"The Farce of the Fart" and Other Ribaldries

Twelve Medieval French Plays in Modern English

Jody Enders

• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9780812222517
• eBook ISBN: 9780812205015
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Drama
• Index: Literature

Was there more to medieval and Renaissance comedy than Chaucer and Shakespeare? Bien sûr. For a real taste of saucy early European humor, one must cross the Channel to France. There, in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, the sophisticated met the scatological in popular performances presented by roving troupes in public squares that skewered sex, politics, and religion. For centuries, the scripts for these outrageous, anonymously written shows were available only in French editions gathered from scattered print and manuscript sources. Now prize-winning theater historian Jody Enders brings twelve of the funniest of these farces to contemporary English-speaking audiences in "The Farce of the Fart" and Other Ribaldries. Enders's translation captures the full richness of the colorful characters, irreverent humor, and over-the-top plotlines, all in a refreshingly uncensored American vernacular.Those who have never heard the one about the Cobbler, the Monk, the Wife, and the Gatekeeper should prepare to be shocked and entertained. "The Farce of the Fart" and Other Ribaldries is populated by hilarious characters high and low. For medievalists, theater practitioners, and classic comedy lovers alike, Enders provides a wealth of information about the plays and their history. Helpful details abound for each play about plot, character development, sets, staging, costumes, and props. This performance-friendly collection offers in-depth guidance to actors, directors, dramaturges, teachers, and their students. "The Farce of the Fart" and Other Ribaldries puts fifteenth-century French farce in its rightful place alongside Chaucer, Shakespeare, commedia dell'arte, and Molière—not to mention Monty Python. Vive la Farce!

Actors’ Prologue

Medieval theater troupes often opened and closed their dramas (comic or serious) with a plea for understanding. There, the actors begged the indulgence of their audience, hoping that they would not be held liable for offensive utterances not spoken in their own voices. They were acting, after all, not engaging in treason, lèse-majesté, libel, heresy, or the like. In our own age, the aforementioned trespasses no longer pose the same momentous threat; but they do indeed risk offending on the grounds of political correctness. Whence this humble offering, designed to soften the blows:

ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE COMPANY

’Twas many years ago, in ages dark,
Misogynistic lit was all the rage.
With every bite much worse than any bark
Men wanted to put women in a cage.

Today, we often find we wish to curse
Their violence and abuse: ’twas very real.
What’s more, these guys suggested the reverse:
That, thanks to women, they had the raw deal.

And thus we humbly pray you, lest you flee,
That, should you find upon our words you choke,
We tender to you all proposals three:
For one: Good God! Why can’t you take a joke?

Or, two: Do you think every man’s an ass?
All ignorant of gender, race, and class?

Recall that, if we don’t look, we don’t see
To what extent he is our enemy.
We can’t imagine any worse a fate
Than that, one day, we might assimilate,
And tacitly condone—God, what a mess!—
The politics of those who do oppress.

And, last, to speak of race and class and genders,
If you don’t like it, just blame Jody Enders.¹

1.

The Farce of the Fart

Farce nouvelle et fort joyeuse du Pect

CAST OF CHARACTERS

HUBERT

JEHANNETTE, his Wife

THE JUDGE THE LAWYER

[THE JUDGE’S CLERK]

Original production: The Farce of the Fart was first produced at the University of California, Santa Barbara, on 3 May 2008, directed by Andrew Henkes.

CAST

Dakotah Brown as the Lawyer

Michael Ruesga as Hubert

Courtney Ryan as Jehannette

Annika Speer as the Judge

PRODUCTION NOTES

The Farce nouvelle et fort joyeuse du Pect, à quatre personnages, #7 in the Recueil du British Museum, appears in Viollet le Duc, Ancien Théâtre françois, 1: 94–110; and as #48 in Tissier, RF, 10: 21–63.¹ This anonymous play, whose author was “doubtless a Basochien” (RF, 10: 32), was also translated into modern French by Tissier as Le Pet (#48 in FFMA, 4: 13–26). Although the playtext was first published between 1532 and 1547, Tissier sets its approximate date of composition at 1476 (FFMA, 4: 15). It is 300 octosyllabic verses in the Tissier edition. (Viollet le Duc does not provide verse numbers.) Finally, the most miraculous thing of all: we have a record of an actual performance of the play in Lyon in 1476, and before a king, no less! It was presented for René d’Anjou during his dicey territorial negotiations with Louis XI (RF, 10: 30–31); elsewhere, there is evidence of René having employed thrice, from 1447 to 1449, a variety of actors for his entertainment, we presume (MES, E79, 330).² Alternate title: Home Is Where the Fart Is.

Plot

On the subject of our play, a certain “Breton gentleman,” the mysterious Monsieur Tridace-Nafé-Théobrome, had this to say: “The subject, dirty and insipid, warrants no analysis. We provide only a few verses from the judge’s decision, which ought to be sufficient for anyone.”³ If anything, that assessment demonstrates how the tolerance (and intolerance) of obscenity has evolved. For myself, I say that a few verses are not nearly sufficient. I am delighted to provide, in its entirety, a play that is funny enough to open this whole collection.

If contemporary American audiences have The People’s Court and Judge Judy, their medieval forebears had the Farce of the Fart, devoted to such weighty legal matters as “He who smelt it dealt it.” Abuse of the legal system was as much a medieval concern as a modern one and the subject of much satire. So, when Jehannette sullies her home by farting, and is accused of so doing by her husband, she employs a strategy as beloved in sports as it is despised in politics: the best defense is a good offense. If her husband continues to insult her with his allegations—they’re true, but never you mind about that!—then she’ll haul his ass before a judge. That will get to the bottom of it, all right. Hubert can but call her bluff and, lo and behold! There just happens to be an attorney on the scene listening in, only too happy to profit from their dispute. He makes his presence known and promises to represent the interests of both parties (although he sure sells Jehannette down the river at the first possible opportunity). When the preposterous case comes to court, Jehannette complains of cruel and unusual punishment: her husband was rushing her to set the dinner table, you see, and, when she squatted down to move a pile of dirty linen, something escaped her. Hubert counters with his right to the peaceful, olfactory enjoyment of his own home.

With deft logic, the Judge takes a more hole-istic approach to his verdict. He ascertains that (1) since farts issue from the asshole and, (2) since husband and wife are united as one in perpetuity, then, ergo, in conclusion, what issues from the asshole of one is the bodily possession—or liability—of the other. To that end, Jehannette offers a most unusual piece of evidence: she testifies that, on their wedding night, Hubert first “took her there,” sodomizing her—accidentally, he interjects—because he couldn’t tell which end was up. Thus, on their first night together as husband and wife, Hubert married all of her, including her asshole. (By the way, sodomy was not considered okay, even if it seems that medieval ecclesiastics doth protest too much in their obsessively detailed discussions of the practice.)⁴ The Judge rules that Hubert must share and share alike in all that is produced by the disputed asshole, including but perhaps not limited to farts. In the end, Hubert has no cause of action and his entire point is moot, if not mute.

Who really laid the fart? At the beginning of the play, both Hubert and Jehannette proclaim their innocence; but Jehannette eventually admits responsibility when speaking to “her” attorney in total confidence … except, of course, for those pesky theatrical spectators. In production, it would not be over-the-top to suggest that Hubert is the guilty party or, at least, that both Hubert and Jehannette are guilty of letting loose in (rectal) concert. Otherwise, as the Judge say...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• On Abbreviations, Short Titles, Notes, and Bibliography
• Preface
• Introduction
• About This Translation
• Brief Plot Summaries
• The Plays
• Actors’ Prologue
• Appendix: Scholarly References to Copyrighted Materials
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Acknowledgments