An intellectual battle was fought in 18th-century France to raise the professional status of acting, by means of the use of rhetoric and expressive technique, to that of other arts. The central strategy was based on the ancient rhetorical notion of "actio".

In 18th-century France an intellectual battle was fought to raise the professional status of acting to the level of other arts involving rhetoric and expressive technique. The central strategy was based on the ancient rhetorical notion of actio, a theory of gesture, attitude, and facial expression already employed in the teaching and practice of religious, forensic, and political oratory. In this lucid study, Goodden explores the belief, championed by Diderot and others, that the primary mode of persuasion is not auditory, but visual.