Diane : 1594

Diane
Nicolas de Montreux (1594)

Now regrettably obscure, Nicolas de Montreux published prolifically in various genres during the 1590s (under the anagrammatic pseudonym of « Olénix du Mont Sacré »). He produced most of his work in Nantes under the patronage of Philippe-Emmanuel de Lorraine, Duke of Mercoeur, when the latter was Governor of Brittany - hence the frequent political cast of his writing, since Mercoeur was the ultimate hold-out for the ultra-Catholic Holy League against Henri IV. Yet Montreux also contributed significantly to the diffusion in France of Italian-inspired romande pastoral, and his comedy Diane, whose tide evokes the Diana of Montemayor, was his major dramatic composition in this vein. First appended to the third volume of his popular Bergeries (Tours, 1594), which otherwise mingle prose and verse, Diane recalls Italian models : Tasso's Aminta, Guarini's Il Pastor Fido, the commedia dell'arte. It displays exuberant theatricality in pushing towards absurdity its inevitable theme - the disruptive power of terrestrial love, which is finally aligned with that which brings harmony to the universe. Magical intervention is the means ; multiple marriages mark the end. The overlap with Shakespeare's romande comedies, especially A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595-96), offers a special rationale for translating Montreux's work into English.

Besides an Introduction exploring the play's contexts and affiliations, the volume includes an annotated edition of the French text, unpublished since Montreux's era.