Tuesday 24th April

5.15-6.30pm, All Soul's College, Hovenden Room 

Olivia Madin (Wadham) - Frolicks and «frotterie»: Staging Rabelais in the French Court (1628-1643)

The early seventeenth-century saw the production and performance of two ‘ballets de cour’ inspired by Rabelais’ work: Le Ballet des Andouilles (1628) and Le Ballet de la Sibylle de Panzoust (1643). These two ballets, which exist now in the form of their accompanying scripts, drew on and adapted episodes from Rabelais’ work. What is particularly interesting about them, however, is that both ballets specifically address a predominantly female audience, employing the language of secrecy, temptation and moderation in order to guide women in their interaction with Rabelais’ text. Much like the rest of the evidence surrounding Rabelais’ reception amongst women in early modern France, these ballets have been neglected by criticism. Such instances of re-appropriation not only help us to re-examine the history of Rabelais’ reception, but also help us to reconsider the rhetoric of gender in Rabelais’ original text.

'Graduate Students Anonymous': A roundtable Q&A