ABSTRACT
The novels of divorce which author introduces in the remainder are, then, closely related to but significantly different from this tradition. After 1884, divorce added to the range of family plots available both to mainstream writers such as Maupassant and to virtually forgotten authors such as Claire Vautier. John Rivers, a contemporary of many of the authors, describes the book as 'a failure' in spite of the 'abundant evidence of careful workmanship'. The plea for divorce was one of the many forms of idealism dashed by the failure of the 1848 Revolution. Morange finds him 'semblable a l'hydre fabuleuse ou a limpitoyable Meduse' and his subsequent display of the compromising letters to Bonnin leave Morange 'completement meduse'. This chapter is taken up with Morange's meeting with Maitre Guerin, an old school pal and now a brilliant lawyer (and part-time librettist!) who has lost only one case in fifteen years.
