Jean-Joseph Vadé
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Jean-Joseph Vadé (17 January 1720 – 4 July 1757) was a French chansonnier and playwright of the 18th century.
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Work
Poetry and fables
Vadé published a series of fables that, without reaching the height of La Fontaine, said very good things in a nice form with graceful and charming amorous poems. He soon became famous, but having had the misfortune to become a little too close to the anti-philosophe Fréron, Voltaire never forgave him and never missed an opportunity to taunt and heap scorn on "this prank Vadé" (as he called him in a letter sent 7 September 1774 to Marie Du Deffand). Voltaire nevertheless gave Vadé the honor of signing several of his own works under the name Vadé.
Theatre
What earned Vadé a reputation as the creator of the Template:Interlanguage link multi is that, in seeking by honest toil the way to live honestly, he turned to theater, for which, before composing a number of vaudevilles, parades and opéras comiques, he first tried to write serious plays. These attempts proved fruitless when Les Visites du jour de l’An, which premiered on 3 January 1749 at the Comédie-Française, was presented only once, or La Canadienne was never performed at all. Vadé then turned successfully to comedy theater at the Foire Saint-Laurent and the Foire Saint-Germain, where his parodies showed him to be a mocking spirit, but nevertheless a deep and careful observer of people. Vadé depicted characters of a healthy and robust nature, with merits and defects, without the vain ornaments or ridiculous cosmetics with which they were burdened at the time.
Critics
Sternly criticized by Grimm, La Harpe and Collé who declared the poissard style "below nothing," Vadé had supporters and admirers, who called him the Teniers, the Callot of French poetry or the Corneille of Les Halles.
However, beyond Vadé's style (his trivial expressions, risqué phrases, burlesque), behind the poissard, Vadé's characters expressed in their dialog, a moral thought, which although sometimes hidden under a somewhat rough form, did not emerge less vigorously.
Plays
- Folette ou l’Enfant gâté
- Il était temps
- Jérôme et Fanchonnette
- L’Impromptu du cœur
- La Canadienne
- La Fileuse
- La Fontaine de jouvence
- La Nouvelle Bastienne
- La Pipe cassée
- La Veuve indécise
- Le Bouquet du roi
- Le Confident heureux
- Le Mauvais plaisant ou le drôle de corps
- Le Paquet de mouchoirs
- Le Poirier
- Le Rien
- Le Suffisant ou le Petit maître dupé
- Le Trompeur trompé ou la rencontre imprévue
- Les Petits sculpteurs
- Les Quatre Bouquets poissards
- les Racoleurs
- Les Troqueurs
- Les Troyennes-en-Champagne
- Les Visites du jour de l’an ou Les Étrennes
- Nicaise
