Micro View of "Quills"

Charenton Asylum

Charenton Asylum was known for its humanitarian treatment it was founded in 1645 by Freres de la Charite in Charenton-Saint-Maurice, France. The hospital still exits today but is known as Esquirol hospital. The events of the play are set here in 1807.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charenton_(asylum)

Popular forms of therapy in 1807

Treatments for the mentally ill were very inhumane and torturous in 1807. Dr Benjamin Rush’s methods were popular at the time and would have heavily influenced Doctor Royer-Collard’s treatments of the Marquis and other patients at Charenton. Dr Rush bled patients and used swinging devices, and water shock or terror baths popularized in the 1600’s throughout Europe. In the play the inmates at Charenton were spared these treatments until Doctor Royer-Collard assumed control of the asylum.

http://thelimbicregion.tripod.com/id38.htm


Abbe de Coulmier

The Abbe de Coulmier also known as Fracois Simonet de Coulmier a French Catholic priest only a year younger than the Marquis who was treated at Charenton when he was director of the asylum. The medical establishment opposed Coulmier for being to liberal with the patients. He allowed the patients to use art as therapy and rejected use of straight jackets, wicker cages, and terror baths. Although The Abbe shown in the play is usually cast as a younger man the general practices of the Abbe are captured though there is no historical evidence of the Abbe maiming or killing the Marquis, although he did refuse to let the Marquis write and put him in solitary confinement after a police order was issued to do so.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abb%C3%A9_de_Coulmier

Pierre de Marivaux

Pierre de Marivaux was a French playwright of the Enlightenment period famous for his Romantic Comedies and parodies, the term marvaudage is coined from him referring to the flirtatious bantering tone characteristic of Marivaux’s dialogues. In” Quills” reference is made to Marivaux’s plays being performed by the inmates of Charenton under the Abbes jurisdiction. It is interesting that the Abbe allows Marivaux for the Marquis seems is own dark marvaudage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marivaux

Marquis de Sade

The Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat and salacious author but there are few historical difference from the play. First of all Renee Pelagie and the Marquis had already divorced and the Marquis had re-married an actress who was allowed to live with him at Charenton. Madeline Leclerc was thirteen and had an affair with the Marquis that lasted four years until he died. He was put in solitary confinement in 1809 and denied paper and pens. When he was put in Charenton for the second time it was due to Napoleons’ orders for the publication of “Justine & Juliette” which was published anonymously in 1803 he addressed a copy of the novel to Napoleon who refused to set Sade free.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquis_de_Sade
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/desade.htm

Bastille

The Bastille originally built as the Bastion de Saint-Antone during the Hundred Year War was a fortress intended to defend the east end of Paris and the Hotel Saint-Pol royal palace. After the Hundred Year War it became a state prison. The Bastille only had room for about fifty prisoners and therefore wasn’t nearly as awful a place than most of the other prisons in France. It was secrecy that gave the Bastille its dark reputation. Records show that the Bastille largely held common criminals as well as people imprisoned for religious reasons such as the Huguenots and those responsible for printing or writing forbidden pamphlets, and sometimes people of high rank but the Marquis would not have been held there when the Bastille was stormed by the revolution. Of the seven prisoners freed by the storming of the Bastille the Marquis was not among them. He had been transferred on the fourth of July for two days prior inciting a riot by yelling out his window “they are killing prisoners in here”. So the Marquis claim in the script that he was in the Bastille when it was stormed is historically inaccurate.

http://www.answers.com/topic/bastille
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquis_de_Sade

Bordeaux

Bordeaux wines have been popular since the twelfth century, and their export have been in high demand ever since. This information was crucial to understanding the Marquis ironic humor in the play; when he offers wine to the Abbe commenting that it was “from an obsecure town in Bordeaux” since Bordeaux obviously was very well known and popular at that time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bordeaux_wine

Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

Pierre Choderlos de Laclos was a French writer famous for writing the novel “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” first published in 1782. The novel was thought to be scandalous as the Marquis writings at the time. The novel is also credited for showing the decadence of the French aristocracy before the French Revolution. The author is mentioned by Madeline in the play when she is asked what other things she reads besides the Marquis writings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Choderlos_de_Laclos
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Liaisons_dangereuses

Quills

Quills were the primary utensil used for writing from the 6th to the 19th century. Typically made from goose feathers, the best were made from swan. It is likely that the Marquis would have had swan feathers for quills considering his status.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/quill

Printing Method in 1807

Lithography first developed in 1796, it would have been the method used to print books in 1807. This method was superior to the older methods of printing because it allowed for longer runs than the older methods of embossing or engraving. This allowed for cheaper cost. This machine is referred to in “Quills” by Doctor Royer-Coller as he explains his intent to publish the deceased Marquis manuscript at the asylum.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_printing