Théâtre en liberté and the tyranny of hunger in Victor Hugo’s play mangeront-ils?

Abstract

In Théâtre en liberté, a collection of plays written from 1865 to 1869, Victor Hugo revitalizes his representation of the poor and marginalized that marked his earlier plays and perseveres in his criticism of the powers of the monarchical authority. V. Hugo, in exile during Napoleon III’s rule, constructs a second phase of his dramaturgical project. This paper presents some elements of the historical and artistic context of such a project, highlighting aspects that relate to V. Hugo’s social art, which depicts the people and the social injustices that consolidated in the second half of the 19th century. Our analysis of Mangeront-ils? reveals the theatrical procedures particular to a satirical comedy that portrays the role of the oppressed in a possible reversion of the state of misery and monarchical tyranny. We verify, secondarily, how the author’s formal innovations distance it from classical theatre’s genres and contemporary forms of theatre but also dialogue with them.