''Business is business'' (french:
Les affaires sont les affaires) is a French comedy in three acts, by the novelist and playwright
Octave Mirbeau
Octave Mirbeau (16 February 1848 – 16 February 1917) was a French novelist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, journalist and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, whilst still appealing to the ...
, performed in April 1903 on the stage of
Comédie-Française
The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state ...
, in Paris, and worldwide acclaimed, especially in Russia, Germany and United States.
An English-language adaption by
Sydney Grundy was produced in London in 1905. An English translation, by Richard J. Hand, was published by Intellect Books in ''Two Plays: "Business is Business" and "Charity"'', January 2012, 147 pages ().
Comedy of manners
The work is a classical
comedy of manners
In English literature, the term comedy of manners (also anti-sentimental comedy) describes a genre of realistic, satirical comedy of the Restoration period (1660–1710) that questions and comments upon the manners and social conventions of a gr ...
with characters, in the tradition of
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and worl ...
, in which Mirbeau criticizes the French society of the Third Republic and the world of business as a legal kind of gangsterism.
When the play was presented in Paris during the 1994-5 season (400 performances), it was commented that business and scandals are no different today than they were 100 years ago.
Main character
The fable is built around the main character, symbolically named
Isidore Lechat
Isidore Lechat is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the play ''Les affaires sont les affaires'' (''Business is business'') (1903) by French writer Octave Mirbeau.
A businessman
Isidore Lechat, nicknamed "Lechat-Tigre", is a rut ...
. He is a predator without any scruples, predecessor of the modern masters of business intrigue, a "brasseur d'affaires" and money-grubber, who is a product of the new world, a figure who makes money from everything and spreads his tentacles out over the world. He sacrifices his children in his obsession to get more and more money and power: Lechat insists upon purchasing an aristocratic husband for his daughter Germaine, and upon making his corrupted son Xavier the leader of Parisian society, paying for him fabulous gambling debts. Can there be anything that money will not buy?
But almighty
Lechat, in spite of his 50 million francs, is powerless in front of death (his son is killed in a motor car accident), as well as in front of love (his daughter Germaine rejects the "beautiful" marriage he arranged and runs away with her moneyless lover, Lucien Garraud). Lechat, in a Shakespearian final scene, is overwhelmed by the shattering of his plans, but even more so by the mortal blow to his vanity.
Pierre Michel
Pierre Michel (born 11 June 1942), is a professor of literature and a scholar specializing in the French writer Octave Mirbeau.
Michel was born in Toulon, the son of the historian Henri Michel.
After defending his doctoral dissertation on the w ...
, Foreword, Éditions de Septembre-Archimbaud, 1994, p. 7-17.
Notes
External links
*
Octave Mirbeau
Octave Mirbeau (16 February 1848 – 16 February 1917) was a French novelist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, journalist and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, whilst still appealing to the ...
''Les affaires sont les affaires''
*
Pierre Michel
Pierre Michel (born 11 June 1942), is a professor of literature and a scholar specializing in the French writer Octave Mirbeau.
Michel was born in Toulon, the son of the historian Henri Michel.
After defending his doctoral dissertation on the w ...
'
Foreword
* Philippe Baron
« ''Les affaires sont les affaires'' et ''Pétard'', de Lavedan » ''
Cahiers Octave Mirbeau
''Cahiers Octave Mirbeau'' is a French literary journal founded in 1994 by French scholar and Octave Mirbeau specialist Pierre Michel.
The journal is based in Angers
Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is ...
'', n° 8, 2001, p. 199-210.
* Philippe Baron
« ''Les Corbeaux'', d'Henry Becque, et ''Les affaires sont les affaires'', d’Octave Mirbeau » ''
Cahiers Octave Mirbeau
''Cahiers Octave Mirbeau'' is a French literary journal founded in 1994 by French scholar and Octave Mirbeau specialist Pierre Michel.
The journal is based in Angers
Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is ...
'', n° 8, 2001, p. 199-210.
*
Pierre Michel
Pierre Michel (born 11 June 1942), is a professor of literature and a scholar specializing in the French writer Octave Mirbeau.
Michel was born in Toulon, the son of the historian Henri Michel.
After defending his doctoral dissertation on the w ...
« ''Vauperdu'', le premier manuscrit de ''Les affaires sont les affaires'' » ''
Cahiers Octave Mirbeau
''Cahiers Octave Mirbeau'' is a French literary journal founded in 1994 by French scholar and Octave Mirbeau specialist Pierre Michel.
The journal is based in Angers
Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is ...
'', n° 10, 2003, pp. 233–255.
{{Octave Mirbeau
1903 plays
Plays by Octave Mirbeau