Le valet et l’empereur: une rencontre “à contretemps”. Le théâtre de Beaumarchais à l’époque napoléonienne

This article aims to re-evaluate the outcome of Beaumarchais’ theatre work during Napoleon’s era and focuses on Napoleon’s and Beaumarchais’ relationship. The latter can be qualified as a delayed relationship and observed through the first third of the nineteenth century’s political and theatrical context. During this period, the political interpretation of the valet’s character and the representations of some plays related to the Mariage de Figaro will help to propagate the largely inaccurate idea that the theater of Beaumarchais was not in favor under the Empire, and to weigh down with a decisive weight the striking formula of the Emperor recalled at the beginning of this study, which became one of the most characteristic slogans of Napoleonic historiography as of the critical reception of Beaumarchais