La princesse de Clèves (Annotated)

Résumé

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Madame de Cleves, perfect young beauty in every way, made ​​an impressive debut at the court of the Queen-Dauphin, stepdaughter of Henry II. For this model of virtue, the image of Diane de Poitiers flat throughout the novel as against the absolute-example. But under the innocent outside, Princess of Cleves, by its ability to analyze and control his feelings, shows an amazing and rarely exposed personality so accurately before. For if courtly love is here undeniable echoes, this book appeared in 1678, often considered the first novel in French literature, is definitely a huge step in the novel as we know it today. The gallery of portraits drawn by Madame de Lafayette can be a bit off putting for the modern reader, as well as his language is a bit austere. Nevertheless, the psychological analysis is a highly innovative and likely bought the implausibility of some scenes. In addition, the feat to give birth while a novel of intrigue as tenuous, almost without action, because of The Princess of Cleves an even more pathetic than the characters leave little control to external events work and condemn themselves. --Sana Tang-Léopold Wauters