Mara Fazio, “Voltaire contro Shakespeare”, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2020. – Discussion edited by Vincenzo De Santis

Abstract

~ Pierre Frantz ~
Voltaire contre Shakespeare. Un paradoxe de l’histoire du théâtre
Mara Fazio’s book Voltaire contro Shakespeare explores a paradox in the history of the theatre: how is it possible that the very person who introduced Shakespeare in France should have turned away from him so violently? Mara Fazio sheds new light on this question, a light that is doubly external to the French literary space: her point of view is marked by the history of the theatre, on the one hand, and by its roots in the Italian university and in European culture, on the other. The critical Voltaire is in the foreground, perhaps to the detriment of the dramatic poet Voltaire. The author’s choice was undoubtedly to analyse the critical debate, and to place Voltaire’s reflections within the wider debate on European theatrical models.

~ Massimo Bacigalupo ~
Voltaire teatrante e polemista alle soglie del moderno
Mara Fazio’s study Voltaire contro Shakespeare takes a close look at Voltaire’s long quarrel with Shakespeare, whom he discovered in England, to some extent stole from in his own tragedies, and attacked with increasing fury as the Plays began to be translated and praised in continental Europe. Voltaire claimed that tragedy should not be modernized but should preserve the decorum and unities of Corneille and Racine, and that a mountebank like Shakespeare could never be compared to the great French tragedians. Fazio’s richly documented study allows readers to appreciate Voltaire’s personality in its cultural and social context. Voltaire was a precursor of modernity not as a tragedian but as a formidable satirist.

~ Mara Fazio ~
Raccontare un dettaglio della vita di Voltaire

As a theatre historian, I chose a theatrical angle to narrate a detail in Voltaire’s life, his encounter with and later attack against Shakespeare. This subject is strictly related to one of my main fields of research: the comparison between different cultures and world views.
My approach is not aesthetic or literary: I was interested in Voltaire as an individual, an actor, and as a versatile, egocentric histrionic figure, more than as a playwright and poet. Voltaire discovered Shakespeare in his youth while exiled in England, a country he fell in love with, while his relationship with France was troubled. When he attacked Shakespeare, he was an old writer, read and admired throughout Europe. At this date, France’s cultural supremacy was called into question, and it became essential for Voltaire (even an obsession) to protect its prestige.