Abstract
Conceptualization of Mores in Seventeenth-Century French Tragedy This thesis is devoted to the study of interpretations of how tragic characters should be portrayed ("mores", "ethos", "mœurs") in French seventeenth-century theories on Tragedy. The theoretical writings of Jean Chapelain, La Mesnardière, Pierre Corneille, d'Aubignac, René Le Bossu, Rapin, Saint-Évremond, Jean Racine and André Dacier are examined in detail.
Their findings are compared with the Latin and Italian commentaries on how the Aristotelian notion "character" ("éthé", "éthos") ought to be perceived and understood and what its impact is on dramatic action. The main focus is paid to the detailed analysis of very divergent and often incompatible interpretations of the four Aristotelian conditions outlined briefly in Chapter XV of Poetics and on how the French theorists and dramatists responded to Aristotle's requirements.