Bataille de dames

[Footnote 3: #madame#. French and German usage requires that a title of courtesy be prefixed to designations of adult relatives of the person addressed, as, e.g., _madame votre...

[Footnote 12: The use of the imperfect subjunctive is far more restricted in French conversation than our school grammars would imply. Persons of little education hardly use it...

[Footnote 17: #Mon dieu#. Wherever _Dieu_ carries any suggestion of deity, it will be printed with a capital. Where, as here, it corresponds to "Dear me," "Oh dear," and the lik...

[Footnote 47: The campaign of 1812-1813 is meant. Its chief events were the burning of Moscow (October, 1812), Napoleon's very disastrous retreat thence, and the defeat of the F...

[Footnote 71: #toi#. Except when used of deity _tu_, _te_ and _toi_ imply endearment or condescension, as, e.g., to servants, children, animals, etc. The change from _toi_ to _v...

[Footnote 74: #servons-nous-en#, _I'll put it to the proof_. Since the French have no first person singular imperative, they are forced to use either the plural, as here, or the...

[Footnote 75: #mon dieu#, _heavens_! He is frightened at his own courage. When _dieu_ contains no thought of deity, I consider it more reverent to use _d_. French usage varies....

[Footnote 86: #demi-lieue#. As now used the _lieue_ is colloquially 4 kilometres, or 2-1/2 miles. The old _lieue_ was of 4,444 metres, or not quite 3 miles, and there is also a...

[Footnote 114: #désintéressement#, _unselfish devotion_. This speech is a good example of what the French call _blague_,--a sort of light-hearted mockery of moral ideals. See my...

[Footnote 119: The countess says that she will place him under such obligations as to make any adequate return difficult, but she means to convey to the audience the malicious i...

[Footnote 139: #de l'argent gagné#. There is a _double entente_ here. Montrichard understands "money as good as earned," because Henri feels sure of success. Henri means that th...

[Footnote 147: #romanesque#, _romantic_. Note that while at the date of this play, 1851, romanticism was no longer the fashion for men in Paris, it was still thought attractive...

[Footnote 182: #prérogatives#, _consideration_. For instance, one might choose to be shot rather than guillotined, to look death in the face with unbandaged eyes, and to give th...

[Footnote 192: #je le pense#, _I really think so_. He is surprised at the change in his character that his magnanimity has produced in him; a psychological touch as delicate as...

[Footnote 203: #Ne parlons pas de cela#. This is as far as she can becomingly go; and yet so far she must go. We should be disappointed if de Grignon's devotion were left withou...