A Satirical Representation of Domesticity in Jean Genet's The Good Ones

Extract

[...] Introduction - A denouement scene where poisoning and death are discussed. - A complex construction due to identity exchanges, imitations, and role reversals that complicate understanding. - A scene that is therefore symbolic. Problematic: to what extent does this excerpt take up the codes of classical tragedy to propose a satirical and subversive vision of domesticity and bourgeois codes? I. A parody of tragedy. A. A scene of tragic appearance. 1. A poisoning scene. a. Poison, a tragic device par excellence. [...]

[...] Here, the theatre seems to propose a mise en abyme of itself, to the limit of self-representation. III. A theatre of mise en abyme A. A staging . of staging 1. Spectator characters a. « Claire [ . ] listens to her sister b. A forbidden word Claire imposes silence on her sister 'don't talk not'. The characters are in turn reduced to silence. 2. An inverted representation Solange declaims her first line 'back to the public' In fact, her sister who is listening ends up herself being part of the public. B. [...]

[...] A theatre that combines points of view and events c. The characters rename themselves . The characters modify their identities: 'We are Miss Solange Lemercier. The famous Lemercier.' The character is talking about their own reputation. d. ?and seem to be aware that they are playing a role The role reversals between Claire and Solange are the characters: we observe a theatre within the theatre. To the point that Solange herself describes an imaginary audience from the end of her first monologue: 'they are cheering for me'. [...]

[...] ?pretext for a social representation c. Representation of the social order The anaphora in 'come first / come second' gives a faithful idea of the social hierarchy of the procession. B. ? more marked by an absurd coloring 1. Characters who merge a. Shared roles The two sisters seem interchangeable since Claire gives herself orders while imitating the voice of her mistress ('Madame's voice'). b. A progressive fusion The scene begins with inversions of names and roles and ends with a nearly total fusion of the two sisters: 'don't forget that you carry me in you'. [...]

[...] A paradoxical repetition of a funeral A. A description of a funeral 5. A funeral scene a. A fictional funeral The funeral described by Solange is fictional in that the two sisters eventually gave up on killing their mistress. As a result, the scene described does not indicate who is being buried: we gradually move from the third person ('the executioner') the suit of close-up) to the first person ('the executioner rocks me'). Everything happens as if this line gave us a glimpse of Solange's transformation into Madame. [...]