English and French Theories of Tragedy and Comedy

'Jo my Mother and Father University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ENGLISH AND FRENCH THEORIES OF TRAGEDY AMD COMEDY Based on the appreciation of Shakespeare in France With special reference to * "Hamlet" "The Taming of the Shrew* "Othello" "A Midsummer Night's Dream" "Macbeth" The Pal staff Plays "King Lear" "As You Like It" "Measure for Measure" by Peter Platt Thesis offered for the Degree of Ph»D, in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Birmingham 1st. October 1957 Synopsis This work discusses the theory of the Tragic and the Comic as revealed in the French approach to Shakespeare's tragedy and comedy, with particular reference to certain examples of eac& genre. In part I, chapters 1-4 inclusive examine questions which are basic to the understanding of Shakespeare in France. Chapter I considers some of \he chief difficulties of translating Shakespeare's English into written French. Chapter 2 is concerned with the reception of Shakespeare's plays by the French critics. The following chapter will show the extent of the gulf between Shakespeare and the French mind, while the last part of this introductory quartet prepares the way for the later chapters by discussing why it should be necessary to separate comedy from tragedy when dealing with "Shakespeare and France". In part II, chapters 5-9 inclusive deal with the French approach to Shakespeare's tragedy, the first two of them being based on "Shakespeare and Corneille" and "Shakespeare and Racine" respectively. unapter 7 introduces the subject ii of the poetry of Shakespeare's tragedies and compares it with similar French poetry. The next chapter is an attempt to interpret the worst difficulty still experienced by the French in approaching Shakespeare's tragedy, namely the mixing of comedy with it. Chapter 9 concludes this section by illustrating two instances where the French critics have been unable to appreciate Shakespeare's tragedy. in part III, chapters 10-16 inclusive turn to the question of the French approach to Shakespeare's comedy, the first of them trying to throw some light on the complex differences and similarities between French and English comedy. Chapter 11 is based on "Shakespeare and Moliere", and chapter 12 shows that there is a strain of Shakespearean humour in French literature, though not necessarily where it is generally looked for. A chapter on Falstaff is followed by reference to the question of "moral lessons" in comedy, after which "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "As You Like It" are used to show how fancy and "golden" comedy have often baffled the French critics. In part IV, the final chapter (chapter 1?) consists of a Conclusion. iii Preface It is still justifiable to write about "Shakespeare and Prance 11 , and that for two principal reasons. First, much original thought on Shakespeare may yet come to light concerning his relationship to other great literatures. Secondly, there is still a certain French resistance to Shakespeare, and since we know that this is no longer due to ignorance or prejudice, the continuing resistance is all the more worthy of study for possible interpretations of the character of the two nations. Thus, we shall explore some of the differences between tragedy and comedy as they are understood in England and in Prance, using "Shakespeare and Prance" as a basis for discussion. Special reference will be made to eleven of Shakespeare * s plays: "Hamlet", "Othello", "Macbeth", "King Lear", "Measure for Measure", "The Taming of the Shrew", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "As You Like It", and the three Palstaff plays ("IHenry IV", "2Henry IYW , and "The Merry Wives of Windsor"). These are at once the plays most representative of Shakespeare's genius and those which have occasioned most comment in French literary circles. iv several editions of Shakespeare's texts have been used in preparing this work, principally the "Variorum" edition, and, where that was not available (i.e. "The Taming of the Shrewn , "The Merry Wives of Windsor" and "Measure for Measure") the "Arden" edition. References are to these editions. In preparing this work I have been helped in numerous ways by many people, and it is a pleasure to record here my appreciation of their kind cooperation. In particular I wish to thank: Professor Eraser Mackenzie, Professor of French Language and Literature in the University of Birmingham, who has supervised my work during the past seven years and to whom I owe a very great debt of gratitude; Mr.J*M.Milner, senior lecturer in French in the University of Birmingham, for his help during Professor Mackenzie's year in New Zealand; The staff of the Reference Library in Birmingham, particularly Miss.W.Payne, Shakespeare Library Assistant, for her constant kindness in helping with my research. Index to Chapters Page Part I. Introduction ....................... ,^ ... 1 Chapter 1 Translation?considered in its application to French appreciation of Shakespeare. 2 Chapter 2 Criticismconsidered in its application to French appreciation of Shakespeare. 27 Chapter 3 Shakespeare and the French Mind ...... ,................ 42 Chapter 4 Shakespeare, comedian or tragedian? ................. 63 Part II. The French Approach to Shakespeare's Tragedy ................................. 78 Chapter 5 Shakespeare and Corneille... 79 Chapter 6 Shakespeare and Racine...... 110 Chapter 7 Shakespeare, Racine and Poetry,.«*«***«*.*.**..».... 138 Chapter 8 Comedy in Tragedy: an essay in interpretative criticism. 157 Chapter 9 French "misconceptions" of Shakespeare s tragedy....... 179 Part III. The French Approach to Shakespeare's Comedy ............................. 197 Chapter 10 Of English and French comedy and some differences between them 198 Chapter 11 Shakespeare and moliere. 226 Chapter 12 Shakespeare an humour in French Literature....... 259 Chapter 13 Sir John in France...... 282 Chapter 14 Shakespeare's "Moral Lessons 11 and the French. 302 Chapter 15 "A Midsummer Night f s Dream" in France, or The Triumph and i'all of Reason.................. 325 Chapter 16 The "Englishness" of "As You Like It"........ 341 Part IV. Conclusion ........................ 352 Chapter 17 Conclusion.............. 353 Bibliography.................................. 36! Part I Introduct ion Chapter 1 Translation; considered in its application to French appreciation of Shakespeare Sir Winston Churchill, during a visit to France, appeared upon one occasion dressed, in the uniform of an Honorary Elder Brother of the Corporation of Trinity House. A French newspaper reporter who asked Sir Winston which uniform he was wearing received this reply? *Le Frere Atne de la Trinite*". wMon Dieu! w , exclaimed the startled questioner in awed tones, "quelle influence! w . The spirit of this typically Churchillian encounter might be kept with advantage in the minds of all who are interested in the reception of Shakespeare in France. After more than two hundred years of French translations of Shakespeare's plays, it may seem strange to suggest that, in theory as in practice, there is every reason to suppose that they and the French written language are incompatible. However, while other problems have presented various difficulties at various times, the barrier of language has remained firmly established from first to last. What is more, while other problems vary from individual to individual, that of translation affects every Frenchman who studies Shakespeare (l). One of the chief difficulties lies in the fact that the more a work is representative of national genius, the more it attracts translators. Pew will deny that Shakespeare is supremely representative of English national genius, or that he has had more attention from French translators (2) than has any other of our dramatic authors. Since literature cannot be separated from life, to appreciate the measure of difference between Shakespeare in English and Shakespeare in French is to appreciate not only a difference in dramatic theories, but also a difference between the English mind and language on the one hand and the French mind and language on the other. Shakespeare's work exists because he had certain ideas which he crystallized and put into their present material form. Now although his initial ideas may have been universal, and therefore translatable, the form in which they were materialized 1. The same may be said with regard to "Nationalism". (See chapter 3). 2. There are in existence, including re-editions, 63 French translations of the complete works, 57 of selections from the works, and innumerable translations of the separate plays. (For example, in addition to the above figures, there are 63 French translations, adaptations, parodies and school versions of "King Lear"). was, and remains, entirely English, and to a large extent untranslatable. Language, in other words, is merely the instrument of conveyance, and where translations fail, they fail because they must. They can often tell what was said, but they cannot tell how it was said, or with what degree of emotion, We feel that it will be profitable, therefore, to proceed by comparing the English written language,as used by Shakespeare,and the French written language first in their component parts and then as separate entities. The poet Alfred de Vigny thought(1) that there were close links between the language of England and that of Prance. While that may have been true in the Middle-Ages, each tongue has since developed along different lines, French to become the language of political documents, English the language of poetry.

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