Tonner contre la tyrannie du verbe : spectacles baroques et discours classiques ?

Abstract

One must deconstruct the strict opposition elaborated by a biased literary historiography between “baroque” and “classical” French drama. While baroque drama would presumably resort to visual effects in order to please the senses, it has been assumed that classical drama was to enlighten the mind through the staging of a well-organized rational discourse. If we have indeed two types of theater differing in the material they both used, their impact on the audience remained similar. In both cases, they aimed to trigger deep emotions in the audience: either as a result of the rhetoric of the stage, or through the eloquent and powerful word. Contrary to popular belief, classical drama has always been eager to impact its highly emotional audience. Far less intellectual than sensual, “classical” discourse proves thus to be surprisingly close to “baroque” display.