Abstract: Censorship forbid plays not with the aim of exerting a punishment, but rather in order to release the author from his responsibility and the public from any discernment and claim to maturity. The playwright’s responsibility consists in assuming his authorship. Zola, by signing almost none of his plays, cancels himself as author and releases himself from any kind of responsibility on the one hand, while on the other, he thereby escapes the infantilizing status bestowed by censure.
