The 18^th century saw literature gradually become a battlefield for public opinion, while writers became judges of their nation and social role models. Consequently, when the French Revolution opened the doors of power to the Third Estate, men of letters were quick to make an appearance on the public stage, giving rise to a proliferation of writer-politicians. Among them, Marie-Joseph Chénier (1764-1811), the “poet of the Revolution”, stands out, mainly because his career was catapulted by the fact that the debut of his play, Charles IX, coincided with the events of 1789. A deputy in the Convention, the Council of Five Hundred and the Tribunate, Chénier set out to inaugurate a new era of the national tragedy, in which the theatre would become a tool to teach the people hatred of tyranny and love of liberty. In fact, the author converted his works into a political instrument, attacking enemy parties and promoting the world views of his coreligionists. Therefore, his plays should not only be read as literary works, but also as historically situated acts. This paper aims to offers a similar reading of Chénier’s first two tragedies of the revolutionary period, Charles IX (1789) and Henri VIII (1791), paying special attention to the social actors that appear in them, namely, the king and the court. In this way, it will be shown how the spectator ceased to be the noble patron in order to become the citizen, while analyzing the strategies that Chénier uses to desacralize the monarchy and destabilize the relationship between the sovereign and his entourage. In the end, while Charles IX tries to warn the king about the deceptions of the court, Henri VIII reminds the courtiers of the dangers hidden behind the whims of absolute power. However, since the audience has already changed, the effect of the attempt will be very different in each play.