French Theatre Research Paper

1. What was the relationship between the Catholic Church and theatre during the Middle Ages? The relationship during the Catholic Church and theatre during the Middle Ages was surprisingly good despite its rocky past because the church was "the center of artistic and educational activities" (Wilson 106). One thing that helped to bridge the gap between the church and theatre was the development of liturgical theatre, which developed due to the strong theatrical elements located in Roman Catholic rituals. Theatrical elements were found in "the mass and the hours, the vestments worn by the clergy, the church space, the musical accompaniment, and the annual symbolic events (such as the burial of the cross on Good Friday

Moliere states to the King: “ it is a piece of great temerity on my part to come and importune a great monarch in the midst of his glorious conquest” (Moliere, Second Petition). Moliere is captivated by the King and believes that he is not worthy of his time, but seeks assistance regardless. Orgon, in contrast, believes that

While reading Tartuffe, I was constantly dumbfounded by the prevalence in the world today of Moliere’s, comedically portrayed, accusations regarding ignorance in arranged marriage, social class dynamics and religious hypocrisy. Moliere created the characters to the complete contrast to what society saw them as, which was intriguing and comedic. He also displayed the average practices, such as planned marriage, to be disgraceful and shameful. Lastly, but most prevalently, Moliere saturated the hypocrisy of religion by later in the story revealing the religious character’s deceitful and malign nature. In this essay, I will be using historic and literary theory to examine Moliere’s interesting views of such practices and the satire involved.

Technically, Tartuffe, a satire, was created during French Neoclassicism; However, for this research, I will be focusing on French Classicism. Moliere (a.k.a Jean- Baptiste Poquelin) is known for his comedies that follow the style of Commedia Dell'arte. Moliere also became a friend to King Louis XIV, who

The Ancient Greeks have influenced American culture through their language, their architecture, and in the theater. Many words in the English language were derived from those of the Ancient Greeks. You can find many examples of Greek architecture in America today, especially in our nations capital. The Ancient Greeks were the first people to start theater and that is still very popular today through stage theater, and through movies. To begin, countless words and phrases found in the English language were obtained from the Ancient Greeks.

The ballets where enjoyed by many people, but mostly middle class individuals. Exemplify: Theaters like the Paris Opera that was gas-lit and designed by Jean Louise Charles Garnier became the show halls for public entertainment. Illustrate:

Throughout Molière’s ‘Tartuffe” the true intentions of multiple characters are consistently questioned. Different characters involve themselves in self-made delusions for specific reasons, causing the label of ‘hypocrite’ to become a significantly used word. This use of the word ‘hypocrite’ throws everything off balance, forcing the audience to question every statement/event deciding whether or not they are truly sincere. Moliere’s use of hypocrisy when describing Tartuffe brings immediate awareness to the text involving central theme of reason verses emotion, deciding whether or not a characters actions were based on their pure heart or their greed.

English theater was criticized in its early days, Christianity decrees ensured that theater was practically unheard of for hundreds of years. That all changed when the church itself resurrected theater for its own use in the middle ages. It started Miracle Plays that portrayed stories of the bible. This, however, started theater groups that started portraying their own plays for profit and entertainment. All of these early English plays were solely made, portrayed, played and viewed by males of the era.

“The theatre, for all its artifices, depicts life in a sense more truly than history, because the medium has a kindred movement to that of real life, though an artificial setting and form.” George Santayana Drama is one of the genres of theatre where comedy, tragedy or actions may be other genres. While drama refers to the written texts, prose or verses composition, which become theatre only when it is performed on the stage with actors performing the role of characters in the text in front of the audience i.e. it is abstract and subjective, theatre is a live performance that meant to be seen, it is physical and concrete. The renaissance period was considered the rebirth of several inspirational

Jean- Baptiste Molière’s play “Tartuffe” is an unquestionably humorous comedy. The play defines the hypocritical acclaimed “Christians” we have in society. Daily, many people are blinded by admiration of religious figures who they believe are Gods disciples and can lead them to the gates of heaven. In “Tartuffe”, the author uses irony, satire, and tone to uncover a man follies of unreligious faith, the lust of women, money, and power.

This essay will examine the historical accuracy of the film Les Miserables in terms of the social, economic and political conditions in French society post French Revolution. The film Les Miserables depicts an extremely interesting time in French history (from about 1815-1832.) Even though the story line does not depict every detail and event that occurred during the time period as well as the fact that some aspects are dramatized for entertainment purposes, the film effectively spans thirty years of economic, political and social aspects of French Society. However it also manages to bring in references to the past, the French Revolution (1789-1799) and the impact it had on the society portrayed in the film.

The Aristotelian element of drama known as spectacle, or what is seen onstage, is important to the development of any play or musical. Spectacle plays an influential and essential role in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. The specific things and actions the audience sees in this play provides them with necessary information to understand the characters, storyline, and many other aspects of the play. There are numerous examples of specific things Ibsen intended for the patrons to observe throughout the course of this show.

1. Introduction Writing about a living phenomenon is a complicated effort especially when realizing it is a dynamic, changeable and heterogeneous structure. This happens when we try to study contemporary practices today, in postmodern era, which is definitely a special expression of specific moment. If Modernism, among others, tried to enforce authority, postmodernism brought anarchy. Many things found today in postmodernism can be traced back, transformed of course, in the main modern flows; dadaism, futurism, surrealism.

For example, the use of supernatural beings, violence on stage and even tragedy, Therefore Playwrights such as William Shakespeare could be a good example of such a technique. For the English Renaissance to be a success differently theatres were built. Some were public others were private. Some of the public theatres were; -

The Young Martyr, a painting by French painter Paul Delaroche, is currently housed in the Musee de Louvre in Paris, France. It was finished in 1855 and was painted during the Romanticism era. Although it is not as famous as the Mona Lisa, it is still a beautifully done oil painting that continues to enchant museum visitors. After the French Revolution in 1789, everything about society in Europe was changing.