The relationship between Seneca's philosophical works and tragedies has always been a troublesome and unresolved issue: the sinister plays, so rhetorically laden that they have raised doubts about their theatrical qualities, do not neatly fit in with the philosophical writings that seem to offer clear moral advice for a good life. A. makes an interesting contribution to the thoughts on this relationship by systematically analysing visuality and theatricality in Seneca's œuvre: the book explores the image and literary technique of ‘staging’ (‘mise en scène’), i.e. representations that rely on spectacular means, using the stage as a matrix to bring about an ‘unveiling’ effect (‘dévoilement’), particularly in the representation of a character. Both elements, A. argues, are frequently employed throughout Seneca's works for the purpose of moral instruction. The book has two parts consisting of four chapters each: the first part investigates the means and applications of staging in the philosophical works, the second analyses the staging of characters and its instructive purpose in the tragedies. Since the book is rich in material, the following summary can only give a broad overview.
The first two Chapters, ‘Jugements sur le théâtre et les autres forms de spectacle’ and ‘Les images empruntées au théâtre’, examine Seneca's appraisal of theatrical genres and the images he borrows from the field of theatre in his philosophical writings. In both chapters A. traces ambivalent views on theatre: Seneca repudiates spectacles that only provide pleasure for the fools; still, he considers the powerful means of spectacle useful for moral instruction. Similarly, he does not completely reject ‘wearing a mask’ and ‘playing a role’ – theatrical images he uses to describe social behaviour and interactions – but criticises playing a role in the wrong way. A. intriguingly shows that Seneca's philosophical writings are sometimes no less theatrical than the tragedies are considered rhetorical.
The analysis of the metaphorical use of ‘staging’ is deepened in the next two chapters: Chapter 3, ‘Théâtralité de l’écriture de Sénèque’, investigates the influence of theatricality on writing, i.e. the means of representing a character in a theatrical way and evoking mental images through language. A. provides very stimulating readings of passages from the Dialogi to discuss several rhetorical devices Seneca uses, like the dramatisation of characters or the vivid account of a personal anecdote. It is, A. argues, this ‘theatrical matrix’ that serves as a framework to represent and unveil the ‘true self’.
In line with this, Chapter 4, ‘Les mises en scène du moi: le théâtre de la conscience’, offers some compelling interpretations to analyse theatricality as a means of putting oneself metaphorically on a stage. This theatricality opens up the possibility to observe oneself as one would observe a character on stage, from outside and from a distance, thus providing a tool for philosophical self-analysis and moral instruction. In a reading of Ep. 57, A. explains how Seneca exploits an autobiographical anecdote to ‘stage’ his own self and uses the Stoic notions of phantasia and energeia to illustrate his experience and inner conflict. Though the textual analysis is splendid, the conclusions drawn here are not fully convincing. A. insists on the authenticity of the experience described, concluding that this kind of investigation of the ‘true’ self requires that the letters to Lucilius are real letters. It is difficult to see why, on the one hand, the everyday theatricality in Seneca's contemporary society proves that art and life are inextricably entwined, as. A. emphasises, but on the other hand, the dividing line is supposed to be clear-cut. It must also be added that Chapters 3 and 4 would have profited from a consideration of A. Kirichenko, Lehrreiche Trugbilder. Senecas Tragödien und die Rhetorik des Sehens (2013), esp. pp. 207–48 (the book appears in the bibliography but is only mentioned in passing in Chapter 1). Kirichenko offers not only a discussion of the concepts of phantasia, energeia, ekplexis etc. in the Stoa but also develops Seneca's account of these concepts from Ep. 57, which A. chooses for the same purpose.
Turning to the tragedies, the second part of the book takes its cue from the literal meaning of ‘stage’ again. Chapter 5, ‘Des tragedies pour le “pulpitum”: effets scéniques’, discusses the much-disputed question of whether the plays were staged. A., who argues in favour of it, re-investigates Seneca's plays with regard to the visual and sound effects the contemporary stage was able to create, like fire or background noises. In several intriguing examples, A. considers how such special effects might have been used within specific scenes. Although this is not a proof for or against a staging, it is fascinating to observe how the idea can change our understanding of the text, which A. demonstrates excellently.
The next two chapters analyse the relationship between action and narration, which is crucial to Seneca's plays. After all, their lengthy descriptions and narrations have been used to argue that the tragedies are ‘Rezitationsdramen’. In Chapter 6, ‘“Agitur res in scaenis”: l'action se déroule sur la scène’, A. schematises narrations of onstage and offstage events and observes how they are embedded in the action, for example when offstage events are narrated and then transferred to action onstage. What is often considered redundant might thus be read as a staging of the narrative. In Chapter 7, ‘Renversement tragique de la grandeur épique’, A. categorises narrations according to their position and function in the plays and concludes that even specifically epic, i.e. narrative, elements are subordinated to the dramatic framework in order to portray vividly the characters’ crises and inner conflicts.
These ‘theatres of the self’ are amplified in Chapter 8, ‘Un théâtre du dévoilement des âmes’, which combines the philosophical conclusions and the observations on drama. A. shows how the plays use spectacular devices to stage characters and unveil their true selves for moral instruction: Seneca, a moralist rather than a moraliser, offers instructive showpieces with powerful scenic and visual effects that the spectators may observe and learn from. From this, A. draws the somewhat simplistic conclusion that there is no real contradiction between the philosophical and the tragic writings: he admits that there is a chance that the stulti might be taken with Atreus’ or Medea's evil grandeur but insists that, with a minimal sense of morals, it is hard to misunderstand the didactic purpose of the plays.
The book concludes with an appendix, a thorough bibliography and three useful indexes (names, cited passages, themes). The appendix contains the texts and translations of major passages that are discussed in Parts 1 and 2; these are a very welcome addition since they often give a wider context and, in the case of the tragedies, contain stage directions added by A. that form an essential part of A.’s interpretation.
The book is full of illuminating and inspiring interpretations. It advances the understanding of Seneca's works and touches on many topics that have always been crucial for Senecan scholarship. The individual readings of the passages are very compelling; however, with regard to the bigger picture, there are some shortcomings: from the beginning, the scope of interpretation is limited because all Seneca's writings, their theatricality and any aspect of staging are reduced to the purpose of moral instruction. Breaks and fissures in a text or between texts are smoothed out according to this limited focus. Although the aesthetic ambivalence is so precisely shown, it is always toned down and resolved in favour of a moral interpretation. Besides, the large scope the book covers is impressive in itself but sometimes leads to rather short descriptions of theoretical approaches that deserve deeper discussion (e.g. Goffman's frame analysis, the concept of metatheatre, or Bakhtin's dialogism) because they could inspire a more profound understanding of the texts. Nevertheless, this is an important book and a profitable read: everybody working on theatricality in Seneca's œuvre will need to consult it.
