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SOPHOCLES IN LONDON 129
And what is
" Le faux bon " ? It is
something exceedingly difficult to produce.
We do not wish to belittle it we wish to make
;
plain its nature. If we succeed, we shall show
also how choice and rare a thing this (Edipus
is. At any rate, it keeps good company.
The plays of Mr. Stephen Phillips are classical
examples of the " faux bon," and, to remove
a suspicion of disparagement, we hasten to add
that the plays of M. Rostand and FitzGerald's
paraphrase of Omar are examples too. The
brilliant and entertaining pictures of Mr.
Nicholson and Mr. Orpen serve our purpose
even better, so closely do they resemble the
first-rate. And now in this, the latest art,
the new art of the theatre, come M. Bakst
with his Scheherazade, and Prof. Reinhardt
with Sumurun and The Miracle^ levying
contribution on all the others, culling from
them all those features that people of taste
expect and recognize in a work of art.
For " le faux bon " is produced to meet the
demands of a tasteful and cultivated society
a society that knows as much about art as can
be taught. People who have been brought up
on terms of familiarity with the arts learn to
recognize
all those features that a work of art
know the effects that
ought to possess ; they
it ought to produce ; but, unless born with
the power of reacting emotionally and directly