Pierre du Ryer

Du Ryer, Pierre (c.1600-1658). French dramatist. After serving in the royal household as a young man, and then as secretary to the duc de Vendôme (illegitimate son of Henri IV), Du Ryer seems to have been able to support himself by writing (mostly working as a translator from Latin and Greek) from about 1640. His 18 plays include pastoral, comedy, tragedy, and tragicomedy. His comedy Les Vendanges de Suresnes (performed 1633 or 1634, published 1635 or 1636) is interesting for its emphasis on the setting amid the vineyards round Suresnes and for its comic characters (notably the vine-grower Guillaume, originally played by the famous ‘farceur’ Gros-Guillaume). Other plays include a biblical tragedy, Saül (performed c.1639, published 1642), a Roman tragedy Scévole (performed 1642-3, published 1647, and much reprinted in the 17th c.), and Alcionée, a tragedy dealing with political problems, freely adapted from Ariosto (performed 1637, published 1640). This play was much admired by, among others, Richelieu and Queen Christina of Sweden, who were no doubt gratified by its tendency to support absolute monarchy. Du Ryer was elected to the Académie Française in 1646, in preference to Pierre Corneille.

[Gillian Jondorf]