The kind of proverb 
dramatic The proverb is generally considered a minor genre. It is inherited from a worldly entertainment that practiced in the salons of the seventeenth precious, century, so we had fun playing skits, often improvised, which was ilustre a proverb. The guests then had to guess the proverb well illustrated.
the eighteenth century, when fairs are becoming increasingly important in the growing social and intellectual life, the saying grows and becomes dramatic fashion: a singer, Charles Colle, presents its Theatre Private, full of contemporary references to the Duke of Orleans and his entourage. This is especially Carmontelle (1717-1806) that will make this game a literary genre. Officer (organizer) of the court festivities of the Duke of Orleans, a friend of the grandfather of Musset Carmontelle published eight volumes of proverbs. With scenes entertaining, everyday, often satirical, proverbs are also a representation of society and of contemporary manners.
Abandoned during the Revolution and the Empire, the kind of proverb reappears under the Restoration. We play the proverbs of Carmontelle on theater stages Boulevard. New authors (Savage, Romieu, Scribe) are required. Theodore Leclerc met a real success when he gives his satirical sayings dimension against the Ultras and clericalism.
These satirical and even philosophical dimensions will be highlighted in the saying of Alfred de Vigny, Leaves for fear, shown at the Opera in 1833. The kind of dramatic turns proverb, the proverb is no longer the subject of a riddle illustrated by the case, but often appears in the title (You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, or Who drank drink, said Leclercq) and almost always the end of the room.
As accustomed since childhood to hear and see him play the proverbs of Carmontelle, Musset appreciates this fine entertainment. He has already made use of proverbs to label his dramatic texts (Browns Fire, published in 1829, the Cup and Lip, 1832), but in 1834 we can also assume he is trying to enjoy a fad, giving the subtitle "saying" his piece: We do not trifle with love.
This title and moral development that are consistent with the listing rules of the traditional kind. But its length, the multiplication sets, the complexity of the plot and characters, the mixture of tones and the tragic ending, the piece de Musset far exceeds the scope and ambitions of the proverb.
Later, with He Say Never (1836), A door must be opened or closed (1845), We can not think of any (1849) and A caprice (1837), Musset reuses the kind of proverb, but these pieces do, however, turn more to the tragedy. It is with the proverb that Musset dramatic peaked and thereafter, it will be abandoned, and disappears from the scene permanently.
according to an article PID of the journal, folder "Musset, the disenchanted", March 2001.
Ill. :
No Trifling with Love , Alfred de Musset, directed by Philippe Faure. Théâtre de la Tempête, Paris, 2008.
