Jean-François Casimir Delavigne
Jean-François Casimir Delavigne (1793-1843) was a notable French dramatist and litterateur, recognized primarily by specialists in French literature today. During the early nineteenth century, he was considered a literary peer to prominent figures like Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas, père. Delavigne produced fourteen plays from 1820 until his untimely death in 1843, marking a significant transition in French theater by blending classical styles with emerging Romantic themes. Born in Le Havre to a wealthy family, he was well-educated and gained early recognition for his writings. His works, particularly "Trois Messéniennes" and "Deux Messéniennes," established him as a respected literary figure and enabled him to secure various librarian positions, including one for the Duc d'Orléans, later King Louis Philippe.
Despite his successes, Delavigne faced challenges, including two rejections from the Académie Française before finally being admitted in 1825. His plays, often referred to as those of the "pseudoclassicists," retained classical structures while exploring romantic content and innovative techniques. He navigated the censorship of his era by situating his narratives in exotic locales, thereby avoiding direct criticism of contemporary authorities. Delavigne's legacy is evident in the multiple editions of his complete works published posthumously, reflecting his lasting impact on French literature and theater.
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Jean-François Casimir Delavigne
Poet
- Born: April 11, 1793
- Birthplace: Le Havre, France
- Died: December 11, 1843
Biography
Although his name is recognized today mostly by specialists in French literature, Jean-François Casimir Delavigne was, in the early nineteenth century, considered the literary equal of such writers as Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas, père. In a lifetime that spanned less than fifty years, Delavigne saw the production of fourteen of his plays between 1820 and 1843, the year of his death.
Living as the Romantic movement in literature was reaching its zenith and causing some consternation among readers and theater- goers accustomed to the classical style, Delavigne, in his comedies and tragedies, marked the shift from the classicism of the late eighteenth century to the Romanticism of the early twentieth century. He did so by preserving the best of the formal and stylistic classical traditions in his literary style, therefore not discomfiting his audiences.
Delavigne was born in Le Havre in the north of France into the family of an affluent businessman. He received his early education at the Lycée Napoleon, attending school with his older brother, Germain, who was his frequent collaborator. Some of Delavigne’s writing from this early period was noticed by Count François de Nante who, impressed by it, arranged for the young man to take a position in his court.
Following the enthusiastic reception of his Trois Messéniennes, sur les malheurs da la France and Deux Messéniennes: Ou, Élégies sur la vie et la more de Jeanne d’Arc, both published in 1818 when Delavigne was just twenty-five, the young man was appointed librarian at the Chancellery. He later became librarian to the Duc d’Orléans, who subsequently became King Louis Philippe.
Despite the success of his writing and his connections in high places, Delavigne was twice denied membership in the prestigious Académie Française. In 1825, when he was still only thirty-two, however, he was admitted to that august body. By that time, three of his plays had been produced in Paris, and he had published fifteen books.
The group of playwrights with whom Delavigne is usually associated was usually referred to as the pseudoclassicists because the content of their plays was clearly romantic, despite the stylistic elements they retained from the classical period. The early plays, whose subject matter was drawn essentially from historical sources, preserved the classical unities of time, action, and place. Delavigne’s later plays tended to be more daring in their use of such innovative techniques as exotic settings and historical spectacle. He worked around the censorship laws of his day by situating the action of his later plays in far-away places so that he could not be accused of taking aim satirically at local authorities.
Several editions of the complete works of Jean-François Casimir Delavigne were published in his lifetime, but three years after he died, a six-volume edition of his complete works including plays, poetry, and other works, was published. This edition was revised, enlarged, and reissued in 1855. In 1870, yet another complete edition, this one in four volumes, was published and spoke to the continued regard in which Delavigne was held.