Dumas fils: Forerunner of Zionism

Of all the reasons given for the unfavorable reaction of the French public to Dumas's La Femme de Claude, the most important one relates to the discussions, found in the second act, of what essentially becomes an expression of pre-Zionistic views. Dumas himself, in the preface to this play (A. M. Cuvillier-Fleury), stresses the importance for the Jews, who have so long been dispersed and persecuted, of having their own homeland. Yet, despite his portrayal, in human colors, of the character and ideals of the Jews, many of them in France, those particularly who felt fully integrated into French society, felt uncomfortable with the implied message in the play to leave France. Dumas's views and advocacy of a Jewish State, which reflect his role as a forerunner of Zionism, can basically be explained, according to several critics, by the humiliation he himself had suffered as an enfant naturel, a feeling that led him to sympathize with all the disinherited of the world. Thus, he could easily identity with the oppressed Jews. (SDB)