UVM Theses and Dissertations
Format:
Print
Author:
Jarchow, Nancy A.
Dept./Program:
Romance Languages
Year:
2004
Degree:
M.A.
Abstract:
Few would dispute the significance of the French Revolution as a turning point in world history. While studying the French Revolution of 1789 as an event which contributed to the world politically is not a new endeavor, I have been interested to discover how the theatre and festivals of the Revolution affected and influenced the collective consciousness of the French people. Historians of the last century had considered the revolutionary period from a sociological point of view, studying how the different economic classes and strata of society reacted and developed to the rapidly altering environment of this period. By studying spectacle in this context I have found that the evolution of the theatre and festivals paralleled the evolution of social thought during a ten-year period from 1789-1799; as often happens, the arts are responsive to the times. Through direct involvement in the theatre and the festivals, the French people moved from the position of spectator to that of participant, particularly during the beginning phase of the cycle, the Liberal Revolution. As vested participants, they felt a social and civic responsibility that was in line with the ideologies of the Philosophes from the eighteenth century.
However, what happened with the struggle for political power over the ten year period occurred also within the theatre and the festival. By dividing this period into three universally recognized phases, the Liberal Revolution, the Radical Revolution, and the Thermidorian and Directory Periods, we are able to trace the changes that occurred in how plays were written, staged and received by the public as well as how festivals were organized and produced; this analysis helps us to see how these changes reflect the paradigm shifts of each period. Along with this evolution, we also see an influence over how people communicated the Revolution through words and images, creating powerful-symbols meant to instruct a newly sovereign public in the ideal Republican state. What I have found interesting in this research is that the forms of the theatre and festivals came full circle. This evolution suggests that the ideologies that claimed that the Revolution was from the bottom up, and that it would ameliorate the situation of the Third Estate, were deeply flawed. The Revolutionary period saw a rise to power of the bourgeoisie, and the bourgeois influence upon the forms of the theatre and the festivals is clearly evident during the Directory period. But for the sansculottes the Revolution was merely an exchange of one controlling economic and social group (the noblesse) for another (the bourgeoisie) although this was not obvious until the latter stages of the Revolution. Although most of the plays of this ten-year period did not outlive their time, what is interesting to note are the ways in which they were used as commemoration, education and propaganda tools amidst the rhetoric of the French Revolution.
However, what happened with the struggle for political power over the ten year period occurred also within the theatre and the festival. By dividing this period into three universally recognized phases, the Liberal Revolution, the Radical Revolution, and the Thermidorian and Directory Periods, we are able to trace the changes that occurred in how plays were written, staged and received by the public as well as how festivals were organized and produced; this analysis helps us to see how these changes reflect the paradigm shifts of each period. Along with this evolution, we also see an influence over how people communicated the Revolution through words and images, creating powerful-symbols meant to instruct a newly sovereign public in the ideal Republican state. What I have found interesting in this research is that the forms of the theatre and festivals came full circle. This evolution suggests that the ideologies that claimed that the Revolution was from the bottom up, and that it would ameliorate the situation of the Third Estate, were deeply flawed. The Revolutionary period saw a rise to power of the bourgeoisie, and the bourgeois influence upon the forms of the theatre and the festivals is clearly evident during the Directory period. But for the sansculottes the Revolution was merely an exchange of one controlling economic and social group (the noblesse) for another (the bourgeoisie) although this was not obvious until the latter stages of the Revolution. Although most of the plays of this ten-year period did not outlive their time, what is interesting to note are the ways in which they were used as commemoration, education and propaganda tools amidst the rhetoric of the French Revolution.