Corps et morale entre geste et parole: la représentation de la séduction dans la comédie humaniste française de la Renaissance (1552–1612) (review)

Madeleine Kern's corpus of twenty-six comedies published over a period of sixty years, by writers ranging from Jodelle to Troterel, provides a wealth of material for a study of the representation of seduction. It is a thesis that complements in a number of ways such previous seminal studies as Madeleine Lazard's La Comédie humaniste au XVI^e siècle et ses personnages (1978) and Charles Mazouer's Le Personnage du naïf dans le théâtre comique du Moyen Age à Marivaux (1979). A General Introduction places seduction in its corporal, moral, and seductive context, and the first of the volume's three parts considers the importance of the prologues in our understanding of what seduction means. The plays not only reflect contemporary issues of a theological, legal, and dramatic nature, but also a respect for an ethical tradition and their authors' individual view of the role of comedy. Part II looks closely at the visible and invisible representations of seduction, what is seen on stage and what is described, at the violent implications of sexual encounters in the sixteenth century (which have to be replaced in the ritualized cultural tradition of male violence in the seductive mode), the importance of gesture and carnal description (the theatricality of the comedies is thus greatly enhanced and exploited), voyeurism, disguise, and so on, all of which contribute to the 'plaisir théâtral' — 'ce plaisir trouve son origine dans les effets de la mimésis théâtrale dans la mesure où la scène représente par le récit un objet de désir, imaginaire et réel à la fois' (p. 262). Part III looks at its linguistic representation, erotic and obscene vocabulary, the use of metonymy and metaphors, seductive discourse, and the humorous potential of parody and pastiche of familiar literary topoi. One notable advantage of a thesis is its in-depth analysis within a structured framework, but this can also, unfortunately, be one of its disadvantages. Although this important study will do much to raise perceptions of the value of French Renaissance comedies and will encourage further research, the volume — for this reader at least — would have made an even greater impact if the material had been presented in a more digestible, less clinical manner. There are three parts, each with three chapters (if one includes the General Introduction in Part I); each part and each chapter has an introduction and a conclusion (plus a résumé of each chapter in Parts II and III), and there is also a final conclusion. Such a structure inevitably leads to repetition. There is a good bibliography, an index of names, and an index rerum, which could have been more comprehensive. An index of references to each play would have been a useful addition.