Twentieth - Century Theatre

Downloaded: 29 May 2012 IP address: 148.88.176.155 strates how the French language manuals of the period were aimed primarily at English merchants obliged to travel abroad to trade. Through their presentation of language in situations, the manuals provide an admirable guide to contemporary commercial customs. The bulk of the book, though, is taken up with a detailed examination of the bargain scenes from Pathelin and he Nouveau Pathelin, designed to show how these can be more fully understood by a knowledge of the economic conditions, rituals, and practices outlined thus far. The work concludes with a study of the gender bargain. Here, Collingwood explores similarities between the negotiation of commercial contracts and popular customs of marriage and betrothal, going on to demonstrate how this can add to our understanding of the farce. This section was fascinating but all too brief. Indeed, I found the book somewhat unbalanced overall, and would have preferred rather less on the Pathelin plays and more on the lesserknown farces. Also, the author's application of the old lecturing technique of telling us what she is going to tell us, telling us, and then telling us what she has told us was a little irritating. These, though, are minor quibbles, and generally I found this an enormously interesting book which left me eager to find out more, both about the plays themselves and the period of which they were a product.