{{Short description|French dramatist (1837–1899)}} thumb|right|Henry Becque by Nadar '''Henry François Becque''' (9 April 1837 – 12 May 1899),<ref>Barbara T. Cooper, [https://books.google.com/books?id=VoQYAAAAIAAJ&q= ''French dramatists, 1789-1914''], Gale Research, 1998, p. 12.</ref> was a French dramatist. He was born in Paris.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=YYYYAAAAIAAJ&q= ''McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama''], McGraw-Hill, 1972, p. 160; Frank Northen Magill, [https://books.google.com/books?id=klANAQAAMAAJ&q= ''Critical Survey of Drama: Authors''], Salem Press, 1986, p. 167.</ref><ref>Other sources indicate Neuilly as his place of birth: [https://books.google.com/books?id=eKNK1YwHcQ4C&dq= ''Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia Of Literature''], Merriam-Webster, 1995, p. 118.</ref>
==Life== In 1867, he wrote, in imitation of Lord Byron, the libretto for Victorin de Joncières's opera ''Sardanapale'', but his first important work, ''Michel Pauper'', appeared in 1870. The importance of this sombre drama was first realized when it was revived at the Odéon in 1886. ''Les Corbeaux'' (1882) established Becque's position as an innovator, and in 1885 he produced his most successful play, ''La Parisienne''. Becque produced little during the last years of his life, but his disciples carried on the tradition he had created.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
His other works include ''Querelles littéraires'' (1890), and ''Souvenirs d'un auteur dramatique'' (1895), consisting chiefly of reprinted articles in which he does not spare his opponents. His ''Théâtre complet'' (3 vols., 1899) includes ''L'Enfant prodigue'' (Vaudeville Theatre, 6 November 1868); ''Michel Pauper'' (Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin, 17 June 1870); ''L'Enlèvement'' (Vaudeville, 18 November 1871); ''La Navette'' (Gymnase, 15 November 1878); ''Les Honnêtes Femmes'' (Gymnase, 1 January 1880); ''Les Corbeaux'' (Comédie-Française, 14 September 1882); and ''La Parisienne'' (Théâtre de la Renaissance, 7 February 1885).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
==Reputation== English novelist Arnold Bennett wrote in 1910 that Henri Becque was one of the great dramatists of the 19th century, but that "no first-class modern French author is more perfectly unknown and uncared-for in England than Henri Becque."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bennett |first1=Arnold |title=Books and Persons |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/15717/15717-h/15717-h.htm#HENRI_BECQUE |website=Project Gutenberg |accessdate=12 October 2020}}</ref>
==Notes and references== {{reflist}} '''Attribution:''' * {{EB1911|wstitle=Becque, Henry François|volume=3|page=611}}
==External links== {{wikiquote}} {{commons category|Henry Becque}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Becque, Henry}} Category:1837 births Category:1899 deaths Category:19th-century French dramatists and playwrights Category:Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Category:19th-century French male writers Category:Writers from Paris