Classicizing Shakespeare

This book explores the nature and wide-ranging impact of the work of Jean-Francois Ducis, the first adaptor of Hamlet and of 5 other Shakespeare tragedies for the French theatre.

Jean-Francois Ducis (1733-1816) was pivotal in introducing French and European audiences to Shakespeare's plays on the stage. Despite Ducis being unable to read English, it was through his adaptations of Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, King John and Macbeth that theatre-goers first encountered Shakespeare's work. His Hamlet, tragedie imitee de l'anglais, played at the Comedie francaise from 1769-1851. It was the first representation of Shakespeare on a French stage and was translated into a number of European languages along with some of the other tragedies he adapted.

In this book, Ducis's rewritings of Shakespeare's plays are analysed in the context of the expectations of 18th-century audiences bred on a diet of classical plays and influenced by Voltaire's ambivalent reception of the dramatist.

Within the wider picture of the European representation of Shakespeare on the stage from 1660 to 1850, the study of Ducis's case sheds further light on the rationale of the English adaptations of the previous century which shared similar reservations about the 'irregularities' of the Shakespeare's works. Willems' rich contextual study demonstrates why the translations of his own 'imitations' were instrumental in exporting Shakespeare all over the Continent. Through attention to the professional relationship with the renowned actor, Francois-Joseph Talma, Classicizing Shakespeare reveals too how collaborative practices in the theatre impact on the evolution of a text.