The Scaffold Motif in Tragédie française à huit personnages (1571) by Jean Bretog

Abstract

The text written by Jean Bretog Tragédie française à huit personnages (1571) is, like its Normandy author, still unknown to a wider group of specialists. This drama, through its moralizing and allegorical character, derives from and inscribes itself in the tradition of medieval morality plays and mysteries. At the same time its subject matter focused around l’homme coupable and the punishment imposed on it, and the dominant poetics of l’exhibition de la violence, it is a harbinger of the theatrical aesthetics of baroque. Characteristic feature of mentioned period is, among other things, the lack of resistance to dazzle with cruelty. This article will focus on the scaffold motive present in the piece, related issue of boundaries and the possibility of presenting brutal and cruel events on the stage, as well as their engagement and influence on main character. The analysis will concern the descriptive and representative dimension of the motif.