French Literature Reviews - 2026

Y. Tauliaut, L'Invisible théâtral - De Shakespeare à Ibsen et Strindberg: Towards a New Dramaturgy of Interiority
Theatre and Performance

Yannick Tauliaut, L'Invisible théâtral - De Shakespeare à Ibsen et Strindberg: Towards a New Dramaturgy of Interiority

Paris: Éditions Orizons, coll. "Comparaisons", 2013.

344 p.

EAN 9782296088764 (EAN Ebook format PDF: 9782336328874)

25,00 EUR (digital version: 18,75 EUR)

Publisher's Overview:

The famous ghostly apparition in Shakespeare's Hamlet embodies the revival of an ancient motif: an original sin committed before the play begins that must urgently be atoned for on stage. Ibsen and Strindberg emerge as rightful heirs by reinvesting, in turn, this very motif of the return of the dead. Three distinct dramaturgies successively embody revenge, the failure of the visible in favor of the invisible, and the failure of speech in favor of silence.

Yannick Tauliaut is a PhD candidate at the Research Institute for European Languages and Literatures at the University of Haute-Alsace (Mulhouse).

The study of dramatic ghosts often involves tracing how playwrights represent the supernatural to externalize internal conflicts or historical burdens. By focusing on the transition from the Elizabethan era to late nineteenth-century naturalism and symbolism, this work explores how the figure of the revenant evolves, moving from the manifestation of past sins in Hamlet to the manifestations found in the works of Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg.

The transition from revenge-driven narratives to dramas centered on the failure of speech and the dominance of silence reflects broader changes in European theatrical aesthetics. This investigation into the dramaturgy of interiority links the classical tradition of the ghost story to the modernist exploration of human consciousness. Readers interested in the evolution of dramatic motifs and the history of European stagecraft may find this analysis relevant to their research.