Modern Languages Commons^™

The Comic Récit: Les Plaideurs, Nina Ekstein

Modern Languages and Literatures Faculty Research

Récits are a standard feature of the French classical theater. While normally associated with tragedy (e.g. the famous "récit de Théramène"), seventeenth-century comedy adopted the use of dramatic narrative and adapted it for its own ends. In an examination of the comic récit, two questions arise immediately: how is the récit in comedy different from, first the tragic récit, and second other segments of a comedy?