_Pelleas
et Melisande_ came as a manifestation of this revolt. It is an
uncompromising reaction against over-emphasis and excess, and against
anything that oversteps the limits of the imagination. This distaste of
exaggerated words and sentiments results in what is like a fear of
showing the feelings at all, even when they are most deeply stirred.
With Debussy the passions almost whisper; and it is by the imperceptible
vibrations of the melodic line that the love in the hearts of the
unhappy couple is shown, by the timid "Oh, why are you going?" at the
end of the first act, and the quiet "I love you, too," in the last scene
but one. Think of the wild lamentations of the dying Ysolde, and then of
the death of Melisande, without cries and without words.
From a scenic point of view, _Pelleas et Melisande_ is also quite
opposed to the Bayreuth ideal. The vast proportions--almost immoderate
proportions--of the Wagnerian drama, its compact structure and the
intense concentration of mind which from beginning to end holds these
enormous works and their ideology together, and which is often displayed
at the expense of the action and even the emotions, are as far removed
as they can be from the French love of clear, logical, and temperate
action.
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