IMPROVISING VIRTUE: PERFORMATIVE MORALITY IN MOISSY'S THÉÂTRE D'ÉDUCATION

Abstract

In Les Jeux de la petite Thalie, ou petits drames, dialogues sur des proverbes (I769), Alexandre-Guillaume Mouslier de Moissy appropriated the proverbe dramatique, a popular pastime in eighteenth-century drawing-rooms, for pedagogical use with the young. This was the first volume in an ambitious three-volume work offering short dramatic pieces for all the different stages in life. Far less well known than the later theâtre d'education of Mme de Genlis and Berquin, Moissy's project of moral instruction through performance in Les Jeux de la petite Thalie was typical of the genre in its portrayal of character flaws and transgressive behaviour, but it was also innovative in that it offered the participants opportunities for improvisation, albeit well-controlled, marked by 'Impromptu' passages in the text. Moissy's recommendation was that the young 'actors' should be chosen for their resemblance to the role, so that they were playing themselves in scenarios that ultimately forced them to recognize and acknowledge their faults. This paper draws on modern theories of improvisation in drama to assess Moissy's implementation of his didactic agenda and the implications of involvement for the young participants in performances that were, in effect, rehearsals for their future in society in which the correct fulfilment of their role and the ability to improvise in word and deed from a basic moral script would be essential skills.