Theatrical Iconography, Jeu de Scène, and Recognizing the 'Table Scene(s)' in Molière's Tartuffe

Many recent discussions of the Chauveau and Brissart frontispieces to Molière's Tartuffe have sought to discourage their use as documentary evidence for original performance practice on the grounds that their depiction does not conform to the text of the play. This article re-examines the textu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Seventeenth-century French studies 2013-07, Vol.35 (1), p.54-68
Main Author: Muller, David G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
anagnorisis
Brissart
Chauveau
iconography
Molière
Tartuffe
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Summary:Many recent discussions of the Chauveau and Brissart frontispieces to Molière's Tartuffe have sought to discourage their use as documentary evidence for original performance practice on the grounds that their depiction does not conform to the text of the play. This article re-examines the textual and iconographic evidence for staging the 'table scene', suggesting that these frontispieces may still possess significant documentary value and cannot be so easily rejected as disaffirming the original jeu de scène. A close reading of the 1669 text as a script for performance reasserts the continuity between the text and these illustrations despite the hermeneutics of suspicion that pervade recent interpretations that rightly seek to emphasize the illustrations' material function as liminary engravings within books.
ISSN:0265-1068
1752-2692
DOI:10.1179/0265106813Z.00000000022