Richard Brome et la catharsis comique : théorie des semblables ou théorie des contraires ?

Richard Brome (1590 ?-1652) often nurtures the hope of curing his characters, such as Peregrine, Joyless, Oldrents and others. And since it is characters he hopes to cure, not people, it would be preferable to replace the term comic catharsis with an unquestionably more appropriate one, fictional co...

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Main Author: Athéna Efstathiou-Lavabre
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institut du Monde Anglophone 2009-10-01
Series:Etudes Epistémè
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/678
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author Athéna Efstathiou-Lavabre
author_facet Athéna Efstathiou-Lavabre
author_sort Athéna Efstathiou-Lavabre
collection DOAJ
description Richard Brome (1590 ?-1652) often nurtures the hope of curing his characters, such as Peregrine, Joyless, Oldrents and others. And since it is characters he hopes to cure, not people, it would be preferable to replace the term comic catharsis with an unquestionably more appropriate one, fictional comic catharsis. In this paper, then, it is fictional comic catharsis that I will analyse, the fictional component being demonstrated by the fact that Brome’s characters are cured in a fictional context, unlike true comic catharsis, whose effect on the actual audience remains highly speculative. With this in mind, I will touch briefly on the notion of catharsis as expounded by Aristotle in his Poetics, before considering the interpretation of the term by 16th and 17th century theorists, especially those on the continent. I then wish to consider the way in which fictional comic catharsis operates, through an analysis of Brome’s least neglected and, from a dramaturgical perspective, most accomplished comedy, The Antipodes (1636). And I will attempt to establish if it is similar to either of the two Hippocratic theories which are often seen as opposites, though perhaps they are complementary, that is, the theory of similitude and the theory of contraries.
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spelling doaj-art-f58463fb8ce04ceda45eb078d2e5c7362025-08-20T03:07:50ZengInstitut du Monde AnglophoneEtudes Epistémè1634-04502009-10-011610.4000/episteme.678Richard Brome et la catharsis comique : théorie des semblables ou théorie des contraires ?Athéna Efstathiou-LavabreRichard Brome (1590 ?-1652) often nurtures the hope of curing his characters, such as Peregrine, Joyless, Oldrents and others. And since it is characters he hopes to cure, not people, it would be preferable to replace the term comic catharsis with an unquestionably more appropriate one, fictional comic catharsis. In this paper, then, it is fictional comic catharsis that I will analyse, the fictional component being demonstrated by the fact that Brome’s characters are cured in a fictional context, unlike true comic catharsis, whose effect on the actual audience remains highly speculative. With this in mind, I will touch briefly on the notion of catharsis as expounded by Aristotle in his Poetics, before considering the interpretation of the term by 16th and 17th century theorists, especially those on the continent. I then wish to consider the way in which fictional comic catharsis operates, through an analysis of Brome’s least neglected and, from a dramaturgical perspective, most accomplished comedy, The Antipodes (1636). And I will attempt to establish if it is similar to either of the two Hippocratic theories which are often seen as opposites, though perhaps they are complementary, that is, the theory of similitude and the theory of contraries.https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/678
spellingShingle Athéna Efstathiou-Lavabre
Richard Brome et la catharsis comique : théorie des semblables ou théorie des contraires ?
Etudes Epistémè
title Richard Brome et la catharsis comique : théorie des semblables ou théorie des contraires ?
title_full Richard Brome et la catharsis comique : théorie des semblables ou théorie des contraires ?
title_fullStr Richard Brome et la catharsis comique : théorie des semblables ou théorie des contraires ?
title_full_unstemmed Richard Brome et la catharsis comique : théorie des semblables ou théorie des contraires ?
title_short Richard Brome et la catharsis comique : théorie des semblables ou théorie des contraires ?
title_sort richard brome et la catharsis comique theorie des semblables ou theorie des contraires
url https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/678
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