Diderot, a French enlightenment thinker, published an important drama paper in 1758, which was originally an appendix to the drama "The Head of the Family". This paper gives full play to Diderot's enlightenment drama thought and puts forward a series of drama creation ideas, which is an important document for studying Diderot's literary aesthetic thought.

First, attach importance to the educational role of drama and put forward the idea of creating serious comedies. The emphasis on the role of drama education is subordinate to the writer's whole ideological system, so this view occupies a very prominent position in the paper. /kloc-the fundamental purpose of the western enlightenment in the 0/8th century was to educate people with scientific and cultural knowledge and make ideological preparations for the bourgeois revolution. As one of the leaders of this movement, Diderot regarded drama as a weapon of enlightenment, so he said: "If * * * is good at using drama when preparing to amend a law or ban a custom, what an effective means to change customs." Because drama can guide people to "love morality and hate evil" by purifying people's emotions and morality, this method is much more effective than that harsh and blunt preaching. There is a famous saying in the article: "Only on the billiard table in the theater can the tears of good people and bad people meet." Here, the bad guys will express indignation at the evil deeds they have committed, sympathy for the pain they have caused others, and disgust at a person with personality. "Because of this, Diderot put forward the idea of creating serious comedies on the basis of summarizing the history of previous dramas. He believes that traditional comedies are based on the shortcomings and ridiculous aspects of human virtues, while traditional tragedies are based on the disasters of the masses and the misfortunes of great men. These traditional tragicomedy can't undertake the task of enlightenment. Only serious comedies with the theme of "human virtue and responsibility" can cultivate people's thoughts and guide people to promote good and punish evil. Although there are few good people in reality, there are after all. In these good people, human nature has been reflected. Diderot is a believer in the theory of good nature. The proposal of serious comedy opened a sound for the development of later drama, and its contribution in the history of drama is immortal. In order to discover human virtues, Diderot advocated that writers and critics should go to real life and their familiar industries, and first cultivate their own beautiful virtues in order to see the essence of human beings.

Secondly, the relationship between historical truth and artistic truth is analyzed, and some characteristics of thinking in images are recognized. Diderot called drama "the art of history", but history and art are different. History is a fact, a fact that has happened, so it is true. Drama should have a choice, and choose something that conforms to the essence and laws of life. The author calls this feature "realism". According to this creative principle, drama should allow "surprise", a special form of things, and abandon "miracle", which is impossible. The writer inherited the ancient European materialist view of literature and art and made new progress in theory, which should be said to be a great contribution to realistic aesthetics.

Diderot also combined with his own creative experience, made a useful discussion on the law of thinking in images. To sum up: First, creation requires imagination and fantasy, but this psychological state is produced from "life experience" and is determined by "life experience". Second, the aesthetic characteristics of art allow fiction, which can add fuel to history. You can imagine a thing and fabricate some words. As long as you follow natural procedures, it is realistic. Third, imagination and fantasy are not unrelated, but have certain norms, that is to say, thinking in images also has logical laws. Although the elaboration of thinking in images in this paper is preliminary, it was unknown before, which is very enlightening for the development of literary theory in the future.

Thirdly, a series of ideas about drama creation are put forward. On Drama Art is not only a theoretical work, but also a summary of creative experience. Diderot is not only a thinker but also a creator. Many of his creative experiences are still instructive today. In the establishment of creative theory, the paper first emphasizes the description of characters' personalities. He put forward the method of describing personality in comparison, that is, through the comparison of personality and situation, and the comparison of interests of different characters, personality will be more prominent. This theory led to the discussion about drama conflict later. Secondly, it is about the handling of the plot and structure of the drama. Diderot advocates that the plot development must conform to the reality of life and can't blindly pursue accidental events. The effect of drama is not a temporary surprise, but a long-term anxiety of the audience. This view is very profound. Structurally, he advocates simplification, which is in line with the purpose of enlightenment, because it is to show the "third grade" ordinary life, which may lack the thrilling side compared with historical events. Of course, it is not only simple drama that is successful. Diderot's idea has its historical reasons.

In addition, in this paper, the author also expressed his views on performance, scenery, scenes and language, which undoubtedly enriched the theory of drama performance and stage design.