Theatre as Metaphor in Mme de Charrière's Caliste

The theatrical metaphor that characterizes eighteenth-century French fiction is incorporated by Mme de Charrière into the narrative structure of Caliste. The paradox of the actor who becomes another while remaining himself or herself is at the very center of the novel.The love story of Caliste and William is presented metaphorically as theatre and permits Charrière to reflect on the relationship between art and artifice, illusion and reality, the self and the public perception of the self. The novel also examines the role of performance in the male-female relationship.By making Caliste the desiring subject rather than the desired object, and by placing the intended female reader within the text, Charrière breaks with tradition and calls into question the gender relationships that defined French society and French fiction.