English theatre in Enlightenment France [ Literary & Artistic genres ]
… aesthetically ‘still entirely foreign to French sensibilities’ (Soulatges 50), they initially aroused the admiration of Voltaire, whose tragedies bear the mark of a spectacular, striking dramaturgy, which ignored the ideal of the three unities, and classical moral codes and good taste. The ‘English air’ (Soulatges 50) which permeated Voltairean tragedy also suffused comedic dramaturgy. Michel-Jean Sedaine, for one, acknowledged his debt to The Merry … translated, adapted, at times even misleadingly attributed to British authors. In Le Café ou l’Écossaise (1760)—a comedy Voltaire purported had been written by David Hume’s brother—a young girl is relentlessly abused by the vagaries of fate. …
Anglomania | Audience | Emotions | Enlightenment | Friendship | Theatre | Translation
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