Passing Judgment : The Politics and Poetics of Sovereignty in French Tragedy from Hardy to Racine / Helene E. Bilis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bilis, Hélène, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

French drama--17th century--History and criticism.

French drama.

French drama (Tragedy)--History and criticism.

French drama (Tragedy).

Sovereignty in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (279 pages)

Place of Publication:

Toronto : University of Toronto Press, [2018]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

"The royal judge was an archetypal character in French tragedy during the 17th century. This figure impersonated the king by asserting his judicial authority and bringing order to an otherwise chaotic world. In Passing Judgment, Helene Bilis examines how an overlooked character-type-the royal judge-remained a constant of the tragic genre throughout the 17th century, although the specifics of his role and position fluctuated as playwrights experimented with changing models of sovereignty onstage. Her readings analyze how this royal decision-maker stood at the intersection of political and theatrical debates, and evolved through a process of trial and error in which certain portrayals of kingship were deemed obsolete and were discarded, while others were promoted as culturally allowable and resonant. In tracing the royal judge's persistent presence and transformation, Bilis argues that we can better grasp the weighty political stakes of theatrical representations under the ancient regime."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The critique of Le Cid : Richelieu, royal judgment, and the rules

Failed judgments, thwarted justice : Alexandre Hardy's Scedase ou l'hospitalite violee

The ceremony unravels : tragedy's comedic turn

Learning from experience : on Corneille and coherence

Corneille's Cinna and Rotrou's Crisante : a search for the emperor's judgment

Racine and royal fathers of injustice : Mithridate and Phedre.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 21. Dez 2019)

ISBN:

1-4875-1057-8

1-4875-1056-X

OCLC:

959713693