« Un néant follement attifé » : macabre et grotesque dans Mesure pour Mesure

In an anamorphic play such as Measure for Measure, the grotesque is endowed with a strong satirical power, and its close relation to the macabre makes it even stronger. Shakespeare actually depicts a dramatic vanitas and places the morbid at the heart of Vienna, regarded as a world marked by confine...

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Main Author: Sophie Chiari
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte" 2013-01-01
Series:Sillages Critiques
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/2709
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author Sophie Chiari
author_facet Sophie Chiari
author_sort Sophie Chiari
collection DOAJ
description In an anamorphic play such as Measure for Measure, the grotesque is endowed with a strong satirical power, and its close relation to the macabre makes it even stronger. Shakespeare actually depicts a dramatic vanitas and places the morbid at the heart of Vienna, regarded as a world marked by confinement and instability. In this town infested by the syphilis and threatened by the plague, Claudio, Juliet, Isabella, Mariana, Angelo and the Duke are described as doppelgängers haunted by the same quest for absolutes and the same luxuriousness. Thus, the play presents us with a whole series of frail and disquieting characters, and the medieval theme of the Dance of Death running throughout the tragicomedy reveals the vanity of their speeches and attitudes. Therefore, beyond its festive characteristics, the Shakespearean grotesque is particularly dark, and it underlines flaws whose tragic dimension will be clearly seen in a play like King Lear.
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spelling doaj-art-df90f7d2da7542fba92c7380728f62022025-01-30T13:46:42ZengCentre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"Sillages Critiques1272-38191969-63022013-01-011510.4000/sillagescritiques.2709« Un néant follement attifé » : macabre et grotesque dans Mesure pour MesureSophie ChiariIn an anamorphic play such as Measure for Measure, the grotesque is endowed with a strong satirical power, and its close relation to the macabre makes it even stronger. Shakespeare actually depicts a dramatic vanitas and places the morbid at the heart of Vienna, regarded as a world marked by confinement and instability. In this town infested by the syphilis and threatened by the plague, Claudio, Juliet, Isabella, Mariana, Angelo and the Duke are described as doppelgängers haunted by the same quest for absolutes and the same luxuriousness. Thus, the play presents us with a whole series of frail and disquieting characters, and the medieval theme of the Dance of Death running throughout the tragicomedy reveals the vanity of their speeches and attitudes. Therefore, beyond its festive characteristics, the Shakespearean grotesque is particularly dark, and it underlines flaws whose tragic dimension will be clearly seen in a play like King Lear.https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/2709decadencegrotesquefantasticalmacabrevanitasanamorphosis
spellingShingle Sophie Chiari
« Un néant follement attifé » : macabre et grotesque dans Mesure pour Mesure
Sillages Critiques
decadence
grotesque
fantastical
macabre
vanitas
anamorphosis
title « Un néant follement attifé » : macabre et grotesque dans Mesure pour Mesure
title_full « Un néant follement attifé » : macabre et grotesque dans Mesure pour Mesure
title_fullStr « Un néant follement attifé » : macabre et grotesque dans Mesure pour Mesure
title_full_unstemmed « Un néant follement attifé » : macabre et grotesque dans Mesure pour Mesure
title_short « Un néant follement attifé » : macabre et grotesque dans Mesure pour Mesure
title_sort un neant follement attife macabre et grotesque dans mesure pour mesure
topic decadence
grotesque
fantastical
macabre
vanitas
anamorphosis
url https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/2709
work_keys_str_mv AT sophiechiari unneantfollementattifemacabreetgrotesquedansmesurepourmesure