Classicizing Shakespeare: Jean-Franois Ducis and the First European Adaptations
(Hardback)
Publishing Details
Classicizing Shakespeare: Jean-Franois Ducis and the First European Adaptations
By (Author) Michle Willems
Series edited by Professor Mark Thornton Burnett
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
The Arden Shakespeare
8th January 2026
United Kingdom
Classifications
Professional and Scholarly
Non Fiction
Literary studies: plays and playwrights
Physical Properties
Hardback
256
Width 138mm, Height 216mm
Description
This book explores the nature and wide-ranging impact of the work of Jean-Franois Ducis, the first adaptor of Hamlet and of 5 other Shakespeare tragedies for the French theatre.
Jean-Franois 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, tragdie imite de langlais, played at the Comdie franaise from 17691851. 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, Duciss rewritings of Shakespeares plays are analysed in the context of the expectations of 18th-century audiences bred on a diet of classical plays and influenced by Voltaires 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 Duciss case sheds further light on the rationale of the English adaptations of the previous century which shared similar reservations about the irregularities of the Shakespeares 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, Franois-Joseph Talma, Classicizing Shakespeare reveals too how collaborative practices in the theatre impact on the evolution of a text.
Author Bio
Michle Willems is Emeritus professor at the University of Rouen, France. She has published on the reception and representation of Shakespeares drama, essentially in the 18th century, and on Shakespeare on screen.
