L'Illusion comique

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Frontispiece of the first edition

L'Illusion comique is a play in five acts by the French poet Pierre Corneille . It was written in 1635 and premiered in 1636 at the Théâtre du Marais in Paris . The first edition appeared in 1639.

people

  • Alcandre, a magician
  • Pridamant, father of Clindor
  • Dorante, friend of the pridamant
  • Clindor, son of the pridamant, lover of Isabelle
  • Isabelle, Clindor's lover
  • Matamore, captain from Gascony
  • Adraste, in love with Isabelle
  • Géronte, Isabelle's father
  • Lyse, servant of Isabelle
  • Jailer from Bordeaux
  • Page of the captain
  • Raisin, princess, in love with Clindor (only in the first version)
  • Eraste, squire of Prince Florilame
  • Entourage of the Adraste
  • Entourage of Florilame

action

The first act takes place in the Touraine countryside . The Pridamant father is looking for his son, whom he has not seen for ten years. Pridamant is led by his friend Dorante to the grotto of the magician Alcandre, who has the power to show how the son's life went in the absence of his father.

In the second act, the magician has his son Clindor appear before the eyes of Pridamant, who appears as a follower of Matamore, a boastful show-off from the Commedia dell'arte in the tradition of the Capitano .

In the third act, Matamore turns out to be a coward in the face of empty threats. There follows a jealous scene between Clindor and Adraste, who argue about the beautiful Isabelle. Clindor kills his rival and is sent to a Bordeaux prison . Pridamant laments the fate of his son.

The fourth act offers the dramatic climax. After four days, Isabelle gives in to a monologue in desperation because her lover is about to be executed. Clindor also complains about his fate in prison, but the executioners who are supposed to lead him to his death turn out to be Isabelle and her servant Lyse, who with the consent of the seduced jailer free the prisoner. Pridamant is relieved and the wizard explains that in two years his son will receive an honorable service.

In a night scene, Clindor confuses his wife Isabelle with the princess Raisin and makes her a confession of love. Isabelle is outraged and makes Clindor swear off Raisin. When Clindor then meets with Raisin, he distances himself from her. But they have already been discovered by followers of Prince Florilame - they kill Clindor and Raisin. In the next scene, the magician laughingly shows the desperate pridamant how Clindor and his friends split up the money that they earned as an actor by performing this tragedy. The father is disappointed with his son's dishonorable job, but the magician gives a final eulogy for the theater.

meaning

When Corneille wrote L'Illusion comique , he was 29 years old and had previously written several tragedies and comedies . In the dedication to a “Mademoiselle MFDR” he describes his piece as a “monster”. The first act is a prologue , the three following an "imperfect comedy" and the last a tragedy, so that the whole thing makes a comedy. With the appearance of the magician in front of a grotto , the first act contains elements of the pastoral . The “imperfect comedy” develops into a tragic comedy in which rivalries, dungeon scenes and death are discussed. The last act shows the performance of a tragedy. In this piece, like all of Corneille's stage works, written in Alexandrian verse, the poet demonstrates his mastery of the different theatrical genres with the help of the technique of mise en abyme .

The plot extends over several years and takes place in different locations, so that Corneille disregards the rule of the three units, which is regarded as classic . In a revised version from 1660 under the title L'Illusion , Corneille shortened a scene from the fifth act and deleted the person of the raisin in order to emphasize the "unity of the plot" a little more.

As explained in the first scene, the skills of the magician Alcandre, who pulls the strings of the plot, are limited to the interpretation of the future and the past. However, it has no supernatural powers, cannot move mountains or cause earthquakes. He does not need any stage machinery , as is customary in later magic pieces and magic operas of the baroque theater , but is content with drawing a simple curtain .

Edits

The piece was translated into English and adapted by Tony Kushner under the title The Illusion . In 2010, at the instigation of the Comédie-Française, an adapted version by the director Mathieu Amalric was broadcast as a French television film.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Catherine Kintzler: Sur L'illusion de Pierre Corneille
  2. ↑ Dorante, act 1, scene 1: Il suffira pour vous qu'il lit dans les pensées, Qu'il connaît l'avenir et les choses passées.

Web links

Wikisource: L'Illusion comique (multiple editions)  - sources and full texts (French)