This study is the first to examine in a systematic manner the image of childhood that emerges from one of the earliest manifestations of juvenile literature, the eighteenth-century French théâtre d'éducation. As cultivated by a dozen or so authors between 1769 and 1800, it was a sub-genre intended to amuse as well as instruct, a stage not only with children but for children. In creating what is perhaps the most important literary image of childhood in their era, these dramatists relied not only on their adult visualizations, but also on the optimistic vision of an age affected by new moral and sentimental demands. Thus they were able to translate their belief in the vital, dynamic quality of youth into an almost pervasive concept: the inherent goodness of children and their ability to perceive the true nature of the world.
"This work provides a unique and trenchant evaluation and collaboration of contemporary attitudes towards children's education in 18th-century European as well as French society. It is written in Davis' inimitable and lucid style." (Allen H. Chappel, University of New Orleans)
"Little has been done on the children's theatre in France, and Professor Davis has undertaken its first systematic investigation. Besides discussing authors like Mme de Genlis and Berquin, who are rather well known, he considers some important minor figures like Saint-Marc and Mme de la Fite... I found it particularly informative and thoroughly enjoyable." (Julie Greer Johnson, University of Georgia)
"This unique study identifies thirteen authors who between 1769 and 1800 wrote plays which were both for children and which were intended to be presented by juvenile actors... It is indeed a most worthwhile endeavor to have brought to light these heretofore rather neglected texts which contribute considerably to our understanding of the image of the child by Rousseau's contemporaries and successors in the century credited with restoring childhood to children." (Roseann Runte, Glendon College, French Review)
"This is a worthy and workman-like book, subjecting to descriptive analysis a theatrical sub-genre which required an historian for the simple reason that it was largely unknown territory." (R.Waller, Century Studies)
"Little has been done on the children's theatre in France, and Professor Davis has undertaken its first systematic investigation. Besides discussing authors like Mme de Genlis and Berquin, who are rather well known, he considers some important minor figures like Saint-Marc and Mme de la Fite... I found it particularly informative and thoroughly enjoyable." (Julie Greer Johnson, University of Georgia)
"This unique study identifies thirteen authors who between 1769 and 1800 wrote plays which were both for children and which were intended to be presented by juvenile actors... It is indeed a most worthwhile endeavor to have brought to light these heretofore rather neglected texts which contribute considerably to our understanding of the image of the child by Rousseau's contemporaries and successors in the century credited with restoring childhood to children." (Roseann Runte, Glendon College, French Review)
"This is a worthy and workman-like book, subjecting to descriptive analysis a theatrical sub-genre which required an historian for the simple reason that it was largely unknown territory." (R.Waller, Century Studies)