Maeterlinck et le théâtre pour marionnettes: Alladine et Palomides, Intérieur, La mort de Tintagiles

Maurice Maeterlinck’s Alladine et Pallomides, Intérieur, La Mort de Tintagiles (1893) has the sub-heading «trois petits drames pour marionnettes», but this does not mean the marionettes, instead of human actors, have to perform. Maeterlinck used Marionettes as a theatrical tool to challenge the psychological and realistic dramas that were prevalent at the end of the 19th century. Marionettes do not have the individuality of physical and psychological characteristics, and contain complex meanings, both negative and positive. Using such characteristics, Maeterlinck commonly lifts his characters from personal, daily, anecdotal and historical elements and expresses them as spiritual entities controlled by essential forces such as fate, love and death. He describes various static forms (asleep or in faint silhouette in the dark, etc.) like real marionettes. Through such a unique method, he creates a new dramaturgy focusing on feelings and circumstances, rather than on plot or action.