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Special Features Index  

 
Spotlight French Theater Part 1
 
French-Speaking Theater, which has a long history of depicting male and female homosexuals and exploring the complexities of homosexual life, has been and remains an important instrument of liberation.

This spotlight is the first installment in a two-part series. Click here to view Part 2.
 
Jean Genet
Jean Genet, chronicler of outcasts, lost
causes, and the underworld.
 
 
Honoré de BalzacHonoré de Balzac (1799-1850) was one of the masters of French nineteenth-century fiction who provocatively includes both lesbian and gay male characters in his novels. Though remembered primarily for his fiction, Balzac was also an accomplished playwright.
 
 
Sarah BernhardtSarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) was the most famous actress of her time. The theatrical superstar scandalized and titillated Paris by wearing pants, taking men's roles in some of her plays, and having numerous love affairs, some with women.
 
 
Hélène Cixous (b. 1937), an influential Algerian-born French feminist theorist and experimental novelist and dramatist, celebrates female homoeroticism and feminist solidarity.
 
 
Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) was an outspoken homosexual and a prolific poet, novelist, critic, essayist, artist, playwright, and filmmaker. Cocteau was also a mentor who nurtured the careers of others, including especially actor Jean Marais.
 
 
Colette (1873-1954) is remembered today as one of France's most beloved authors. Her novels address male and female homosexuality and bisexuality with a frankness that was exceptional for her time. Though the novel was the literary form that made her famous, Colette also penned several plays.
 
 
Marie Dorval (1798-1849) was a popular nineteenth-century French actress who enjoyed an intense romantic friendship with the writer George Sand that fueled much speculation among Parisian gossips of the time, as well as among later biographers and historians.
 
 
Jean Genet (1910-1986) was an openly homosexual French novelist and playwright who saw homosexuality, criminality, and other kinds of marginality as a revolt against entrenched power.
 
 
Photo Credits: The photograph of Jean Genet courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. The image of Honoré de Balzac is adapted from a drawing by L. Boulanger.
 
 
quiz: French Theater
         
    Click here to test your knowledge of queer French Theater and playwrights from Honoré de Balzac to Michel Tremblay.
 
   
     Recommended Reading    
     
           Spotlight: French Theater Part 1 (above)
           Spotlight: French Theater Part 2

 
   
 

 
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