Neoclassicism in France

Neoclassicism in France was evolving with the Age of Enlightenment, or The Age of Reason. With it came a spirit of inquiry into historical events and science.  Neoclassicism particularly refers to transformations in the decorative and visual arts, literature, music, theatre, and architecture that were inspired by the classical art and culture of Ancient Greece.  The majority of the Neoclassical era took place in the 18^th century alongside the Age of Enlightenment and lasted into the early 19^th century until Romanticism took over.   

Cardinal Richelieu was the man who determined that theatre would strictly have to follow certain rules in order to be considered a “neoclassical” play.  Here are the rules:

Decorum: French neoclassicism also had a very austere sense of decorum which required “proper” behavior.  For example, all violence was to occur offstage and all characters were to speak and act mannerly and true to their roles in society.  Everyone was required to behave in a justly upright manner.  

Verisimilitude: All action had to be true to real life.  Supernatural events in the plotline were not acceptable.  French neoclassical theatre was required to be very realistic and did not allow any suspension of disbelief. 

Unity of Time: All plays were required to be five acts long and must take place in a 24 hour time period.  As you can imagine, this sometimes led to unrealistic plotlines, such as entire wars, births, marriages, and deaths all taking place in 24 hours.

Unity of Place: All action in a play had to take place in a single location.  French Neoclassical plays were forbidden from having any set or location changes.

Unity of Action: All plays were only allowed to have a single plotline.  No subplots were allowed in any French Neoclassical play.

Purity of Genre: All plays must be either comedies of manners or heroic tragedies.  Comedies were required to have happy endings, while tragedies needed to end in death.  Tragedies were also not allowed to happen to “common people.”  Also, in the heroic tragedy, the hero was required to be royal or of noble descent.  Only the lower and middle classes were allowed to be the subject of comedies. 

Poetic Justice: Characters in these plays were expected to be dealt with according to their actions.  The good, virtuous people were rewarded and the evil sinners were punished accordingly.  By doing this, the audience was enlightened, educated, and amused.

Major playwrights of the time included Moliere, Racine, and Corneille.