Autour de Cénie: Le témoignage épistolaire de Françoise de Graffigny sur son succès théâtral en 1750 Arthur, Dorothy Helm creator 2009 x, 300 p. born digital Thesis (Ph.D.) -- Brown University (2009) Schultz, Gretchen director Majewski, Henry reader Smith, David reader Brown University. French Studies sponsor theses This dissertation presents and analyzes the letters that Françoise de Graffigny wrote to her long-time correspondent François-Antoine Devaux, concerning the highly successful production of her play Cénie at the Comédie-Française in 1750. It emphasizes the ambivalent responses to her fame and achievement that Graffigny confided to him in 1750-51, at the height of her career: pride, confidence, anxiety, even melancholy. It begins by examining the influence of the relationship between Graffigny and Devaux upon the content, style, and function of their letters on Cénie. Their epistolary pact, characterized by exceptional frankness and stylistic freedom, enhances the documentary interest of the letters. These provide insights into Graffigny's self-esteem and literary ambitions, her understanding of the genre larmoyant, her efforts to improve upon previous uses of the genre, and her struggles against contemporary rivals. They confirm that Graffigny developed the dramatic conflict and characters of Cénie on her own, despite consultation of literary models, professional and friendly advice, and public taste. Her accounts of other literary projects she was pursuing simultaneously, and of audience and critical reactions to her play, show her strong, consistent interest in psychological development and social predicaments of feminine characters, such as the governess. The study situates the play in Graffigny's literary production, as well as in the theory and practice of the French theater in the mid-eighteenth century. By its prose dialogue, family situations, affecting tableaus, and responsiveness to audience interests, Cénie points toward later developments in the drama. As supporting evidence, the dissertation includes a selection of letters and excerpts from volume 11 of the Correspondance de Madame de Graffigny (Oxford: Voltaire Foundation, 2007), transcribed from manuscript, edited, and annotated by the author of this study. These letters furnish a new and exceptionally rich account of the Paris theater at a time of great intellectual, aesthetic, and social change. They also depict the formidable obstacles confronting women writers entering this domain. Françoise de Graffigny French theater Cénie epistolary pact stylistic analysis of correspondence comédie larmoyante Women writersGrafigny, Mme de (Françoise d'Issembourg d'Happoncourt)1695-1758 RPB 20091218 freFrench10.7301/Z0T151WTIn CopyrightCollection is open for research.dissertations