Abstract: In metadramatic prologues on the French stage after 1680, dramatists are presented as caricatures lacking all authority, in opposition to their traditional presentation as pedants. This article seeks to show that the the comic force of these characters relies upon the parodic treatment of a pervasive type of critical discourse in this period, which denies all value to author’s judgment of his work and gives excessive weight to the judgment of the omnipotent audience.
