Adam in his kingdom Obedience and the revolt of the animals in the Semaines by Du Bartas

Du Bartas makes frequent use of a political analogy to refer to Creation, and while the idea of Adam’s royalty goes back to the Church Fathers, the poet reframes it according to his own context. For example, he alludes to the “monarchomaque” theses to explain the rebellion of the elements and the animals against fallen man. This article focuses on the implications and limits of such a paradigm when it is used to express the relationships between man and other creatures in the two Semaines.