Download Theatre Presentation: France and Moliere

Theatre Presentation:
France and Moliere
Neoclassical France
 Neoclassicism emerged during turbulent times in
France, in the early sixteenth century
 After the French Revolution, France became a
democracy. French government was to be
modelled on the high virtues and moral principles
of classical Rome
 Neoclassical artists created paintings and
sculptures that depicted inspirational scenes from
Roman history
 Architecture and interior design began to reflect
the neoclassical period.
Neoclassical Theatre
 Began to develop in the 16th century
 Had a great effect on writing, scenic design, and
production
 Comedies of this time used farce and principles of
Commédia dell'Arte
 Plays based on unity of time, action, place,
etiquette if a play was a neoclassical piece
 Costumes and scenery were very intricate and
elaborate
 Acting characterized by large gestures and
melodrama.
Theatre cont’d
 Church plays were banned in 1548 by because of
the religious uproar during this period
 This ban dealt a painful blow to French theatre,
but allowed secular theatre to develop.
 In this time the French language was encouraged
to be written in plays, strengthening culture.
Palais royal, where Moliere and other neoclassical
playwrights performed
End of Neoclassicism
 Neoclassicism came to an end when there were
only two theatres left in Paris
 French politics became more and more
conservative.
 By 1680, the great period of French Playwriting
was over
 Molière’s company merged with the Marais
Theatre to form the Comèdie Française, the first
(and still existing) national theatre.
French Social Structure
 There were 17,000 to 25,000 noble families in the
neoclassical period
 Estimates of individuals range from 80,000 to
350,000.
 Nobles accounted for 0.05% of the
28 million people in the French
population
Social Structure cont’d
 A family's prestige was determined by:
 how long had a given family been noble
 into what other families did it marry
 what positions its members achieved and what offices
they held
 what actions they performed
 Arranged marriages were common, mainly
business relationships created desire and/or need
for property, monetary or political alliances.
 The revolution abolished the feudal system,
however titles were reintroduced in 1806 by
Napoleon
Bibliography
 http://www.heraldica.org/topics/france/noblesse.htm
 http://www.stage-lighting-museum.com/museum/images/history2/jpg/Richelieu-Palace-i.jpg
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Richelieu
 http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/spd130et/neocfrance.htm
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_nobility
 http://everything2.com/title/Moli%25E8re
 http://people.brynmawr.edu/cwillifo/ParisPlayhouses/partthree_text.s
html
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_theatre#Neoclassical_theatre
 http://www.librarything.com/subject/Social+classes%09France%09H
istory%0918th+century
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_French_peerages
 http://genealogy.about.com/cs/timelines/a/romance_history.htm