La représentation de la violence chez les personnages féminins dans les tragédies lyriques de Quinault et Lully
This master's thesis will focus on the first four lyric tragedies that were written by Quinault and Lully, that is Cadmus et Hermione (1673), Alceste (1674), Thésée (1675), and Atys (1676), and examine the representation of female characters in their relation with violence. Based on socio-historical and dramaturgical considerations, it seeks to determine whether, through their formal freedom, the first French operas were able to promote a freer and stronger image of womanhood than the one conveyed by the doxa. The first chapter addresses the issue of violence in the French society of the 17th century and discusses women's relation with violence, suffered, as well as caused. It then details the peculiarities of violence in lyric tragedy by summoning the notions of pathos and catharsis, tragical effect and theatrical representation. Using a methodology based on literary and dramaturgical studies, complemented by short musical analysis, the second chapter analyzes the corpus' female characters' relation to violence – first, the deadly, followed by the supernatural, before comparing their dichotomous representation to the more diversified one of the male characters.
Quinault Lully Violence Lyric tragedy Female characters Feminist studies