Abstract :

Louis-Benoît Picard (1769-1828) engaged himself, since 1812, in revising his plays, arranging them in order and justifying them with prefaces expressing his ideas and principles. These (later) prefaces are rich in analysis, judgment and reflection, and represent ideas relating to comedy and the talent of the playwright. The object of this research is to explain how Picard used his prefaces as a doctrinal corpus of his dramatic production. To do this, we will analyze the various prefaces of Picard to identify the precise principles of his comedy and his theater in general.

This study aims to clarify the concept of illusion and try to explain the interplay between appearance and truth in an attempt to highlight the transformation of illusion into disappointment in Louis-Benoît Picard’s 1801 play The Little City. Picard’s heroes, as in almost all of his dramatic works, oscillate between two situations: the inherited and preconceived appearance (illusion) and the discovered and experienced reality (disappointment). This may be a constant doubt about the reality of appearances. This article attempts to explain these two positions established by the playwright in the play so that this duality pushes us to concretize our imagination to put an end to our misleading prejudices.