The Public Mirror: Moliere and the Social Commerce of Depiction

By Larry F. Norman

Book Overview

Though much beloved and widely produced, Moli re's satirical comedies pose a problem for those reading or staging his works today: how can a genre associated with biting caricature and castigation deliver engaging theater? Instead of simply dismissing social satire as a foundation for Moli re's theater, as many have done, Larry F. Norman takes seriously Moli re's claim that his satires are first and foremost effective theater.

Pairing close readings of Moli re's comedies with insightful accounts of French social history and aesthetics, Norman shows how Moli re conceived of satire as a "public mirror" provoking dynamic exchange and conflict with audience members obsessed with their own images. Drawing on these tensions, Moli re portrays characters satirizing one another on stage, with their reactions providing dramatic conflict and propelling comic dialogue. By laying bare his society's system of imagining itself, Moli re's satires both enthralled and enraged his original audience and provide us with a crucial key to the classical culture of representation.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226591522
• ISBN13: 9780226591520
• Release Date: December 1999
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 226 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 9.1"