La possibilité d’une île, ou le "Jugement dernier des rois" de Sylvain Maréchal (1793)

The article covers the analysis of the concept of space in Sylvain Maréchal's play Jugement dernier des rois [The Final Judgement over the Kings], written during the French Revolution. The action of the play takes place on an island which serves as a prison, first for the enemies of the monarchy, then for the enemies of the Revolution. The idea of the prison island, a place of punishment and evilness, breaks with an utopian concept of an island being a sanctuary and the source of happiness for a perfect society (Thomas More). It envisages the history of the XIXth century and the fortunes of Napoleon at Saint Helena as well as the story of Edmond Dantès presented in a famous novel The Count of Monte Cristo written by Dumas.