Le spectacle bourgeois des antagonismes de classes : Le Philosophe sans le savoir de Sedaine (1765)

Elisabeth Guibert-Sledziewski : A Bourgeois drama of class Antagonism at the end of the ancien regime. This analysis of Sedaine's successful play demonstrates how Le Philosophe sans le savoir reflects the social aspirations of the rising middle class, and its desire to be accepted by the system of the Ancien Régime from which it is still excluded. In spite of the wealth amassed by the tradesman Vanderk, he lacks the prestige which can only be conferred by a noble title. The prejudices which deny recognition and acceptance to the middle classes (expressed by Vanderk 's aristocratic sister) can be broken down by their consciousness of their own worth, and by their willingness to accept the place allotted to them within feudal society. They therefore, like Vanderk, choose the path of economic, social and ideological compromise. His son, however, rejects such a compromise and already wishes to fight the nobility.Guibert-Sledziewski Elisabeth. Le spectacle bourgeois des antagonismes de classes : Le Philosophe sans le savoir de Sedaine (1765). In: Dix-huitième Siècle, n°7, 1975. pp. 259-274