The shepherd Tityre lives in the Arcadian mountains with his beloved, a Zither player named Lycoris. One day, Lycoris strays away from their home and is captured by Lycophon, a pirate who sells her to a slaveholder Flagellantus, then to the Emperor’s barber Pelliculus and finally to the senator Mamillarus. Tityre follows the pirate ship to save his beloved. In the meantime, Mamillarus and Titus are waiting for a feast to begin. Tityre decides to buy his beloved back, but he does not have enough money. Therefore, he decides to start serving Mamillarus and his wife Mamillara. However, it is discovered that Tityre is in fact Mamillarus’ legitimate son, who was kidnapped by bandits. At the end of the play, César Titus arrives and sings his goodness and his absence of pride, in the fashion of street “hits”. He gives Lycoris her freedom back and offers to pay for the wedding.

Glove-puppet

Maurice Sand (Maurice Sand)

France

Nohant

Printed

Ancient history

Love

Piracy

Slavery

Adventure

Emperor

Relationship between father and son

Wedding

Comical

Satirical

Maurice Sand, hand-puppet (between 1850 and 1875).

French

Le Berger Tityre

Senator

Citizen

Shepherd

Lover

Barber

Pirate

Storyteller

Guard

Slave

Coryphaeus

Wife

Sheperherdess

Comedy of language

Dinner scene

Sung scenes

Prologue

Address to the public

Allusion to the audience

Monologue

Quote

La Clémence de Titus

The Clemency of Titus

Priests from the temple of Jupiter created a yearly contest in order to undo the knot which ties the yoke to the centre-pole of the late Gordias’s cart. The winner will rule over Asia while the ones who fail to untie it will see their goods seized. Many competitors try their luck, but no one succeeds. Alexander the Great cuts the knot with his sword but, judging by the priests’ reactions, he understands that they wanted the knot to remain intact, as it was bringing them wealth.

La Clémence de Titus

The Gordian Knot

A Motion for Marionettes