Space in the Theater of Marivaux: "The Faithful Wife" and "The Provincial Lady"

The present paper examines the spatial organization in two late comedies written by the famous French novelist and playwright of the 18th century Pierre de Marivaux, The Faithful Wife (1755) and The Provincial Lady (1757). Both plays seem to be rather “marginal” within the corpus of Marivaux’s works and have never been subjected to conscious scrutiny by far. Space in these comedies is analyzed at all levels, starting from their inner textual organization and ending with the “real” space of the private stage that they were destined for. The paper argues that, on the one hand, Marivaux is quite innovative in his representation of dramatic space; on the other hand, he “plays” with the contemporary literary tradition as well as with the ancient one. Moreover, some important features of the first half of the 18th century are polemically reflected in both The Faithful Wife and The Provincial Lady. Finally, the present piece of research highlights the singularity of Marivaux’s style and the importance of the “play element” in it.