“...This little heartbreak takes place in a rococo jeweler’s shop in Paris...”
In this mini-melodrama, Gracile, the young prima ballerina, catches the eye of the King. He sends her to his jeweler to choose a lavish gift for herself — a path, we learn, that Gracile is not the first to follow. The dancer wishes to choose a gift for the young husband she adores. Despite his grave illness he carries her everywhere to protect her feet. The jeweler wastes no time laying out the rules, as life changes forever for the young lovers.
This short play is included in the collection Thornton Wilder's Playlets: Short, Short Plays for 3-5 Persons.
This playlet, published in the Yale Literary Magazine in 1918, may have been inspired in part by James Ensor’s watercolor, ”Ballet Gracile ou la Danse Dans Clariene” (1910).