In the Shadow of the Guillotine. On the Aesthetic, Moral and Social Circumstances of the Emergence of Melodrama Cover Image

W cieniu gilotyny. O estetycznych, obyczajowych i społecznych uwarunkowaniach powstania melodramatu
In the Shadow of the Guillotine. On the Aesthetic, Moral and Social Circumstances of the Emergence of Melodrama

Author(s): Tomasz Wysłobocki
Subject(s): History, Theatre, Dance, Performing Arts, Literary Texts, Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Theoretical Linguistics, Studies of Literature, Modern Age, Historical Linguistics, Comparative Linguistics, French Literature, 18th Century, Theory of Literature, Drama
Published by: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Szczecińskiego
Keywords: France; drama; theatre; melodrama; the French Revolution

Summary/Abstract: The main goal of the article is to inscribe the formation, at the turn of the 18th century, of the melodrama in a broader context in order to show that the creation of this dramatic genre was not a result of one man’s talent or pure coincidence but actually a result of the historical process and numerous social and aesthetic tendencies that had been influencing the French theatre over previous decades. All these transformations that would eventually get compounded into melodrama, appearing throughout the century, have been observed and commented on, demonstrating once again that theatre is a never-ending story of making and becoming.

  • Issue Year: 2020
  • Issue No: 11
  • Page Range: 47-64
  • Page Count: 18
  • Language: Polish