Works
Larivey is the author of nine plot-centered "comedies of intrigue" in prose adapted (rather than "translated") from Italian originals. He has no claim to be the originator of French comedy—the Corrivaux of Jean de la Taille dates from 1562—but Larivey naturalized the Italian comedy of intrigue in France. Despite closely following his Italian models, he succeeded in conveying a lively spoken language, often full of saucy humor. The licence of the manners depicted in these plays is matched by the coarseness of the expression. Larivey's merit lies in the use of popular language in dialogue, which often rises to real excellence, and was not without influence on Molière and Regnard. Molière's L'Avare (The Miser) owes much to the scene in Larivey's masterpiece, Les Esprits, where Séverin laments the loss of his purse, and the opening scene of the play seems to have suggested Regnard's Retour imprévu. It is uncertain whether Larivey's plays were represented, though they were evidently written for the stage. In any case, prose comedy gained very little ground in popular favor before the time of Molière.
In 1579, at Paris (with the publisher Abel L'Angelier), he published six farcical comedies:
- Le Laquais, a version of Ludovico Dolce's Il Ragazzo - Larivey introduces the character of the pedant.
- La Veuve, a version of Niccolò Buonaparte's La Vedova
- Les Esprits, a version of Lorenzino de' Medici's L'Aridosia
- Le Morfondu, a version of Antonio Francesco Grazzini's La Gelosia
- Le Jaloux, a version of Vincenzo Gabbiani's I Gelosi
- Les Escholiers, a version of Girolano Razzi's La Cecca
The scene of these comedies is Paris. In his author's epistle to this edition, he catalogues briefly the names of his Italian models.
In 1611, in Troyes (with the publisher Pierre Chevillot), he published his Three New Comedies (Trois Nouvelles Comédies). Their tone is different from the preceding. The plots center less around overcoming obstacles to love and the characters are already married. The "unity of action", one of the Three Unities, is better respected and Larivey brings fewer modifications to the Italian originals. In his epistle to the edition (dedicated to François d'Amboise), Larivey explains how he came upon these comedies oneday while cleaning his study and decided to rework them in the French manner ( "me print envie d'agencer un peu de livres que j'ay en mon estude je trouvay de fortune entre quelques brouillards et manuscripts six comedies toutes chargées de poussières . j'ay tasché de les r'habiller à la façon de ce pays").
- La Constance, a version of Girolamo Razzi's La Gostanza
- Le Fidelle, a version of Luigi Pasqualigo's Il Fedele
- Les Tromperies, a version of Nicolὸ Secchi's Gl'Inganni
The plot of these stories takes place in Troyes.
Early in his career, Larivey worked as a translator of other Italian works, including the Facetious Nights (Facétieuses Nuits) of Straparole, the Philosophie fabuleuse (1577), the Philosophie (1581) of Piccolomini (Pope Pius II), and The Discourses of Capelloni (1595). In 1604, he published a translation of Ilumaniti de Jesus-Christ by Pietro Aretino.
Read more about this topic: Pierre De Larivey
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