La Harpe, Beaumarchais et les revendications des auteurs dramatiques (1777-1799)

Rémy Landy : La Harpe, Beaumarchais and playwrights' demands, (1777-1799). After 1777, the authors of tragedies and comedies presented at the Comédie française waged a battle against the actors in an attempt to make the producer of a literary work the master of the produce of his labour. The Beaumarchais Archives enable us to follow La Harpe's vacillating attitude. Initially preferring personal success based on relations, patronage and journalism to Beaumarchais' search for a collective solution and foundation of the Dramatic Authors' Society, he later intervened constructively. When Beaumarchais' unpopularity made it impossible for him to stay at the head of the movement, La Harpe profited from the structural changes resulting from the Revolution to obtain from the Convention theatrical liberty.Landy Rémy. La Harpe, Beaumarchais et les revendications des auteurs dramatiques (1777-1799). In: Dix-huitième Siècle, n°11, 1979. L'année 1778. pp. 355-370