Oscar Méténier (17 January 1859 – 9 February 1913) was a French

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

and novelist. In 1897 he founded ''Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol'' in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, planning it as a space for

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

performance.

Life

Born in

Sancoins Sancoins () is a Communes of France, commune in the Cher (department), Cher Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region of France. Geography An area of farming and associated light industry comprising a ...

, Cher, the son of a police commissioner, Oscar Méténier at first followed his father into the police, as secretary to the commissariat of la Tour Saint-Jacques, in which role he was able to observe the morals of low-life

, for which he had a near-scientific interest and eye.

Laurent Tailhade Laurent Tailhade (; April 16, 1854, Tarbes – November 1, 1919, Combes-la-Ville) was a French satirical poet, anarchist polemicist, essayist, and translator, active in Paris in the 1890s and early 1900s. In April 1894, Tailhade was injured in ...

wrote of him: A follower of

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, ; ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of Naturalism (literature), naturalism, and an important contributor to ...

, Méténier wrote

novellas A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

, generally gravelly in style, and pieces in

argot A cant is the jargon or language of a group, often employed to exclude or mislead people outside the group.McArthur, T. (ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) Oxford University Press It may also be called a cryptolect, argo ...

for ''

Le Chat Noir (; French for "The Black Cat") was a 19th century entertainment establishment in the Montmartre district of Paris. It was opened on 18 November 1881 at 84 Boulevard de Rochechouart by impresario Rodolphe Salis, and closed in 1897 not long ...

''. He made his reputation with naturalist plays set among

vagabonds Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western countries, v ...

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

s and prostitutes and expressed in the language of the street. In 1896 his '' Mademoiselle Fifi'', previously temporarily banned by the police, was the first ever French play to include a prostitute character. The following year, Méténier's ''Lui !'' showed a meeting between a murderer and a prostitute in a hotel bedroom. In 1897, Oscar Méténier bought a theatre at the end of the impasse Chaptal ( 9th arrondissement) to present his own plays. This was the

Théâtre du Grand-Guignol The Théâtre du Grand-Guignol () was a theater in the Pigalle district of Paris (7, cité Chaptal). From its opening in 1897 until its closing in 1962, it specialized in horror shows. Its name is often used as a general term for graphic, amor ...

, one of the most original theatres in Paris, and he remained its director until 1898.

Works

Plays

* ''En famille'', 1-act prose comedy, Paris, Théâtre-Libre, 30 May 1887 * '' La Puissance des Ténèbres'', drama in six acts by Leo Tolstoy, French translation by Pavlovsky and Oscar Méténier, Paris, Théâtre-Libre, 10 February 1888 * ''La Casserole'', 1-act prose drama, Paris, Théâtre-Libre, 31 May 1889 * ''Les Frères Zemganno'', 3-act prose play, after Edmond and

Jules de Goncourt Jules Alfred Huot de Goncourt (; 17 December 183020 June 1870) was a French writer, who published books together with his brother Edmond. Jules was born and died in Paris. His death at the age of 39 was at Auteuil of a stroke brought on by sy ...

, written in collaboration with

Paul Alexis Antoine Joseph Paul Alexis (16 June 1847 – 28 July 1901) was a French novelist, dramatist, and journalist. He is best remembered today as the friend and biographer of Émile Zola. Life Alexis was born at Aix-en-Provence. He attended the Co ...

, Paris, Théâtre-Libre, 25 February 1890 * ''Monsieur Betsy'', 4-act prose comedy, written in collaboration with

, Paris,

Théâtre des Variétés The Théâtre des Variétés () is a theatre and "salle de spectacles" at 7–8, boulevard Montmartre, 2nd arrondissement, in Paris. It was declared a monument historique in 1974. History The theatre owed its creation to Mademoiselle Montans ...

, 3 March 1890 * ''La Confrontation'', dramatic scene, Paris, Théâtre de la Scala, 21 December 1891 * ''La bonne à tout faire'', 4-act prose comedy, in collaboration with

Jean-Louis Dubut de Laforest Jean-Louis Dubut de Laforest (24 July 1853 – 3 April 1902) was a French author. He was a prolific writer, and published many novels on topics that were considered daring for the times, some of which were serialized in the press. Life Jean- ...

, Paris,

, 20 February 1892 * ''Rabelais'', 4-act, 5-scene play, with

, Paris, Nouveau-Théâtre, 25 October 1892 * ''Charles Demailly'', 4-act prose play, after Edmond and

, in collaboration with

, Paris, Théâtre du Gymnase, 19 December 1892
Summary by Willy and Edmond de Goncourt
* ''Très Russe'', 3-act play, in collaboration with

Jean Lorrain Jean Lorrain (9 August 1855 in Fécamp, Seine-Maritime – 30 June 1906), born Paul Alexandre Martin Duval, was a French poet and novelist of the Symbolist school. Lorrain was a dedicated disciple of dandyism and spent much of his time am ...

, Paris, Théâtre-d'application (La Bodinière), 3 May 1893 * ''Mademoiselle Fifi'', drama, after

Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, celebrated as a master of the short story, as well as a representative of the naturalist school, depicting human lives, destinies and s ...

's short story of the same name, Paris, Théâtre-Libre, 10 February 1896 * ''La Brême, mœurs populaires'', drama, Paris,

, 13 April 1897 * ''Le Loupiot, tableau de mœurs populaires'', en 2 scènes, Paris,

, 13 avril 1897 * ''Lui !'', 1-act drama, Paris,

, 11 November 1897 * ''La Revanche de Dupont l'Anguille'', drame en 3 tableaux, Paris,

, 1898 * ''Son poteau'', drama, in collaboration with Raoul Ralph, Paris,

, 10 April 1901 * ''Boule de suif'', 3 act, 4 scene comedy, in collaboration with

, Paris, Théâtre Antoine, 6 May 1902 * ''Casque d'Or'', drama, in collaboration with Fabrice Delphi, Paris, Théâtre Robinière, 16 March 1902 * ''Notre-Dame de la Butte, mœurs montmartroises'', drama, in collaboration with Fabrice Delphi, 1907 * ''Madame ma sœur'', 1-act play, 1910 * ''La Moukère'', 1-act drama, in collaboration with

René Mélinette René (''born again'' or ''reborn'' in French) is a common first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus. René is the masculine form of the name (Renée being the feminine ...

, 1910 * ''Royal-cambouis'', 1-act military play, Paris, Scala, 1910

Novels, novellas, essays

* ''La Chair'' (1885) * ''La Grâce'' (1886) * ''Madame Berwick'' (1888) * ''Outre-Rhin'' (1888) * ''Mynha-Maria'' (1889) * ''Autour de la caserne'', novellas (1890) * ''Madame la Boule'' (1890) * ''Le mari de Berthe'' (1890) * ''Le Gorille'', Parisian novel (1891
Text on www.gutenberg.org
* ''La Lutte pour l'amour, études d'argot'' (1891) * ''Les Voyous au théâtre'' (1891) * ''Zézette, mœurs foraines'', novel (1891
Text on www.gutenberg.org
* ''Les Cabots'' (1892) * ''Le Policier'', roman * ''Barbe-Bleue'' (1893) * ''Le Beau monde'' (1893) * ''Le Chansonnier populaire Aristide Bruant'' (1893) * ''La Nymphomane, mœurs parisiennes'' (1893) * ''Demi-castors (mœurs parisiennes)'' (1894) * ''La Grâce. Décadence. Nostalgie'' (1894) * ''La Vie de campagne. Marcelle'' (1894) * ''Le 40^e d'artillerie. Les bêtes. Les hommes. La croix'', novellas (1895) * ''L'Amour vaincu. Bohème galante, bohème bourgeoise'', novellas (1896) * ''L'amour qui tue'' (1898) * ''Reines de cœur, mœurs d'Outre-Rhin'' (1900-1910) * ''Les Berlinois chez eux, vertus et vices allemands'' (1904) * ''Une gamine vicieuse'' (1905) * ''Le jeune télégraphiste'' (1905) * ''Tartufes et satyres'', unedited epic-dramatic novel (1905), which he wanted to form "a veritable encyclopaedia of the human passions" and was to have comprised : 1) Le marché aux vierges, 2) Le miroir à gigolettes, 3) Berlingot-la-Vache, 4) Les satyres en famille, 5) Les tricheuses de l'amour, 6) La môme claque-dents, 7) Le charcutier parfumé, etc. * ''Les Amoureux de Mira'', Parisian novel (1907) * ''Nina Sartorelle : mœurs parisiennes'' (1907) * ''Les Baronnes de Roche-Noire'' (1908) * ''Reine de cœur'' (1908) * ''Notre-Dame de la Butte'' (1908) * ''La dernière aventure du Prince Curaçao'' (1910) * ''Les méprises du cœur'' (1910) * ''Soldes de contes'' (1911) * ''Le grand chéri'' (1911)

External links

* Laurent Tailhade,

' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Metenier, Oscar 1859 births 1913 deaths People from Cher (department) 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights 20th-century French dramatists and playwrights 19th-century French novelists 20th-century French novelists