Philippe Destouches

Destouches, Philippe 

(pseudonym of P. Néricault). Born Apr. 9, 1680, in Tours; died July 4, 1754, at the Fortoiseau Castle, near Melun, department of Seine-et-Marne. French playwright. Member of the Academic Françhise from 1723.

Destouches wrote comedies of character, such as The Ungrateful One (1712), The Slanderer (1715), and The Squanderer (1736; Russian translation, 1789). His best comedy, The Braggart (1732), ridicules aristocratic conceit. Destouches followed the classical poetics of N. Boileau; however, in his late plays the comic element is much weaker and “sentimental” scenes appear. Destouches assailed class prejudices in a series of comedies, including The Married Philosopher (1727; Russian translation, 1827) and Insincere Agnes (published, 1736; staged, 1759; Russian translation, 1764).

WORKS

Oeuvres dramatiques, vols. 1–10. Paris, 1755–58.
Oeuvres dramatiques, vols. 1–6. Paris, 1822.

REFERENCES

Istoriia frantsuzskoi literatury, vol. 1. Moscow-Leningrad, 1946. Pages 706–09.
Istoriia zapadno-evropeiskogo teatra, vol. 2. Moscow, 1957.
Hankiss, J. Ph. Néricault-Destouches: L’homme et l’oeuvre. Debreczen, 1920.

I. A. LILEEVA