“Babbling and the silence of all colors” Babbling in the theater of Marivaux

In Marivaux’s theater, babbling produces not only a comic effect that condemns vain or indiscreet speech often associated with women or servants. It is also an eminently useful word, unveiling feelings that the main characters want to conceal or forget. Finally, if we consider this babbling in the context of an expressive theory of language, we can see how closely it is linked to the playwright’s own creative process.