Controversy in French drama : Molière's Tartuffe and the struggle for influence / Julia Prest.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Prest, Julia.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Molière, 1622-1673--Stage history--France.

Molière.

Molière, 1622-1673. Tartuffe.

Molière, 1622-1673.

Theater--France--History.

Theater.

France.

History.

Physical Description:

247 pages ; 23 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.

Summary:

In 1664, Molière's Tartuffe was banned from public performance. This book provides a detailed, in-depth account of the five-year struggle (1664-1669) to have the ban lifted and, so doing, sheds important new light on 1660s France and the ancien régime more broadly. By drawing on theatrical and non-theatrical writings (including contemporary sermons, treatises, and memoirs), it changes the terms of the debate by challenging received notions regarding the opposition between the sincere believer (vrai dévot) and the hypocrite (faux dévot). Tartuffe was a key locus for the struggle for influence among competing political and religious factions during the early reign of Louis XIV, and the lifting of the ban in 1669 is understood as an act of political assertion on the part of an increasingly confident king. Book jacket.

Contents:

The struggle for influence: I. The stakes and their protagonists

What is a faux dévot? I. The hypocrite

What is a faux dévot? II. The zealot

What is a vrai devot and is he a veritable homme de bien?

The struggle for influence: II. Tartuffe in an age of absolutism

Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781137343994

1137343990

OCLC:

849641439