Figuration dramatique de la sainteté ou représentation d’un héroïsme propre à la tragédie aristotélicienne ? La Mariane de Tristan L’Hermite comparée à celles d’Alexandre Hardy, Elizabeth Cary et Calderón de la Barca
This paper aims to show how Tristan’s La Mariane represents the queen’s heroization, highlighting the specificity of the treatment of the topic in an Aristotelian tragedy, by comparing it with the aesthetic choices of Hardy and two foreign playwrights, Cary and Calderón. Tristan’s protagonist demons...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Institut du Monde Anglophone
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Etudes Epistémè |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/18085 |
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| Summary: | This paper aims to show how Tristan’s La Mariane represents the queen’s heroization, highlighting the specificity of the treatment of the topic in an Aristotelian tragedy, by comparing it with the aesthetic choices of Hardy and two foreign playwrights, Cary and Calderón. Tristan’s protagonist demonstrates a martyr-like virtue, even if Tristan, unlike Cary, does not draw attention to the discrepancy between her virtue and the times’ social mores, demanding women be silent and obedient. Mariane’s personality changes throughout the action, she triumphs over her desperate pride and anger and entirely places her trust in God before her execution. In Tristan’s tragic frame, Mariane owns her heroic stature to constancy rather than to action. This aligns with the moral demands of her rank as a royal heiress, independently of her status as a wife. On the contrary, in Calderon's work, Marjene acts as a kind companion towards her guilty husband on several occasions. Tristan’s Mariane appears all the more admirable as she stands against two counter-models of corrupted femininity, Salomé and Alexandra, whereas Cary associates the heroic Mariam with the traditionally virtuous woman Graphina. Finally, Tristan avoids drawing a Manichean opposition between Mariane and Herod. His king is the reverse of an Aristotelian hero, his heroic features interlaced with violence. Instead of turning the uxoricide into an involuntary crime, as Calderon does, Tristan insists on the political danger constituted by the queen, going against his historical sources. |
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| ISSN: | 1634-0450 |