Sign-In
Cart
The Theatre of Martyrdom: Performing Piety in 1640s France
Paperback
Series: Medieval and Early Modern French Studies, Book 21
Literary CriticismPlaysPlaywriting
ISBN13: 9781800797338
Publisher: Peter Lang Uk
Published: Dec 26 2022
Pages: 132
Weight: 0.43
Height: 0.30 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
In this readable and closely argued study, Charles Stone sheds light on a phenomenon that has baffled generations of scholars: why did plays about Christian martyrs grip seventeenth-century French audiences? After all, these tragedies are not very tragic. Stone unravels this mystery of the plays' success, showing how martyr-themed plays tackled wider questions of theology, language and performance. In this thought-provoking book, Stone relates not only why these plays mattered to their first spectators but also why they should matter to us.
(Professor Paul Scott, University of Kansas, USA)
This study examines the genre of tragedy through the lens of one of its most curious manifestations: the martyr play. The equation of Christianity with tragedy has often been seen by literary and theological scholars as specious at best, sacrilegious at worst. During the mid-seventeenth century, however, a group of French playwrights saw fit to produce tragedies that drew not on Roman or Greek mythology, as was the norm, but on stories of Christian heroism.
The author examines a broad corpus of plays ranging from the famous works of Pierre Corneille to near-forgotten examples of female-authored tragedy. Drawing on the writings of Michel Foucault as well as a host of contemporary and modern-day theologians, the author shows the martyr to be a major figure in theatrical performance and religious thought alike, exposing the porosity of the boundary separating the spaces of stage entertainment and church worship. The martyr plays, whether they threaten to destabilize the genre or define it, are ultimately shown to be integral to our understanding of what constituted tragedy in early modern France.
Also from
Stone, Charles
Every Pastor's First 180 Days: How to Start and Stay Strong in a New Church Job
Stone, Charles
Paperback
If Jesus Gave A TED Talk: Eight Neuroscience Principles The Master Teacher Used To Persuade His Audience
Stone, Charles
Paperback
People-Pleasing Pastors: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Approval-Motivated Leadership
Stone, Charles
Paperback
Also in
Playwriting
Our Town and the Cosmic One-Acts: The Long Christmas Dinner, the Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden, and Pullman Car Hiawatha
Wilder, Thornton
Paperback
Art of Dramatic Writing: Its Basis in the Creative Interpretation of Human Motives
Egri, Lajos
Paperback
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera: A Behind-The-Mask Look at the Global Phenomenon
Maher-Smith, Kat
Slavin, Nicola
Hardcover
Solo: The Everything Guide to Writing, Performing, and Producing Your One-Person Show
Ganey, Julie
Malinowski, Arlene
Paperback
The Penguin Arthur Miller: Collected Plays (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
Miller, Arthur
Paperback
Four Plays: Come Back Little Sheba; Picnic; Bus Stop; The Dark at the Top of the Stairs
Inge, William
Paperback
The Playwright's Guidebook: An Insightful Primer on the Art of Dramatic Writing
Spencer, Stuart
Paperback
Latin American Plays in Translation: Modern Stories of Gender, Class and Society in Latin America
Eddowes-Vargas, Sebastián
Villanova, Xavier
Blanco, Mariano Tenconi
Paperback
Putting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created Sunday in the Park with George
Lapine, James
Paperback
Three Days of Rain and Other Plays: Three Days of Rain; The American Plan; The Author's Voice; Hurrah at Last
Greenberg, Richard
Paperback
We are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Yea
Sibblies Drury, Jackie
Paperback
Shakespeare's Borrowed Feathers: How Early Modern Playwrights Shaped the World's Greatest Writer
Freebury-Jones, Darren
Hardcover
Three Plays: The Indolent Boys, Children of the Sun, and the Moon in Two Windows Volume 4
Momaday, N. Scott
Paperback
Grab and Grace or It's the Second Step - Companion and Sequel to The House by the Stable
Williams, Charles
Paperback
Shakespeare's Borrowed Feathers: How Early Modern Playwrights Shaped the World's Greatest Writer
Freebury-Jones, Darren
Paperback
Moment Work: Tectonic Theater Project's Process of Devising Theater
Kaufman, Moises
Pitts McAdams, Barbara
Paperback
Actor with a Badge: Attempting Life as a Theatrician on the School-to-Prison Pipeline
Demenkoff, Tommy
Paperback
Our Laundry, Our Town: My Chinese American Life from Flushing to the Downtown Stage and Beyond
Eng, Alvin
Paperback
The Art Of Dramatic Writing: Its Basis In The Creative Interpretation Of Human Motives
Egri, Lajos
Hardcover
A Thousand Splendid Suns (Play Script): Based on the novel by Khaled Hosseini
Sarma, Ursula Rani
Paperback
Wings of Night Sky, Wings of Morning Light: A Play by Joy Harjo and a Circle of Responses
Harjo, Joy
Page, Priscilla
Paperback
Simon Stephens International Plays: A Dark, Dark, Dark, Dark Blue; Maria; Fortune; Three Ghosts
Stephens, Simon
Paperback
Dennis Kelly: Plays Two: Our Teacher's a Troll; Orphans; Taking Care of Baby; DNA; The Gods Weep
Kelly, Dennis
Paperback
Do It Yourself Dramaturgy: 1,001 Questions to Ask Myself Before I Submit my New Play (plus 80 bonus questions on how to have a career as a playwright)
Russell-King, Caroline
Paperback