Sylvia, a brothel keeper, freshens up in front of a mirror: she wants to take the place of her employees for the night. The pimp Dorante also decides to switch roles and to become the client of a prostitute. When seeing him, Sylvia invites him upstairs. They end up in a small room, both unaware of the other’s status. They begin their lewdness, and Sylvia is very creative. After experiencing mutual sexual pleasure, they realise that they have the same job. This increases their passion, and they think about opening a new brothel together.

Glove-puppet

Adults

Lemercier de Neuville Louis

France

Paris

Printed

Slang

Prostitution

Brothel

Erotisme

Language comedy

Situation comedy

Erotic

Farcical

Comical

Félicien Rops, frontispiece for Le Théâtre érotique de la rue de la Santé (1864).

French

Pimp

Monologue

Aria

Misunderstanding

Scene of copulation

Les Jeux de l'amour et du bazar

The Games of Love and Mess

In Jeu-Maloches, a village in the French department of Indre, flageolet player Arthur Graboyos became a waiter at the inn Hôtel du Veau Qui Désire Téter (Hotel of the Calf That Wants To Suckle) in order to grow closer to Dorothée – the daughter of the innkeeper Friturin. Arthur and Dorothée both want to marry each other, but Friturin refuses to let an artist marry his daughter. Arthur is expecting a donation from an uncle in America. Bidet – the postman – brings a letter of marriage proposal to Friturin. Bidet himself would also like to marry Dorothée; however, she rejects him. The shipowner Chandelle, who sent Friturin the letter to offer his nephew to Dorothée, arrives at the hotel with an enormous trunk filled with pepper. Friturin dismisses Arthur after they quarrel. The latter comes back disguised as a cook and hides in Chandelle’s trunk to abduct Dorothée during the night. But the trunk snaps shut on him with a padlock. Several misunderstandings and quarrels happen one after another – Dorothée believes that Chandelle is Arthur in disguise, Friturin mistakes Chandelle for Arthur and Chandelle does not understand that Arthur is his nephew because he assumed the name Graboyos for his career as a musician. Arthur comes out of the trunk and makes himself recognised. All the misunderstandings are clarified and Chandelle gifts Arthur forty thousand French francs so that he can marry Dorothée.