Émile Augier

Émile Augier (1820-89), French dramatist, born in Valence. His early work, typified by The Adventuress (1848; trans. 1888), contains graceful and witty glorifications of romantic love. With Gabrielle (1849), however, he began his mature career, characterized by satirical comedies of manners revealing the corruption of contemporary French domestic life. His masterpiece is Le gendre de M. Poirier (Monsieur Poirier's Son-in-Law, 1854), which he wrote with the French playwright Jules Sandeau. Other plays, such as Les effrontés (The Shameless, 1861) and Le fils de Giboyer (Giboyer's Son, 1862), deal with the social corruption caused by the struggle for wealth.