Pixelecourt - Pixelecourt (English) René Charles Guilbert de Pixérécourt

French playwright and master of melodrama. Born into a distinguished family in Nancy. He went into exile during the French Revolution and joined the counter-revolutionary army, but a love affair led to a clash with his father, and he returned to Paris where he suffered bitter experiences. He made his debut with the comedy Les Petits Auvergnats (1797), and rose to prominence with the great success of Victor ou l'Enfant de la forêt (1798). He left behind around 110 plays, including Kerina, or the Wonder Child (1800). He based his plays on many British horror novels, and arranged the misfortunes of a young boy and a beautiful woman, the schemes of a villain, and the triumph of good into three acts of exposition, conflict, and resolution, creating a spectacle that moved the public to tears and excitement at its theater on the Boulevard (the nickname for the Temple Boulevard in the north of Paris). However, because the plot was too absurd and the characters too stereotypical, it is no longer of any use today.

[Takashi Iwase]

"An Outline of the History of French Theater" by Takashi Iwase, Hiroshi Ito, and Mie Sato (1978, Waseda University Press)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

フランスの劇作家。メロドラマの大家。ナンシーの名門に生まれる。フランス革命で亡命、反革命軍に投じたが、恋愛沙汰(ざた)から父と衝突、パリへ戻り辛酸をなめた。喜劇『オーベルニュの子ら』Les Petits Auvergnats（1797）でデビュー、『ビクトールまたは森の子』Victor ou l'Enfant de la forêt（1798）の大成功で花形となる。『ケリーナまたはふしぎな子』（1800）など約110編を残した。多くイギリスホラー小説に取材し、展示・葛藤(かっとう)・解決の三幕に、少年や美女の薄幸、悪漢のたくらみ、善の勝利を案配、スペクタクルに仕立て、ブールバール（パリ北辺のタンプル大通りの俗称）の劇場で大衆の涙と熱狂をよんだが、筋が荒唐無稽(むけい)で人物も類型的すぎ、今日では顧みられない。

［岩瀬　孝］

『岩瀬孝・伊藤洋・佐藤実枝著『フランス演劇史概説』（1978・早稲田大学出版部）』

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