Comique et comédie au début du XIXe siècle (1799-1820)

Abstract

Compared to the revolutionary decade, the Napoleonic era is marked by a “stagnation” in dramaturgical experimentation, and by a gradual restoration of the classical genres. The exception to this trend is the “comédie historique”. It represents an important case of dramaturgical reflection and experimentation and an attempt to renew the dramatic system to create a theatre capable of embodying the new post-revolutionary world view. Without neglecting the contribution of the more traditional forms of comedy that characterise, for example, the production of the petits- théâtres, I will focus on the evolution of comic genres between the Consulate and the Restoration, and, more generally, on their relationship to the evolution of theatrical genres.