Voltaire Comic Dramatist
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Voltaire comic dramatist RUSSELL GOULBOURNE S VEC 2006:03 VOLTAIRE FOUNDATION OXFORD 2006 Contents Acknowledgements ix Introduction i i. Voltaire, comedy and criticism i ii. Comedy and the comic 5 iii. Comedy and contradiction 9 iv. Playing with comedy 11 v. Comedy in context 15 1. From the Theatre Francais to the Theatre de la Foire: L'Indiscrel and La Fete de Belesbat 19 i. Courtly comedy in the 1720s 19 ii. L'Indiscrel 20 iii. La File de Belesbat 37 iv. Signs of things to come 51 2. Voltaire and the comedie larmqyante: Le Comte de Boursoufle, L'Enfant prodigue and Les Originaux 52 i. Cirey and comedy 52 ii. A critical trio 57 iii. Le Comte de Boursoufle: comedy and comic subversion 59 iv. VEnfant prodigue 63 v. Les Originaux 80 vi. Conclusion 86 3. Rewriting Moliere: L'Envieux and La Prude 88 i. From Moliere to Voltaire 88 ii. L'Envieux 89 iii. La Prude 100 iv. Conclusion 117 4. Comedy for the king: La Princesse de jYavarre 119 i. A royal commission 119 ii. Text and contexts 121 iii. Text and theatricality 129 iv. The play of tones 130 v. The play of words and music 137 vi. Comedy and propaganda 143 vii. Posterity 146 Vll Contents 5. Comic heroines: La Femme qui a raison and jVanine 148 i. Critical comedies 148 ii. La Femme qui a raison 150 iii. Nanine 162 iv. Posterity 181 6. Voltaire, the drame and I'infdme: Socrate. L'Ecossaise, Le Droit du seigneur and Saul 184 i. Voltaire in the 1750s and early 1760s 184 ii. Socrate 187 iii. L'Ecossaise 203 iv. Le Droit du seigneur 216 v. Saul 227 vi. Responding to Diderot 245 7. Voltaire, national history and the opera-comique: Chariot, Les Deux Tonneaux and Le Baron d'Otranle 247 i. Comedy and conflict 247 ii. Chariot 248 iii. Voltaire and the opera-comique 261 iv. Les Deux Tonneaux 267 v. Le Baron d'Otrante 280 vi. Conclusion 289 8. Returning to Moliere: Le Depositaire 292 i. An anecdotal comedy 292 ii. Moliere in the 1760s 293 iii. Comedy and reaction 297 iv. Echoes of Tarluffe 301 v. Echoes of Le Misanthrope 308 vi. Rounding on Rousseau: moderation and mondanite 314 vii. Conclusion 316 Conclusion 319 i. Comedy and apotheosis 319 ii. Tradition and innovation 322 Bibliography 327 Index 349 vni.