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The Gaming Table as Social Equalizer

Tamara Alvarez-Detrell

Alvarez-Detrell, Tamara, "The Gaming Table as Social Equalizer", dans Cahiers du XVIIe siècle, 1989, vol. III, 1.

Extrait de l’article

In the latter part of the seventeenth century, the French money play provides an important link in the evolution of dramatic literature. The role of society in general becomes more relevant as the playwrights seek their inspiration in the complex economic and social conditions of the period. As wealth earns more power for those who possess it, it becomes a focal point of the comedies. At the same time the newly-obtained wealth rearranges the previous social strata, creating rich nobodies, poor nobles, powerful servants and weak masters. The obsession to gain that wealth knows many forms, but the one that holds our present interest is gambling.

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