Structure and Dramatic Technique in Gide's Saül and Le Roi Candaule

Abstract

Two early Gide plays, Saül and Le Roi Candaule, represent a revolt against the realistic and naturalistic theater of the nineteenth century, yet they cannot be completely classified as symbolist because of Gide's insistence on the importance of psychologically particularized characters. Character is a major consideration that determines the dramatic quality, the structure, and the techniques of the plays. Saul, which bears many superficial resemblances to Shakespeare's plays, is completely dominated by the figure of the King. The play's structure reminds one of a fugue; it is more an intellectual artifice than a dramatic development. In Le Roi Candaule, as in Saül, the title figure is completely dominant to the point that other characters seem mere puppets. In each play the action hinges on a voluntary self-destructive decision made by the protagonist. But the dramatic effects are due largely to Gide's interesting, yet not always masterful, use of theatrical tricks. In spite of their obvious flaws, these plays deserve consideration as forerunners in the twentieth-century French trend toward using theater as theater to express meaningful ideas about the nature of man.