In Plautus, the robe which Menæchmus of Epidamnum carries off from his wife, suffices for almost the whole intrigue. It alone brings into play the falsehood and avarice of the courtezan, the inclination of both the Menæchmi for pleasure, the gluttony of the parasite, and rage of the jealous wife: But in the French _Menechmes_,—trunks, letters, a portrait, promises of marriage, and presents, are heaped on each other, to produce accumulated mistakes. Regnard has also introduced an agreeable variety, by discriminating the characters of the brothers, between whom Plautus and Shakspeare have scarcely drawn a shade of difference. The Chevalier is a polished gentleman—very ingenious; but, I think, not very honest: His brother is blunt, testy, and impatient, and not very wise. The difference, indeed, in their language and manners, is so very marked, that it seems hardly possible, whatever might be the personal resemblance, that the Chevalier’s mistress could have been deceived. These peculiarities of disposition, however, render the mistakes, and the country brother’s impatience under them, doubly entertaining—
“Faudra-t-il que toujours je sois dans l’embarras De voir une furie attachée a mes pas?”
And when assailed by Araminte, the old maid to whom his brother had promised marriage—
“Esprit, demon, lutin, ombre, femme, ou furie, Qui que tu sois, enfin laisse moi, je te prie.”
When his brother is at last discovered, and indubitably recognized, he exclaims,
“Mon frere en verité—Je m’en rejouis fort, Mais j’avais cependant compté sur votre mort.”
Boursault’s comedy, _Les Menteurs qui ne mentent point_, though somewhat different in its fable from the Latin _Menæchmi_, is founded on precisely the same species of humour—the exact resemblance of the two Nicandres occasioning ludicrous mistakes and misunderstandings among their valets and mistresses.
The most recent French imitation of the play of Plautus is the _Menechmes Grecs_, by Cailhava, in which the plot is still more like the Latin comedy than the _Menechmes_ of Regnard; but the characters are new. This piece has been extremely popular on the modern French stage.—“Le public,” says Chenier, “s’est empressé de rendre justice a la peinture piquante de mœurs de la Grece, a la verité des situations, au naturel du dialogue, au merite rare d’une gaité franche, qui ne degenere pas en bouffonnerie(249).”