An Apologie for Poetrie de Sidney (1595) / An Apology for Actors de Thomas Heywood (1612): quelles théories derrière l’apologie?

While defending, respectively, literature and the theatre, Sir Philip Sidney and Thomas Heywood use the same words, with different meanings. The former offers a piece of literary theory, which regenerates clichés and promotes literature as a path towards responsible social and political commitment. The latter adopts a more literal approach to such mottos as « speaking picture » or « to teach and delight », and turns the political perspective upside-down when he views the theatre as the instrument of mass control. In both cases, the choices are closely linked to the author’s status and to his attempt at self-fashioning.