Wednesday 2 May - Jessica Goodman (Worcester College) and Rosalind Holmes Duffy (Merton College)

JOINT SESSION
17.30-19:00
Massey Room, Balliol College 
Wine and Nibbles provided


Papers and discussion
In her thesis, Jess traces the career of Carlo Goldoni in relation to those of other hommes de théâtre working in Paris from the 1760s to the 1790s. In this paper, she sketched out the hierarchical structure of the four different theatres in Paris - the foire, the comédie italienne, the comédie française and the opéra – explaining that it was considered the height of a playwright’s career to have a play performed at the comédie française. Using detailed archival facts and figures, she argued that although playwrights did seek such renown, they were also motivated by commercial and financial goals, and as such, would not necessarily be deterred from having plays performed in any of the theatres. She showed that the difference in terms of performance frequency, payment of actors, ticket prices and sales between the comédie française and the comédie italienne, in particular, was much smaller than the prestige hierarchy might suggest. She thus made a convincing case for the pragmatic career trajectory of her chosen hommes de théâtre. A lively discussion followed, with questions about reviews and the bias of the press, status symbols within the theatres themselves, the social class of these playwrights and the extent to which the different theatres determined the content and genre of the plays performed. 

Rosalind's research focuses on analogies between the senses in the French Enlightenment, taking its cue from the concept of the ocular harpsichord proposed by Louis Bertrand Castel in 1725. In this paper, she discussed Castel’s 1740 l’Optique des Couleurs, a tract written against Newton’s Opticks and the latter’s application of mathematical approaches to the comprehension of the physical world. Castel argued that instead of seven distinct colours, as Newton proposed, their division was not perceptible. His tract was then heavily satirized by André-François Boureau-Deslandes in his L'Optique des Moeurs, opposée à l'optique des couleurs. Rosalind analysed some of the implications of this satire though close readings of the two texts. Her paper was met with an enthusiastic response. Questions were asked on the role of language in the mediation of the senses, whether discussion of the senses in the Enlightenment had aesthetic implications, metaphysics, and synesthesia among the Romantics.

Thanks so much to Jess and Rosalind for starting this term with such interesting and stimulating papers! And to all the attendees for their engagement and enthusiasm.

Jessica Goodman (Worcester College, Oxford) 
Mapping theatrical Paris in the 1760s: an author's-eye view

Abstract
Eighteenth-century Paris was the vibrant European capital of theatre. From the marionettes and tightrope dancers of the Boulevard, through commedia and comic opera at the Comédie-Italienne, to classical greats at the Comédie-Française and grand performances of opera at the Académie-Royale, the city offered the whole gamut of theatrical experience. But how did these theatres relate to one another? Who attended their performances, when, and why? And what did this world look like for a dramatic author, trying to forge a career in an increasingly competitive and commercial environment? This paper tracks the career trajectories of a sample of the authors working at the Comédie-Italienne in the 1760s, using their experiences to address the perception of a hierarchy of prestige in Parisian theatres, and exploring how these very different individuals negotiated the fine balance between status and economics.



Biography
Jessica is a third year DPhil student at Worcester, where she also completed her undergraduate studies in French and Italian, and her MSt in the European Enlightenment. Her thesis, under the supervision of Alain Viala, explores dramatic authorship in eighteenth-century Paris through the experiences of Carlo Goldoni, who was invited to work at the Comédie-Italienne in the 1760s. It is provisionally titled ‘A servant of two masters: Carlo Goldoni in and around the Comédie-Italienne, 1760-93’. She has recently published an article in Modern Language Notes on the subject of anonymity in the 1760s Comédie-Italienne, and she has two more articles forthcoming in the Revue d’histoire du théâtre and Littératures classiques.

http://www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk/goodman

Rosalind Holmes Duffy (Merton College, Oxford)
The Polemical Optics and Optical Polemics of 1740

Abstract
1740 saw the publication of a popular tract on optics, L'Optique des Couleurs, which argued against Newton's Opticks. Written by a powerful and controversial Jesuit scientist, Louis Bertrand Castel, it was soon ridiculed in a short satire, L'Optique des Moeurs, opposée à l'optique des couleurs, written by provincial polymath André-François Boureau-Deslandes. This paper will juxtapose close readings of passages from Boureau-Deslandes' text with corresponding passages from Castel's work, for the purposes of inspiring discussion and tracing the tensions that run through this chain of optics and polemics.


Biography
Rosalind Holmes Duffy is in the first year of a doctorate in French at Merton College, Oxford. She received a BA from Simon's Rock College in the USA and an M.St at Worcester College, Oxford. Building on her masters' dissertation, which examined references to the ocular harpsichord in Diderot's works and letters, her D.Phil project looks at analogies between the senses in the French Enlightenment.