Sardou, Victorien

Sardou, Victorien (1831–1908), French dramatist, one of the most consistently successful of his day. Like Scribe, whose successor he was, he wrote copiously on many subjects in many styles, with expert craftsmanship and superficial brilliance. His first outstanding success was a comedy, Les Pattes de mouche (1860), seen in London in 1861 as A Scrap of Paper. Of his historical plays, the best known is Madame Sans-Gêne (1893). The part of the Duchess of Dantzig, a washerwoman whose husband became one of Napoleon's marshals, was created by Réjane and played in an English adaptation by Ellen Terry in 1897. The best of the romantic melodramas were Fédora (1882) and La Tosca (1887), the latter providing the libretto for Puccini's opera. Both plays were written for Bernhardt, who revived them many times, and appeared also in a number of Sardou's other plays. Two social dramas which are typical of their kind were Dora (1877) and Divorçons (1880). The former, in a translation by Clement Scott as Diplomacy, had a great success in London in 1878; the latter, under its original title, was seen in London in 1907. Sardou, who was always ready to exploit whatever dramatic form seemed assured of popular success, was a favourite target of contemporary critics, and Shaw, who disliked everything he stood for, coined the word ‘sardoodledom’ to epitomize his well-made plays.