Proefschrift - Amsterdam. / Portrait mounted on cover. Imprint covered by label: Amsterdam, H.J. Paris, 1928. "Stellingen" : 2 leaves laid in. "Principaux ouvrages consultés": p. [183]-186.

Proefschrift - Amsterdam. / Portrait mounted on cover. Imprint covered by label: Amsterdam, H.J. Paris, 1928. "Stellingen" : 2 leaves laid in. "Principaux ouvrages consultés": p. [183]-186.

Inaug.-Diss.--Leipzig. / Vita. Bibliography: verso of 2nd prelim. leaf.

No description available.

Inaug.-diss.--Rostock. / "Einleitung", p. [3]-7, includes bibliographical references.

Reproduction de : Thèse de doctorat : Littérature et civilisation française : Paris 4 : 2007. / Titre provenant de l'écran titre. 324 références bibliographiques.

Thèse de doctorat : Littérature et civilisation française : Paris 4 : 2007. / 353 références bibliographiques.

This thesis re-examines the role of marriage in the golden age of seventeenth-century French comedy. It reconsiders received wisdom on the subject to challenge acceptance of the final promise of marriage as a dénouement complet to comedy. Through an analysis of the themes of discontent, cuckoldry, fertility, non-heteronormative desire and widowhood, it offers an alternative view of what comedy can encompass. Close reading of works by Molière, Quinault, (Thomas) Corneille, (Françoise) Pascal, Ulrich and de Visé establishes that comedy can be both enjoyable and satisfying while incorporating elements that conflict with the marriage ideal. This thesis does not attempt to provide a full socio-historical reading of seventeenth-century attitudes to marriage, although an understanding of contemporary attitudes provides a starting point for close textual analysis. Critical theories, notably gender theory, are used where appropriate to further clarify the role of marriage in comedy. Chapter One presents and problematizes the framework of marriage as the structuring principle of comedy, drawing on themes of compatibility, discontent and desire. The second chapter focuses on anxiety regarding cuckoldry in comedy, relating it to the promise of marriage. An analysis of the desires of older characters in projected comedic marriages, particularly as these desires relate to fertility, is the guiding principle of Chapter Three, which also sets out essential terms of reference for the fourth chapter on widowhood and queer desire. The thesis demonstrates that rather than constituting a satisfying and happy ending, a constant challenge is posed to the promise of marriage by on-stage marriages, fears of cuckoldry, widowhood, and ‘inappropriate' or queer desires. I propose a more nuanced reading, showing that comedy can be fully satisfying and structurally complete without a final promise of marriage, and that, rather, comedy can incorporate significant elements that appear antithetical to the ideal of marriage typically associated with the genre.

La collaboration de Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632–1687) avec le librettiste Philippe Quinault (1635–1688) fut exceptionnellement féconde et on a à disposition, aujourd’hui, onze opéras de ces auteurs. La question de la construction de l’image de la femme dans les tragédies en musique de Jean-Baptiste Lully et de Philippe Quinault se pose quand on perçoit que dans ces opéras, ce sont principalement des femmes qui sont en centre de l’action et qui influencent le plus cette dernière. Des éléments très divers ont pesé sur la conception des personnages dans l’œuvre de Quinault et de Lully : des sources mythologiques et littéraires, des concepts de la philosophie et de la théorie de la musique, des idées de l’esthétique ainsi que des normes de la poétique. Mais aussi les débats sur la nature de la femme et l’ordre des sexes, qui étaient au centre de la querelle des femmes, qui fut un débat de philosophes et écrivains qui a duré du Moyen Age jusqu’au 18e siècle, exercèrent une influence non négligeable sur la création des personnages dans l’opéra. Cette thèse analyse ces influences, montre leurs effets sur la construction des personnages féminins et présente pour la première fois une véritable typologie des personnages dans les tragédies en musique de Jean-Baptiste Lully et de Philippe Quinault. / The collaboration of Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632–1687) and the librettist Philippe Quinault (1635–1688) was remarkably productive and resulted in eleven tragédies en musique. Envisioning that in most of these operas female characters are put in the centre of the plot and have the greatest impact on the action, leads to the question of the conception of the female image in the tragédie en musique. Most different influences affected the creation of the characters in the opus of Quinault and Lully: mythological and literary sources, various concepts of music philosophy and music theory, multiple aesthetic ideas as well as poetic norms. Furthermore the debates about the nature of women and the order of the sexes, which were the main topics of the French querelle des femmes since the 14th century, had a distinct influence on the conception of the opera characters. This thesis analyses these different influences and shows their impact on the construction of female characters and for the first time presents a consistent typology of the characters in the tragédie en musique of Jean-Baptiste Lully and Philippe Quinault.

The tragedie en musique of Quinault and Lully was a highly successful new genre, representative of contemporary Parisian life. However, it is still largely viewed in the negative terms of its detractors, the proponents of classical tragedy. The purpose of this study is to redefine the tragedie en musique in terms of seventeenth-century modernism. An examination of the society and poetry of the contemporary gallant world provides the historical framework for an analysis of both the libretto and music of Quinault and Lully's Atys (1676). This study attempts to bridge the historical and cultural distances that until now have hindered accessibility to this major new genre in seventeenth-century literature and music.