Professor Barrett Wendell '77 delivered the fifth of his course of eight lectures on "Impressions of Contemporary France" in the Fogg Lecture Room yesterday afternoon. His subject was "The Relation of French Literature to French Life."

French literature is true to life in the extreme formality of the social life as depicted in comedy. To the foreign reader this seems mere stage conventionality; but in reality it reflects the formality which permeates all French society.

The novelists, however, have spread a very wrong impression of French life, by depicting almost exclusively the seamy side of society. In reality, the standard of home and personal morality in France is high. By treating sensational subjects the novelist endeavors to furnish relaxation, and generally tries to work out the problem of how a normal human being, placed in a very conventional society, will resist the temptation to follow his personal inclinations. The intellectual candor of the French leads them to discuss this problem openly, whereas our writers generally ignore it.

The French novel is similar to our "yellow journals" in many respects. Both are true to life, but they treat of only the sensational and adventurous phases of society. Therefore we cannot get a full picture of society from them. The reader of our "yellow journal" does not recognize this; the French reader of novels does.

Professor Wendell will deliver the sixth lecture of his series tomorrow afternoon at 4.30 o'clock in the Fogg Lecture Room on "The Question of Religion."