Marie-Catherine de Villedieu, Le Favori

Polly Mangerson (DePaul University)

Ed. by Julia Prest, University of St Andrews
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.03: French Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century: Classical and Baroque, 1600-1700.
Vol. editors: Heather Kirk (University of Western Ontario), Kathrina LaPorta (New York University), Polly Mangerson (DePaul University), Julia Prest (University of St Andrews), Allison Stedman (University of North Carolina, Charlotte), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1665 - 1665

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Tragicomedy

Resources

Le Favori is a five-act comedy in verse composed by Marie-Catherine Desjardins (1640-83), who would later be known as Madame de Villedieu. Written in 1664 and first performed by Molière’s troupe in 1665, this witty, intuitive play represents a key moment in the evolution in women’s writing during the French seventeenth century.

Desjardins’ three dramatic texts, which comprise, in addition to Le Favori, the tragicomedy Manlius (1662), and the tragedy Nitétis (1663), represent some of the earliest published works in the author’s long and productive literary career. According to Perry Gethner, the young Desjardins was mostly likely encouraged to …

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2416 words

Citation: Mangerson, Polly. "Le Favori". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 January 2017 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35710, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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