Madame Pifardent (literally, Madame Fiery-snout) has been disfigured by sulfuric acid, and a trial ensues to find the culprit. The accused, Émile Belenfant-des-Dames, who is described as “the worst kind of villain, already sentenced to death in absentia nine times”, has been arrested at the Belgian border, 600 kilometres away from the crime scene at the time when it was committed. The Greffier (Court clerk) assures that Belenfant could have covered this distance thanks to the miracles of the railway. Belenfant denies any connection to Madame Pifardent and claims to be innocent. The witnesses are called. Gustave Courbet says that he only knows his paintings. He digresses and talks about the woman he would marry: a woman who could barely read and write, who would not know how to dance and who would wear a straw hat. Gioachino Rossini, who knows nothing about the case, talks about the “macaroni dell’arte”. After him, Alfred de Caston performs a magic trick with cards and dominoes. He leaves the room to the applause. Then, Émile de Girardin speaks; he talks about freedom, peace, his writing and especially his drama Le Supplice d’une femme (The Torture of a woman). He quickly disappears. Alexandre Dumas senior only talks about his accomplishments. Jules Simon, dressed as a primary school teacher, arrives. He passionately discusses the importance of education and of schools, and then leaves. Adolphe Thiers goes after him and talks about his duty. The last witness, the docteur Tardieu (Doctor Tardieu) describes his science experiments on frogs using sulfuric acid. Madame Pifardent’s lawyer, Maître Favre, starts the pleas with a grandiloquent speech filled with metaphors. Then, the accused’s lawyer, Maître Lachaud, starts talking. He accuses Belenfant by recounting his past crimes. To defend himself, Belenfant retorts that those wrongdoings date back to the time of Louis Philippe. He also tries to justify his actions with his lack of education, and explains that he comes from a poor family. The Juge (Judge) interrupts him and forbids him from giving a “philosophical” speech. M. Prudhomme, the foreman of the jury, announces the verdict: the accused is found not guilty. Belenfant demands that a lament be sung in his honour. Before this, M. Prudhomme offers him to… marry his daughter.

Glove-puppet

Not specified

Lemercier de Neuville Louis

France

Printed

Crime

Justice

Trial

Guilty

Witness

Celebrity

Comical

Absurd

Satirical

Lemercier de Neuville, illustration for Le Procès Belefant-des-Dames, 1868.

French

Judge

Court usher

Defendant

Leader

Clerk

Lawyer

Constable

Gustave Courbet

Gioachino Rossini

Alfred de Caston

Émile de Girardin

Alexandre Dumas senior

Adolphe Thiers

Court scene

Comical regional accent

Sung scenes

Change of head on sight

Comical foreign accent

Apparition of a wizard

Magic act

Address to the public

Music

Le Procès Belenfant-des-Dames

The Trial of Belenfant-des-Dames

King Victor Emmanuel II despairs to Garibaldi because the notorious criminal nicknamed ‘The Hyena of San Giorgio’ is stealing the limelight in the newspapers: more and more young girls are being kidnapped and then disappearing. When the Savoyard people (identified as ‘Cri de douleur’) beg him to free them from the Hyena, Victor Emmanuel takes his time and goes to San Giorgio because it seems that there is a butcher there, Barnaba Caccú, who makes the best sausages in all of Piedmont. Meanwhile, the nobleman Femorino wants to make sure that his fiancée, Angiolina, is a virgin, but when asked the question, Angiolina explodes in a fit of vulgarity and then reveals that she wants to marry a certain ‘Pensive Knight’ who secretly sends her love letters. Angiolina realises that her secret lover is the wanted criminal and, rejecting Femorino, agrees to marry him. Meanwhile, at Angiolina's house, her parents have invited Femorino to dinner: on the table is a sausage from the famous butcher of San Giorgio. Femorino finds a ring still attached to a piece of finger on his plate. No one suspects anything, however, and Femorino goes to the butcher's to return the ring. Meanwhile, in the butcher's hidden workshop, Caccù, with the help of his servant Crimea, has tied Angiolina to the table to turn her into sausage, but when he hears someone coming, he runs away. So when Femorino enters the workshop and finds Crimea with Angiolina tied up next to him, he immediately mistakes him for the Hyena. Meanwhile, in order to escape, Caccú has gone to the station disguised as a nun and expects the whole army to be sent after him. However, no one pays any attention to him. Outraged at not being recognised as the great criminal he is, Caccú confesses everything, even to King Victor Emmanuel II, but no one believes him. Left alone on stage, he shouts in vain, ‘It's me, I am the Hyena of San Giorgio.’

Le Procès Belenfant-des-Dames

La Iena di San Giorgio

Tragedia per marionette