The Triumph of Publicity

Molière’s extraordinary success between 1659 and 1673 was due not only to his virtuosity as a dramatist, his comic talent or his exploitation of current affairs; it was due also to his feeling for an ‘event’ and his ability to capture attention. This contribution studies his unprecedented investment in publicity, which mobilised a multitude of forms and mediums, as well as its reliance on a network of agents with varied motivations. Literary history has long tried to distinguish between Molière’s friends and enemies by relying on their praise or criticism of him. This contribution studies them rather as agents who, depending on the context, opportunity and their own interests, sometimes acted for and sometimes against Molière, without this indicating either personal enmity or ties of affection.

Aesthetics · Affection · Art · Comics · Context (archaeology) · Criticism · Feeling · Literature · Multitude · Political science · Praise · Publicity · French Literature and Criticism · Historical and Literary Studies · History · Law · Psychology · Renaissance Literature and Culture · Social Psychology