The Dance in Front of the Mirror by François de Curel, or from a “well-made play” to a “well-undone play”

Abstract

François de Curel has gone down to posterity as an author of the “well-made play”. However, while studying his work, in this case, La Danse devant le miroir (The Dance in Front of the Mirror), we realize that the writer does not respect all the rules of dramatic art. In fact, the writer seems, in the first place, to call into question the fable of the canonical form which is built on a logical mechanism of action leading through ever-increasing tension to the final denouement. The classical composition fades into the play behind the evocation of the protagonists’ emotional states in the grip of existential anxiety and, therefore, we note the passage from an agonistic drama to an ontological drama. The work of undermining the “absolute drama” is also manifested by a new approach to the character. Deprived of his active attributes, he prefers to call into question his life, rehash his setbacks rather than act. The character in action is giving way to the character in reflection.