La Farce de Calbain is a refreshing respite from the repetition of spousal abuse in many of the other farces of the period. The wife wants a new dress because up until this point she has been wearing rags, but every time that she asks her husband for money, he responds in song. She seeks advice and is told that she should drug her husband so that while he is asleep, she can steal his purse. He awakes, discovering the robbery and demands his wife to return his money. However, she responds in turn by singing. He threatens to beat her, but she declares that she will leave him, bringing him to apologize and soften his ways. This is one of the common comic devices of farce, that the deceiver is deceived. Here, it is remarkable to see the woman taking control of the man's tools and using them against him in order to succeed. Whereas other wives are described and conniving, licentious, and controlming, this wife is portrayed as perfectly reasonable and justified in her actions, bringing a bit of balance back to the marital relationship which is nonexistant in other farces.
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Jennifer KellettM.A. French Literature Florida State University Archives
June 2021
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