Uniliterary

Even after the theater, as it had existed in pagan Rome, had been banned by the Church and classical culture had all but disappeared, the descendants of the old mimes continued to travel about Europe entertaining the masses with their rough, uniliterary and unsophisticated art.

Tilley, while at times highly critical of the preclassical writer, does pay him homage for his real achievements: The dramatic superiority of the uniliterary production over the tragedies of the sixteenth century appears in various ways.

The action of The Dispute is physical, structured as much by physical games and routines as by verbal ones — again, the importance of this submerged, uniliterary element of the text is another indication of the particular techniques of Marivaux's Italian actors.