THE INFLUENCE OF FRENCH ROMANTIC THEATRE ON ÉRIC-EMMANUEL SCHMITT'S DRAMATURGY IN THE PLAY LE BOULEVARD DU CRIME

Abstract

The article explores the influence of French Romantic theatre on the dramaturgy of ÉricEmmanuel Schmitt, focusing primarily on his play Frédérick ou le Boulevard du Crime. The study traces how the playwright combines the traditions of the nineteenth century with the aesthetics of modern philosophical theatre, creating a space where art becomes a means of self-discovery. At the centre of the analysis is Frédérick Lemaître — an actor and romantic rebel who also becomes a victim of his own passion for acting. Through this character, Schmitt reveals the main features of Romantic poetics: improvisation, contrast, and the inner conflict between ideal and reality.

The article highlights intertextual links with the dramas of Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, and Alfred de Musset, where motifs of artistic freedom, individuality, and resistance to social conventions are clearly visible. The melodramatic nature of the play is emphasized — it merges irony, sincerity, and philosophical reflection. Schmitt’s work is both a hymn to the theatre and a confession of the artist who seeks himself amid roles, transformations, and doubts.

Frédérick ou le Boulevard du Crime thus appears as a poetic bridge between Romanticism and modernity, between historical memory, spiritual experience, and the living energy of art.