''The Affair of the Poisons'' (French: ''L'affaire des poisons'') is a 1907

historical play History is one of the three main genres in Western theatre alongside tragedy and comedy, although it originated, in its modern form, thousands of years later than the other primary genres. For this reason, it is often treated as a subset of trage ...

by the dramatist Victorien Sardou. It portrays the events of the real-life Affair of the Poisons during the reign of

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

and the downfall of his

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a d ...

Madame de Montespan. It was Sardou's final play.

Film adaptation

In 1955 it was made into a French-Italian film of the same title directed by

Henri Decoin Henri Decoin (18 March 1890 – 4 July 1969) was a French film director and screenwriter, who directed more than 50 films between 1933 and 1964. He was also a swimmer who won the national title in 1911 and held the national record in the 500 ...

and starring Danielle Darrieux, Viviane Romance and Paul Meurisse.Goble p.407

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. * Hart, Jerome Alfred. ''Sardou and the Sardou Plays''. J.B. Lippincott, 1913. * Schumacher, Claude, Northam, John & Wickham, Glynne W. ''Naturalism and Symbolism in European Theatre 1850-1918''.Cambridge University Press, 1996. 1907 plays French plays French plays adapted into films Plays based on actual events Plays set in France Cultural depictions of Louis XIV Plays set in the 17th century Plays by Victorien Sardou {{1900s-play-stub