French Literature Reviews - 2026
Anna Sansa, Carlo Goldoni, Venetian Lawyer. Law and Theatre in 18th-Century Venice
Theatre and Performance
The bicentenary of Carlo Goldoni’s death provided an opportunity to reread the work of Italy’s most famous playwright, who had hitherto been dismissed as an unengaged, if not frivolous, author. Among the aspects highlighted by specialized criticism is the profound influence of Goldoni’s long experience within the legal profession. Although scholars and archivists have finally measured the scope of this chapter in the author's life, until now no one had undertaken a detailed analysis of the links between law and literature in the playwright's comedies, nor explored the reasons behind this presence. By correlating the plays with contemporary socio-political issues of Goldoni's time, Anna Sansa demonstrates a close relationship between the playwright’s literary output and the current events of his era. This emerges as an unprecedented portrait of an author who believed in the pedagogical mission of theatre and sought to drive a reform for socially engaged art.
Anna Sansa is currently a doctoral contract researcher at Paris-Sorbonne University, a member of PRITEPS, and of the Italian Literature and Culture Team (ELCI), EA 1496 at Paris-Sorbonne University. A certified teacher (author of a master's thesis on the adaptation of novels into plays at Paris-Sorbonne University), she holds a doctorate in law (obtained from the University of Genoa), with a dissertation devoted to family law, particularly civil solidarity pacts (Pacs) and other forms of legal recognition for civil unions in Europe. Enrolled in the International Doctorate in Italian Studies (Universities of Florence, Bonn, and Paris-Sorbonne) under the supervision of Professor Andrea Fabiano, she is preparing a thesis on legal writing in Carlo Goldoni’s theatre, a study situated at the interdisciplinary crossroads of law and literature. Her research focuses on the mutual exchanges between Carlo Goldoni’s legal and diplomatic career and his trajectory as a playwright.
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Table of Contents
Introduction. New research horizons opened by the “law and literature” academic movement (United States, Belgium, France, and Italy)
Recognizing a gap in Goldonian studies: the question of law
Carlo Goldoni’s legal experience: training and practice as a lawyer
Part One
The legal background of Goldoni’s theatre: historical framework of 18th-century Venetian law
Chapter I. The relationship between Venetian law and the Roman legal tradition
The specificity of Venetian law and its historical origins
The procedural consequences of this specificity
Chapter II. The question of interaction between Venice and its mainland territories
Venice’s expansion toward the Terra Firma: a centuries-long process
Territorial, legal, and political configuration of the Terra Firma
The consequences of deviations from the principle of territoriality in Venetian law
The young official's personal experience in the Terra Firma
Topicality of the issue in 18th-century Venetian social and political debate
Chapter III. Inheritance law
The legal framework for the transmission of assets and wealth: patrimony and succession
The specificities of the Venetian inheritance system
Foundations of the succession process, entails (fideicommissa), and wills
Chapter IV. Family law
Historical and legal framework of issues relating to marital unions
Marriages: law and social customs before and after the Council of Trent
The “official” marriage in 18th-century Venice
Betrothal and the symbols of the bond
Rape and abduction, or elopement for love?
A typically Venetian jurisdiction: the Esecutori contro la bestemmia
The dowry as a symbol of women's emancipation
Filiation: legitimate children, children born out of wedlock, and adoption
Chapter V. Criminal law and procedure
The Venetian procedural system
An emblematic case: poisoning
Part Two
A theatrical pedagogy rooted in legal references
Chapter VI. The comic praise of a singular legal system in The Venetian Lawyer
The theatrical staging of Venice’s unique system of legal sources
The author's use of legal expertise in his dramaturgical commitment
Linguistic effects of the interaction between the two legal systems
Chapter VII. The staging of the integration of feudal rites and customs by the Serenissima in The Feudal Lord
Representation of feudal legal reality
Critical perspectives on feudal customs
Evolution in the use of references to feudal law within the playwright's work
Chapter VIII. Struggles and intrigues over inheritance
Conditions in wills:
Camilla's Anxieties and The Fortunate Heiress
The role of the nuncupative will in The Loving Servant
Conflicts surrounding an intestate succession: the unique case of The Coveted Rich Man
Chapter IX. The Honest Girl: a “truly Venetian comedy”
Reputation as a woman's shield
Staged heterodox marital practices
The decline of the couple
Comparison between reality and fiction: the archives of the Esecutori contro la bestemmia
An alternative plot
Chapter X. Justice or equity in The Prudent Man
A prudent man before the tribunal of conscience and society
Dynamics of a trial brought against Venetian society
The consistency of Goldoni as both playwright and jurist
Chapter XI. The right to self-assertion
Self-made individuals in search of social status: The Good Woman, The Loving Servant, and The Brilliant Chambermaid
The impossible balance between parental authority and self-determination: The Ruffs and The Competitive Marriage
Chapter XII. Contract law: Goldoni as his own lawyer
The social status of the man of letters
The lawyer, impresarios, and publishers
Conclusion
Bibliography
Anna Sansa examines the works of Carlo Goldoni through the lens of eighteenth-century jurisprudence, tracing how his training and practice as a lawyer informed his dramatic output. Long dismissed as a merely frivolous author, Goldoni emerges in this study as a socially engaged dramatist who viewed the stage as a pedagogical tool. By analyzing plays such as The Venetian Lawyer and The Feudal Lord alongside historical archives and legal treatises, the author demonstrates how contemporary debates surrounding inheritance, family law, and territorial jurisdiction directly shaped the plots, characters, and linguistic textures of Venetian comedy.
This interdisciplinary monograph contributes to the growing academic field bridging law and literature, offering fresh perspectives on Italian theater history and the Enlightenment. It will particularly interest scholars of eighteenth-century drama, comparatists studying the intersection of legal discourse and narrative arts, and readers seeking a deeper understanding of Goldoni's intellectual trajectory. By illuminating the practical mechanisms of Venetian law embedded within dramatic texts, the book provides valuable context for interpreting how theatrical representation engaged with the socio-political realities of the Serenissima.