Forum for Modern Language Studies Advance Access published online on June 2, 2009
Forum for Modern Language Studies, doi:10.1093/fmls/cqp049
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"MA FORCE EST TROP PETITE": AUTHORITY AND KINGSHIP IN LE CID
Department of French and Italian
University of Kansas
Lawrence
Kansas 66045
USA
pascott{at}ku.edu
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Abstract |
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This article offers a reappraisal of the figure of the king, Don Fernand, in Corneille's Le Cid. Critics have been divided since the play's first performance on the question of whether the monarch is portrayed in a positive or an equivocal way. I contend that Corneille casts this figure in an enfeebled role, a judgement which is confirmed if the ruler is measured against the three attributes of kingship (political, military and judicial) as detailed by early modern theorists and in coronation ceremonial. In particular, his failure to resolve the internal cleavage within his fledging state and his reliance on Don Rodrigue ("Le Cid") to meet the looming threat of foreign invasion consolidate the impression of a weak king. He also compares unfavourably with his own daughter, the Infante, whose magnanimity and probity of character stand in stark contrast to her father's pedestrian and reactive personality. However, this depiction of ineptness is a purposeful one on the playwright's part: notwithstanding the sovereign's ambivalence about asserting his authority, he is ultimately confirmed in his office at the close of the play. The drama's tense and expectant atmosphere draws on contemporary spectators' experience and echoes the invasion of France by the Spanish several months earlier and Louis XIII's ongoing and often uneasy relationship with Richelieu. The play's unparalleled success is due in large measure to the portrayal of a situation and characters, in particular a fallible king, to which the audience could readily relate.
Key Words: Corneille • Le Cid • 1637 • kingship • Don Fernand • Infante • Louis XIII