author
Edouard Pailleron
1834–1899
A sharp-eyed French dramatist and poet, he is best remembered for the witty social comedy Le Monde où l'on s'ennuie, a play that captured the manners and boredom of fashionable society. His work helped make him one of the notable literary figures of late 19th-century France.
1 Audiobook
The Art of Being Bored: A Comedy in Three Acts
by Edouard Pailleron
About the author
Born in Paris in 1834, Édouard Pailleron trained in law but did not stay with the legal profession for long. After a brief start at the bar and a period of military service, he turned to literature, writing poetry, journalism, and especially plays.
Pailleron became known for elegant, satirical comedies that observed the habits and pretensions of upper-class society. His best-known work, Le Monde où l'on s'ennuie (1881), was a major success and remains the title most closely linked with his name.
His literary reputation brought him formal recognition as well: he was elected to the Académie française in 1882. He died in Paris in 1899, remembered as a playwright whose wit and social insight gave lasting life to the comedy of manners.