Theatre and Popular Opinion In Eighteenth-Century Paris :: Arts Theatre France History Historical Essays

The eighteenth century is widely reputed to have been the Age of Theatre in France. A unique collide with of entertainment and mass communication, theatrical productions brought unitedly representatives from all degrees of social and economic status in one expression to share a common experience. Despite an attitude that emphasized the aura of French culture, the government viewed the plain primarily as a form of entertainment and sought to prevent any deviation from this main emphasis. Although plays were monitored finished censorship of scripts, the agents of authority made little attempt to shape frequent views on specific political issues through swordplay. In contrast, practitioners of bourgeois drama aimed at converting the theatre into a schoolhouse for moral values and uprightness in social interaction. Parisian audiences, especially those standing in the adequate to(p) parterre area in front of the stage, often used the theatre as a forum for voicing their own opi nions on political issues. Far from being mindlessly molded by any schedule of the French playwrights or royal patrons, the spectators claimed for themselves the capacity to pass judgment on the plays presented on the stage. The Crowns formal regulation, the playwrights didactic intention, and the spectators vocal reactions created an interaction of control, manipulation, and political phonation in eighteenth-century Parisian theatre.From the popularity of amateur productions among the moneyed and elite to the general dash of rising ticket sales at public theatres, drama contend an important role in the social life of eighteenth-century France. According to registers of attention at the Comdie-Franaise from the 1750 to 1774, that playhouse averaged approximately 168,000 spectators each year. Since the theatre offered an opportunity to impress people of every rank, the French government could not neglect this panorama of life. The Crown assumed that the productions called for r egulation, that troupes required consistent personnel, and that theatre crowds needed supervision. In 1680, Louis XIV granted monopolies on stage production to the Acadmie Royale de Musique for opera, and to the Comdie-Franaise and the Comdie-Italienne for French and Italian language drama, respectively. The avowed purpose for establishing these theatres was to perfect the representation of the lyric and prominent arts for the greater glory of the French state. This objective promoted plays that extolled the monarchy and perpetuated the powerful schema of privilege. In 1706, the king charged the Paris police with maintaining control and pose in these playhouses. The Crown supported the three royal theatres financially and governed their precaution until the end of the ancien rgime.