Breaking Dramatic Illusion and Extending the Dramatic World: French Civil-War Tragedy (1550–1643) By Brian Moots Submitted to the graduate degree program in French and Italian and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ________________________________ Chairperson Bruce Hayes ________________________________ Paul Scott ________________________________ Caroline Jewers ________________________________ Diane Fourny ________________________________ Geraldo de Sousa Date Defended: May 7, 2014 ii The Dissertation Committee for Brian Moots certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Breaking Dramatic Illusion and Extending the Dramatic World: French Civil-War Tragedy (1550–1643) ________________________________ Chairperson Bruce Hayes Date approved: June 9, 2014 iii Abstract This research project combines history, cultural studies, and performance theories to explore the threats posed by tragedy during the civil and religious crisis in France. French plays challenge civil and religious authority and justify revolt by the literal and figurative reenactment of sedition. In the sub-genre of civil-war tragedy, David rebels against the anointed king Saul, Caesar contends against Pompey, Roman senators slay the victorious Caesar, and Antigone disobeys her uncle and king, Creon. Adopting these famous examples of revolt enables playwrights to break the dramatic illusion of the play, creating crucial parallels with contemporary France. Historical examples give concrete support for the propaganda clothed by the tragedy, while staging revolt elicits violence from spectators because it dangerously encourages them to think independently, to investigate through reading and interpretation, and to lose control in riots and other acts of violence. The first chapter will identify threats in theater by exploring elements of tragedy, in the sub-genre of civil-war tragedies, where the author is most visible (in liminary material, prologues, and opening monologues) all of which break the play’s stage illusion, forming a dangerous complicity between audience and author. In the next chapter, an analysis of the chorus suggests its role produces an effect similar to the paratext; the chorus interrupts the on-stage action and establishes historical precedence for the propaganda in the tragedy. These playwrights expanded and emphasized the role of the chorus, a stronger reliance on this role not reflected in most Ancient Greek or Roman tragedies, sources the French playwrights imitated. The third chapter explores the compelling roles of leading women to gain crucial insights into family, gender roles, and the threat perceived to social order by these female tragic heroes. The final chapter will examine the dialogue between loyalty and revolt in the sub-genre of civil-war iv tragedy, a dialogue that is connected intimately to contemporary events and to the author’s political or religious confession. I hope this inquiry will provide new perspective for the French civil and religious wars, including the Saint Bartholomew Day massacres, and deepen our understanding of the often-overlooked genre of sixteenth-century tragedy. v Acknowledgments I would like to thank Bruce Hayes for his mentorship, patience, and encouragement. I am grateful to Paul Scott for his insightful comments and ideas. I thank the Department of French and Italian of the University of Kansas for funding to conduct archival research in London and Paris. Thank you Angela Moots. vi Table of Contents Introduction....................................................................................................................................1 Sixteenth-Century Theater……………...…………………………………………………2 Historical Context…………………………………………………………………………6 Sub-Genre of Civil-War Tragedies………………………………………………………..8 Dissertation Structure and Overview…………………………………………………….13 Previous Scholarship……………………………………………………………………..28 Outline of Civil-War Tragedies………………………………………………………….31 Chapter 1: Interaction with the Audience: Breaking Dramatic Illusion................................32 The Perceived Threat of Theater........................................................................................33 Interaction between Author and Public: Exemplum...........................................................38 Ambiguity of Exemplum....................................................................................................42 Exemplum and Historical Analogy....................................................................................51 Interaction between Author and Audience: Elocutio.........................................................59 Interaction with Audience: The Shift toward Pathos.........................................................63 Interaction between Author and Audience: Prologues and Monologues...........................69 Chapter 2: The Chorus and Stage-Illusion................................................................................82 The Choral Interlude: Interrupting Stage-Illusion.............................................................83 Interaction with the Audience............................................................................................90 Interpretive Voice and Allusiveness..................................................................................92 Music, Song, and Psalms...................................................................................................99 Protestant Biblical Tragedies...........................................................................................103 vii Framing Debate...............................................................................................................119 Chapter 3: Female Protagonists: More Effective Tragic Heroes for Civil-War Tragedies……………………………………………………………………………………….127 The Widow in Tragedy....................................................................................................128 Woman on Top................................................................................................................135 The Supernatural..............................................................................................................139 To Be a Tragic Hero........................................................................................................141 Women Inspire Men........................................................................................................146 Chapter 4: A Dialogue of Resistance........................................................................................159 Ambiguous Visions of Triumph......................................................................................162 Tyranny............................................................................................................................177 Right to Revolt: Iconoclasm............................................................................................182 Pollution and Iconoclasm.................................................................................................188 The Law...........................................................................................................................193 Duty to Revolt..................................................................................................................197 King’s Two Bodies and Lèse-majesté..............................................................................201 Changing Perceptions......................................................................................................208 Conclusion: Rebirth of Civil-War Tragedy in France (1636–43)..........................................211 Bibliography...............................................................................................................................232 1 Breaking Dramatic Illusion and Extending the Dramatic World: French Civil-War Tragedy (1550–1643) Theater intrigues scholars because it gives an invaluable window into history, culture, and literature. Nevertheless, sixteenth-century French tragedy remains a neglected, yet crucial terrain of contending power relations. Scholars overlook these tragedies because critical editions are rare, because primary texts are distant and difficult to view, and because previous scholarship has labeled them as inferior works of art. However, this dissertation validates the genre as essential to penetrating the complex and problematic relationship between social conflict and art during the civil and religious wars in sixteenth-century France. A sub-genre of civil-war tragedies highlights this social conflict, making the clashes staged in these tragedies a cultural artifact that reveals relationships between groups of people, history, and performance. This research project combines history, cultural studies, and performance theories to explore the threats posed by tragedy during the civil and religious crisis in France. French plays challenge civil and religious authority and justify revolt by the literal and figurative reenactment of sedition. In the sub-genre of civil-war tragedy, David rebels against the anointed king Saul, Caesar contends against Pompey, Roman senators slay the victorious Caesar, and Antigone disobeys her uncle and king, Creon. Adopting these famous examples of revolt enables playwrights to break the dramatic illusion of the play, creating crucial parallels with contemporary France. Historical