The Princess of Clèves

the Princess of Clèves is a Romance written by Marie-madeleine of Fayette in 1678. This work is regarded as the modern first Romance of the French Littérature.

Subject

The action proceeds, in 1558, at the court of the king Henri II.

Miss de Chartres, young person orphan sixteen years raised by her mother according to rigorous rules of morals, appears for the first time in Louvre. Prince de Clèves, dazzled by its beauty, the proposal. Miss de Chartres accepts this marriage of convenience. Too much late, the Princess of Clèves meets the duke of Nemours. Is born between them a love immediate and divided, which his/her mother, Madam de Chartres entreats it to give up: “ do not fear to take too hard and too difficult parties, some dreadful that they appear to you initially: they will be softer in the continuations than misfortunes of a galantery ”.

The novel describes with much meticulousness the stages of the feeling in love at the three characters, its effects on their behavior and the fight of the princess not to betray the maternal precepts.

Critical apparatus

It is about a historical novel, since written with and being held with. the Princess of Clèves is regarded as one of the first novels of analysis.

Turning in the history of the novel at the traditional period, it marks the assertion in literature of the place of the women in the cultural life of. With the Princess of Clèves , masterpiece of the traditional preciosity, Marie-madeleine of Fayette, large reader of Madeleine de Scudéry, has worthy representing ideas invaluable conveyed in the living room of the marchioness of Rambouillet, which she attended assiduously.

In this novel one finds some descriptions of historical characters:

Jacques of Savoy-Nemours (1531-1585), wire of the duke Philippe of Savoy-Nemours, grandson of the duke Philippe II of Savoy and first cousin of the king François Ier de France: This prince was a masterpiece of nature; what it had of less admirable, it was to be the society man best done and most beautiful. What put it above others was an incomparable value, and an approval in its spirit, its face and its actions that one forever considering that with him only; it had a joviality which liked also to the men and the women, an extraordinary address in all its exercises, a manner of getting dressed who was always followed of everyone, without being able to be imitated, and finally an air in all its person who made that one could look at only him in all the places where it appeared.

Marguerite de Valois (1523-1574), girl of François {{Romanian|I|1}} {{er}}, king de France and of the queen Claude of France: This princess was in a great consideration by the credit which it had on the king, his/her brother; and this credit was so large that the king by making peace, agree to return Piedmont to make him marry the duke of Savoy. Though she had wished all her life to marry, she had never wanted to marry that a sovereign, and she had refused for this reason king de Navarre, when he was duke of Vendôme, and had always wished Mr. de Savoie; she had preserved inclination for him since she had seen it in Nice with the interview of king François first and of the Paul pope third.

Summary

Influences

Preciosity

In its youth, Madam of Fayette attends the invaluable living rooms of the hotel of Rambouillet and Miss de Scudéry. The Preciosity mark still the century, and influences it work headlight of the current, Astrée of Honore d' Urfé, is always felt in the literature. Madam of Fayette is thus not free from preciosity, when she writes to the Princess of Clèves .

The first aspect of preciosity is thus external with work, since it concerns Madam de Lafayette itself. Indeed, being a woman writer, it falls under the line as of these invaluable well-read women, symbolized by Miss de Scudéry. A work resulting from the frequentation of the living rooms invaluable and written by a woman carries the mark of the preciosity then.

The most obvious first and of the marks of preciosity in the news is the importance attached to the topic of the love, and the form that this last takes. The invaluable living rooms, indeed, nourish discussions on the love, with an aim of solving typical cases (a woman must it yield to its lover?). The love is a central theme of the invaluable movement. This type of problems are found in the whole of work, in a more or less explicit way. For example, the consent that Madam de Clèves makes of her love for Mister de Nemours with her husband is a typical case of invaluable question: does a woman have to acknowledge that it has a lover with her husband? In the same way, the behavior of Madam de Tournon raises certain questions of love: does a woman have to promise a marriage? Does a woman have to marry the man whom she loves? Lastly, the most explicit situation of invaluable conversation is that which makes discuss the Dauphine queen and the Prince de Condé of the opinion of Mister de Nemours, who does not want that its mistress goes to the ball.

Another manifestation of the preciosity, the Princess of Clèves and the Duke of Nemours, who represent to some extent the invaluable ideal: beautiful, intelligent and gracious. They have to be above the other human ones. All in all, they concentrate in them all qualities necessary to the ideal love, the pure love. However, the invaluable love remains generally unhappy, as that which links the Princess and the Duke. Indeed, the love is always tinted of jealousy, frauds. The invaluable ideal remains an ideal, i.e. it cannot be carried out that within a utopian framework similar to that of Astrée. However, Madam de Clèves remains irremediably anchored in historical reality; she cannot escape the jealousy. “But it was mistaken itself; and this evil, which it found so unbearable, was the jealousy with all the horrors by which it can be accompanied. ” (Second part)

The design of the invaluable love is illustrated in addition in the defended values, with the wire of the news, by various characters. In a rather general way, these values take again those which are modelled by the Chart of Tending. They constitute the ideal in love invaluable, ideal of course inaccessible.

The weight of the preciosity in the Princess of Clèves is also noticed by the continuous use of an invaluable vocabulary, éthéré vocabulary, vague terms, and invaluable neologisms in the form of adverbs. Two examples of this use of the invaluable vocabulary:

“it rented Mister de Nemours with a certain air which gave to Madam de Chartres the same thought that the knight of Own way” had had (First Part) “I believe duty in your attachment the weak reward to hide us none of my feelings and to let them to you see such as they are. ” (Fourth Part)

Jansénisme

Another influence particularly prégnante in the literary circle of the time is that of the Jansénisme of Port-Royal. It appears as well in the Réflexions or sentences and maxims morals and reflections various of Mister of Rochefoucauld as in the parts of Racine. Madam of Fayette, friend of Mister of Rochefoucauld, also attends the Jansenists mediums. The Princess of Clèves carries the marks of this influence.

This influence is rather simply expressed in the novel by the continual incapacity Madam de Clèves to express its problems correctly, and to face them. Indeed, the majority of the soliloquies which punctuate the account present non-problems. It is not a question, for example, to fight a culprit love but to hide it at the Court. It is not a question to have been unworthy towards his/her husband, but to have appeared unworthy with Mister de Nemours.

This bad permanent faith Madam de introduced Clèves, one sees it well, the topic of appearing, which dominates as of the opening of the news, since the description of the Court until in the soliloquies of the young woman. Nothing is what it seems to be at the Court, and appearances should be kept: the man is lying. “If you judge on appearances in this place, answered Madam de Chartres, you will be often misled: what appears is almost never the truth. ” (First Part)

Consequently, the Court is only one vast complex of cabals and other sets of influences. The direction of the country very whole is delivered to passions of the princes and the princesses, and the religion even is occulted by the ambition of glory. Thus, with died of the King, it is not the pity and the piety which dominate, but well the power plays. “court such a divided and such a filled with opposite interests was not in a poor agitation the day before if great event; nevertheless, all the movements were hidden and one appeared occupied only of the single concern of the health of the king. ” (Third Part)

The human being is dominated by passions by which it develops its defects. Even most innocent of the creatures, Madam de Clèves, fact proof of deception when the interest of its passions is concerned. She lies indeed to the dauphine queen in connection with the letter of Madam de Tournon, dissimulates with her husband. Admittedly, the consent is apparently a proof of transparency. Actually, it proves to be a strategy of Madam de Clèves to be held far away from the Court. It takes a quite imperative tone besides, at the time of this consent, for a woman who made a fault. Moreover, it does not have of cease of magnifier his courage: “Some dangerous that is to say the party which I take, I take it with joy to preserve me worthy to be with you. Think that to do what I do, it is necessary to have more friendship and more regard for a husband than one in forever have: lead me, have pity of me, and still love me, if you can. ” (Third part)

All in all, the virtue of Madam de Clèves is only one frontage. Like the others, it dissimulates, toy of its passions and the government of appearance. Its virtue even is always put in scene, with the image of the stoical virtue for the Jansenists, as during the last discussion with Mister de Nemours. It acts before very rising above the other women.

The last sentence of the news is eloquent: “its life, which was rather short, left inimitable examples of virtue. ” (Fourth Part) Inimitable examples, a whole paradox.

Libertinage

The most discrete last and of the influences exerted on the novel is that of the libertinage, with the manner of Cyrano of Bergerac, of course, and not of Donatien de Sade. Libertinage of manners, sensual pleasure, but also libertinage of spirit, freedom taken with one time the moral codes.

The two principal figures of this libertinage are the Duke of Nemours and Vidame of Chartres. They represent the man libertine, who can rise above them social conventions to live fully, to enjoy by the directions and the spirit, and also to be free of very forced.

This freedom appears under two reports/ratios: a freedom with respect to the social codes and a freedom with respect to the moral codes. Freedom with respect to the social codes is never more present than at the time of the business of England. The Duke of Nemours does not hesitate to reject all his diplomatic obligations, patriotic, both towards France and England, to devote itself entirely to his passion present for Madam de Clèves. The king (symbol of the social order and monk) does not fail to express his dissatisfaction on this subject. Freedom with respect to the moral codes is particularly visible in the adventure of Vidame of Chartres. This last does not hesitate to multiply the connections, and to make false oaths, to mislead in the queen that Madam de Thémines, while maintaining a connection with a woman of easy virtue.

From the point of view of libertinage of manners, it is necessary to start by noting frequent allusions to the multiple conquests as well of Mister de Nemours as of Vidame of Chartres. Physical pleasure, therefore, sexual even. But the discussion thread of libertinage of manners in the news resides in the continuous voyeurism of the Duke of Nemours, whose principal activity is of épier Madam de Clèves, to violate his intimacy by the glance. On several occasions, it draws from the pleasure of surprising Madam de Clèves. “See, in the middle of night, in more beautiful place of world, person that he adored, to see it without she knowing that he saw it, and to see it all occupied of things which had report/ratio with him and with passion that she hid to him, it is what tasted forever nor imagined by no one another lover. ” (Fourth Part)

Reception of work

Sources

References

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Adaptations to the cinema

1961 : the Princess of Clèves of Jean Delannoy
1999: the Letter of Manoel de Oliveira
2000: Fidelity of Andrzej Zulawski

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