“Shagi / Steps” the Journal of the SASH

SHAGI/STEPS 6(3)

Keywords: P.-A. de La Place, W. Shakespeare, Voltaire, A. Pope, “Discourse on the English Theatre”, translation, genius

Abstract: An excerpt from the treatise “Discourse on the English theatre” by Pierre-Antoine de La Place, a French playwright and translator-adapter of Shakespeare, is published in Russian for the first time. This critical text, written as a forward to translations from English drama, serves as important evidence of French interest in Shakespeare in the light of the worldwide discussion on the “drunken barbarian” and polemics with Voltaire. Engaging in an undeclared argument with Voltaire, La Place was afraid of well-founded criticism by his contemporaries. Nevertheless, he set himself the objective to show Shakespeare to his nation and to justify him in the eyes of supporters of strict rules of classicism. According to La Place, the mixture of styles in Shakespeare’s plays cannot be simply explained by his laxity and vulgar taste; the origins of his poetics lie in the character and genius of his nation. Justifying Shakespeare, La Place refers to Alexander Pope and dethrones the key rules of classicist theatre, urging contemporary critics and audience to judge plays not by the harmony of their composition but taking into consideration the feelings generated by a performance. As for Shakespeare, he is, according to La Place, beyond the rules and tastes of any century, a creative genius for whom worldly glory is but a fleeting dream.

To cite this article: Lutsenko, E. M. (2020). La Place and his Shakespeare. Shagi/Steps, 6(3), 278–285. (In Russian). DOI: 10.22394/2412-9410-2020-6-3-278-285.