This thesis deals with the functions of prevalent threshold-like spaces such as windows, stairs, doors or balconies in theatre plays from the height of the Romantic era in France (1828-1835). The study coins the concept of « para-espaces » (para-spaces) and elucidates the way they mediate between different divisions of the spatiotemporal structure of a play. It applies a textual approach with a deeper focus on the inherent permeability of para-espaces, rather than merely their capacity to impose physical or symbolic limits. It aims to shed light on the impact of para-espaces on the structures of the dramatic text, to observe how they contribute to a redefinition of the relations between the stage and its surroundings – spatially and temporally, and to discern how they affect the poetics and aesthetics of theatre productions during the Romantic period. The analysis is based on a corpus of 36 plays representing different authors and genres. 

The theoretical part of the thesis revisits the fundaments of the notion of “dramatic space” and defines the concept of “para-espaces”, as well as discussing their potential to occupy a key place in global spatiotemporal structures of plays. It investigates how they mediate between the “actual space” (the stage) and “virtual spaces” (its spatiotemporal surroundings). The first chapter of the analysis deals with para-espaces as “spatio-dramatic pivot points”, i.e. as the spatial, actionnal and symbolic anchors of many plays. The second chapter focuses on sound permeability and how para-espaces are used to mediate information and heighten tensions between what is exposed on stage and what is hidden from sight. Para-espaces also convey visual information from the offstage space. The third chapter focuses on the prevalent rhetorical figure of “teichoscopie”, examining the benefits of placing part of the action offstage. It argues that this phenomenon, by allowing for a systematic emphasis on emotional reactions on stage, influences both the type of text it generates (in both monological and dialogical structures) and the relative disappearance of the role of the “confidant” among the dramatis personae. The fourth chapter addresses the ambiguities of para-espaces as mechanisms for both openness and closeness in the works of Alexandre Dumas, and elucidates how he uses them to build up tension, as well as to deepen the characterization of the protagonists of his plays. The fifth and final chapter discusses the inscription of para-espaces in the predominant aesthetic of “the spectacular”, finding that they often deviate from their original function in order to actualize tensions related to identity and social roles in nineteenth-century France.