‘An Entertainment Which Should Comprise All That the Stage Can Furnish ’: Les Amants magnifique—Miłość wspaniała
Patryk Kencki
Institute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5650-6578
Abstract
This article is an analysis of the 18th century Polish rendering of Molière’s Les Amants magnifiques by Duchess Franciszka Urszula Radziwiłłowa, supplemented by its edition in the appendix. The publication presents Radziwiłłowa's translation of the play itself as well as its 1749 performance at Nieśwież, where the Radziwiłłs had their private court theatre. The drama employs a play within a play device, the article discusses some issues regarding the phenomenon of metatheatricality. First of all, it presents some key proposals of understanding it, going back to the classifications advanced by Tadeusz Kowzan and the system devised by Sławomir Świontek on the basis of a theory of communication. The author advances his own proposition of tackling metatheatre that enables analysis of the phenomenon not only in reference to drama alone, but also in reference to theatrical performances. Starting with the assumption that the theatre performance is an artificial reality where there is an innate tension between reality and the imaginary convention, he distinguishes four aspects that pertain to metatheatricality. They are as follows: separation of a play within the play from the performance as a whole; transgression consisting in playing with the limits of the spectacle; two-way identification of the actor and the character being portrayed; and finally, absorption of the macrocosm of the world into the microcosm of the spectacle. The author argues that deployment of the above-mentioned conceptual tools enables us to better understand the purpose for which the Duchess utilised the metatheatrical devices proffered by Molière. He claims that they were used to present the reality as being a kind of theatrum vitae humanae, on the stage of which the man is being tested. And although his progress is frustrated by various illusions and traps set up by others, by holding on to his virtue (to love, in particular) he is nonetheless able to act in accordance with his destiny, governed by Divine Providence.
Keywords:
Molière, reception of Molière, translation, Polish theater 1700–1800, Les Amants magnifiques, metatheater, Franciszka Urszula RadziwiłłowaReferences
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Authors
Patryk KenckiInstitute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5650-6578
PhD, Assistant Professor of Theater Studies at the Institute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences, managing editor of Pamiętnik Teatralny (to 2019). He conducts research on the history of Old Polish theater, with particular emphasis on the biblical tradition and the reception of French comedies. He published Inspiracje starotestamentowe w dramacie polskiego renesansu (1545-1625) (Warszawa, 2012).
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