Lecture:  French Neoclassical Theatre

Meanwhile, in France, a young playwright was touring the French countryside performing in a commedia dell'arte troupe.  Moliere would go on to write some of the most significant comedies of the 17th Century, under the strict doctrines of French Neoclassicism.

The Tenets of French Neoclassicism

1. Purity of Genres. The neoclassical doctrine insisted upon a complete separation of comedy and tragedy. In addition, this distinction installed rigid separations of social class: the appropriate characters in a tragedy were kings and aristocrats, while the appropriate characters in a comedy were those in the middle- and working-class. The idea of purity of genres separates French Neoclassical theatre from what surrounds it: Shakespeares plays mixed comedy and tragedy, and so does much of the modern theatre (Waiting for Godot in fact is subtitled, "a tragicomedy."). This separation of comedy and tragedy meant that different playwrights excelled at different genres. Moilere became the most famous neoclassical comedian, while Jean Racine became the most skilled tragedian. Racine’s play Phaedra is a perfect example of neoclassical tragedy, as it revisits the classical Greek Euripedes’ Hippolytus.

2. Unity of Time, Space, and Action. Grounding itself in classical poetics texts like Aristotle’s Poetics, the neoclassical doctrine argued that theatre appropriately had only a very limited scope. The well-made play was seen to take place within a very short time period (Tartuffe takes place over just one day), within a very confined area (Tartuffe takes place entirely within Orgon’s house), and should only concern one central line of action (in Tartuffe: will Tartuffe be exposed to Orgon as the hypocrite he is). Shakespearean plays, while classical in so many other ways, would not satisfy these stipulations: Hamlet spans a number of months, a number of settings (the ship to England carrying Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, the castle at Elsinore), and a number of complex narrative lines (Hamlet vs. Claudius; Hamlet vs. Laertes; Polonius vs. Laertes; Hamlet vs. Ophelia, etc.).

3. Five Act Structure: Like the Shakespearean theatre, the neoclassical theatre structured itself narratively around the five acts (Exposition, Development, Climax, Resolution, Denouement).

4. Serious Moral Purpose. The plays of the neoclassical theatre were to have a clearly defined, serious moral. In Tartuffe, this moral concerns taking the middle-ground, not going to extremes. As Brockett argues, "As in all of Moliere’s works, in Tartuffe the balanced view of life is upheld" (138). In the play itself, this theme is expressed most forcefully by Cleante, Orgon’s brother-in-law. Cleante in fact takes the position of moderation from the beginning of the play. In Act I, Scene v, Cleante tells Orgon that he must not engage in "transgressing Reason’s laws" (171). However, the serious moral purpose of the play is not fully stated until after Orgon has been fully duped by Tartuffe. In Act V, Scene I, Cleante speaks the moral of the play, as he tells Orgon to "cultivate a sober moderation" (203).

5. Verisimilitude. Verisimilitude is a liteary term that means giving the appearance of the truth. The neoclassicists meant by verisimilitude to not represent eclectic individuals, but instead to represent what is typical of different sorts of people. For example, Tartuffe is neoclassical because it represents a typical upper middle-class homeowner (Orgon) and a typical religious hypocrite (Tartuffe).

6. Decorum. Most cultural practices that we call classical have as their basic tenet the idea of harmony, proportion, and decorum. That is, classical style attempts to take the artistic middle-ground. It should not be too extravagant or excessive. Classical music is harmonious, balanced, soothing. The neoclassicists attempted to offer this decorum in the theatre.

A Case Study of a Neoclassical Play:  Moliere’s Tartuffe (1664, rev. 1669)

1.  Aesthetic Practices

Tartuffe is written in verse form, using the alexandrine couplet, a set of two 12 syllable lines which rhyme. The interesting thing about Moliere’s use of the alexandrine couplet is the way he modulates its use. Most often, one character will use the couplet to construct an argument. For example, Madame Pernelle berates her family members: "And you, his sister, seem so pure,/ So shy, so innocent, so demure" (164). However, at other times, one character begins the couplet and another answers. Thus, the couplet is used to produce an argument. For example, Mariane and Dorine argue in couplet form. Mariane says, "What good would it do? A father’s power is great" (177). Dorine responds, completing the couplet, "Resist him now, or it will be too late" (178).

2.  Narrative Structure

• The organization of Tartuffe is perfectly classical, returning us to what Aristotle made for a great tragedy: reversal and recognition. Tartuffe is full of reversals: the exposure of Tartuffe’s hypocrisy to both Orgon and Mme. Pernelle, Tartuffe’s eviction of Orgon from his own house, and the Officer’s arrest of Tartuffe instead of Orgon. The play also features a recognition to come out of a reversal, as Orgon comes to realize that he must take the middle course and not believe totally in the piety of another.
• The other classical device in the narrative structure of Tartuffe is the use of the deus ex machina ending. Just as Orgon’s family is about to be ruined, the Officer arrests Tartuffe instead. The Officer engages in a long-winded explanation as to the King’s power to see through the hypocrisy of Tartuffe. Thus, in Tartuffe, the King’s omniscient power replaces the gods from the famous deus ex machina endings in Euripedes (as for instance, in Medea).
• The character structure of Tartuffe is worth attending to. One way of understanding the five act structure is to attend to which characters have a continuous presence (Orgon), while others appear and disappear at various moments in the play (Tartuffe does not arrive until Act III, Madame Pernelle only appears in Act I and Act V, Cleante only appears in Acts I, IV, and V).
• Brockett suggests that two characters may relate to Moliere himself. On page 140, Brockett suggests that Cleante has something to do with Moliere the playwright, since it is Cleante who gets to deliver the serious moral purpose of the play (to take the middle-ground). On the other hand, Brockett says that Moliere had some affinity for Orgon, since he was the character that Moliere the actor played in productions of the play (pg 141).

3.  Ideological Meaning

Tartuffe is a satire of French society. One of the central political problems in analyzing the play is to determine how far it goes in satirizing all of French society. For example, is the ending deus ex machina meant to patriotically praise the King, or to make fun of his over-inflated opinion of himself? Such a question is not resolvable with certainty, but worth working through. There is something deeply suspicious about the fact that this praise to the King is delivered by the Officer, the most insignificant character in the film. Also, the person to comment upon it is Dorine, the most surly character in the play.

Return to the MTA 104 ("Understanding Theatre") Syllabus

This page was last updated on June 16, 2001

Questions or Comments? Please phone me at (406) 994-6403 or send an e-mail to:  metz@montana.edu

Walter Metz, Department of Media and Theatre Arts, Montana State University--Bozeman