Topaze

“It is exactly like the story of my mother's chimpanzee. When she bought him, he was skinny, he stank of misery, but I have never seen such a loving monkey. We gave him coconuts, we fed him bananas, he became as strong as a Turk, he slapped the maid. We had to call the fire department ... "

It was this funny quote, remembered by my dear father, that brought Topaze, this hundred-year old theatre piece written by Marcel Pagnol to my attention. Pagnol is of course no stranger for whoever has benefitted from an education at a French “college”. Especially hiis biographical novels, like La Gloire de mon père, Le château de ma mère and le temp des secrets were recommended novels for generations of young readers. Pagnol, a member of the show more French academy, was very famous in his time, not only as a writer, but also as a scenarist and moviemaker.

Topaze was written in 1928 and an immediate and lasting success as soon as it hit the stage. Even today, the play is very entertaining and has barely aged. It tells the story of Topaze, a naïve and gentle teacher working in a school in a Paris suburb. Everybody, we soon notice, fellow teachers and pupils alike take advantage of this gentle person. Topaze in his unworldly simple-mindedness is unfit for the foul and corrupt world of the big city. When he refuses to falsify the school results of a rich dunce and he has a misunderstanding with the daughter of the school director, he is kicked out without any ado.

The unfortunate Topaze however is not long without a job. One of the students’ mother has noticed the childlike innocence and naivety of the teacher and decides to present him to her lover, a corrupt politician. Involved in many questionable business enterprises, this unscrupulous wheeler-dealer is in search of a straw man to shield himself from too much public attention. Topaz just fits the profile and is hired on the spot. His salary is doubled, his attire gets a make-over and his new business card mentions ‘Director’.

But the shrewd politician might have underestimated Topaze. Because this excellent teacher turns out to be a fast learner too…

A quick and enjoyable read and indeed a brilliant quote. show less

1 for 2016. Marcel Pagnol wrote his four act play, Topaze, in 1928, and the play had its first Parisian performance that same year. Albert Topaze, the title character, begins act 1 as a poor teacher employed in a private school. He is extremely naive, and honest to the point of absurdity, failing to realize that in order to get ahead, he has to bend the rules. Over the course of the four acts he grows up, as it were, and in the final scenes of act 4, he meets his old teaching colleague, Tamise, who is described in exactly the same way as he was in act 1. Topaze, on the other hand, has flourished, having left education for business and having learned the ropes--that is that honesty is not always the best policy and that in order to show more succeed, you must play the game. Act 1 was hard for me to get through as Topaze's naiveté is almost beyond belief. And it is precisely for that naiveté that Suzy (the aunt of one of his students) and Régis (Suzy's lover and a crooked politician) choose Topaze to be the front man for their various illicit schemes. Through Acts 2, 3 and 4, Topaze sees what is going on, and learns his lessons--learns them so well that in the end he has destroyed Régis and taken his place. While the play was written on the eve of the Great Depression, it has power today as we watch our politicians being bought and public policy following the dictates of big money. Over the years there have been several movie versions of the play, including a 1933 American version starring John Barrymore and Myrna Loy, tv movie versions in France and Sweden, a tv mini-series in Portugal, and stage productions world-wide. This meets the 2016 Read Harder challenge #23, Read a Play. show less

Voilà qui m'a fait regretter de ne pas avoir lu Pagnol depuis si longtemps. Cet auteur a le don de donner à la naïveté et à l'innocence des accents de sincérité qui font que ses personnages ne sont risibles ni ridicules. C'est d'ailleurs pour ça que Topaze est si réel - sa déchéance et son cynisme s'inscrivent parfaitement dans son caractère : s'il a été autrefois simple, il était intelligent et réfléchi : sa transformation est donc tout à fait plausible. Un traité intéressant sur la morale, l'argent, la motivation des hommes.

Topaze est une homme intègre, à la limite de la naïveté dans son monde d'enseignant où les maximes civiques tiennent lieu de Bible. A la suite de son renvoi pour des motifs plus que futiles, il se trouve embringué comme prête-nom dans les cabales d'un escroc de haut vol fricotant avec la politique et étant lui-même politicien. Topaze décrit la transformation de cet honnête instituteur en agent d'affaire redoutable comprenant que le sens de la vie doit aller avec le sens de l'Histoire, c'est à dire faisant fi de toute morale. Derrière les quelques vieilleries de langage, la pièce de Pagnol reste d'une actualité brûlante et est très sombre sur la nature humaine et la notion de persistance de l'honneteté. L'intégrité se show more perd vite, confrontée à un petit paquet d'argent. Quant à la morale, l'auteur montre bien que c'est une vertu d'un autre âge.
Facile à lire, Topaze fait partie de ces classique du théâtre que le cinéma a adopté. show less

Topaze est, au début de la pièce, un maître d'école au sens civique irréprochable et au salaire modeste. Licencié pour s'être montré trop honnête, et influencé par les exemples qu'il a sous les yeux, il devient peu à peu malhonnête et heureux de l'être, en se lançant, sous l'influence d'une femme et d'un conseiller municipal peu scrupuleux, dans le monde des affaires.

Topaze, un instituteur, est secrètement amoureux d'Ernestine, la fille du directeur de l'institution. Ce dernier en apprenant la nature des sentiments de son employé le licencie sur le champ. Topaze est alors engagé par un politicien véreux, expérience qui va le transformer du tout au tout.

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