Anti-Theatricality in the 17^th Century French Salon: On the Question of Maxim 81 of the Marquise de Sablé

This article is devoted to the analysis of aphorism 81 from the collection “Maxims” by Marquise de Sablé (1678), which offers a critique of the theatre. In the course of the research, we demonstrate that one of the versions of this maxim turns out to be identical to a fragment from B. Pascal’s “Thoughts”. The analysis examines the origins of the anti-theatricality of this salon that was adjacent to F. de La Rochefoucauld and J. Esprit, in the context of the controversy surrounding theater in French intellectual culture of the 17^th century. Along with the statement about the depravity of human nature striving for spectacle Sablé and Pascal use quite possibly under the influence of La Rochefoucauld appeals to the “amour-propre” as a human quality that is incompatible with catharsis in its traditional Aristotelian understanding.

17th Century French Literature, Maxim, Aphorism, “Thoughts”, Madeleine de Souvray Marquise de Sablé, Blaise Pascal, François de La Rochefoucauld, Polemic about the Theater