Tragedy Walks the Streets: The French Revolution in the Making of Modern Drama by Matthew S. Buckley

Abstract

MLR, 103. I, 2oo8 235 the action toCeylon, thenovel represents an extended development of the 'Inkle and Yarigo' theme,which dates back to the seventeenth-century story of an Englishman (Inkle or Hinkle) whose lifewas saved by an Indian woman whom he then aban doned or, in some versions, sold into slavery along with his own unborn child. The introduction suggests that thenovel is tobe read as a 'Revolutionary' text (p. 14), but gives fewdetails. Most obviously, itdenounces European avarice in the shape of the protagonist, a critique that is of course specifically directed against theBritish (the Portuguese governor provides a happy contrast). This culture-versus-nature theme, for which the 'Inkle and Yarigo' story traditionally provided an illustration, ishow ever not theonly instance ofEnlightenment critique. There is a new emphasis on the secondary developments of theplot, and inparticular on the role of thepriests,whose hypocrisy provides the pretext for explicit anti-clericalism. The tribe's downfall is not the result of theEnglishman's betrayal, but of thecrimes of thehigh priest: 'Dans tous les pays de la terre, les pretres sont les artisans du crime et l'erreur' (p. II 4). Revolutionary anticlericalism thus furnishes a significant addition to thebasic senti mental andmoral plotline; another theme is the fraughtnature of revolution itself. In the temple theheroine sees horrible statues, one of them of a European man holding a firearm in one hand and an olive branch in the other, and caressing an old woman on whose forehead iswritten the singleword 'Politique', which 'survit toujours aux revolutions' (p. 5 I). This re-edition is tobe welcomed as providing a new addition to the corpus ofRevolutionary literature available for study. CHRIST CHURCH,OXFORD JENNIFER YEE Tragedy Walks theStreets: The French Revolution in the Making ofModern Drama. By MATTHEW S. BUCKLEY. Baltimore: JohnsHopkins University Press. zoo6. iX+ I91 pp.; 9 black and white illustrations. ?33.5o. ISBN 978-o-80I8-8434-4. This study explores the complex relationship between theatre and political culture during theFrench Revolution and traces the roots ofmodern European drama back to the turbulent Revolutionary events. The theatre of the French Revolution and the theatricality of theRevolution's political culture have been attracting sustained scholarly attention over the last decade or so. The originality ofMatthew S. Buck ley's account resides in his novel interpretation ofRevolutionary theatricality as the product of various practices of social and political performance, and inhis thoughtful analysis of themanner inwhich theRevolution appropriated and transformed dra matic form.The importance ofBuckley's contribution lies also inhis analysis of the British political and cultural responses to thedramatic theatricalityof theRevolutio nary years in France. Yet what makes his book unique is the study of the impact of theRevolution on the formal development ofmodern drama between I780 and i840. The firstchapter, 'The Theater of theRevolution', deals with the language and conventions ofRevolutionary theatricality. Here Buckley explores thechanging char acter of social performance and spectatorship and the rising tensions inpopular acts of political theatricality.Looking at the shift from themonarchical gaze to thepublic gaze, he locates early political theatricality inpublic expression and argues that theRe volutionaryyourn&es are the first distinct formof radical political public performance. Buckley also defines the termof 'politics of publicity' (p. 33)-the gesture, central to Revolutionary theatricality, that publicly asserts the absence of royal authority and connects pre-Revolutionary Paris to theobsession with conspiracy and denunciation during theTerror. The second chapter, 'The Drama of theRevolution', focuses on the relationship between thedrama of theFrench Revolution and socio-political revolu tionarypractice. Concentrating on theRevolution's theatrical and political represen tation,Buckley explores the manner inwhich theRevolution's political performance, 236 Reviews in its effort to gain, maintain, and undermine authority within the theatre, partici pated in thehistorical shiftfrom traditional to modern drama. The thirdchapter, 'The Revolution and British Theatrical Politics', explores the context ofBritish theatrical politics at the time of the Revolution and the reception and impact of the French Revolution's crisis of dramatic form inBritain. Taking a closer look atBritain's par liamentary rhetoric and newspaper industry at this time,Buckley focuses on Burke's dramatic discourse in his Reflections on theRevolution inFrance and on Sheridan's various activities as a celebrated orator, theatremanager, and playwright, and...