Remy Belleau's La Reconnue and Niccolò Machiavelli's Clizia

This article compares and contrasts the ways Machiavelli and Belleau use their common source, Plautus' Casina. Machiavelli produces a comedy in prose, and Belleau one in verse. They are concerned with the notion of recognition, although in very different ways, they each feature women, and they...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Renaissance studies 2001-03, Vol.15 (1), p.1-16
Main Author: Braybrook, J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Comic theater
Farce
Gastronomy
Literary devices
Men
Older adults
Poetry
Prologues
Theater
Verbs
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:This article compares and contrasts the ways Machiavelli and Belleau use their common source, Plautus' Casina. Machiavelli produces a comedy in prose, and Belleau one in verse. They are concerned with the notion of recognition, although in very different ways, they each feature women, and they adapt Plautus to their own age and their own language. It is suggested that Belleau produces an important innovation in showing his Huguenot heroine on stage. Through her in particular he expresses, towards the beginning of the Wars of Religion, his belief in the importance of toleration. The complexity of Belleau's imitative processes is also highlighted: he has, notably, borrowed much from French farce. This is particularly significant as he was a member of the Pléiade, which claimed to have turned its back on things medieval.
ISSN:0269-1213
1477-4658
DOI:10.1111/1477-4658.00353