French Literature Reviews - 2026
V. Yvernault, Figaromania. Beaumarchais tricolore, de monarchies en républiques (XVIIIe-XIXe s.)
Theatre and Performance
Figaromania
Beaumarchais tricolore, de monarchies en républiques (XVIIIe-XIXe siècle)
Virginie Yvernault
Hermann éd.
Published on 13/05/2020
ISBN: 9791037003324
Series: Savoir Lettres
Pages: 418.
A renowned 18th-century adventurer, Beaumarchais is above all the creator of Figaro—that familiar figure who enters the public debate whenever freedom of expression or the fight against injustice is at stake. Rejecting the concept of myth, so favored in reception studies, this investigation examines how the systematic use of Figaro in extra-literary fields shapes the entirety of critical discourse surrounding Beaumarchais. At the origins of figaromania, a trajectory from subversion to institutionalization unfolds at the end of the 19th century with the rise of the Republicans. This comprehensive history of reception thus reveals the convergence between the meanings of a work belonging to the national heritage and the multiple uses and appropriations to which it is subjected, explored in all their diversity across Europe.
Virginie Yvernault is a specialist in the theater of the long 18th century. Her research also focuses on international cultural circulation in Enlightenment Europe, gender studies, and the historiography of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution.
The reception of eighteenth-century literary figures often extends far beyond traditional theatrical criticism, permeating political discourse and popular culture across Europe. As a creation associated with freedom of expression and the contestation of injustice, Figaro became a recurring point of reference in various extra-literary domains. This dynamic demonstrates how characters from dramatic heritage can be adapted to serve changing ideological frameworks during periods of significant political transition, particularly through the nineteenth century.
Readers interested in the cultural history of French theater and the afterlife of Enlightenment works may find this volume relevant. Virginie Yvernault examines how the critical discourse surrounding Beaumarchais developed in relation to these diverse appropriations, rejecting the concept of myth to trace a trajectory from subversion to institutionalization with the rise of the Republicans. The study considers European-wide dimensions of this phenomenon, focusing on the convergence between national heritage and the multiple uses of a canonical literary creation.