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Microcosms of Society in Revolutionary Theatre
The upheaval of the Revolution had a significant impact on social hierarchy, established institutions
such as the monarchy and also how people expressed themselves. Freedom of the press saw an
abundance of pamphlets and publications which allowed prevailing ideas to become widespread, yet
there also became a way of accessing the illiterate and prolific Third Estate: through the theatre. The
Revolution influenced heavily what was put on the contemporary stage, within the plays ‘every major
upheaval, indeed every significant shift in political opinion, was reflected with remarkable alacrity’ 1.
A well-written pièce no longer meant success for a playwright, he had to be engagé. Those involved
in theatre could ‘vouchsafe their revolutionary credentials,’ 2 something that became increasingly
necessary as the Revolution progressed. To do this plays often contained microcosms of the Ancien
Régime to be turned in ridicule, microcosms representing the abuses of the clergy or indeed the
superiority of the sans-culottes. This essay aims to explore such microcosms and also other symbols
and representations in order to reveal the contemporary state of society. Focus will be on three plays
spanning the period from the start of the Revolution to the infamous Terror: Charles IX3, Le Couvent4
and Le Jugement dernier des rois5. This essay then aims to discuss the difficulties in claiming that
microcosms are truly representative of society due to the ubiquitous use of theatre as a tool for
propaganda.
The shift in the types of microcosms displayed in the plays underpins the notion that they are
indeed reflective of contemporary society, which was equally as ephemeral. The focus of the
1
Marvin Carlson, The Theatre of the French Revolution (New York, Cornell University Press, 1966) p.V
Patrick D. Murphree, ‘The Spectacle of the Cloister in French Revolutionary Drama,’ at
<http://www.cesar.org.uk/cesar2/conferences/cesar_conference_2006/Murphree_paper06.html>, consulted on
06/02/2013.
3
Marie-Joseph Chénier, Charles IX, ou l’école des rois in Daniel Hamiche, Le théâtre et la Révolution (Paris,
Union Générale D’Éditions, 1973) All quotations will refer to this edition, page numbers will appear in brackets
after the quotation.
4
Olympe de Gouges, Le Couvent ou les voeux forces, (Paris, chez la veuve Duchesne : chez la veuve Bailly : et
chez les Marchands de Nouveautés, 1792) All quotations will refer to this edition, page numbers will appear in
brackets after the quotation.
5
Sylvain Maréchal, Le Jugement dernier des rois, in : Hamiche, Le théâtre et la Révolution (Paris, Union
Générale D’Éditions, 1973) All quotations will refer to this edition, page numbers will appear in brackets after
the quotation.
2
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microcosm paralleled the focus within society, whether this was on the monarchy, the clergy or the
power of the people. Indeed Marie-Joseph Chénier’s Charles IX touches upon many of these themes
as the playwright was benefitting from a relaxing in censorship, his previously banned play could thus
be put on the stage. His representation of both the clergy and the monarchy was radical. Although not
particularly significant as a theatrical piece, the socio-political aspect made the tragedy a success.
Marvin Carlson remarks that the role that theatre played had changed at the start of the Revolution,
instead of being mere entertainment ‘[it] became a tool’ 6 . Chénier saw how to represent his
revolutionary alliances: by creating unmistakeable microcosms. Indeed the court of Charles IX
parallels that of Louis XVI in such a way that the spectators would not fail to see it.
Charles IX establishes a kingdom in disorder by portraying the horrific Saint
Bartholomew’s Day massacre. The decision to focus on this event is particularly topical as the
massacre is heavily associated with monarchical abuse. Matters are made worse by the depiction of
Charles IX as indecisive, a weak king, who confesses that he is always ‘prêt à l’obéissance’ (Charles,
p.215). Links between the sixteenth-century king and Louis XVI would have been ineluctable. He is
quick to change his mind upon hearing the persuasive discourses of others, the Cardinal’s speech
reveals the capriciousness of the King in Act II scene II, Charles IX is quick to respond ‘J’obéirai;
c’en est fait, j’y consens’ (Charles, p.217). Yet it is the power of one character in particular that is of
interest, as it underpins the notion of the court as a microcosm of Louis XVI’s in 1789. Catherine de
Médicis is a foreign villainess whose influence is far-reaching; it is stated as a reference to la reinemère that there are ‘des femmes gouvernant des princes trop faciles’ (Charles, p.204). Foreign
dominance is an undeniable reflection of Marie-Antoinette, the Austrian scapegoat for all that was
wrong with France. Act II scene IV reveals the power of Catherine de Médicis, as she is able to
persuade the King of Coligni’s guilt. This is a microcosm of contemporary fears of MarieAntoinette’s power due to the ‘countless accusations [that] Marie-Antoinette dominat[ed] Louis
XVI’7. Doyle refers to the Queen’s sway in Necker’s dismissal, stating ‘the air had been full of far
6
Marvin Carlson, The Theatre of the French Revolution, p. 20
Pierre Saint-Amand (trans. By Jennifer Curtiss Gage), ‘Terrorizing Marie-Antoinette’, Critical Inquiry, 20:3
(Spring, 1994) pp. 379-400, p.385
7
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from groundless rumours that the [...] Queen [was] pressing for Necker’s dismissal’ 8, such influence
even goes as far as the drafting of the minister’s speech which ‘had not enjoyed a free hand’ 9 .
Displacement of blame onto the female-figure is also present in the play, it allows for the notion that a
sovereign is essentially benign. Although this appears counterintuitive to a modern reader who knows
the fate of Louis Capet, this play was shown in the early days of the Revolution where it was still
possible to be a revolutionary and a monarchist, to be sure many members of Jacobin club were still
constitutional monarchists 10 . This contemporary opinion was also held by the playwright himself,
revealed in the ‘discours préliminaire’:
O Louis XVI ! roi plein de justice et de bonté, vous êtes digne d'être le chef des Français.
Mais des méchans veulent toujours établir un mur de séparation entre votre peuple et
vous.11
One can thus deduce that the court of Charles IX is in fact a microcosm of such sentiments. ‘Des
méchans’ are symbolised by Catherine de Médicis and the Cardinal in the play. The monarch
eventually reveals himself to be remorseful, he is aware of the gravity of his actions: ‘je ne suis plus
un roi, je suis un assassin’ (Charles, p.266), there is still hope for the King, and therefore for Louis
XVI. This idea is reinforced by the character of Henri de Navarre, revealed to be a strong ruler, a ‘roi
magnanime’ (Charles, p.208). Not all rulers are malevolent; such a microcosm reflects the spirit of
the times, which was quick to change.
However one institution does not escape the wrath of the playwright so easily: the Church.
The Revolution saw a growth in anticlericalism, revealed in the decision to sell Church assets12. The
Cardinal embodies the abuses of the Clergy, illustrated in Act IV scene V where he blesses the
murderer’s weapons. His hold on the kingdom is thus a microcosm of the Church’s authority over
France: ‘Ce n’est pas lui qui règne, et la France est à nous’ (Charles, p.207). Susan Maslan goes
8
William Doyle, The Oxford History of the French Revolution (Oxford, Oxford University press, 2002) ch. 4
Ibid
10
Graham E. Rodmell, French Drama of the Revolutionary Years (London, Routeledge, 1990) p. 70
11
Marie-Joseph Chénier, Charles IX, ou l’école des rois (Paris, Chez Bossange et Compagnie,
Commissionnaires en Librairie, 1790) p. 6
12
Graham E. Rodmell, French Drama of the Revolutionary Years, p. 73
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further in her exploration of the text by professing that the play actually ‘encouraged the anticlerical
feeling that had become a veritable fashion in the Paris of 1789’ 13. The Cardinal embodies traits
associated with the Church, he was cunning, a powerful influence over the King, and intolerant,
especially of other religions: ‘tous les protestants sont ennemis des lois’ (Charles, p.229). This
microcosm reveals the changes taking place in contemporary society with the selling of Church assets
and the permission to portray the clergy on stage.
The court that Chénier thus represents is a microcosm of the monarchy currently reigning in
1789. A focus on such a microcosm reveals the burning issues present early in the Revolution. A
reform was necessary and was indeed reflected in the focus on laws and the people in The Declaration
of the Rights of Man (August 1789), and discussions of drafting the first Constitution. However, the
shift of focus will soon be from the monarchy to the monastery as anticlericalism was increasingly
present.
Although there is only a year between Charles IX and Olympe de Gouges’ Le Couvent, the
type of Microcosm on display reveals the changes within society. The Church takes centre stage in de
Gouges’ play as her convent becomes a symbol which encompasses repressive ecclesiastical orders.
1790 saw the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, announcing their subordination to the government.
Equally, there were discussions on closing down monasteries and convents. Such a focus is replicated
within Le Couvent, indeed the ‘convent play’ became a genre in itself, and a popular one, during the
Revolutionary years14. The fact that de Gouges successfully portrays the contemporary opinions about
the clergy is revealed through the popularity of the play which had over eighty performances, the
usual being around ten15. Another explanation for the shift from monarchy to monasteries is also
explored by Carlson, who states that ‘the Comédie company […] agreed to attack a part of the feudal
system for which few of them had any particular warm feelings-the Church.16’ This reveals that there
13
Susan Maslan, Revolutionary Acts, Theater, Democracy, and the French Revolution (Baltimore, The John
Hopkins University Press,2005) p. 41
14
Graham E. Rodmell, French Drama of the Revolutionary Years, p.15
15
Janie Vanpée, ‘Performing Justice: The Trials of Olympe de Gouges’, Theatre Journal, Vol. 51, No. 1,
Women, Nations, Households, and History (March, 1999) pp.47-65, p.56
16
Marvin Carlson, The Theatre of the French Revolution, pp. 20-21
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were still royalist tendencies within society, yet abhorrence of the Church was ubiquitous. A convent
thus becomes an effective microcosm to attack feudal society whilst not straying from hope of a
constitutional monarchy.
Le Couvent presents an institution that abuses its power by forcing young girls, like Julie to
take vows and become trapped within the system. Indeed the extent of the Church’s cruelty is
revealed by Julie when she says ‘vous désapprouvez la violence qu'on veut me faire.’ (Couvent, p.31)
Use of the word ‘violence’ has a significant impact, especially when paired with the repeated referral
to Julie as an ‘innocente victime’ (Couvent, p.38)., reinforcing the notion that such an act by the
church is in fact a crime against all that is natural. Indeed it is clearly stated that ‘Les loix, l'humanité,
les droits de la nature, nous protégeront contre le fanatisme’ (Couvent, p.50). The play continues with
this notion when the Commissaire invades the convent in order to save Julie and the Curé exclaims
that ‘la justice vient à notre secours!’ (Couvent, p.54). What happens within de Gouges’ convent thus
becomes a microcosm for the proceedings of contemporary society. The Declaration of the Rights of
Man had promised to protect the liberty of others, highlighted in Article V: ‘nul ne peut être contraint
à faire ce que [la loi] n’ordonne pas’17. The National Assembly had gone further by targeting the
Church in order to safeguard liberty. Article XX of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy stated:
‘titles and offices[…] both regular and in commendam, for either sex, as well as all other
benefices and prestimonies in general, of whatever kind or denomination, are from the day
of this decree extinguished and abolished and shall never be reestablished in any form.’18
This meant an official withdrawal of the ‘recognition of existing vows and [an opening of]
monasteries for those inmates who chose their freedom’ 19. De Gouges states her intentions for her
convent to be a microcosm of current society when she explains in the preface of her play: ‘J'en ai
puisé les matériaux dans le sein de l'Assemblée Nationale’ (Couvent, p.iii). One can therefore witness
Déclaration des droits de l’homme et du citoyen de 1789
<http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/histoire/dudh/1789.asp > accessed 02 Janurary 2013
18
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy < http://history.hanover.edu/texts/civilcon.html> accessed 16 February
2013
19
John McManners, The French Revolution and the Church (London, S.P.C.K., 1969) p. 31
17
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the context surrounding Le Couvent within the convent itself: the fanaticism of the church with its
attack of innocent ‘victims’, reinforced by the enclosed space a convent creates. This negligence of
the people at the hand of the Church was equally present in the Cahiers de Doléances:
‘That the ecclesiastical tithe be taken from the large tithe-collectors of this parish, who do
not fulfil any of their obligations for maintenance of the church or relief of poor people, of
whom they take no care and to whom they give no charity’20.
Such a fierce attack of this institution within the play is a lucid parallel to the same attack in
society. However Le Couvent is not absolute in its condemnation of Clergymen, yet this only serves to
underpin de Gouges’ microcosm. The Curé stands as a stark contrast to the Grand-Vicaire. He is
tolerant, just and sensitive to the plight of Julie. The Curé also seems willing to work with the new
order which highlights the importance of the law: ‘les vrais Magistrats sont l'appui des opprimés’
(Couvent, p.54). Indeed the curés in de Gouges’ contemporary society were equally as open to the
reform, ‘it was unthinkable that the curés would desert the Revolution and wreck the reform’ as it
greatly enhanced their status21. This enhancement is also reflected in the play as the Abbesse states:
‘M. le Curé sera désormais le Pasteur que je consulterai sur l'administration de ma maison.’ (Couvent,
p.82). The convent thus encompasses the same dependencies on law, attacks on the church, and
characters becoming symbolic of their order, evident in the case of the Curé.
As Terror becomes announced as a form of government in September 1793, the previous
institutions of the Monarchy and the Church are viewed as having no redeeming features. Indeed
society saw no room for moderate opinions, expressed in the previous arrest of the Girondins after
eighty thousand armed sans-culottes are used to pressurise the National Convention22. Such ideals
filtered as far as the theatre, where the Terror had no tolerance for theatrical pieces performed to
Cahier of the Parish of St. Germain d’Airain, trans. Laura Mason in: The French Revolution: A Document
Collection (New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999) p. 56
21
John McManners, The French Revolution and the Church, p. 46
22
Steven Kreis, The French Revolution: The Radical Stage, 1792-1794
<http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/lecture13a.html> accessed 16 February 2013
20
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provide amusement, dramas had to serve the needs of the new French republic23. Such intolerance is
represented in our final play, Le Jugement dernier des rois. Sylvain Maréchal’s carnivalesque
approach to theatre creates a platform for both the monarchy and ecclesiastical order to be ridiculed.
The playwright’s ‘upside-down’ world in fact presents a microcosm of society, which was doing the
exact same thing. France had beheaded both their King and Queen and sans-culotte mobs were
growing influential; powerful enough to impose the arrest of the Girondins. Society was indeed a
mirror image of the Ancien Régime. The fact that this play spoke so clearly to its audience, who, given
the nature of this genre, would have been of a lower class,24 is reflected in the popularity of the play.
Rousselin describes in the Feuille de Salut Public that:
‘Le Jugement dernier des rois[…] a été reçu avec enthousiasme […] parce qu’on ne traita
jamais de sujet plus à l’unisson des désirs des spectateurs, aussi glorieux pour les Français et
d’un intérêt plus général’. 25
Maréchal’s play was effective as it was a clear representation of society. There are many microcosms
in the play that can be explored in order to reveal the context surrounding Le Jugement dernier des
rois. For instance studies have been conducted on the significance of the volcano within the piece26. It
is indeed an important element of the play: it acts as a microcosm for the reign of the Terror. As JeanMarie Apostolidès remarks, it symbolises, more specifically, the guillotine so often associated with
the period.27 This is an important aspect of contemporary society as March of 1793 was the first
month in which the Revolutionary Tribunal condemned more than one hundred people to death in
Paris and this number rapidly increases. 28 Thus as the guillotine loomed in Maréchal’s society, it
loomed equally in his play. It is important to note here that the play was first performed in October
23
Michael E. McClellan, The Revolution on Stage: Opera and Politics in France, 1789–1800 (2004) <
http://www.nla.gov.au/harold-white-fellows/the-revolution-on-stage> accessed 12 December 2012
24
Emmet Kennedy, Marie-Laurence Netter, James P. McGregor, Mark V. Olsen, Theatre, Opera and Audiences
in Revolutionary Paris (London, Greenwood Press, 1996), p. 75
25
Alexandre Rousselin in no112 of the Feuille de Salut Public, 29 vendémiaire (20 October) Cited in : Daniel
Hamiche, Le théâtre et la Révolution, p. 171
26
See: Sanja Perovic, ‘Death by Volcano: Revolutionary Theatre and Marie-Antoinette’, French Studies, 11:04
(Nov 2012), pp. 1-15, or: Jean-Marie Apostolidès, ‘La Guillotine littéraire’, The French Review, 62 :6 (May
1989) pp. 985-996
27
Jean-Marie Apostolidès, La Guillotine littéraire, p. 992
28
Marvin Carlson, The Theatre of the French Revolution, p. 184
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1793, the day after Marie-Antoinette’s execution. This event would have been on the minds of all
spectators and therefore a comparison of the deaths of the monarchs in Le Jugement dernier des rois
with those of Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI would have been overwhelming; making the volcano
and the guillotine one and the same. Much like in society, the downfall of the King or Queen is not
sufficient, death becomes the only solution. Maslan has conducted a rather extensive study on the
theatricality of revolutionary society and states that executions were indeed highly theatrical,29 thus
the borders between Maréchal’s play and society become blurred making it an effective microcosm.
The death of these monarchs represents the death of the entire Ancien Régime in France. Indeed this
homology is continued even within the title of the piece. The use of the word ‘jugement’ reflects the
trial and condemnation of Louis XVI and also refers to the Revolutionary Tribunal, a powerful engine
of the Terror, put in place to protect the interests of the republic. This aids in buttressing the idea that
the volcano is a metaphor for the guillotine; just as the volcano spares the good Viellard and the sansculottes, the guillotine protects good republicans by ousting the Ancien Régime and all those against
the new order.
Just as the volcano is a microcosm for the removal of French monarchy, it equally is symbolic
of a new ‘natural’ governing of society. It is immediately established that in this new order it is the
sans-culottes that rule as it is they who enter ‘menant [les rois] en lesse avec une chaîne’ (Jugement,
p.291). The influence of the sans-culottes within the play is a microcosm of the power that the
ordinary people then had, or at least thought they had. The Jacobins used, and therefore gave more
power to, the mob, in order to control the streets of Paris and intimidate more moderate members of
the Assembly30 . One may also witness the importance accorded to the peuple in the speeches of
Robespierre: his constant mention of the citoyen and his rights, or even in this statement, where he
declares: ‘La démocratie est un état où le peuple souverain’. 31 The sans-culottes in the play thus
become a microcosm for the Third Estate under the Terror. This is also reflected in way of speaking
29
Susan Maslan, Revolutionary Acts, Theater, Democracy, and the French Revolution, p.76
James Maxwell Anderson, Daily Life During the French Revolution (USA, Greenwood Publishing Group,
2007) p. 185
31
Maximilien Robespierre, Sur les principes de morale publique (February 1794)
< http://www.gutenberg.org/files/29887/29887-h/29887-h.htm#17940205> accessed on 13 December 2012
30
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within the text. The monarchs are more inclined to refer to their sans-culotte counterpart in the vous
form: ‘pardonnez-moi’ (Jugement, p.291) marking respect. Naturally they are often replied to in the tu
form, lacking respect but also reflecting the abolition of tutoiement32 within contemporary society.
The juxtaposition of the sans-culottes with the monarchs serves to highlight their inherent ‘goodness’.
This is demonstrated for example in the Viellard’s story, his exile is due to arbitrary power and
becomes contrasted with the unanimous, therefore democratic, choice to exile these European
sovereigns.
The theatre was often regarded as an integral element of the ‘old hierarchical, monarchical
system that sanctified social and political distinctions.’33 It therefore becomes imperative to turn such
a notion on its head, Maréchal’s carnivalesque tendencies succeed in doing so. Such an intention was
stated by the playwright himself when addressing the citizens before the play commences. Maréchal
proclaims that he wants to stop the ridiculing of the lower classes and instead ‘parodier ainsi un vers
heureux de la comédie du méchant’ (Jugement,p.273). Such an idea may originate directly from
Robespierre’s speeches as he states : ‘il faut faire précisément tout le contraire de ce qui a existé avant
vous’34. Apostolidès lucidly explains that ‘le texte de Maréchal marque une rupture avec le théâtre qui
l’a précédé. Il crée un renversement, non seulement des thèmes mais des formes littéraires de l’Ancien
Régime’35 The entire play becomes an inversing of expectations, serving to make the whole notion of
the play a microcosm for the abolition of the Ancien Régime as well as the power of the sans-culottes
and the intense anticlericalism of the time. This microcosm reveals the changes in society since
Chénier’s Charles IX was put on stage. Maréchal cannot contemplate the notion of a benign ruler in
his play like the eponymous character in Chénier’s piece. After being abandoned on the island the
rulers reveal themselves as incapable of adapting to their new surroundings in the way the Viellard
did, this illustrates their incompatibility with the new order. The play therefore is a microcosm of
society, which was also revealing the incompatibility of the past order with contemporary life. Paris
32
Peter McPhee, A Social History of France: 1780-1880 (London, Routeledge, 1992) p.79
Susan Maslan, Revolutionary Acts, Theater, Democracy, and the French Revolution, p.78
34
Maximilien Robespierre, Discours de Maximilien Robespierre sur la Constitution (May 1793)
<http://www.gutenberg.org/files/29887/29887-h/29887-h.htm#17930510> accessed on 06 January 2013
35
Jean-Marie Apostolidès, La Guillotine littéraire, p. 993
33
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was erasing indicators of the Ancien Régime, signs of feudality and monuments were being
removed36. Le Jugement dernier des rois demonstrates this degradation of monarchs as their clothes
and finery becoming progressively destroyed.
Maréchal was indeed keen to represent his contemporary society, illustrated by his constant
use of microcosms and symbols. However the relentless scrutiny of theatre by police surveillance and
legislative calls for drama of an exclusively revolutionary nature 37 meant that an element of
propaganda within theatre was inevitable. This becomes problematic if one wants to view the
representations within the contemporary plays as purely reflective of society. Plays became tools with
didactic purposes making them more representative of leading ideologies of the order than perhaps
true contemporary society. Indeed, this was particularly the case during the Terror, where the
influence of the theatre was being seized. This made theatre less free and therefore the vogue of
patriotism one witnesses was in line with what was demanded of the playwright. Indeed the
government ‘transformed the theaters themselves into “schools of the Revolution”, instruments
devoted to the dissemination of revolutionary ideology.’ Within Maréchal’s text, Terror ideology can
be witnessed in the ‘reminders of Rousseau and Defoe [...] throughout the play’38, such as the notion
of the noble savage. This becomes less illustrative of the thoughts of society, made-up largely of the
Third Estate who could not access the texts of such intellectuals, but rather of the model that the
government of the Terror wanted to propagate. The power of the sans-culottes demonstrated in
Maréchal’s text can also be seen as an instrument to inspire and manipulate the Third Estate into
agreeing with the new order, implying that this is what the Terror can bring them, rather than what
was really transpiring under such a reign. The Convention had actually diminished the influence of
the common-man by ceding their power unto representatives; therefore the sans-culottes within Le
Jugement dernier des rois become less credible as a microcosm for the lower orders.
36
Ibid, p.987, p. 990
Michael E. McClellan, The Revolution on Stage: Opera and Politics in France, 1789–1800 (2004) <
http://www.nla.gov.au/harold-white-fellows/the-revolution-on-stage> accessed 12 December 2012
38
Graham E. Rodmell, French Drama of the Revolutionary Years, p. 169
37
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The accuracy of the symbolisation of society can also be questioned within the plays Charles
IX and Le Couvent. Indeed Chénier particularly wanted to instruct the masses rather than represent
them by consistently ‘thinking of the didactic value of his tragedy’39. This was particularly useful in
the early days of the Revolution, in order to lucidly explain radical revolutionary ideals to an illiterate
audience. Therefore, as Rodmell accurately claims: ‘[Charles IX] can now only be regarded as a piece
of propaganda’40 . Chénier utilised the popularity of theatre in order to promulgate ideas, such as
anticlericalism. Although this was already a sentiment found within society, it was further
‘encouraged’ within the play, as previously explored. By grouping spectators together Chénier hoped
that the heightened emotions in the room twinned with the strong didactic message of his play would
‘reshape a multitude of individual spectators into a single body’ 41 . One may therefore query the
reliability of his microcosms: was a foreign villainess really to blame for the state of the nation? Had
Louis really understood the demands of his people? To be sure, Louis certainly did not want a written
constitution as he still firmly supported the absolute monarchy he had inherited; equally the extent to
which Marie-Antoinette had the power to cause the downfall of the kingdom of France is disputable.
However Olympe de Gouges’ use of microcosms differs to the other two playwrights as they
remain representative of society rather than distorting it to fit leading ideologies or contain didactic
messages. Indeed, the female playwright was a constitutional monarchist therefore one can read into
her microcosms even further to interpret a different intention than just as tools to sully the Ancien
Régime. Rather than using the convent as a device to represent the repressive nature of the
ecclesiastical order against the people of France, it becomes a microcosm for the life of women under
the new regime. Such a purpose is clearly in harmony with de Gouges’ political views as she goes on
to write La Déclaration des droits de la femme et de la citoyenne, which seeks to criticise the new
regime’s failure to equate woman’s status with man’s as a citizen. Such notions can be found in Le
Couvent where gendered rhetoric is put into the mouths of men within the play: ‘sexe faible et
H. C. Ault, ‘"Charles IX, ou l'École des Rois": Tragédie Nationale’, The Modern Language Review, 48 :4,
(Oct. 1953), pp. 398-406, p. 405
40
Graham E. Rodmell, French Drama of the Revolutionary Years, p. 63
41
Susan Maslan, Revolutionary Acts, Theater, Democracy, and the French Revolution, p. 34
39
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malheureux’ (Couvent p.21). The convent itself can be seen as a microcosm of the shift from Ancien
Régime to the Revolution. Indeed Murphree has asserted that ‘exterior spaces are more strongly
identified with male characters and secular desires.’42 Therefore the set designs which portray both the
inside and outside of the convent use the walls as a line of division between male and female, secular
and religious and therefore the Revolution and the Ancien Régime. By doing this de Gouges has
allowed for a representation of the oppression of women in both regimes. Although Julie may appear
freed from imprisonment in the ecclesiastical system at the end of the play, she instead moves into her
female role as ‘wife’ and then presumably ‘mother’. This reflects the Revolutionary ideals of getting
people to reproduce more, due to a belief in a diminishing population, and also illustrates the very
revolutionary thinker Rousseau’s idea that a rejection of the maternal role would taint civilisation43.
Women cannot escape their social roles and the play’s convent is a microcosm of that. De Gouges
therefore has utilised the device of microcosms to reflect her society’s treatment of women and does
not stray as overtly as the other playwrights into the domain of propaganda.
The theatre had undeniable power throughout the course of the Revolution and the
playwrights at the time were cunning enough to appropriate it and use it for their own uses. Through
an examination of the microcosms within three plays of the Revolution it becomes clear that the
theatre sought to represent its contemporary society, whether that be the court of Louis XVI, the
plight of women or the reign of the Terror. However the Revolutionary period was full of propaganda
in images, pamphlets and songs; the theatre was no different. This therefore makes it difficult to
discern if the aforementioned microcosms are representative of their society or if they are being seized
for propagandistic purposes in order to encourage revolutionary action, to criticise the new order or to
promote an ideology. Notwithstanding the playwright’s intentions, the symbols within the texts do
stand as an effective view into Revolutionary society and offer some intriguing cause for discussion.
Murphree, ‘The Spectacle of the Cloister in French Revolutionary Drama.’
Christine Roulston, ‘Separating the Inseparables: Female Friendship and Its Discontents in EighteenthCentury France’, in Eighteenth-Century Studies, Volume 32, Number 2, (1998-99) 215-231, p. 240.
42
43
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WORD COUNT: 4943