Abstract: Nerval is best known for his poems and his works of fiction, but he was also a playwright and showed a great interest in theatre. In the 1830–40s, as a critic, he reviewed plays in periodicals such as La Presse, L’Artiste or La Charte de 1830. He thus took part in the debates about the reform of the French dramatic genres. This article studies the way Nerval used the Shakespearean reference to express his ideas on theatre.
