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 article aims to retrace and examine both the reception of Picard's dramatic work in theaters and critics as well as the reactions and responses of Picard himself to criticism. It is a question of showing how the reception of the dramatic work of Picard goes through three stages by insisting on the desire of the playwright to clarify all the misunderstandings and to justify his choices and his methods, with the aim of ensuring a good reading of all of Picard's theater set. This reading is not possible without understanding Picard's prefaces. These prefaces shed light on the true message of the playwright without distortion or deception.