Review

“A rare mixture of happy idea and expert follow-through, Mechele Leon’s book is a well-written account of the fortunes of Molière’s plays during the French Revolution as well as of the early stages of his metamorphosis into a Great Man of France. Leon’s slightly mordant wit is an added attraction for the many readers this book deserves.”—Virginia Scott, author, Molière: A Theatrical Life

“The creation, nurturing, and contestation of cultural memory is a compelling subject; it has obsessed French theatre ever since the emergence of the metteur en scène. Mechele Leon’s book presents the clearest conceptual map I have encountered of Molière’s trajectory through the chaotic period in which that cultural memory first began to take on the recognizable, constantly shifting contours that still animate French theatre. Leon’s book demonstrates how productive it can be to conduct a wide-ranging exploration of theatre history (especially production history) against a backdrop of a society that is undergoing enormous and painful change. Her work is so satisfying because she recognizes that none of the objects of her study remains even remotely stable under such conditions, a recognition that enables her to be unusually attentive to cultural forces operating in complex and often self-defeating ways. Her discussion of these forces is free of the historiographical prejudices that have led earlier scholars to advocate purportedly coherent interpretations of personalities and events about which the available historical record is fragmentary at best, when not completely silent.”— Jim Carmody, University of California–San Diego

About the Author

Mechele Leon is an associate professor in the Department of Theatre and Film at the University of Kansas. She has published essays in French Historical Studies, the European Studies Journal, Theatre Journal, and L’Autre au XVIIIème siècle.