L’ Art De Régner

L’Art de Régner is a tragi-comedy by Gillet de La Tessonerie, first published in 1645. It is unusual in that structurally each of its five acts is a separate playlet. The sub-title, Le Sage Gouverneur, refers to the role of a royal tutor, probably meant to be the duc de Bassompierre, to whom the play is dedicated. Each playlet is prefaced by a lesson from the tutor, and the complete play is concluded by the young prince’s words of gratitude for his dramatic education.

Frontispice de l'edition de 1645 (Cliche: British Library)

INTRODUCTION

La Dynamique de l'Art de regner

Le Jeu des acteurs, le decor et la question du rideau

Un Roi modele

Etablissement du texte

Frontispice de l'edition allemande de 1661 (Cliche: British Library)

BIBLIOGRAPHIE

L'art de Regner

Dedicace

Dessein du poeme de l'Art de regner

Acte Premier

Acte II

Acte III

Acte IV

Acte V

Notes

Little is known of the life of Gillet de La Tessonerie. His birth and date of death are tentatively given as 1620 and 1660. He was a member of the council of the Cour des Monnaies in 1642, and wrote nine plays between 1640 and 1657.

 

Peggy Chaplin is a lecturer in French, specialising in seventeenth-century theatre, at the University of Keele.