European University Institute Library

Tragedy and nation in the age of Napoleon, Clare Siviter

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 313-367) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Tragedy and nation in the age of Napoleon

bibliography

1174810819

Clare Siviter

Oxford University studies in the Enlightenment, 2020:05

Napoleon's biographers often note his fondness for theatre, but as we approach the bicentenary of the Emperor's death, little remains known about the nature of theatre at the time. This is particularly the case for tragedy, the genre in which France considered itself to surpass its neighbours. Based on extensive archival research, this first sustained study of tragedy under Napoleon examines how a variety of agents used tragedy and its rewriting of history to make an impact on French politics, culture and society, and to help reconstruct the French nation after the Revolution. This volume covers not just Napoleon's efforts, but also those of other individuals in government, the theatrical world, and the wider population. Similarly, it uncovers a public demand for tragedy, be it the return of Corneille, Racine, and Voltaire to the Comédie-Française, or new hits like Les Templiers (1805) and Hector (1809). This research also sheds new light on Napoleonic propaganda and censorship, exposing their incoherencies and illustrating how audiences reacted to these processes. In short, Tragedy and Nation in the Age of Napoleon argues that Napoleonic tragedy was not simply tired and derivative; it engaged its audiences, by chomping at the poetic bit, allowing for a retrial of the Revolution, and offering a vision of the new French nation. --, Provided by publisher

Introduction. Reconstructing the nation ; Tracing tragedy ; Research aims and structure -- I. The reimposition of the tragic canon: introduction -- Chapter 1: The tragic inheritance. The eighteenth century ; The Revolution -- Chapter 2: Rewriting the past. Attempts at adaptation ; Institutional rewritings ; Tracing tragedy in performance ; The legacy of the afterlives -- Chapter 3: Heroic conquerors. Censorship ; Propaganda -- II. New Napoleonic tragedies: introduction. Tragédie -- Chapter 4: Composition, performance, reception: pulling back the curtain on censorship and propaganda. To the Comédie-Française ; The bureaucratic censorship system ; Back at the theatre ; In print -- Chapter 5: The ambiguity of antiquity. Ancient Greece: Pyrrhus, 1807, Polyxène, 1804, and Hector, 1809 ; Ancient Rome: Vitellie, 1809, Tibère, Bélisaire, Scipion, ou l'Africain and Camille, ou le Capitole sauvé -- Chapter 6: Heroes of the East. Cyrus, 1804 ; Ninus II, 1813 ; Artaxerce, 1808 ; Omasis, ou Joseph en Egypte, 1806 -- Chapter 7: Fear of the foreign. Staging foreign history: Mahomet II, 1811, Pierre le Grand, 1804, and Don Pèdre, ou le Roi et le laboureur, 1802 ; Foreign threats: Jeanne Gray, Marie Stuart, L'Orphelin polonois, Gênes sauvée and Wallstein -- Chapter 8: Meddling in the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages on the stage: Brunehaut, 1810, and Les Templiers, 1805 ; Unperformed medieval tragédies nationales: Charlemagne, Clovis, Baudouin empereur, La Dèmence de Charles VI, La Régence de Charles VII and Arthur de Bretagne -- Chapter 9: Testing tragédies nationales. Les Etats de Blois, 1810 and 1814 ; La Mort de Henri IV, 1806 ; Tippo-Saëb, 1813 -- Conclusion