“Mongrel tragicomedy” and its Orphic back-cloth
Résumé
In A Defence of Poetry (1579) Sir Philip Sidney praises Orpheus, a central figure in Renaissance thought, the poet-civiliser who, by his artistry, drew “the wild untamed wits to an admiration of knowledge”. Sidney, however, was at pains to find any “delightful teaching” in what he called the “mongrel tragi-comedy” of his day, even though a play like Richard Edwards’ Damon and Pithias (1563), a “tragical comedy” full of “matter, mix’d with mirth and care”, had already appeared. Edwards’ play illustrates the power of art to combat the abuses of tyranny. Music and love play a major role here, as in Robert Greene’s tragicomic James IV (1590), and in Shakespeare’s late plays. In this paper, the wisdom tradition of Orpheus provides the back-cloth to an exploration of the role of the dramaturgist in the above-mentioned plays.
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Mots-clés :
Orphée, Sidney Philip, Edwards Richard, Greene Robert, tragicomédie, dramaturgie, poétiquePour citer cet article
Référence papier
Pauline Blanc, « “Mongrel tragicomedy” and its Orphic back-cloth », Actes des congrès de la Société française Shakespeare, 20 | 2002, 45-61.
Référence électronique
Pauline Blanc, « “Mongrel tragicomedy” and its Orphic back-cloth », Actes des congrès de la Société française Shakespeare [En ligne], 20 | 2002, mis en ligne le 01 novembre 2007, consulté le 03 décembre 2024. URL : http://0-journals-openedition-org.catalogue.libraries.london.ac.uk/shakespeare/766 ; DOI : https://0-doi-org.catalogue.libraries.london.ac.uk/10.4000/shakespeare.766
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