CHAPTER XI

ROMAIN ROLLAND AND _JEAN-CHRISTOPHE_

In 1916 the prize of 1915 has been awarded:

Rolland, Romain, born 1866: “as homage to the exalted idealism in his authorship, and also to the sympathy and truth with which he has drawn different types of people.”[101]

There was no prize money awarded in literature for 1914. The announcement that the winner for 1915 was Romain Rolland, author of _Jean-Christophe_, was generally approved. Here was an instance when a single book had focussed attention of readers and the judges; this masterpiece, which had appeared in France at intervals from 1904 to 1912, had been translated into many languages and much discussed. It was a mirror of the conditions of society, especially in France and Germany at the junction of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; it was an exhaustive, vital life story of a musician with aspirations, struggles, loves, defeats, revolts, friendships, and tragic, but triumphant, end. In the biography of Rolland by Stefan Zweig, emphasis is laid upon the period of nearly fifty years of the author’s life as a quiet scholar and musician, “an artist working without serious interruption or serious recognition,” and then a sudden, disturbing publicity which followed in the wake of this novel.[102]

Clamecy, a little town of the Morvan on the Nivernais canal, was the birthplace of Romain Rolland, January 29, 1866. His father was a notary; his mother was daughter of a magistrate; she was musical and religious, devoted to her son and the younger child, Madelaine. Their happy home life is reflected in pages of the section, “Antoinette,” in _Jean-Christophe_. When he was young, Romain Rolland showed taste for music and his mother taught him and told him stories about great musicians. When his school days ended at the Communal College in his native town, his father, with rare self-sacrifice, gave up his law practice in Clamecy and went to Paris, becoming clerk in a bank that the boy might be educated in the best schools. After attendance at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand until he was twenty, he entered the Ecole Normale Supérieure where he specialized in history. Gabriel Monod was a teacher of surpassing influence over the minds and characters of his students. Rolland was enthusiastic about Tolstoy, both as reformer and writer.[103] For Shakespeare he had ardent admiration, especially for the historical plays and sonnets.

[Illustration:

_By courtesy of Henry Holt & Co._

ROMAIN ROLLAND]

Another friend of these tentative years was Paul Claudel, the author of books with mystical tendencies upon the history of Catholicism. Already Rolland had expressed a fugitive, recurrent wish to write a romance, “the history of a single-hearted artist who bruises himself against the rocks of life.” Such was the norm of _Jean-Christophe_. He was surprised, and not wholly pleased, when he was told that he had won a traveling scholarship from the Normal School and could go to the French School of Archeology and History at Rome. For two years he stayed in this city, making contacts with some of the vital influences of his life, notably the friendship with Fräulein Malwida von Meysenburg; she was many years his senior but still alert and inspiring. She knew intimately scores of statesmen, writers, and artists, as references in her book, _Mémoires d’une idéaliste_, testify. She took a profound interest in this young Frenchman with his musical gifts and visionary hopes. In his essay, “To the Undying Antigone,” Rolland speaks of his gratitude to two women--his mother and Fräulein von Meysenburg. With the latter he went to visit Wagner at Bayreuth and increased his musical enthusiasm and knowledge. One day, as he was walking on the Janiculum, the germ-idea and plan of his epic novel, _Jean-Christophe_, formed in his mind but its writing was delayed for many years.

Back in Paris as lecturer at the Normal School, and at the Sorbonne, he determined to attack indifference to the fine arts. His thesis had a title of arresting words for that time, “The Origins of the Modern Lyrical Drama.” While in Rome he had written a few plays that were not made public, _Orsino_, _Caligula_, and _Niobe_. He was eager to increase interest in music at the Normal School and elsewhere. He attended musical festivals at Bonn and Strasburg and began that series of biographies published later as _Musicians of Former Days_, _Musicians of Today_, _Beethoven_, _Handel_, and other volumes. He married the daughter of Michael Bréal, the philologist, at whose home he met noted men of letters, science, and art. His wife was cultured and sympathetic with his aspirations to extend knowledge of music and art among the people. He rebelled against educational restrictions, as well as political reactions; in such moods he wrote plays such as _Danton_, _Fourteenth of July_, _Triumph of Reason_, and _Saint Louis_, a heroic legend. He urged popularizing of the theatre and lamented the dominance of “the aristocratic theatre.” Some of the articles which he wrote at different times on this theme have been translated by Barrett H. Clark as _The People’s Theatre_ (New York, 1918). He looked to the theatre as beneficial to the people in three ways: “(1) as a source of joy; (2) as a source of energy; (3) as a source of guiding light to the intelligence.”

Before Rolland had really “found himself” in literature, the Dreyfus case racked his sensitive soul. In almost all his later writings there are references, direct or implied, to this “welter of feeling” which divided families and shattered friendships. At the time of the trial he wrote, “He who can see injustice without trying to combat it, is neither entirely an artist nor entirely a man.”[104] He wrote a dramatic parable, _Les Loups_ (_Wolves_) under the pseudonym of “Saint Just,” in which he lifted “the problem from the realm of time into that of the eternal.” As the political strife became more personal and bitter, Rolland retired from public attention and devoted himself to writing lives of artists like _Michael Angelo_ and _Millet_ and musicians. He contributed the first chapters of _Jean-Christophe_ to the literary magazine, _Cahiers de la Quinzaine_, known to students _only_ for many years. In two small rooms on the fifth floor of a Parisian house, above the boulevard Montparnasse, Rolland wrote and read, seeing a few friends, taking walks, and playing the piano for recreation. Outwardly, he was serene; inwardly, he was seething with indignation at the falsities and hypocrisy of life, at the disdain shown for spiritual values, at “the world dying of asphyxia in its prudent and vile egoism,” as he expressed it in _Jean-Christophe_.

Slowly, without any aids of publicity, the real value of _Jean-Christophe_ became apparent to critics and discriminating readers, as the last volumes appeared in the magazine. German journalists called attention to its unique merits. Paul Seippel, the Swiss writer, related the life and earlier work of Rolland. In June, 1913, Rolland was given the Grand Prix of the French Academy. Translation of _Jean-Christophe_ was made into English by Gilbert Cannan and critics awakened. The same year Rolland republished some of the plays written in his student days, under the title, _Les tragedies de la foi_; by examples of such heroes as “Saint Louis” and “Aërt,” he would inspire the people of the twentieth century to a new idealism. His play, _Wolves_, has been staged in Yiddish in New York, has been translated into English by Barrett H. Clark, and has been performed at the University of Minnesota.

In his epic story of a musician and his associates, Rolland was a preacher of aspiration and harmony to the whole world, in spite of localized atmosphere. He recalled the words of Goethe, “National literature now means very little; the epoch of world literature is at hand”; and he urged, “Let us make Goethe’s prophecy a living reality.”[105] His hero was to have a long, circuitous journey in his search for expression of his aspirations; he was to meet many kinds of people and races; he was to have some of the tragic experiences of musicians of real life, Beethoven, Wagner, and Hugo Wolf; he was to keep aloft the banner of idealism, of faith in humanity. Like the author, he was to be victimized by the hard realities of life and disillusionments. The book was to have many themes and varied notes but was to be blended, at the last, into a perfect symphony. The preludes were written in 1895-1897; the last chords were played in October, 1912. Parts were written in France and Italy; others, in Switzerland and England.

No work of fiction of such prodigious length, totaling more than 1550 pages, in the three-volume edition translated by Gilbert Cannan, could be written without many lapses, many passages of uneven merit. Some of the characters are vital and haunting to the memory, like Olivier, Grazia, Antoinette, Sabine, Jacqueline, Emmanuel, Dr. Braun, besides the hero; others flit across the pages and are forgotten. Condensation of some chapters would add to their effectiveness but the author’s discursive, intuitive comments make a valuable asset of the book. It may be reread in parts with enjoyment, just as a musical program, for an evening, has selected movements in a fugue or a symphony. When it was suggested to Rolland that he seemed to show enmity towards Germany, by some of the reproaches of her false standards, his reply was, “I am not in the least an enemy of Germany”; in proof, he cited that he had rated soundly as many faults in France, in Volume V, as he had in Germany in Volume IV. He contended that Germany had creative energy and moral vigor but that she was “sick” in this twentieth century, just as France was diseased and needed to be purged to restore her noble qualities. Heroic souls are found in both countries but the people, as a whole, fail to interpret each other aright. Unless such understanding can be established in _friendship_, war will sunder the nations--such was the prophetic message of _Jean-Christophe_ which was fulfilled two years later. His book was intended as a “common heritage for all” of Europe.

Time will fix the exact status of this epic novel and its lasting influence upon international thought. It may be classified as allegory, romance, psychological study, or idealistic vision; it has sincerity, inspiration, and imaginative intensity. The author’s statement that he always thought of the life of his hero as analogous to a river, is significant; he sustains the imagery from the first Dawn, Morning, Youth, and Revolt in Germany to the very end of the journey “across the border,” to the final act where “Saint Christopher” hears the roar of the torrent but also, the “tranquil voice of the Child” as the Angelus sounds forth The New Day. Gilbert Cannan has compared the phases of life, explored by _Jean-Christophe_, to the tortuous channel of an uncharted river. His judgment that this novel is “the first great book of the twentieth century,” is more stable than the prophecy of other critics that would leave out the word “first.” It has many passages of artistic perfection, like “Antoinette,” “The House,” and “The New Dawn.” With emotional fervor the author, in the closing volume, speaks his message to the future, apostrophizing the young men; “You men of today, march over us, trample us under your feet, and press onward. Be ye greater and happier than we.... Life is a succession of deaths and resurrections. We must die, Christophe, to be born again.”[106]

And since the award, what has Romain Rolland written? _Colas Breugnon_, the tale of a Burgundian artist, translated in 1919 by Katherine Miller, is less intense, much more free and diverting than his long novel. It was a work of relaxation for the author during the summer months in Switzerland, 1913. He had recently visited his birth town and modeled the hero, in part, from a resident, a wood carver there, “an artist of the vanished type.” He has his struggles and defeats but he never loses his optimism. The next year the war began, with its devastating, soul-searing effects upon Romain Rolland. He had seen its black shadow and had forewarned the people in _Jean-Christophe_ but the actual conflict overwhelmed his spirit. Like Olivier, in his story (whom he resembles in many ways), he had feared such a war from boyhood; it had been “a nightmare to him; it had poisoned his childhood days.” He was at Vevey, on Lake Geneva, when the war broke out and he decided to stay there; he longed for France but he could not fight without blighting his soul. He would suffer as a pacifist, loving his country, rather than yield to hate. He did secretarial work for the Red Cross and assisted in welfare measures of many kinds. When the Nobel prize money came, he gave it “to the mitigation of the miseries of Europe.”[107] He wrote some of the papers that were collected in _Above the Battle_; his friendly letter to Hauptmann, appealing for amity, and the German’s reply, are given here. In spite of the aggressive tone of the German’s note, Rolland refused to believe that the ideals of human brotherhood had been destroyed; they were suffering eclipse temporarily but would relive in “The New Dawn.” To Woodrow Wilson, in the later months of the war, Rolland made an appeal to “be the arbiter of the free peoples.” On the day of the armistice he issued a manifesto, _L’Humanité_, a call to “brain workers,” comrades all through the world, to reconstruct a fraternal union. The play, _The Montespan_, translated by Helena van Brugh de Kay, is called a “sequel to _Above the Battle_.” He had written, during these days of seclusion and thought, his study and appreciation of _Mahatma Gandhi: the Man Who Became One with the Universal Being_ (translated by Catherine D. Groth), which has been quoted in the previous chapter upon Rabindranath Tagore.

As relaxation, he wrote _Liluli_, a comedy with the “goddess of illusion” as its heroine. There are some lines of satire and some of burlesque, as the combatants wrestle. It was symbolic of France during the war years, as _he_ viewed his country, scorning Truth and heaping up ruins of past greatness. This has been illustrated with thirty-two wood engravings by Frans Masereel (New York, 1920). While Rolland was exercising his ironical wit upon this picture of war, he was writing _Clerambault: the Story of an Independent Spirit during the War_, a sad portrayal of a pacifist. This has been translated by Katherine Miller (New York, 1921). It is a dissertation more than a story, a presentation of the author’s own sentiments, with much philosophy about life and conflicts. The man, Clerambault, passes through strange spiritual experiences. The early scenes of his rural home life, peaceful and happy, are contrasted with his fanaticism when he reaches Paris and urges his son, Maxime, to enter the army; then come reactions, after the death of the son and his own probings of conscience. The author interprets the tale as a tragedy for the man and his wife, but a triumph of freedom for his soul. There are many autobiographical touches in this psychological story.

In 1922 there appeared in Paris, from the pen of Rolland, the first volumes of _L’âme enchantée_ which is now appearing in English version, by Ben Ray Redman, as _Annette and Sylvie: The Prelude_ and a second volume, _Summer_, translated by Eleanor Stimson and Van Wyck Brooks. In his Foreword the author tells his readers that they are starting with him upon a new journey which will not be so long as that of _Jean-Christophe_ but will include more than one stage. He asks suspension of judgment until the tale is finished, quoting the old adage, “La fin loue la vie, et le soir le jour.” He expresses the domination that his characters gain over him--Jean, Colas, Annette--so that he becomes no more “than the secretary of their thoughts.” No thesis nor theory is in this story but it is another life history, struggling to find Truth, to reach harmony of spirit amid many kinds of buffetings and joys. Two girls, half sisters, Annette and Sylvie, afford him scope for sharp antitheses in character-drawing. Annette is a girl of fine health and brain, educated at the Sorbonne. She had adored her father but, because of some letters which she found after his death, she realizes his infidelities to her mother and understands his secretive smiles. She locates her half sister who never bore his name--Sylvie, pretty, uneducated, capricious, gay, unmoral. The deep passions of Annette, her reserves and independence, her repugnance to any “possessiveness” on the part of her lover, Roger Brissot, and his family, lead to a scene of erotic realism. This is followed by words of the author’s own creed, his Search for Truth: “I am not one of those who fear the fatigues of the road.... I am seeking.... I am convinced that it is possible to love one’s child, loyally perform one’s domestic task, and still keep enough of oneself, as one ought to--for the most essential thing ... one’s soul.”[108] The second volume reveals the material and spiritual conflicts of Annette, as a mother and teacher, and Sylvie’s experiences in marriage and business.

In his latest book, as in his earlier plays and fiction, M. Rolland has revealed that idealism which, in his philosophy, means harmony and freedom, of both aspiration and action. His form is often careless and sometimes crude; but it has high lights of great beauty and true art. In his own life he has waged many battles that have left scars upon his sensitive temperament and fine soul. They have never shattered his spiritual creed, his faith in humanity. He has written ardently in behalf of international friendship and intellectual unity. In the future he may be ranked as a prophet as well as a scholar, a seer as well as a writer. Amid the turmoil of his generation he has been a force, making for peace; he has held high the banner of world-fellowship and sounded the challenge against racial jealousies.

FOOTNOTES:

[101] Inscription with the Nobel Prize Award in Literature, 1915.

[102] _Romain Rolland: the Man and His Work_ by Stefan Zweig, translated by Eden and Cedar Paul, New York, 1921. By permission of Thomas Seltzer.

[103] See his _Tolstoy_, translated by Bernard Miall, London and New York, 1911.

[104] _Century Magazine_, August, 1913, article on Rolland by Alvan V. Sanborn.

[105] _Romain Rolland: the Man and His Work_ by Stefan Zweig, translated by Eden and Cedar Paul, New York, 1915. By permission of Thomas Seltzer.

[106] _Jean-Christophe_ by Romain Rolland, translated by Gilbert Cannan, Vol. III, p. 348, New York and London, 1913. By permission of Henry Holt & Co.

[107] _Romain Rolland: the Man and His Work_ by Stefan Zweig, New York, 1921, p. 270.

[108] _Annette and Sylvie: Being Volume One of the Soul Enchanted_ by Romain Rolland, translated from the French by Ben Ray Redman, New York, 1925. By permission of Henry Holt & Co.

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