Subverting the Script: Female Playwrights and the Fluidity of Gender and Class in 18th-Century France

Abstract

This thesis explores how gender and marriage are depicted in 18th-century pre-revolutionary French theaters written by women. While conventional tropes of arranged marriage and forbidden love permeate the period's theater, this study highlights a focus on gender inversion and female autonomy within the selected corpus. By analyzing the works of Barbier, Graffigny, and Benoist, the research demonstrates how Enlightenment values were interpreted through a gendered lens, resulting in fluid portrayals of behavior, emotion, and kinship systems. Furthermore, by expanding the scope beyond public stages to include private theatrical spheres, this thesis reveals how female dramatists utilized the public nature of theater to challenge social norms. Ultimately, these works facilitate a critical dialogue on the evolution of gendered identity and the subversive potential of early modern female authorship.