For centuries, William Shakespeare has been celebrated as the greatest playwright in the English language. Yet few visitors to Paris realize that the Bard’s works were rejected by French cultural elites for over a century, and the story of how Paris came round to him runs through places we can still visit.
The story begins in the 17th century, when French classical theatre reigned supreme. Playwrights like Molière, Racine, and Corneille worked within rigid rules for drama: the famous three unities of time, place, and action. Shakespeare’s sprawling plots, multiple locations, and mixing of tragedy with comedy violated every principle French critics held sacred.
Voltaire, who spent time in exile in England during the 1720s, returned to France with mixed feelings about Shakespeare. While initially praising the English playwright’s genius, in 1748 he called Hamlet the work of a “drunken savage” (in his preface to Sémiramis). This dismissive attitude dominated Parisian cultural circles well into the 18th century.
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The Translation That Sparked Debate
In 1776, Pierre Le Tourneur began publishing the first complete French translation of Shakespeare’s plays, dedicated to King Louis XVI (Bibliothèque nationale de France). The translation sparked fierce debate in Parisian salons and cafés. Was Shakespeare a genius breaking free from artificial constraints, or a barbarian who knew nothing of proper dramatic form?
The French Revolution brought winds of change. By the early 19th century, Romantic writers like Victor Hugo championed Shakespeare as a revolutionary force against classical rigidity. The true turning point came in 1827, when an English theatre company performed Shakespeare in English at the Odéon Theatre in Paris.
The Performances That Changed Everything
The 1827 performances created a sensation. Audiences were deeply divided and affected. The young Hector Berlioz attended and fell madly in love with the Irish actress Harriet Smithson, who played Ophelia and Juliet. He would eventually marry her and compose his Symphonie Fantastique inspired by his obsession.
By mid-century, Shakespeare had conquered Paris. The playwright once dismissed as too crude for French tastes gradually found acceptance on Parisian stages, a remarkable cultural transformation that reflected the broader Romantic movement’s challenge to classical conventions.
A Shared Heritage Today
Today Paris has made its peace with Shakespeare. The Bibliothèque nationale de France holds a copy of his 1623 First Folio. French theatres regularly stage his works, a testament to how far French attitudes have evolved since Voltaire’s dismissive critiques.
The Shakespeare and Company bookshop on the Left Bank takes its name from Sylvia Beach’s earlier shop, which published James Joyce’s Ulysses. It stands at 37 rue de la Bûcherie, across the Seine from Notre-Dame.
Start at the Odéon, walk down to the river and finish at the bookshop: the whole story fits in one afternoon on the Left Bank.
Checked October 2026.
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