" {You are enchant- ment yourself .. .},23 the ethereal quality of La Folle de Chaillot does not always seem convincing. In his comment about the play, Gabriel Marcel seems to have struck the right note. He asks: "Peut-on dire que l'auteur ait réalisé ces conditions de crédibilité faute desquelles, en principe tout au moins, une œuvre théâtrale risque toujours de s'effondrer?" [Can you say that the author realized these conditions of credibility, for lack of which, in principle, at least, theatrical work always risks failure?].24 The answer, of course, is NO, nor was this Giraudoux' intention. This is precisely what Gabriel Marcel deplores, since we are forced to like and admire Giraudoux despite his 'procédés' rather than because of them. This surreptitious way of winning approval is not the least prevalent irony of Giraudoux' theatre. It is an effective trick, this self-parody, this straightforward statement of a Manichean philosophy, of a de- claration of love for the simple life and the basic goodness of the little people — and we do not have to believe it. In 1945, La Folle de Chaillot was considered by many as a delightful Christmas present, a last 'témoignage' of a cherished

22 Ibid., p. 139. 23 P. Géraldy, "Féeries", Revue de Paris (January 1946), p. 58. 24 G. Marcel, "Réflexions du Critique", Revue Théâtrale, (May-June 1946), p. 102-03. LA FOLLE DE CHAILLOT 163 writer who had prematurely passed away before 'la France' could once again become 'la France'. His message had been an optimistic one, full of warmth and gently ironic humor. It was not generally known at that time that Giraudoux had written one more play, inspired by what Bert Leefmans calls his 'other muse', revealing the Racinian rather than the Marivaux heritage. This last play, Pour Lucrece, had to wait until 1953 to be performed, when not only Giraudoux but also Jouvet were no more. It is here that we find a fitting epitaph for Jean Giraudoux' irony.