La Colonie
Encyclopedia
La Colonie is a comedy
by French
playwright Pierre de Marivaux
, published in 1750 in the journal Mercure de France
.
When it was first performed at the Comédie-Italienne
on June 18 1729, La Nouvelle Colonie
did not gather success and was only staged once. Marivaux cancelled all the shows and did not publish, but he rewrote the play and reduced it to a single act composed of 18 scenes. This new version was performed and published under the title La Colonie.
It is more than a baroque
play, a satire
of society denouncing the institutions of Marivaux's time. On an island in the middle of nowhere, women have decided to seize power. Behind the utopy, La Colonie forshadows the feminist movements that will agitate Europe two centuries later, despite its politically and sexually conservative ending. This ironic
and rich comedy
raises many modern issues, and made Marivaux into a forerunner of female liberation.
But refusing to be excluded from the new government, the women rebel against their condition of dependence and form their own council. Arthénice representing the noble party and Madam Sorbin the people. They decide to abolish love and marriage, which they consider as yet another form of female subjection, and thus forbid Lina from seeing her lover Persinet. But their support crumbles when Madam Sorbin triggers the anger of the other women by deciding that they should all make themselves ugly.
When Arthénice and Madam Sorbin ask the men to give them access to all the functions the latter occupy, they delegate their powers to Hermocrate. Timagène find a solution to overturn the coup d'état
by pretending they are being attacked, and sending the women to war. The latter refuse, and Madam Sorbin tells her husband to "Go to war, I'll to our home". The play ends with Timagène promising the women that their rights and best interests will be respected in the new statuses.
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
by French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
playwright Pierre de Marivaux
Pierre de Marivaux
Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux , commonly referred to as Marivaux, was a French novelist and dramatist....
, published in 1750 in the journal Mercure de France
Mercure de France
The Mercure de France was originally a French gazette and literary magazine first published in the 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group....
.
When it was first performed at the Comédie-Italienne
Comédie-Italienne
Over time, there have been several buildings and several theatrical companies named the "Théâtre-Italien" or the "Comédie-Italienne" in Paris. Following the times, the theatre has shown both plays and operas...
on June 18 1729, La Nouvelle Colonie
La Nouvelle Colonie
La Nouvelle Colonie or La Ligue des Femmes is a comedy in three acts and in prose written by French playwright Pierre de Marivaux. It was first performed on June 18 1729 by the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne....
did not gather success and was only staged once. Marivaux cancelled all the shows and did not publish, but he rewrote the play and reduced it to a single act composed of 18 scenes. This new version was performed and published under the title La Colonie.
It is more than a baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
play, a satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
of society denouncing the institutions of Marivaux's time. On an island in the middle of nowhere, women have decided to seize power. Behind the utopy, La Colonie forshadows the feminist movements that will agitate Europe two centuries later, despite its politically and sexually conservative ending. This ironic
Irony
Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions...
and rich comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
raises many modern issues, and made Marivaux into a forerunner of female liberation.
Characters
- Arthénice, noble woman.
- Madam Sorbin, craftsman's wife.
- Mr Sorbin, her husband.
- Timagène, noble man.
- Lina, Madam Sorbin's daughter.
- Persinet, young man of the people and Lina's lover.
- Hermocrate, gentleman and philosopher.
- Troupe of women, nobles and poor.
Plot
A group of men and women from a conquered land are forced to take refuge on a desert island. They decided to establish institutions and vote for two governors for the island : Lord Timagène for the noble party and Mr Sorbin for the people.But refusing to be excluded from the new government, the women rebel against their condition of dependence and form their own council. Arthénice representing the noble party and Madam Sorbin the people. They decide to abolish love and marriage, which they consider as yet another form of female subjection, and thus forbid Lina from seeing her lover Persinet. But their support crumbles when Madam Sorbin triggers the anger of the other women by deciding that they should all make themselves ugly.
When Arthénice and Madam Sorbin ask the men to give them access to all the functions the latter occupy, they delegate their powers to Hermocrate. Timagène find a solution to overturn the coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
by pretending they are being attacked, and sending the women to war. The latter refuse, and Madam Sorbin tells her husband to "Go to war, I'll to our home". The play ends with Timagène promising the women that their rights and best interests will be respected in the new statuses.