French Literature Reviews - 2026
Alexandre Dumas fils, La Signora delle camelie. Il femminismo misogino
Theatre and Performance
Bibliographic reference: Alexandre Dumas fils, La Signora delle camelie. Il femminismo misogino, a cura di / edited by Marisa Verna, Pisa, ETS, 2011., ETS, collection "Il canone teatrale europeo / Canon of European Drama", 2012. EAN13: 9788846730077.
Dumas the Younger's thesis play presents itself as an "intelligent" theatre of moral reflection, engaging in a more or less open polemic against vaudeville and pure divertissement. In addition to a new translation of the play and Dumas fils's preface, the volume features an introductory chapter examining the myth-making power and canonicity of the text within European and global cultures. The introductory essay seeks to highlight the intrinsic duality of the text from which the myth itself was generated. The concluding essay, conversely, analyzes two productions considered pivotal to the dramaturgical history of the text in France and Italy. This is followed by a brief overview of the play's staging history worldwide and a selective bibliography.
The drame à thèse by Dumas fils appears as a form of "intelligent" theatre, proposing moral reflections in at times explicit opposition to vaudeville and pure divertissement. Besides a new translation of the drama and the preface by Dumas fils, the volume contains an introductory chapter which investigates the mythopoeic force and the canonicity of the text within European and non-European cultures. The introductory essay aims to highlight the intrinsic duality of the text which originated the myth. The concluding essay analyzes two performances, in France and in Italy, acknowledged as crucial for the dramaturgical history of the text. The essay is followed by a brief digression on the international staging success of the pièce and by a selected bibliography.
Marisa Verna is Full Professor of French Literature at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan. She has authored a monograph on the theatre of Joséphin Péladan (L'opera teatrale di Joséphin Péladan. Esoterismo e Magia nel dramma simbolista, Vita e Pensiero, Milan 2000), numerous articles on French symbolist theatre, pantomime in late 19th-century France, and the writings of Marcel Proust. She has also edited several collections of essays and conference proceedings on French symbolism and Marcel Proust.
Marisa Verna (1961) is Full Professor of French Literature at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, where she also serves as Head of the Department of Language Sciences and Foreign Literatures. She is a board member of the Society of University Studies in French Language and Literature and a member of the Scientific Committee of the journal Linguistics and Literary Analysis. She is the author of a book on Péladan's theatre, Esoterismo e magia nel dramma simbolista. L'opera teatrale di Joséphin Péladan, Vita e Pensiero, Milan 2000.
The volume edited by Marisa Verna examines Alexandre Dumas fils's play alongside its author's original preface and a new translation. The introductory chapter investigates the canonicity and myth-making power of the work across European and global cultures, highlighting the intrinsic duality from which the myth originated. The edition also includes an essay analyzing two pivotal theatrical productions in France and Italy, complemented by a brief overview of the play's international staging history and a selective bibliography. Readers interested in nineteenth-century European drama and performance history may find this scholarly volume relevant.
Alexandre Dumas fils contributed to the development of the nineteenth-century French stage through works that engaged in polemics against pure divertissement and vaudeville in favor of moral reflection. Marisa Verna is Full Professor of French Literature at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, where she also serves as Head of the Department of Language Sciences and Foreign Literatures. She is the author of a book on Péladan's theatre and numerous articles on French symbolist theatre, pantomime in late nineteenth-century France, and the writings of Marcel Proust. The book is part of the series Il canone teatrale europeo, which focuses on foundational texts of European drama.