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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. |
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Jean Genet, chronicler of outcasts, lost
causes, and the underworld. |
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 Honoré 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. |
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 Sarah
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. |
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Hélène Cixous
(b. 1937), an influential Algerian-born French feminist theorist and
experimental novelist and dramatist, celebrates female
homoeroticism and feminist solidarity.
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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