Charles Affron

A Stage For Poets: Studies in the Theatre of Hugo and Musset - Princeton Essays in Literature Charles Affron

Marc Notes: Originally published: 1971.; In the nineteenth century, the French lyric poets imposed their diction on the theatrical genre and thus illuminated the essence of both poetry and theatre. Ten plays by Victor Hugo, the standard-bearer of the French romantic theatre, and Alfred de Musset, the romantic playwright most frequently performed in France today, are analyzed by Charles Affron to answer the question, 'Can the dialetic form of the theatre accommodate the solitary elan of the lyric poet?' As a functional point of departure, he considers those characteristics of lyric poetry - time, voice, and metaphor - which bring us closest to the singular attitudes of Hugo and Musset. Publisher Marketing: In the nineteenth century, the French lyric poets imposed their diction on the theatrical genre and thus illuminated the essence of both poetry and theatre. Ten plays by Victor Hugo, the standard-bearer of the French romantic theatre, and Alfred de Musset, the romantic playwright most frequently performed in France today, are analyzed by Charles Affron to answer the question, "Can the dialetic form of the theatre accommodate the solitary elan of the lyric poet?" As a functional point of departure, he considers those characteristics of lyric poetry--time, voice, and metaphor--which bring us closest to the singular attitudes of Hugo and Musset. Then, examining the texts of "Hernani, Les Burgraves, Torquemada, Fantasio," and "Lorenzaccio" as well as several lesser known plays, Mr. Affron discusses such topics as poetic time, the scope of analogy, theatrical and poetic rhetoric, the guises of the poet-hero, and the manner of sounding the poet's voice upon the stage. Originally published in 1971. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Contributor Bio:  Affron, Charles Charles Affron, Professor Emeritus of French Literature at New York University, and Mirella Jona Affron, Professor Emerita of Cinema Studies at The College of Staten Island/CUNY, are coauthors of "Best Years: Going to the Movies, 1945 1946" and "Sets in Motion: Art Direction and Film Narrative". Charles Affron is the author of "Lillian Gish: Her Legend, Her Life"; "Cinema and Sentiment"; and "Star Acting: Gish, Garbo, Davis". Together with Robert Lyons, the authors are series editors of Rutgers Films in Print and Rutgers Depth of Field.