Françoise Pascal's Agathonphile martyr, tragi-comédie

Written at the end of the Counter Reformation, Francoise Pascal´s first play, Agathonphie martyr, tragi-comedie (1655), is an important transitional piece, marking the passage from religious drama as a moralizing device to that of a diversion, prompted by the growing influence of the société mondaine in Lyon. In her introduction, Kennedy examines how this play is characterized by a unique merging of two genres: the tragicomedy and the martyr play. This play also merits our attention in terms of new female characterization. Kenedy demonstrates how Pascal´s female martyr Triphine diverges from the traditionally "coldhearted" female martyr, as an independent thinker who speaks her heart, proclaiming the virtues of "constant" love.