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Farce

Farce. Dates. Most popular from 1450-1550. Manuscripts?. Important date: 1440 (invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg)

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Farce

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  1. Farce

  2. Dates • Most popular from 1450-1550

  3. Manuscripts? • Important date: 1440 (invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg) • Many of the farces were disseminated in print rather than in manuscripts, and one scholar argues that they had a “role as a catalyst in increasing literacy from 1500-1550 and beyond” (Pinet). • People (poor ones included) were learning to read in greater numbers in the 16th century France in Catholic and public schools, in churches, and in hospitals. • Mneumonic elements in farce make the genre useful as a primer for learning to read • About 150-200 extant farces

  4. Author & Stock Characters • Author is almost always anonymous for farces. • Stock characters include: • Cuckolded and henpecked husbands • Lusty and commanding women • Bossy mothers-in-law • Lecherous priests and monks • Fools • Thieves

  5. Influences & Performances • Very similar in content to its ancestor, the fabliau • Written in dialogue format • Performed by traveling troupes; the troupes included mostly amateur performers with some professional or semi-professional actors • Performances happened in public squares (often just outside churches and cathedrals), in taverns, etc. • The farce was only one aspect of a longer performance, which usually consisted of several parts • La Sottie (a fool or several fools have a discussion) • Le Sermon Joyeux et le Monologue dramatique (actor pretends to be a priest but the sermon is not religious in nature) • La Moralité (or a mystery play) (allegorical characters and a moral lesson) • Finishing with a laugh: the farce at the end

  6. Brief Summaries • “Le Cuvier”: is pretty straightforward and I’m not going to ruin the plot twist • “La Confession Margot”: a young woman goes to confession and the priest encourages her to give more and more details about her encounters with various men. This one is only available in the original language and is short but challenging to read.

  7. Content Warning • The farces are considerably less violent than the fabliaux. However, do continue to be aware that there will be some degree of violence, particularly (but not exclusively) toward women. I don’t remember rape scenes but am not certain there aren’t any. As usual, let me know if you want more precise details and I can read early.

  8. Sources • Conroy, Peter. “Old and New in French Medieval Farce.” Romance Notes, vol. 13, no. 2, 1971, pp. 336–343. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43800779. • Garapon, Robert. “Théâtre profane au XVe et dans la première moitié du XVIe siècle.” Dictionnaire des lettresfrançaises: Le MoyenÂge. Eds. Robert Bossuat, Louis Pichard, and Guy Raynaud de Lage. Paris: Fayard, 1964. • Pinet, Christopher. “French Farce: Printing, Dissemination and Readership from 1500-1560.” Renaissance and Reformation / Renaissance Et Réforme, vol. 3, no. 2, 1979, pp. 111–132. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43444265.

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