Discussions about the origins of non-religious theatre ("théâtre profane") — both drama and farce — in the Middle Ages remain controversial, but the idea of a continuous popular tradition stemming from Latin comedy and tragedy to the 9th century seems unlikely.
Dramatic plays in French from the 12th and 13th centuries: The origins of farce and comic theatre remain equally controversial; some −literary historians believe in a non-liturgical origin (among "jongleurs" or in pagan and folk festivals), others see the influence of liturgical drama (some of the dramas listed above include farcical sequences) and monastic readings of Plautus and Latin comic theatre.
Another guild, the "Enfants Sans-Souci" was in charge of farces and soties, as too the "Clercs de la Basoche" who also performed morality plays.
As early as 1503 however, original language versions of Sophocles, Seneca, Euripides, Aristophanes, Terence and Plautus were all available in Europe and the next 40 years would see humanists and poets both translating these classics and adapting them.
In the 1540s, the French university setting (and especially—from 1553 on—the Jesuit colleges) became host to a Neo-Latin theatre (in Latin) written by professors such as George Buchanan and Marc Antoine Muret which would leave a profound mark on the members of La Pléiade.
Prominent figures such as Catherine de' Medici provided financial support for many humanist plays; in 1554, for example, she commissioned a translation of Gian Giorgio Trissino’s La Sofonisba, which was the first tragedy to appear in the French language.
Plots were often drawn from mythology or history, presenting narratives that had clear parallels to contemporary political events and religious conflicts.
Through vivid and provocative storytelling, these plays sought to engage and incite audiences, encouraging them to reflect upon the turbulent times in which they lived.
The actors and playwrights involved in militant theater faced considerable risks due to the politically charged nature of their work.
It laid the groundwork for the development of subsequent forms of political and socially conscious theater, leaving a lasting impact on the theatrical landscape.
The sixteenth century Italians played a central role in the publishing and interpretation of classical dramatic theory, and their works had a major effect on French theatre.
Of greater difficulty for the theorists was the incorporation of Aristotle's notion of "catharsis" or the purgation of emotions with Renaissance theatre, which remained profoundly attached to both pleasing the audience and to the rhetorical aim of showing moral examples (exemplum).
Étienne Jodelle's Cléopâtre captive (1553) tells the impassioned fears and doubts of Cleopatra contemplating suicide — has the distinction of being the first original French play to follow Horace's classical precepts on structure (the play is in five acts and respects more or less the unities of time, place and action) and is extremely close to the ancient model: the prologue is introduced by a shade, there is a classical chorus which comments on the action and talks directly to the characters, and the tragic ending is described by a messenger.
Mellin de Saint-Gelais's translation of Gian Giorgio Trissino's La Sophonisbe—the first modern regular tragedy based on ancient models which tells the story of the noble Sophonisba's suicide (rather than be taken as captive by Rome)—was an enormous success at the court when performed in 1556.
Although some French authors kept close to the ancient models (Pierre de Ronsard translated a part of Aristophanes's "Plutus" at college), on the whole the French comedic tradition shows a great deal of borrowing from all sources: medieval farce (which continued to be immensely popular throughout the century), the short story, Italian humanist comedies and "La Celestina" (by Fernando de Rojas).
Eventually, theatres would develop systems of elaborate machines and decors, fashionable for the chevaleresque flights of knights found in the tragicomedies of the first half of the century.
In addition to scripted comedies and tragedies, Parisians were also great fans of the Italian acting troupe who performed their Commedia dell'arte, a kind of improvised theatre based on types.
Engravings show Louis XIV and the court seating outside before the "Cour du marbre" of Versailles watching the performance of a play.
The great majority of scripted plays in the seventeenth century were written in verse (notable exceptions include some of Molière's comedies).
The most important source for tragic theatre was Seneca and the precepts of Horace and Aristotle (and modern commentaries by Julius Caesar Scaliger and Lodovico Castelvetro), although plots were taken from classical authors such as Plutarch, Suetonius, etc.
Linked with the theatrical unities are the following concepts: These rules precluded many elements common in the baroque "tragi-comedy": flying horses, chivalric battles, magical trips to foreign lands and the deus ex machina.
The key theoretical work on theatre from this period was François Hedelin, abbé d'Aubignac's "Pratique du théâtre" (1657), and the dictates of this work reveal to what degree "French classicism" was willing to modify the rules of classical tragedy to maintain the unities and decorum (d'Aubignac for example saw the tragedies of Oedipus and Antigone as unsuitable for the contemporary stage).
Racine's poetic skill was in the representation of pathos and amorous passion (like Phèdre's love for her stepson) and his impact was such that emotional crisis would be the dominant mode of tragedy to the end of the century.
Racine's two late plays ("Esther" and "Athalie") opened new doors to biblical subject matter and to the use of theatre in the education of young women.
These musical works carried on in the tradition of tragicomedy (especially the "pièces à machines") and court ballet, and also occasionally presented tragic plots (or "tragédies en musique").
The dramatists that worked with Lully included Pierre Corneille and Molière, but the most important of these librettists was Philippe Quinault, a writer of comedies, tragedies, and tragicomedies.
Select list of French plays after 1659: The 18th century French theatre flourished with influential playwrights such as Voltaire, known for works such as Œdipe (1718) and Zaïre (1732), and Marivaux, whose comedies explored the complexities of love, while Denis Diderot introduced the Bourgeois tragedy, and Beaumarchais revolutionized comedy with Le Barbier de Séville (1775) and Le Mariage de Figaro (1778); meanwhile, Jean-Jacques Rousseau critiqued theatre's role in society in his Letter to M. D'Alembert on Spectacles, contributing to a rich discourse that intertwined politics, philosophy, and dramatic arts.
The poetry of Baudelaire and much of the literature in the latter half of the century (or "fin de siècle") were often characterized as "decadent" for their lurid content or moral vision, but with the publication of Jean Moréas "Symbolist Manifesto" in 1886, it was the term symbolism which was most often applied to the new literary environment.
The impact of his plays, primarily Ubu Roi, was writ large upon contemporary audiences and has continued to be a major influence on, among others, Monty Python's Flying Circus and The Young Ones.