There Are Crimes and Crimes

In Short

This play is a taut, psychological drama centered on Maurice, a playwright whose sudden ascent to fame triggers a downward spiral of moral disintegration. Through a whirlwind of ambition, infidelity, and the sudden, unexplained death of his young daughter, Maurice is forced to confront the hidden darkness of his own desires. It has endured as a classic because it bypasses simple melodrama to explore a profound, unsettling question: can a person be held accountable for the crimes they only commit in their hearts?

The Story

Maurice, a struggling writer on the cusp of his first major success in Paris, stands at a precarious crossroads. He has a young daughter, Marion, and a devoted partner, Jeanne, but he finds himself increasingly stifled by the demands of domesticity and the persistent, nagging reality of his poverty. When he meets the alluring, enigmatic Henriette, he is immediately drawn to her unconventional spirit, which he perceives as a refreshing, albeit dangerous, contrast to his own life. As his play premieres to acclaim, Maurice’s success goes to his head, and he finds himself intoxicated by fame, champagne, and his new, reckless passion for Henriette.

As the couple grows closer, their conversation drifts into increasingly dark territory, centering on the nature of crime and the thrill of living beyond the boundaries of morality. In a moment of drunken, ego-driven callousness, Maurice wishes his child out of the way, seeing her as an obstacle to his new life. Almost immediately, the unthinkable happens: Marion falls ill and dies. The sudden tragedy transforms Maurice’s triumph into a waking nightmare. Suspicion falls upon him, and he finds himself under the scrutiny of the police, his friends, and his own conscience.

The play follows Maurice and Henriette as they descend into a mutual, poisonous cycle of blame and self-justification. Maurice is haunted by the suspicion that his dark thoughts were enough to kill his child, while Henriette, hiding her own past sins, manipulates his guilt to keep him tethered to her. They find themselves in a limbo where they are technically innocent of any physical act of murder, yet entirely culpable in their own eyes. Their friends, including the patient Adolphe and the observant Madame Catherine, watch as the couple disintegrates under the weight of their own secrets.

Ultimately, it is revealed that the child died of natural causes, clearing Maurice of the legal accusation of murder. However, the play does not grant him a simple release. Confronted by a wise priest who explains that he is guilty in spirit for having desired the death of his child, Maurice is forced to move beyond legal acquittal. He rejects the hollow victory of returning to his fame alone and chooses instead to seek a genuine moral reckoning. He plans to attend a church service to face himself, accepting that his public success must now be tempered by the heavy, invisible burden of his own internal transgressions.

How It Unfolds

The rise of ambition Maurice stands on the brink of success, feeling that his long years of obscurity are about to end. He confesses to his friends that he is ready to shed his past and embrace a new life, unaware that his impending fame is already changing his character.

The arrival of Henriette Henriette enters, and Maurice is immediately captivated by her, sensing in her a dark energy that mirrors his own dormant desires. Their meeting marks the beginning of his detachment from his past life and his daughter, Marion.

The night of intoxication Caught up in the celebration of his play, Maurice abandons his responsibilities and spends the night in a haze of champagne and ego. He voices his frustration with his family ties, unwittingly inviting the catastrophe that follows.

The sudden death Marion dies, and the joy of Maurice’s success is replaced by the horror of a murder investigation. The atmosphere of the story shifts from a comedy of manners to a tense, claustrophobic psychological inquiry.

The shifting blame Maurice and Henriette turn on one another, each suspecting the other of the crime that no one can prove. Their relationship becomes a battlefield of accusations, fueled by their shared fear of discovery and their deteriorating mental states.

The final reckoning The truth about the child's natural death surfaces, but it provides no comfort to the protagonists. Maurice accepts that his thoughts are as heavy as deeds, choosing to face his internal truth at the church before returning to the stage.

The People

Maurice is the play’s center, a man who longs to be "somebody" but lacks the moral fiber to handle the weight of his own wishes. He begins as a sympathetic, struggling artist but quickly reveals a hollow, narcissistic core when fame arrives. Henriette serves as his catalyst; she is an artist who views morality as a limitation and possesses a dark, "irresistible" allure. She stands in the way of Maurice’s redemption by constantly feeding his insecurities, yet she is eventually undone by her own need to be at the center of a grand tragedy. Adolphe, the "model man," acts as a foil to Maurice; he is a quiet, suffering figure who has already walked the path of the penitent. He is the person Maurice could have been, but his own past failures make him a tragic, lingering presence. Finally, there is Madame Catherine, the owner of the local shop, who provides the grounding, cynical, and ultimately common-sense perspective on the lives of those who fancy themselves above the rules of God and law.

In Its Own Voice

"Yes, here we are making ourselves out as white as angels, and yet we are, taking it all in all, capable of any kind of polite atrocity the moment glory, gold, or women are concerned."

Maurice reflects on how easily human beings can abandon their morals when their personal desires are at stake.

"There are crimes not mentioned in the Criminal Code, and these are the worse ones, for they have to be punished by ourselves, and no judge could be more severe than we are against our own selves."

Adolphe explains that the heaviest burdens we carry are the sins of the mind, for which no earthly court can offer an acquittal.

What It's Really About

At its heart, the play explores the "Higher Court"—the internal tribunal of conscience. It argues that physical actions are only a fraction of our moral existence. The play is an inquiry into the weight of thought, desire, and intention. It challenges the idea that we are innocent simply because we haven't broken a literal law. The argument is that we are the primary architects of our own suffering; once we have "murdered" someone in our hearts, we are already condemned, regardless of what the police or the public may decide. It is a work that insists on the necessity of repentance as the only path out of the "seven hells" of self-obsession.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy psychological tension will find this work gripping. It feels distinctly modern in its focus on the "intoxication" of fame and the way celebrity can erode one’s grasp on reality. You may find the translation’s language to be of its time, slightly formal in its rhythmic phrasing, but the underlying anxiety—the fear that we are being watched, that our inner thoughts are transparent—is timeless.

It is not an easy, breezy comedy; it is a "comedy" in the sense that it follows the pattern of a journey from darkness into a harsh, earned light. Modern readers might find the sudden, almost magical, resolution of the murder investigation to be a bit abrupt, but this is intentional. The author cares little for the procedural details of the crime; he is interested in the lingering stain it leaves on the soul. Those who are drawn to stories about the fragility of human goodness, or the way success can act as a poison, will find this a haunting, compact, and deeply reflective experience. It stays with you not because of the plot’s twists, but because it asks you to hold your own thoughts up to the same unforgiving light that finally stops Maurice in his tracks.