Abstract EN:

Georges feydeau's theatre is distinctively marked by an intense dramatization of stage space and its constituents : objects and characters. In this case, the objects called for are numerous and variegated, simultaneously serving multiple functions. While serving as referents to a particular era, they can also enhance the protrayalof a character's traits or even directly contribute to the action of the play. This dramatic function, it should be noted, is closely connected with the characters. The characters are striking for the overall disparagement which systematically delineates their nature. Such a disparagement is exemplified by the onomasic system that the playwright chooses as well as by the characters'attitude to each other and to language. Emotions, moral principles, and social institutions are thus subjected to a similar denigration. This all-encompassing derision entails more of a caricature than of a realistic depicting of society and denotes feydeau's inclination to question everything. Some major issues (adultery, the impossibility of communication) are addressed in his works, but they are treated in a lightweight fashion. The overriding purpose actually remains the pursuit of the comic. Within this comic, one observes that a large share is devoted to inanimates. The manifold aspect of every scene is thus kept up, and the multiple meanings resulting therefrom amount to an embryo of modernity.