The Human Comedy: Chronicles of 19th-Century France

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C'est bien drôle

Paul Gavarni (French, 1804–1866) C'est bien drôle... (It's so strange...), 1842 Lithograph Gift of Eugene L. Garbaty, 1951.79.100

Pleased with the success of the Robert Macaire series, Philipon asked Gavarni to produce a new series on Mrs. Robert Macaire. Instead, the two settled on a series on swindles of the heart. In it, Gavarni develops scenes of trickery, subterfuge, and duplicity that rival those of Bal-zac’s most memorable spinsters, courtesans, and adulteresses.

C'est bien drôle que ma femme devait dîner chez Maman Co-quardeau et que je n'y trouve que les petits... C'est bien drôle !

It’s so strange that my wife was supposed to have dinner at Mme Coquardeau's, and the children were there, but she was not. How very strange!