the type but also the continuous adjustments by tragedians. Beginning with the turbulent context of early seventeenth-century French politics, the author points out the stark contrast between the reenactment of violent punishment in humanist tragedy (late sixteenth century) and the transition to less graphic displays of royal judgments (20, 47, 51). This judgment typically centers on a trial scene, at first a static convention, but developing into "the only basis for the survival of a nobleman-hero" (132). Furthermore, Bilis analyzes the royal judge to cast light on bienséance and the rules of tragedy. She reminds us that the royal decision is a performance (11). Bilis contests other studies that assume the royal judge disappears in tragedy, proving the role is fulfilled by anyone to whom the other characters look for a legal decision. This conclusion is supported by a close reading of Rotrou's Crisante (154). Bilis concludes that these tragedians are doomed to failure in their endeavor to stage a completely dignified king. Yet this failure leads to their great artistic success (203). Finally, this character type neither subverts nor reinforces power; it reproduces the values of the dominant class (202). This book is an excellent addition to scholarship on both humanist and classical French theater.
Upon the birth of the Spanish prince Baltasar Carlos in 1629, Spanish subjects feasted and put on pageants and processions in celebration. Numerous relaciones, or official reports, recounted the responses to the royal birth in the court cities of Madrid and Lima. Although the authors of these relaciones sought to project royal power, they also alluded to the ways in which local experiences, rank, race, and the particular aims of Spanish subjects complicated their imperial identities and their performances of loyalty. Subjects were not merely spectators; they were also participants and actors in these festivals. By performing loyalty to the new prince, people in court cities advanced their own corporate and individual agendas. In the process, they rewrote their relationships to the crown and each other.
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