Une anatomie du sacrifice dans le théâtre d'Edward Albee et de Michel Marc Bouchard

Abstract

An Anatomy of Sacrifice in Plays by Edward Albee and Michel Marc Bouchard analyses the potential interpretations and intelligibility of sacrifices performed in a modern, secular context. The guiding question of this work has been how to interpret the apparent gestures of sacrifice presented inside dramas and as semiotic representations of sacrifice before an audience. The confirmed hypothesis of this study is that the central sacrifice presented in each play is intelligible to the degree that it implies a sense of a religious or sacred code. The dramas of the corpus include The Zoo Story and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee, as well as Les feluettes ou la répétition d'un drame romantique and L'histoire de l'oie by Michel Marc Bouchard. Although neither Bouchard nor Albee is known for being explicitly religious, the analysis of the plays of the corpus demonstrates the significance of their frequent use of images or motifs of sacrifice. The thesis also provides research into the history of sacrifice and reflection on related theories by scholars such as Terry Eagleton, P. Bottinelli and Georges Bataille. The work concludes that sacrifice in each of the dramas is a means of exchange wherein a precious or cherished object is surrendered in favour of a higher value which, while remaining ultimately indeterminate, through the performance of the sacrifice takes on an aura of the sacred.