Françoise Pascal’s ‘Agathonphile martyr, tragi-comédie’

Written at the end of the Counter Reformation, Françoise Pascal’s first play, Agathonphile martyr, tragi-comédie (1655), is an important transitional piece, marking the passage from religious drama as a moralizing device to that of a diversion, prompted by the growing influence of the société mondaine in Lyon. In her introduction, Kennedy examines how this play is characterized by a unique merging of two genres; the tragicomedy and the martyr play. This play also merits our attention in terms of new female characterization. Kennedy demonstrates how Pascal’s female martyr Triphine diverges from the traditionally "cold-hearted" female martyr, as an independent thinker who speaks her heart, proclaiming the virtues of 'constant' love.