French dramatist, one of the leading exponents of the realist drama, whose somewhat didactic works attacked the social evils of his day. Brieux's works formed part of the repertory of the famed Théâtre-Libre of André Antoine, which had a far-reaching effect on the spread of the new naturalistic style. Playwright and critic George Bernard Shaw described Brieux as, of his kind, “incomparably the greatest writer France has produced since Molière.” Since that time, however, Brieux's reputation has declined. His principal works were Blanchette (1892), the story of a peasant girl educated above her station, and La Robe rouge (1900; The Red Robe), an attack on the magistracy. In 1901 he caused a scandal by tackling the subject of venereal disease in Les Avariés (Damaged Goods).