Jean Cocteau, comment être grand en étant minoritaire
Jean Cocteau and the Death

Author(s): Miroslava Novotná
Subject(s): Theatre, Dance, Performing Arts, Studies of Literature, Film / Cinema / Cinematography
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
Keywords: Jean Cocteau; death; theatre; poetry; mort; théâtre; film; poésie
Summary/Abstract: During all his life Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) was facing death. The death has been taking away his best friends so often and harshly that the death necessarily had become one of the most important, if not directly the principal, figures of his works (the movies The Death of Poet, Orfeus, The Testament of Orfeus, theatre plays Bacchus, Antigona, Evil Machine and others). Perhaps that is the reason why Cocteau all his life was seeking ways how to draw close to death, how to include it into his poetic imagery. The Death as a character in his works tends to be Noblewoman, Princess, a beautiful woman who loves the poet and tries to do everything possible to draw close to him.In this paper we deal with the personality of death (The Death) mainly in author´s theatre and film creation, the psychologic-literatural essence of the Death, its influence on author´s creative attitudes.The work and the life of Cocteau always rose many reactions full of contradiction. But it is indisputable that today Cocteau´s work is accepted more positively than during his life. In the Czech ambient just a fragment of his vast literatural work is known.

• Details
• Contents