Paul Claudel's saintly solution: The life of 'L'Annonce faite a Marie'.

摘要

This dissertation details how Paul Claudel passes biographical information through the filter of fiction, and achieves a distinctive understanding of one of the most inscrutable figures in French literature. For Paul Claudel, fiction and life writing were not mutually exclusive. He claimed that a poet devotes his life to both the creation of fiction and the search for his true self. Claudel considered his plays to be adaptable, and desired them to evolve organically over the course of his lifetime. L'Annonce faite a Marie, described by the poet as the drama that dominated his existence, exemplifies this conception of literature. Fifty-six years of Claudel's life were devoted to the revision of this one work, which exists in four distinct versions.;The first chapter takes a biographical approach, analyzing the conception of the first version of La Jeune Fille Violaine (1892). The dissertation then enumerates the alterations made with each avatar of the play, investigating the motivations behind each of the modifications. The second chapter addresses the second version of La Jeune Fille Violaine (1901) and Claudel's insertion of himself into the action, as well as his musings on artistic creation. In analyzing L'Annonce faite a Marie (1911), the third chapter explores the transformation of the drama into a medieval mystery play, focusing on Claudel's hagiographical source readings that influenced the development of the work. Chapter four's discussion of the Act IV variant (1938) examines the significance of the Father's return, which occludes the presence of the architect. The fifth chapter then explains the omnipresence of Camille Claudel in the drama, and her role as Paul Claudel's double. The establishment of the Version Definitive (1948) constitutes Claudel's last attempt at unifying his self. Paul Claudel creates a work that is not written linearly but rather evolves in tandem with its creator. The superposition of the various versions of L'Annonce faite a Marie provides insight into Claudel's creative methods and clarifies his goals for the drama.