City Play - Ichinoshibai

...He made his literary fame by publishing a work of the same name, which he called a translation of Velez de Guevara's rogue novel, The Lame Devil, but which was in fact a liberal adaptation of the original novel. In addition to novels, he also wrote plays, such as the Commedia dell'arte-style Crispin, the Tactics of Love, and the more realistic Turcaré, for the Paris fairs (théâtre de la Foire, popular theatres set up in venues where fairs were held, in opposition to the government-sponsored theatres such as the Comédie-Française), depicting the cunning of the masses during the period of their ascent. However, Lesage's most famous work is undoubtedly "The Story of Gilles Brass," in which the optimistic Gilles Brass, who shows unyielding vitality and never gives up, goes through a turbulent adventure and finally rises to success. It is the first masterpiece of modern French realistic fiction, which is not a rogue novel but even contains elements of a literary novel.

*Some of the terminology used in reference to "city theater" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…そしてベレス･デ･ゲバラの悪漢小説《跛（びつこ）の悪魔》の翻訳という触れ込みで，実は原作を自由に換骨奪胎した同名の作品で一躍文名を高めた。小説ばかりではなく，劇作にも手を染め，パリの〈市（いち）の芝居Théâtre de la Foire〉(コメディ･フランセーズなど官立の劇団に対抗して，定期市の立つ場所に小屋掛けした民衆的な芝居)のために，コメディア･デラルテ風の《クリスパン，主人と恋の立て引き》，あるいは一段と写実色の強い《テュルカレ》といった喜劇を作り，上昇期の民衆の悪知恵を描き出した。しかしルサージュの代表作は，なんといっても《ジル･ブラース物語》で，何事にもめげぬ旺盛な活力を示す楽天主義者ジル･ブラースが，波乱万丈の冒険を経てついには立身出世するという，悪漢小説とは似て非なる，教養小説的要素さえ含んだ，近代フランス写実小説最初の傑作である。…

※「市の芝居」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報