The proverbe dramatique before Carmontelle

The proverbes dramatiques of Carmontelle have been well-studied. This dissertation explores instead the understudied precursors of the genre, the environment out of which it grew, and its earliest three authors. As seventeenth-century France’s first classic salon, the format, attitudes, and activities of the Hôtel de Rambouillet created a template for salons to follow. Within this milieu arose a collective seeking for a raised moral consciousness, improved intellectual prowess, and a forum for the discussion of progressive ideas. These desires also permeated their leisure activities, giving rise to games of wit, including the jeux des proverbes. An investigation of Charles Sorel’s La maison des jeux and these salon games uncovers the earliest incarnation of the proverbe dramatique, the proverbe improvisé, an impromptu play illustrating a proverb. Following a look at the French salon, the jeux des proverbes, and the proverbe improvisé, this dissertation first examines the proverbes dramatiques of Madame de Maintenon, second wife to Louis XIV and founder of the girls’ school Saint-Cyr. Written between 1686 and 1719, her forty Proverbes served as the foundation of the school’s théâtre d’éducation. Through the preparation, performance, and follow-up discussions of these short works, Madame de Maintenon sought to mold the moral values of her students and to prepare them for the lives that they would lead after finishing their studies at Saint-Cyr. Next, this study looks at the first published proverbes dramatiques, those written by Catherine Durand and housed in the Comtesse de Murat’s Le voyage de campagne. Most of the ten Comédies en proverbes showcase moliéresque humor and tend to depict male characters as less intelligent or more flawed than their female counterparts. Finally, this examination ends with the study of four of the proverb plays written by Charles Collé in context with the théâtre de société. These pieces expand the parameters of the genre and boast a licentious nature characteristic of the author’s work and appreciated in the earlier théâtres de société. Extending more than a century, The proverbe dramatique before Carmontelle seeks to offer a better understanding of the creation of the genre, its characteristics, and its connection to French society.