La ville, la salle, la scène : les Siennoises et le théâtre

In the sixteenth century the Academy of the Intronati produced romantic comedies in Siena, which were rooted in contemporary reality. These comedies quickly became famous throughout Italy and abroad. These festivals were officially offered to the noble ladies of the city because the academicians wan...

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Main Author: Marie-Françoise Piéjus
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institut du Monde Anglophone 2022-12-01
Series:Etudes Epistémè
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/16024
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author Marie-Françoise Piéjus
author_facet Marie-Françoise Piéjus
author_sort Marie-Françoise Piéjus
collection DOAJ
description In the sixteenth century the Academy of the Intronati produced romantic comedies in Siena, which were rooted in contemporary reality. These comedies quickly became famous throughout Italy and abroad. These festivals were officially offered to the noble ladies of the city because the academicians wanted to remain faithful to the courtly ideal evoked in Castiglione’s treatise. Sienese women’s taste for the theatre and their participation in private performances is well-known. Their fame in the intellectual field is attested by the dedications they received, the poems they composed, the writings that praised their qualities of mind and culture. The actor who says the prologue praises their beauty, while using an equivocal language that is full of innuendoes. Such performances also answer the diplomatic needs of the small republic, which was forced to honor the powerful ones who threatened its political destiny. In order to honor ladies, the plot highlights heroines who, despite tribulations inspired by Alexandrian novels, affirm their fidelity to the man they love, and the comedies end with love marriages, offering to female spectators a utopian vision of their condition. However, this moralistic scheme suggests a strong erotic tension in male/female relationships. The performance also relies on the traditional satire of women's shortcomings, which is a tried-and-tested comic device, as academic dignity must bend to the requirements of the stage and deal with the prejudices of everyday life. The female spectators are thus invited to laugh, if not at their own image, at least at the weaknesses of women.
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spelling doaj-art-b7ce69f4f6ce40bebe77ba604b580e992025-08-20T03:47:25ZengInstitut du Monde AnglophoneEtudes Epistémè1634-04502022-12-014210.4000/episteme.16024La ville, la salle, la scène : les Siennoises et le théâtreMarie-Françoise PiéjusIn the sixteenth century the Academy of the Intronati produced romantic comedies in Siena, which were rooted in contemporary reality. These comedies quickly became famous throughout Italy and abroad. These festivals were officially offered to the noble ladies of the city because the academicians wanted to remain faithful to the courtly ideal evoked in Castiglione’s treatise. Sienese women’s taste for the theatre and their participation in private performances is well-known. Their fame in the intellectual field is attested by the dedications they received, the poems they composed, the writings that praised their qualities of mind and culture. The actor who says the prologue praises their beauty, while using an equivocal language that is full of innuendoes. Such performances also answer the diplomatic needs of the small republic, which was forced to honor the powerful ones who threatened its political destiny. In order to honor ladies, the plot highlights heroines who, despite tribulations inspired by Alexandrian novels, affirm their fidelity to the man they love, and the comedies end with love marriages, offering to female spectators a utopian vision of their condition. However, this moralistic scheme suggests a strong erotic tension in male/female relationships. The performance also relies on the traditional satire of women's shortcomings, which is a tried-and-tested comic device, as academic dignity must bend to the requirements of the stage and deal with the prejudices of everyday life. The female spectators are thus invited to laugh, if not at their own image, at least at the weaknesses of women.https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/16024politicsfictioncomedyaristocracySienaIntronati
spellingShingle Marie-Françoise Piéjus
La ville, la salle, la scène : les Siennoises et le théâtre
Etudes Epistémè
politics
fiction
comedy
aristocracy
Siena
Intronati
title La ville, la salle, la scène : les Siennoises et le théâtre
title_full La ville, la salle, la scène : les Siennoises et le théâtre
title_fullStr La ville, la salle, la scène : les Siennoises et le théâtre
title_full_unstemmed La ville, la salle, la scène : les Siennoises et le théâtre
title_short La ville, la salle, la scène : les Siennoises et le théâtre
title_sort la ville la salle la scene les siennoises et le theatre
topic politics
fiction
comedy
aristocracy
Siena
Intronati
url https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/16024
work_keys_str_mv AT mariefrancoisepiejus lavillelasallelascenelessiennoisesetletheatre