[Ads-l] Quote Origin: The Theater is Not the Realm of the Real; There Are Cardboard Trees, Diamonds of Glass, Tinsel Gold

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

I received a request in Italian to trace a quotation in French. I am
not fluent in either of these languages, but I was able to make some
progress with the assistance of Google Translate.

The statement in the subject line is part of a quotation attributed to
French literary titan Victor Hugo. When Hugo died in 1885, he left his
heirs a collection of reflections which were eventually published
under the title "Post-Scriptum de ma vie" ("Postscript to My Life") in
1901. The section named "Tas de pierres III" ("Pile of stones III")
contained brief miscellaneous thoughts. Victor Hugo wrote the
following about theatre and realism:

[Begin excerpt]
Le théâtre n’est pas le pays du réel : il ya des arbres de carton, des
palais de toile, un ciel de haillons, des diamants de verre, de l’or
clinquant, du fard sur la pêche, du rouge sur la joue, un soleil qui
sort de dessous terre.

Le théâtre est le pays du vrai : il ya des cœurs humains sur la scène,
des cœurs humains dans la coulisse, des cœurs humains dans la salle.
[End excerpt]

An English translation appeared in 1907 when the book "Post-Scriptum
de ma vie" was translated by Lorenzo O'Rourke and published under the
title "Victor Hugo’s Intellectual Autobiography":

[Begin excerpt]
The theater is not the country of the real: it has trees of
pasteboard, palaces of linen, a heaven of rags, diamonds of glass,
tinsel gold, paint on the peach, rouge on the cheek, a sun that issues
from under the earth.

The theater is the country of truth: there are human hearts on the
stage, human hearts in the greenroom, human hearts in the hall.
[End excerpt]

Here is a link to the Quote Investigator article
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/06/11/theater-realm/

Feedback welcome
Garson O'Toole

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