La relation amoureuse dans le théâtre de Jean Giraudoux : Entre mémoire et oubli
Love Relationships in Jean Giraudoux’s Theatre: Between Memory and Oblivion

Summary/Abstract: In Jean Giraudoux’s theatre the individual is always perceived within the context of the couple, where one defines and discovers oneself through one’s partner. The memory/oblivion dichotomy is perceived as a dominating force, that haunts and obsesses the lovers: sometimes disturbing, other times reassuring, oblivion is perceived as a shelter, where lovers manage to live their love hidden and protected. The couple is constructed on the theatrical stage through amorous discourse focusing on an idealized past, on a happiness forever lost. Ιn light of Nietzsche’s philosophy –which cancels a linear temporality and advocates the eternal return of things – the author creates in his plays a life where lovers, defying time and death, celebrate their humanness and their freedom. In Giraudoux’s dramatic world, the couple is not just a trivial reality that disappoints the human being. Through various games involving remembrance or forgetting, the playwright creates a love utopia that allows lovers to escape a sad and disappointing reality and to remain eternal on stage.

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