“ All Montchrétien’s heroes face death without fear. M. Petit de Julleville finds the characteristic note of his plays in the same cult of heroism which was later to inspire the plays of Corneille. Poet, economist, iron-master, and soldier, Montchrétien represents the many-sided activity of a time before literature had become a profession, and before its province had been restricted in France to polite topics. ”

“ As plays they have little technical merit, but they contain passages of great lyrical beauty. In L’Écossaise Elizabeth first pardons Mary Queen of Scots, and no explanation is given of the change that leads to her execution. ”