"Le tragique quotidien" by Maeterlinck: from theater practice to theory thinking

Abstract

Le tragique quotidien (1896) is examined in this paper as a product of creative and critical work. Maeterlinck returned to the concept of tragedy (le tragique) after writing his Symbolist tragedies and conceived it not as a conflict between contradictory norms but as something inherent to every human being. In order to understand the originality of the idea of tragedy without pathos, this paper firstly draws on the meaning of the concept in the 19th century. In the second part, I analyze the characteristics of tragedy in Maeterlinck’s tragedies to highlight the link between the former and his 1896 text. Finally, I briefly examine the meaning of the post-Maeterlinck concept of tragedy through the example of the philosopher M. Scheler.