Dissertation La Bruyère

Subject: To what extent is it possible to consider Les Caractères as a theatrical work?

You will respond in a structured development that will rely on the complete work and the
journey through social comedy
La Bruyère, the famous moralist of the 17th century, analyzes human nature as he observes it at court and us.
The Characters is a work intended to correct society of the ridicules and vices.
the era. He draws inspiration from the Characters of Theophrastus, a 4th century BC author in defense of
ancients in the quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns. This work is organized into different
chapters, each composed of several remarks. These sometimes take the form of maxims,
of ironic portraits or satirical reflections. He therefore paints permanent traits that can be identified.
in humanity and transforms them into remarkable archetypes. Furthermore, in the Characters, the
the world becomes a theater where each man plays a role. For this, Jean De La Bruyère turns to
the irony, thereby bringing his work closer to the theatrical genre. Indeed, the moralist unveils the tricks and
and the lies of his contemporaries just as Molière does in his plays. We
we can therefore ask to what extent it is possible to consider The Characters as
a theatrical work? We will first look at the social comedy that this work represents and we
we will then address the fact that, as with the 18th-century theater, the work of the Characters serves
to instruct and please and fully respect the fundamental principle of placere et docere.

We will first analyze the social comedy presented in the work and more
particularly initially the theatrum mundi (vision of the world where man is a
actor and the world as a stage (theater) that La Bruyère reveals to us, thus throughout his work
We understand that life is a scene from a theater where everyone has a role to play.

Indeed, it draws inspiration from the play that the court represents to unveil the lies and the
false appearances of this. In books V to X, La Bruyère's work becomes at times a
comedy but we would be wrong to reduce it only to that because according to the dictionary of
The academy reveals that in classical French the word 'comedy' refers to 'a play.'
representing some action of human life that takes place between private individuals" and therefore
that this does not always aim to make people laugh: it simply represents the world without idealizing it
as shown in remark 31 of book VI where he writes "The people often have the pleasure of
tragedy: he sees perish on the stage of the world the most odious characters, who have caused the most
pain in various scenes, and that he hated the most." Here the theater represents the world that surrounds the
characters and the comedy is not pleasant. Thus La Bruyère is interested in the way in which the
individuals stage themselves at court to reveal the backstage, as he puts it so well in the
note 99 "From the Court": "In a hundred years the world will still exist in its entirety: it will be the
the same theater and the same decorations, there will no longer be the same actors.” He is referring here
clearly the courtesans as actors and the court as a stage that has only
to highlight the courtesans. He uses the lexical field of theater with words such as
"comedy" "scene" and "actor", this process is also notable throughout the books and particularly in the
remark 60 of book VIII, with the repetition of 'spectacle' thanks to this the author immerses us in
the comedy that is the court and the many hypotyposes that we find throughout
his work gives the reader the impression of witnessing a play themselves as well
the multiplication of movement verbs informs the reader about their play as during, for example, of
the remark of Phaedo in book VI is so detailed that we have the impression of it
see before us. We can draw a comparison with The Lion's Court fable by La Fontaine
which also represents the world as a stage indeed this fable illustrates the court
in a skit where the characters also play a role in this play that is the court.

We will now focus on how La Bruyère stages portraits that

illustrates each time a flaw or a vice of the time parallel to Molière who also
depicts literary archetypes by often representing obsessive characters with flaws
omnipresent. Indeed, in the same way that Molière La Bruyère removes the masks from the actors
of daily life and represents in his work various portraits to reveal the behind the scenes of
this era. He thus stages satirical portraits or offers a mocking critique of
staged character: metaphors reinforce or sometimes animalize the characters in order to
to show the vanity of their actions, such as when he stages Giton, he sets him up.
a portrait without amenity of the arrogant par excellence, indeed Giton is the allegory of the rich
He accumulates flaws like pretentiousness and egocentrism... but here what wants to criticize the
Through this archetype, Bruyère shows that despite all his flaws, Giton has this behavior.
with complete impunity because he is rich. Thus, La Bruyère here seeks to shed light on this through this
portrays one of the vices of his time, which is that money takes precedence over virtue. So, as we have...
Since La Bruyère, as a moralist, is closely interested in the morals of individuals, he practices therefore
ethology (it focuses on describing the behavior of animals but also of humans) it will
thus applying to analyze the behavior of the "social animal" and will strip away their masks
behind the pleasant appearances reveal the social backstage, such as when in the
Note 74 he will write a violent satire of the court which from the outside may seem attractive but
is actually the place where appearances reign, false values, eccentricity, and the pleasures of the senses.
The literary archetype of the worldly is staged here; we can notably make a
closeness to Molière's play 'The Precious Ridicules' where he also criticizes the ridiculousness of the
feminine eccentricities as La Bruyère notes in 'On the City' remark 3 'In these places of a
general competition, where women come together to showcase beautiful fabric, and to gather the
Fruit of their grooming, one does not walk with a companion out of necessity for conversation;
we come together to reassure ourselves about the theater, to become familiar with the audience, and to strengthen ourselves
against the criticism: it is precisely there that we speak to each other without saying anything, or rather that we talk
for the passersby, for those for whom one raises their voice, one gestures and one
"In a playful manner, one casually tilts the head, one passes by and comes back again." Thus, the heather uses everything.
throughout his work, the baroque aesthetic which highlights deceptive appearances, thus the
the courtyard becomes the place where one must be seen.
The honest man is no longer the virtuous and modest man, but the one who stands out.
by his mastery of social codes and thus by the travesty of his being, thus in the remark
43 from book V "Cléante is a very honest man.
He chose a woman who is the best person in the world and the most reasonable: everyone, of
In his role, he brings all the pleasure and delight to the societies he is part of; one cannot find this elsewhere.
more honesty, more politeness. They are parting tomorrow, and the act of their separation is all prepared.
at the notary.
There are, without lying, certain merits that are not meant to be together, certain virtues.
incompatibles » we may perhaps understand that on the surface Cléante is an honest
man but he is actually quite different which is undoubtedly the reason for the separation...
In his work, his criticism does not stop at criticizing the people but also extends to that of the king, of course.
by using portraits to avoid censorship but the reader implicitly understands that the
the monarch and his acts are targeted: notably in remark 2 "Of the Sovereign and the Republic"
where he makes a violent critique: "It takes neither art nor science to exercise tyranny, and politics"
which consists only in shedding blood is very narrow-minded and has no refinement; it inspires to kill those
where life is an obstacle to our ambition: a cruel man does this without difficulty. It is the
the most horrible and the most vulgar way to maintain oneself or to expand" here the literary archetype
denouncing is the tyrannical sovereign that we can liken to the character of the lion in the
fable "The Lion's Court" by La Fontaine or the sovereign lion is a tyrannical monarch who is
even compared to Caligula. In conclusion, La Bruyère throughout his work stages
different portraits aimed at denouncing the flaws and vices of the society of his time
similarly to Molière who also criticizes flaws through his characters...

We will then turn our attention to how, as with the theater of the 18th century,
In the century, the work of the Characters serves as a tool to instruct and please and fully respects the principle.
primordial of pleasure and to teach. Indeed, La Bruyère uses the method of Castgat Ridendo Mores.
to write a satirical critique of the society of his time. We can compare the work of La
Bruyère refers to Molière through the social satire established in the Characters, indeed.
Bruyère criticizes manners by making them laugh similarly to Molière. The satirical register is very
present because indeed La Bruyère mocks the characters, behaviors, and
situations to criticize and denounce while ensuring that it remains pleasant to read for the
reader. As it adheres to the tradition of the precept of Castgat Ridendo Mores, he does not hesitate.
to draw inspiration from it and to resort to the maxim, the saying, and obviously the portrait to create its
ridiculous characters. So even if the work must remain enjoyable to read and make you smile, it does not
One must not forget that its function is also to instruct; thus, La Bruyère establishes numerous effects.
mirrors that encourage the reader to reflect on human nature and its behaviors, the reader still
Today, one can draw lessons from this work, for example with remark 50 of the book.
"of the Greats" or the Pamphile is denounced: "A Pamphile is full of himself, does not lose himself
from the viewpoint, does not step out of the idea of its greatness, of its alliances, of its duties, of its dignity
the moralist aims to criticize a behavior and thus to urge the reader not to repeat it
reproduce. It offers universal lessons. As we mentioned in his text La Bruyère
They use tricks to mock the flaws of the world, mainly the temptation of greed.
he therefore introduces a comic tone into his critique, like when he mocks the miser in the
Remark 65 from Book VI: "The miser spends more dead in a single day than he did alive in ten."
years; and his heir more in ten months than he has been able to do himself in all his life" he mocks here.
the greed and the ridicule of what it generates like Molière with his character Harpagon
which perfectly illustrates the miser. According to him, the pursuit of fortune is closely linked to
the beast because the moralist associates the absence of spirit with vanity in 'On Fortune's Goods'. It is about
a 'kind of spirit' that is 'neither the beautiful spirit' only the 'man of a small genius may want
to move forward" 38... The heather will turn into derision of other vices of its time and will not hesitate to
to use shock effects in order to surprise the reader and thus leave a mark on their minds. Also the
direct speech from Sethon in 'On Society and Conversation' remark 9 is amusing due to the effect
of surprise that concludes the ridiculous portrait of the pedant Arrias. The fall amplifies the denunciation.

We will now focus on the different comedic springs that are presented in
this work and which can therefore bring it closer to a comedy piece. In a primary sense is
comic refers to what belongs to the theater. La Bruyère borrows its comic types from the theater. The
portraits amuse in that they exaggerate character traits in the characters throughout
of his work. He also resorts to burlesque, which consists of treating a lofty subject in a degrading style.
This is what he does when he reduces the tasks of the courtiers to vain movements or that he
compared to machines. In "Des biens de fortunes" note 83 Giton appears ridiculous by the
multiplication of adjectives and adverbs that amplify his gestures: "he unfolds a large handkerchief,
"and blows his nose with great noise; he spits very far, and he sneezes very loudly" ... But the moralist does not
do not force nature. Nature being already outraged in itself, La Bruyère, through his caricatures, is faithful to
In these observations, it therefore presents character comedies that make the reader smile, like La
Fontaine in his fable 'The Courtyard of the Lion' when the bear, as an archetype of heaviness and
Clumsiness will create a comical and awkward action that characterizes him completely. La Bruyère
it obviously uses one of the main comedic devices, which is irony, to condemn the
behaviors we have a very explicit example in book VIII note 57 where he denounces the
People who are only present out of self-interest, but this phrase can indeed make the reader smile:
"How many friends, how many relatives are born in one night to the new minister!" Thus by the process of
the antphrase, it denounces behaviors such as the primacy given to money in 'Des Biens
of Fortune" where he writes "making a fortune is such a beautiful phrase, and it says such a good thing, that it
is of universal use." Another quite notable comic element in this work is indeed
Obviously, the comedy of situation is perfectly illustrated with the portrait of Arrias, which according to...
he has seen everything, read everything, knows everything and makes others believe it, but a disruptive element comes
completely falsified his lies: 'Arrias has read everything, has seen everything, he wants to persuade him this way; it is
a universal man, and he presents himself as such […] someonesand risk contradicting him, and prove it to him.
Clearly, he says things that are not true. Arrias does not get upset, he gets fired up.
opposite to the switch:IIn advance, he said to him, I do not recount anything that I do not know to be original:
I learned it from Sethon, ambassador of France in this Court, who returned to Paris a few
days, which I know well, which I have questioned greatly, and which has not hidden anything from me
"Circumstance." He resumed the thread of his narration with more confidence than he had begun it.
when one of the guests says to him:« It is Sethon you are talking to, himself, and who is arriving from his
embassy. ». Like La Fontaine when in his fable of The Lion's Court when the monkey who in
wanting to flatter the king will appear as an excessive flatterer because his flattery was indeed ridiculous and
clumsy and will therefore be punished. La Bruyère also introduces a wordplay for example with the
famous Acis who is incapable of making himself understood because to appear knowledgeable he uses jargon
totally incomprehensible and convoluted, it is even likened to the soothsayers of Phœbus who
were not understood by people.

Finally, we will focus on how the Heather can be considered as a

Directing in the same way as Molière, indeed La Bruyère does not hesitate himself.
to stage in this literary microcosm that he elaborates by conversing with his characters.
But when he represents himself as a subject by acting similarly to his characters as in
the role of the tiresome chatterbox leaves the place of the main character "I finally yield and disappear,"
or again in the role of Acis and his
" pompous gibberish " when he imposes himself by saying " I speak to you by your attire and I tell you to
the ear, do not think about having wit ... But also the diversity of the registers present in
This work, such as the satirical, polemical, didactic, and epideictic register, emphasizes the will of La
Heather brings her work to life like a play indeed Molière also in his plays
used a surprisingly wide variety of registers.

Thus, if The Characters are akin to a theatrical work, it is primarily thanks to the portraits.
lively and comical, which perfectly illustrate the social comedy represented by this work,
the theatrical dimension of the Characters resides at the very heart of the character portraits as 'actor',
everyone plays a role behind a mask. The notion of theater is also found in the fact
that the critique of society is carried out through the precept "to please and to teach" which aims to
Indeed, the numerous comedic springs and the diversity of registers that add to it
Dynamism is very enjoyable but of course serves to educate by denouncing and criticizing the...
vices and morals of his time.