Download French Neoclassical Theatre

French Neoclassical
Theatre
1642-1793
The Neoclassical Form and Ideals
• Neoclassicism was a movement involving all forms of art
(theatre, literature, and architecture) in which the artist drew
upon Classic Greek and Roman models as examples of
perfection.
• Neoclassical theatre observed a strict adherence to the unity of
time, place, and action and also placed importance on
decorum and verisimilitude (true to life) in playwriting.
The Neoclassical Form and Ideals
• It was believed that there was a new classical formula for
producing theatre.
• These rules were called the “Neoclassical Rules of
Drama”.
• The five rules for producing acceptable drama were:
·
Verisimilitude
·
·
·
·
Purity of the Dramatic Form
Five Act Form
Decorum
Purpose of Drama
The Neoclassical Form and Ideals
• Verisimilitude is the appearance of truth or that the play must be
believable.
• To aid in this believability the following three rules of reality,
morality, and generality were applied.
•
•
•
Reality is composed of the unity of time, place, and action. To be realistic,
the play must take place in a twenty-four hour period, must stay in the same
location, and the action must be logical and credible.
Morality aids verisimilitude saying the play must uphold the moral
convictions of the French Academies, the nobility, and the church.
Generality, on the other hand, supports verisimilitude by creating characters
that are identifiable as good and proper French citizens. They were neither
Commedia stereotypes nor the Medieval ‘everyman’.
The Neoclassical Form and Ideals
Purity of the Dramatic Form
•
Plays were either tragedies or comedies. There were no combined forms.
Five-Act Structure
• In addition, all acceptable plays were to have 5 acts
Decorum
•
•
•
Provides the audience with a sense of propriety and fair play.
Characters are not unduly punished without a fair trial and all characters are
represented fairly as having both good and bad traits.
It was also not considered fair to slander or defame people on stage.
Purpose
•
To the French, acceptable drama was not only entertaining but provided the
audience with a moral.
The Neoclassical Form and Ideals
• Most French theatre during the 16th century was tied to its
medieval heritage of mystery and morality plays but the
humanist movement and the access to ancient writers such
as Seneca, Euripides, and Aristophanes enabled French
theatre to progress.
• Neoclassical theatre became associated with grandiosity;
costumes, scenery and stages were altered to fit with these
new ideals.
The Neoclassical Form and Ideals
• Cardinal Richelieu, Louix XIII’s Prime Minister, advocated
the adoption of proscenium stages and attempted to
establish some standards for French literature, many of his
ideas came from Italy.
• The French neoclassicists recognized only two genres (the
French word for type or category) of drama, tragedy and
comedy and the two forms could never be mixed.
The Neoclassical Form and Ideals
• Verisimilitude in playwriting meant that the supernatural
was forbidden on stage and the goal of drama was to teach.
• Neoclassical productions often had special effects and
sound effects with elaborate staging.
• At the end of the 16th century various forms of
performance from Italy were also shown on the stages of
France including Commedia dell’arte and pastorals.
Important People of the Day
Pierre Corneille
• Pierre Corneille was born in 1606 and began writing plays
in the 1620s during the golden age of French literature.
• Corneille underwent a rigorous Jesuit upbringing and went
on to study law.
Important People of the Day
Pierre Corneille
• Pierre Corneille’s first play in 1637 was also one of his
finest.
• Le Cid was described as a tragicomedy, which violated
the neoclassic ideal of the time.
• The play was a popular success but was harshly criticized
by other writers and Corneille returned to Rouen.
Important People of the Day
Pierre Corneille
• Corneille continued to produce plays until 1674 and also
wrote a discourse about dramatic poetry.
• Known as a sort of founder of French tragedy, Corneille
would later be eclipsed by Jean Racine and Moliere.
Important People of the Day
Pierre Corneille
• The most unique aspect of Pierre Corneille’s plays is the
basic psychology of his characters.
• The heroes of his tragedies are involved in political
dilemmas and the problems often get involved family
conflict and relations.
• His characters have a desire for distinction, to be
exceptional and this intense desire often is the driving
force behind their acts of courage and brutality.
Important People of the Day
Jean Racine
• Jean Racine was born in 1639 in the Valois region of
France. Through his various contacts in Paris he eventually
came into contact with Moliere who took a chance on the
young dramatist and produced his play La Thebaide in
1664.
• In his attempts to win over the court, the public, and the
critics (who were mostly friends of his rival, Pierre
Corneille), Racine often chose topics that had a prevailing
Important People of the Day
Jean Racine
• His first rousing success came in 1667 with Andromaque.
The play depicted the story of a circular chain of lovers (A
loves B, who loves C, who loves A) and was written like a
pastoral drama.
• Andromaque won over both the public and the court and
earned Racine a fame that would rival Corneille’s Le
Cid.
Important People of the Day
Jean Racine
• One of Racine greatest accomplishment was his use of
alexandrine poetic line, which gave his plays harmony and
elegance in their language.
• His poetry allowed for expression of the depths of feeling
and the creation of a passion that elicited powerful
reactions from the spectators.
• Racine’s characters represented the limitations of human
beings as the lesson of the tragedy through their sense of
Important People of the Day
Moliere
• Moliere was born January 15, 1622 in Paris under the name
of Jean Baptiste Poquelin.
• He abandoned his bourgeois social class and began to
pursue a career on stage.
• Moliere began the Illustre Theatre and he also changed his
name at this time. Theatre was not considered an
acceptable career path and the name changed saved his
family from embarrassment.
Important People of the Day
Moliere
• Moliere gained the favor of the King and was allowed to
settle in Paris. The King also supported Moliere for the rest
of his career, even though some of his plays were
controversial.
• Moliere directed most of his plays and would also often
play lead characters in the performance.
Important People of the Day
Moliere
• Moliere gravitated toward comedy, which was more
flexible than tragedy.
• One of Moliere’s greatest works, Tartuffe, was banned for
depicting the upper and dominant classes as hypocrites
and its argument that supported open, tolerant morals.
• The King lifted the ban in 1669 after which the play
became a huge success.
•
Important People of the Day
Moliere
• Moliere was one of, if not the sole provider of the King’s
entertainment.
• While performing his play The Imaginary Invalid in 1673,
Moliere collapsed and later died.
• He did not renounce his profession on his deathbed (actors
could not be buried on sacred ground) or receive his last
rites but the king intervened and Moliere was buried in
the cemetery reserved for unbaptised infants
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