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How Francophile were early modern English playwrights?
An introductory word of caution
The following study is based on results which are far from definitive. These results were obtained through a number of specific database searches which were performed in December 2004. Yet the 2025 version of the database contains slightly more plays and allusions. So, the figures given here are not totally accurate and only indicate trends. New tests will have to be performed at a later stage to see how the figures have evolved. Our work is still in progress and updates will be needed every time new plays are added.
Bearing this in mind, there are still a number of partial conclusions which can be reached. One of these is that, of all the plays which our team has examined, only a minority is set wholly or partly in France. This in itself is not surprising, but it is this small number of plays which often produces a wealth of allusions.
The different types of allusions
As far as allusions to France are concerned, over 90% of these are the result of verbal exchange. Only 11% of allusions stem from stage business, entrances and exits of characters in particular. Stage properties, music and costume produce a very limited number of allusions. This again is not much of a surprise if we remember the importance of language and rhetoric on the early modern stage (sets also tended to be relatively bare).
If we turn now to the topic of these allusions, the figures are immediately revealing. Indeed, French characters (either historical or fictional) are by far the most frequent topics of the allusions (49.5%) - whether these characters be actually on stage or not. Then, we have French words (30.5%), which shows that French language was used fairly frequently in the corpus we have studied. A number of topics are almost on a par: references to French history (23.5%), to France as a nation (19.9%), to the geography of France or to French place names (18.1%). Surprisingly, references to sex or sexuality are not so frequent in the allusions to France - they represent a mere 3.6% of allusions. Even less common are references to French ideas and beliefs (2.8%). As has been suggested, these figures may still evolve, but for the moment it seems that France is represented primarily through allusions to French characters and that the presence of French language in plays studied so far is not at all negligible.
Let's study now the tone of these allusions to France. What is striking from the outset is the number of neutral allusions to France (25% of allusions). Also striking is the epic tone of 20% of the allusions. This can be explained partly by the high number of history plays currently in the database. In these plays France is often portrayed as a warring nation and as a result the country acquires a dimension well beyond the ordinary, or indeed the intimate.
A few surprises...
The real surprise, however, is the number of friendly allusions to France, which reaches 20%. We must not jump immediately to conclusions, but try to see how this fits into the wider picture. A good way of doing this is to classify the tones of the allusions and set them on a scale - with the negative tones on the left and the positive tonalities on the right. Let's examine the various tonalities on the following graph:
Graph of the various tones recorded in the allusions to France (figures in%)
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If we look at the graph we can notice the high level of neutral allusions (cf. peak in the middle). We can also notice that levels are fairly high on the far sides of the graph (the very negative and very positive tones) - friendliness just about dominates, nonetheless. Be that as it may, the negative tones remain quite high overall, especially mocking allusions (cf. the 15% peak), as well as irony. There is little sarcasm, however. Moreover, France is not the subject of much pathos on early modern stages. The level goes up a little on flattery, but the most spectacular rise is on friendly allusions.
How should we interpret these figures? For the moment, we can only say that France seems to be primarily represented in a neutral fashion in a substantial number of passages, that the extremes are quite dominant, that negative tones are certainly quite high, but that friendly allusions tend to fare better. This already dismisses a few clichés about how France was perceived on early modern English stages.
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