Importance Of Neoclassical Theatre

French Neoclassical Theatre was primarily about testing the relationship with the state, monarchy and theatre itself in the sense of social standards and using theatre as a tool for politics. ‘Theatre which not only mirrored the political structure of Louis XIV’s France, but also served in its way as an organ or absolutist policy’ (Howarth, 1995, 220). Though Greek Theatre was notorious for its reputation of being the foundation of contemporary theatre, French Neoclassical Drama was Greek Theatre’s progression into a contemporary setting. Therefore knowing the context of the time, we, as a contemporary reader or audience can appreciate its comedy and significance.

‘In the unequal contest between the government and the stage, the state has

Traditions such as old French fare and commedia dell’arte was what Mikhail M. Bakhtin described as ‘carnivalesque’ and his study indicates its relevance in neoclassical theatre. Many critics had previously described Moliere’s work as ‘short pieces of light verse’ however the carnivalesque aspect of the plays added a darker and more critical side to his work, primarily in ‘Tauffe’.
Carnivalesque humour revealed in life’s fecundity, in sexuality and all the irrepressible life forces of the material body; its humour was full of images of copulating, defecating, dying and birthing, always expressive of life’s regenerative processes’ (Zarrillli et al, 2006:195)
However after the slight success of ‘The Misanthrope’ Molière went ‘against the royal background’ (Zarrillli et al, 2006: 183) to create Tauffe which was a highly satirical play that attacked the hypocrisy of holy men in authority. As soon as the play was performed in 1664 Louis XIV suppressed it straight after its first showing in the court, as he was ‘concerned about offending Catholic fundamentalists’ (Zarrillli et al, 2006:

The influence and inspiration from them all fundamentally came from Greek Theatre, and the impact of this style not only influenced the society around them, but also subtly commented on the political structure of France at the time. As Molière was one of the first to criticise the state and monarchy through his work, particularly ‘Tauffe’, the way in which it was performed, as it was to a generally, lower class audience, was vital to the social structure. This is mainly due to the actors and the working class people having an alliance on stage, against, in a sense, the bourgeoisie. Comedy, at the time was not something that was for the upper classes, evidently in their social convention to not laugh a plays in general as it was not what they deemed correct. Nonetheless, it created a bridge between the actor, playwright and the lower class of people. Although the staging was built for the richer audience to have the best view, and everyone else’s to be distorted, the comedy could be seen as joke on the upper class themselves, as it was presented directly towards