A study of the Farce du Gaudisseur et du Sot and its place in medieval French drama

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a study and edition of the manuscript of a fifteenth-century play, the Farce du Gaudisseur et du Sot, to discuss the play's relationship to certain other comic plays of that era and to understand the place of the play in the development of medieval French drama.

Chapter I traces the development of medieval French drama from its beginnings in the liturgy of the church to the flourishing of comic genres in the fifteenth century when the Farce du Gaudisseur et du Sotwas written.

Chapter II relates the Farce du Gaudisseur et du Sot to the Sermon Joyeux de Bien Boyre, the Farce des Cris de Paris, the Farce du Povre Jouhan and the Farce du Gentilhomme et son Page. Comparisons are made between the plays on the role of the sot or sot-likecharacter and his relationship to the other character(s) through the dialogue.

Chapter III is a technical study of the manuscript of the Farce du Gaudisseur et du Sotdealing with meter, rhyme, spelling and the other editions of the play.

Chapter IV is the author's edition of the Farce du Gaudisseur et du Sot from the Recueil Trepperel

It is accompanied by notes on the text. A glossary of vocabulary from the play is located in the Appendix.