Renaissance Theatre: France

Plays...
         Pierre Corneille. Le Cid
         Jean Racine. Phedre
         Moliere. Tartuffe, The Doctor In Spite of Himself

1. When was the French renaissance?

1630 to 1700.

2. Who is France's greatest comic playwright?

Jean Baptiste Poquelin (1622-1673), better known as Moliere.

3. Why did Jean Baptiste Poquelin change his name to Moliere?

Jean Baptiste Poquelin's father was a minor official (royal upholsterer and furniture maker) in the court of King Louis XIII (reigned 1610-1643). When Jean Baptiste decided to become an actor, (his father wanted him to become a lawyer) and organized the Theatre Illustre in 1643, his father requested that he change his name so Jean would not embarrass either his family or the King's court. Acting was still an unacceptable profession in France.

4. What two types of comedies did he write?

Moliere's ten major works are divided into two groups: (1) the farcical comedies (primarily influenced by the Commedia) and the (2) high comedies (comedy of character).

5. List the title of one major work from each group?

Farcical comedy-- The Doctor In Spite of Himself (1666), The Tricks of Scapine (1671) (sometimes known as Scapino
Comedy of character-- Tartuffe (1664), See the Play Synopsis on page A-3 in the Appendix. The Miser (1668), The Imaginary Invalid (1673)

6. How did he die? Where?

He collapsed, on stage, during the fourth performance of The Imaginary Invalid and died later that evening at his home.

7. Why was he buried in a private ceremony?

Moliere's Monument Père Lachaise Paris

Because he had not reconciled with the church and did not die in a state of grace. Moliere was an actor, as well as a playwright, and all actors had been excommunicated from the church since the middle ages. Since he died before he had a chance to confess his sins, he could not be "legally" buried in hallowed ground. It was only after the intervention of King Louis XIV, that his body was buried after dark in a private (and probably secret) ceremony in the graveyard at St. Joseph's in the parish of St Eustache in Paris. In 1792, after the French Revolution and the establishment of the Empire, his remains were moved to Alexandre Lenoir's newly established Musée des Monuments Français (Museum of French Monuments). In 1817 his remains were again moved, this time to their final resting place in the Cemetery Père Lachaise in Paris. (Note: There are those who believe that when Moliere's body was exhumed in 1792 the wrong grave was opened and it is therefor not his body in the monument at Père Lachaise.

8. What is the Comedie Francaise?

The Comedie Francaise is considered by many to be the "world's first national theatre."

    Does it still exist today?

Yes. It is still the most important French speaking theatre in Paris.

9. How was it created?

It was created in 1680, seven years after Moliere's death, by King Louis XIV (reigned 1643-1715). He combined Moliere's company with two other Parisian acting companies producing a much larger and more powerful organization. He also granted the Comedie a monopoly over all French spoken drama. In 1689 the company moved into their own facility. See the ground plan on page 309.

    Whose plays does it perform?

Primarily the neoclassical works of Moliere, Racine and Corneille. They also present significant French drama from the 18th, 19th, and 20th century.

10. What type of dramas did Pierre Cornielle write?

Although Pierre Cornielle (1606-1684) did write comedies, he is primarily remembered for his tragedies.

11. What is the title of his most important work?

Le Cid (1636) was a turning point in French drama. It precipitated the literary battle which would lead to the triumph of the neoclassical ideal. This battle was settled by the Academie Francaise in 1638 when it published The Judgement of the Academy on Le Cid.

12. What was the Academie Francaise?

An organization, chartered in 1637, patterned after the Italian academies, and limited to "forty men of letters." The guiding force behind the Academie was Cardinal Richelieu (1586-1642).

13. Why was it formed? What was its function?

According to the Academie's web site (www.academie-francaise.fr), translated from French by the Google Language Tools...

The mission which was assigned to him right from the start was to fix the French language, to give him rules, to make it pure and comprehensible by all.

14. What are the five neo-classical rules of dramatic structure?

The five neoclassical rules established by the Academie Francaise were ...

1. Anything which happens on stage must be able to happen in real life,
2. Every drama must preach a moral lesson by showing that good will be rewarded and that evil will be punished,
3. There could be no mixing of dramatic styles -- a play was either a comedy or tragedy, but not a tragicomedy
4. A play must observe the three unities (time, place and action), and
5. A drama must be divided into five acts.

15. Why were soliloquies not allowed in neo-classical French drama?

Because in a realistic presentation a soliloquy is a character talking to himself, something which is not very "real."

16. What type of characters were permitted in a neo-classical tragedy?

A tragedy must draw its characters from the nobility. The plot must deal with affairs of state (who will be the next king), the ending must be tragic (everyone dies) and the dialogue poetic.

     Comedy?

A comedy should draw its characters from the middle and lower classes. The plot should deal with domestic affairs (a love story), the ending should be happy (everyone gets married), and the dialogue should be written in prose.

17. What type of dramas did Jean Racine write?

Jean Racine (1639-1699) is remembered for his neoclassic tragedies.

18. What was the source of his plays?

He adapted Greek tragedies, primarily the works of Euripides. His most important work is Phedre (1677) based on Euripides' Hippolytus.

19. Which, Pierre Corneille or Jean Racine is France's most important tragic playwright?

Jean Racine.

20. Of the works of Corneille, Racine, and Moliere, which have had the most revivals in the English speaking theatre?

The comedies of Moliere.

    Why?

The tragedies of Racine and Corneille are both very talky. There is little action. English speaking audiences like to see something happen on stage, and there is quite a bit more action in the comedies of Moliere.

21. What was the Hotel de Bourgogne?

The Hotel de Bourgogne, built in 1548 by the Confraternity of the Passion, was France's first permanent theatre. The long narrow (40' x 96') structure (with a 33' deep platform stage) occupied the second floor of what had been the town house of the Duke of Burgundy. In 1402 Charles VI granted the Confraternity, a company of amateur actors, the exclusive right (a monopoly) to produce holy drama in Paris.

Palais Cardina

22. Who built the first proscenium theatre in Paris? Cardinal Richelieu built the Palais Cardina, Paris' first proscenium theatre, in 1641. After the Cardinal's death in 1642, the theatre was renamed Palais Royal and became the home of Moliere's acting company.