I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 207 Performance Banned
You sympathize with the blind who cannot see the sunlight, the deaf who cannot hear the sounds of nature, and the mute who cannot express their thoughts with their voices; but under the false pretense of so-called shame, you are unwilling to sympathize with these spiritually blind, soulfully deaf, and morally mute individuals.

These disabilities drove the unfortunate, suffering woman insane, leaving her helplessly unable to see her conscience, hear the voice of God, or speak the pure language of love and faith.

—La Dame aux Camélias

As a well-known socialite in Parisian society, Marie Duplescy was usually both idle and seemingly busy. So, although she had thought about reading the strange young man's novels and plays several times, it wasn't until this indifferent night that she finally found a play in a corner.

Because of some emotional issues, she wasn't in a good mood tonight. However, having experienced too many emotional ups and downs and jumped from one relationship to another too many times, she had become increasingly indifferent and apathetic.

Or rather, she mostly let things take their course. As a socialite, she couldn't live without wealthy lovers like Starkberg, while the young factory worker in her heart, who longed for love, often made her want to find some true love in this kind of life.

But this wish seems rather unrealistic.

It was in this illusory state of mind, under the indifferent Parisian moonlight, and by the cold, hard gas lamp by the window, that Marie Duplescy casually picked up the script.

She once dreamed of becoming an actress, but the talent, hardship, and physical stamina required to be an actor ultimately deterred her, and she no longer had enough passion to support her in doing more.

Marie Duplessie was no stranger to the script, and the author even left some passages from the novel as supplements in some places, so it didn't seem too difficult for her.

The beginning of the script surprised her. Although the background was somewhat vague, she understood the protagonist's identity: a prostitute who was not exactly respectable. Could such a bold script really pass censorship?
As she continued reading, she began to understand why the author had said the script was related to her. However, the connection wasn't very strong in the script, but the author must have heard some rumors about her and used them as a basis to fabricate many things.

Using seemingly plausible but ultimately misleading elements to provoke imagination and speculation among the Parisian public is not a novel tactic in today's Parisian theater scene, especially in historical dramas.

Those seemingly fictional parts were actually Mikhail's combination of classic adaptations from later periods, which to some extent broke the image of the "sickly female protagonist" and gave the character a deeper spiritual level.

That's why, when Marie Duplessie read this story, she felt both a sense of familiarity and a feeling of watching a more vivid female character.

This story is undoubtedly as bold as its subject matter: a prostitute seems to have fallen in love with a young nobleman. Although Mary is unwilling to believe such a story at this moment, upon reading these passages:

"Because you held my hand when you saw me coughing up blood, because you cried, because you are the only one in the world who truly sympathizes with me."

"You love me for my sake, not for your own, while others love me only for their own sake."

Her heart still couldn't help but beat faster.

These moving lines of dialogue undoubtedly propel the story to new heights.

Meeting – falling in love – deciding to live together in the countryside – the male protagonist's father's obstruction – the female protagonist being forced to leave.

Then the male protagonist begins to take revenge on the female protagonist due to a misunderstanding, and this revenge is detrimental to the female protagonist as follows:

“Besides the fact that your insults are proof that you still love me, it seems to me that the more you torment me, the more noble I will appear in your eyes when you find out the truth.”

"Perhaps the best place for me to live is in your heart, where no one can see me and no one can despise our love."

Upon seeing this, Mary Duplessie coughed violently, to the point that she eventually coughed up tears.

After witnessing the female protagonist's death and the male protagonist's discovery of the truth, Mary, feeling breathless, clutched her clothes tightly at her chest, a series of thoughts flashing through her mind.

These thoughts touch upon many things, including love, reflections on one's own life, and even confusion about the identity of prostitutes due to some dialogues in the text. What caused the emergence of this group? And what makes them suffer such treatment?
Such dialogues were naturally added by Mikhail without disrupting the original atmosphere.

Mary remained lost in thought at her desk for a long time. When she finally came to her senses, she first wiped her face with a handkerchief, and then she eagerly searched for paper, pen, and other works by the Russian author. While doing these things, her movements seemed to have completely lost her usual sickly and weak demeanor.

While she was doing these things with tears in her eyes and deep thought, in another part of Paris, someone else was also reading the script, only his identity was slightly different.

Simply put, he was a member of the theater censorship committee under the Paris Ministry of the Interior. Such institutions are not composed entirely of writers, but rather of bureaucrats, conservative intellectuals, and people with police backgrounds.

Although Gabriel, an old-fashioned writer who was getting on in years, hadn't paid much attention to theatrical matters for a long time, this didn't prevent him from having a certain status in the censorship committee. Besides, this position didn't require a very high level of expertise; all one needed to do was to be on the right side.

Today, because he was busy entertaining some friends during the day, he had to bring some work home with him.

At this moment, he stared at the script in his hand, dumbfounded. Although the author had intentionally obscured some things, Gabriel, with his rich experience as a seasoned john, was still able to see what the heroine's true identity was.

When did prostitutes become protagonists in dramas?

Even if this group is present throughout Paris today, even if many people in high society are doing similar things, even if many people have similar experiences like Gabriel, it is still immoral for you to write it down!

What's more, she appears as the protagonist!
After flipping through the text a little more, Gabriel felt he had discovered some more subtle but unsettling dialogue, such as, "What on earth has led them to live like this?" What are you trying to say? Who are you alluding to? What are your true intentions?
Although it may seem like just a love story at first glance, Gabriel, with his rich experience, sensed a deeper meaning.
Even putting that aside, dramas that are offensive to public morals, violate family values, and disrupt public order should not be approved.

As for anything else, Gabriel felt there was no need to care.

Just as he was pondering what kind of approval opinion he should give, he suddenly remembered something and hurriedly looked at the signature at the very beginning of the script.

If he had only vaguely recognized the name before without giving it much thought, Gabriel now instantly connected it to the young Russian man who had recently caused quite a stir.

In a place like Paris, if someone has caused a great stir, he will inevitably face many challenges and doubts.

Moreover, he has genuinely infringed upon the interests of others. The more attention and discussion his work receives, the more it will inevitably affect the revenue of other individuals and newspapers.

Putting aside everything else, at least the competitors of The Century would be happy to see the popular novel being serialized in The Century come to an abrupt end.

With this in mind, the old writer Gabriel began to ponder what this news could bring him, and whether it could bring him anything more practical.

And what's more, this Russian writer actually wants to stage a play in Paris?
Novels are one thing, but he actually wants to get his hands on the sacred art of drama?!

Moreover, it's a subject like this.
What on earth was he thinking?

At this thought, Gabriel even conjured up an article mocking the young man and his play.

"If this play were to be shown, it would become the greatest disgrace in the history of French theater!"

Frankly, Gabriel could definitely give it a try, and I reckon he would directly unlock an achievement that would go down in the annals of French theater history.
However, although he had already figured out what kind of article to write, Gabriel changed his mind and gave up the idea.

After all, at his age, he doesn't really need to work hard in this area anymore, and he has no conflict of interest with this young man. However, this information is indeed quite valuable in a certain sense.

He actually used his real name. Is he that confident in himself?
Thinking of this, Gabriel, who almost went down in history, couldn't help but shake his head. Although he was still a little confused, he was indeed a little short of money recently, so he began to think about how to deal with the news.

And after such a night passed, it wasn't long before Mikhail received several messages, the first being a reply from Marie Duplessie:

"I really don't know how to describe my feelings. This is the best script I've ever read, and I can't even imagine what it would be like to bring it to the stage."
I want to be honest with you. I know a lot about acting, but I've never actually rehearsed. However, please believe me, if it doesn't achieve the effect you want, I will voluntarily withdraw. I don't want this play to fail because of me. But please give me a chance; I will do my best to cooperate with you. I also have some friends.
Your story "The Necklace" seems to have touched my heart as well. Matilda sacrificed her beauty and youth for the necklace, but she gained peace of mind. And what have I lost for the necklace?

Please come and sit with me sometime. There's no one else here, and I have a lot to say to you.

We can chat if there are other people around, but if there are no other people, then forget it.

Of course, even if there was no one else around, Mikhail often had a picture in his mind of a girl standing by the window waving at him. With such memories and pleasant feelings, Mikhail was indeed unwilling to do anything out of line.

After this good news, another piece of news brought some trouble. The person responsible for conveying this news to Mikhail was, of course, Etienne, the manager of a theater. He said to Mikhail with some regret:
"Dear Mr. Mikhail, we have received your message. Unfortunately, your script has not been approved. The censorship committee believes that the script violates ethics and will have an extremely negative impact on the public."

Frankly, Etienne was not surprised by the censorship outcome. Although some of the scenes could be seen in Paris just a short walk away, so what? If it's not allowed, it's not allowed, especially when it's written as the main character.

Although Etienne felt the script had potential, releasing it would inevitably involve significant risks. As for why their theater was willing to take that risk, they would have to wait and see:
“Dear Mr. Mikhail, I am also a reader of your ‘Around the World in Eighty Days’ and ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea’. Why didn’t you think of adapting these two novels into plays? Why did you come up with this play instead?”
With all due respect, we are unable to meet your request here. You would be better off asking other theaters.

"What if I invest some of my own money and help you promote it? I..."

"Hmm? What do you mean by holding up one finger? One thousand francs? That's not bad, but our theater has its own principles."

"Ten thousand."

"Ten thousand?! No, no, no, this really won't do, it can't be!"
What do you mean by holding up another finger?! Is it what I'm thinking?!

"Yes."

"It was a pleasure working with you, Mr. Mikhail. Congratulations on your return to your beloved Montmartre Theatre!"

That's roughly how it is. First of all, Mikhail is no longer a nobody in Paris. Secondly, the young Russian man's audacity left Étienne speechless; he seemed to treat money like it was nothing!
The Count of Monte Cristo, alive!

But now that things have come to this, it's no use saying anything since the review failed, unless this young man has some extraordinary means at the top.
Just as Etienne was thinking this, suddenly, a young man ran towards them, or more precisely, towards Mikhail, seemingly in a great hurry, waving several newspapers in his hand:

"It's terrible, Mikhail! Look at today's newspaper! It's all condemning you!"

After the young man approached, Etienne glanced at the newspaper headline, which read:
(End of this chapter)