Jacques le fataliste (Jacques the Fatalist) (Diderot): and figure of the philosophe, 375, 376; posthumous publishing of, 371
Joyce, James: as an author in exile, 616; Beckett’s essay on, 621; as Beckett’s mentor, 615; bilingualism of, 616; and creation of a synthetic language, 619; and Joycean language, 620, 630; as model for Beckett, 626
Julie ou la nouvelle Héloïse (Julie, or the New Heloise) (Rousseau): and architecture of bourgeois house, 322–23; copies of, 32; and the epistolary novel, 320–24, 327; and intimacy of the salon of Apollo, 322–23; and marriage and family, 320, 321–22, 324; and nature, 322, 323–24; and La philosophie dans le boudoir (Philosophy in the Bedroom) (Sade), 326; and private spaces, 320–22; and Saint-Preux in Julie’s dressing room, 320–22, 323; and Saint-Preux in the Elysée garden, 323–24; and sentiment, 40, 320; and transparency, 320, 322
Labé, Louise, 3, 29, 117, 149
La Boétie, Etienne de, 159–60
La Bruyère, Jean de: as an Ancient, 271; Caractères of, 230, 235–36; as a moralist, 230, 235–36; professions of, 230
Laclos, Pierre: and academic competition, 338; and the eighteenth-century novel, 314; and Les liaisons dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons), 32–33, 317, 337, 343; and women’s freedom, 30
Lafayette, Madame de: and anonymous publishing of novel, 217–18; and characters’ passions, 202, 203, 206, 212, 213–14, 216, 217, 220; and eavesdropping culture, 222–23; and the nouvelle historique, Princesse de Montpensier, 216; and psychological novel La Princesse de Clèves, 202, 203, 212, 213, 215–20, 223; and Rabouillet salon’s conversation, 221; and Versailles, 218–19; and women’s conversation, 212, 220, 222–23; and Zayde, 202
La Fontaine, Jean de: and the Académie française, 230–31, 252; as an Ancient, 271; and animal nature of humans, 235; and description of Richelieu’s chateau, 255, 258, 264; as a detractor of Descartes, 251; and ethics of writing, 238; and explorer narratives, 256, 258–60; and fable “An Animal in the Moon,” 231–32; and fables, 230, 231–32, 236, 238–39, 250, 252; and Fables, 252, 264; and fable “The Power of Fables,” 240; and imagination, 240, 260; and Lettres à sa femme (Letters to Madame de La Fontaine), 254–56, 259–60, 262; as a libertine, 230; as a moralist, 230; on politics and war, 263–64; and power of language, 238–39; as protégé of Nicolas Fouquet, 254; questions raised in fiction of, 265–66; and satire and critique, 256, 260, 263; and sense perception with reason, 231–32; and seventeenth-century poetry, 252; and short stories, 230; and travel writing, 261–62, 265–66; and Voyage d’Encausse (Chapelle and Bachaumont), 262; and wife Marie Hericart, 254
Lamartine, Alphonse de, 503, 504; and God’s creation, 507; as minister of foreign affairs, 505–6; and poet’s role, 507; religion of, 506; and republicanism, 505–506
language: and aboriginal languages in Canada, 641; and ancient Greek, 282; of antiquity, 122, 140, 141, 148, 161; and Arabic, 641, 643, 644, 648; and Aramaic, 56; and authors as members of society, 25, 643; and authors’ choices, 24–25, 146, 616–17; and Beckett’s self-translation, 624–25, 626; and borrowing from other languages and literatures, 152; and Breton, 23; and the century, 15; and classical languages, 156; and clichés in Flaubert, 459, 460, 461, 462, 467; and communication between francophone nations, 24, 646; and correspondences, 471; and Un coup de Dés jamais n’abolira le Hasard (Mallarmé), 497; and Creole, 583, 592, 641, 645; and La deffence et illustration de la langue francoyse (du Bellay), 137–43, 145–47; and dialects, 72, 73, 617; and dictionaries, 23, 24; and direct speech, 589–90; and Dutch, 52, 72, 336; and English, 336, 641; and “Essai sur l’origine des langues” (“Essay on the Origin of Languages”) (Rousseau), 286; and francophone culture, 24, 635, 640; and French as a national language, 7, 11, 23; and French as suitable for poetry, 140; and French in the Maghreb region, 635; and French language, 3, 7, 11, 13, 22–24, 35, 56, 68, 71, 72, 113, 114, 128, 137–38, 140–41, 145, 158, 221, 287, 526, 640, 641, 647; and French literacy, 23–24, 33, 34, 339; and Gaelic, 616–17; and Gascon, 640; and German, 71, 336; and God, 403; and the Gothic world, 79, 84; and Greek, 23, 35, 48, 50, 52, 53, 56, 71, 74, 78, 138, 140, 142, 143, 148, 336, 501; and Hebrew, 50, 52, 56, 97; and imitation of other languages, 140, 146; and interpretation, 73, 74; and issues of translation and interpretation, 73–75, 145–46, 151; and Italian, 11, 71, 73, 97, 148, 149, 151, 158, 347; and Joyce’s creation of a synthetic language, 619; and Latin, 23, 35, 47–48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 71, 72, 73, 79, 83–84, 97, 138, 139, 140, 143, 148, 158, 648; and Latin in Le rouge et le noir (Stendhal), 421, 423; and limits of for expression, 459–60; and Limousin, 71, 72; and literary language, 628; and literature in European languages, 45, 71, 72, 148, 149; in Madame Bovary (Flaubert), 456–61; and making sense of self and surroundings, 502; as medium of relation and engagement, 590–91; and modern francophones, 71; and modern French argot, 24; and modern Italy, 23; and modern languages, 148; and moving pictures, 46; and “My Mother Tongue, My Paternal Languages” (Serres), 640; and naming of things, 607, 608; and national heritage, 536, 640; and nationalism, 640–41; and national language, 132, 640, 641; and national literary culture, 7, 11, 23, 536, 640; and native French speakers, 640; nature of, 134; and Occitan, 23; and Pantagruel (Rabelais), 71–73, 87; and poetic language, 472, 483, 486, 490, 502; and polyglossia, 11, 84; and polyphony, 266; and process of cultivation, 141–43; and Proust’s writing, 526, 530; and reality, 602; and relationship with author, 628; and Remarques sur la langue française (Vaugelas), 221; and rhythm and meter, 128, 134; and Romans’ cultivation of Latin, 141–42; and Ronsard’s odes, 115, 134; as a rule-bound activity, 502; and sacred language, 498; of seduction, 461; and sonnets, 131; and Spanish, 72, 97, 336; and spoken French vernacular, 631; standardization of, 35–36, 72; and the sublime, 283; and translation, 72, 73–74, 145, 279, 282, 284, 287, 291, 294, 343, 347; and translations of Marie Leprince de Beaumont’s “Magasins,” 336; and Tuscan dialect of Italian, 148; and universal language, 630; and use of pronoun on (one), 460–61, 466–67, 626; and use of spoken French in novel, 539, 541, 550; and use of vernacular language, 24, 35, 51, 52, 54, 73–74, 550; and women’s conversation, 221; and writing, 619, 629; and writing without style, 615. See also deffence et illustration de la langue francoyse, La (du Bellay); French poetry
La Rochefoucauld, Francois de: aphorisms of, 8; as a celebrated moralist, 230; Maximes of, 235, 248; and self-interest, 234; and self-love, 232, 235; on virtue and vice, 233
Leibniz, Gottfried: and divine order, 308; and Leibnizian optimism, 296, 297, 298, 304, 305, 309; and philosophy, 306; and problem of evil, 298
Lettres à sa femme (Letters to Madame de la Fontaine) (La Fontaine): as an epistolary narrative, 254, 256; and imprisonment of Fouquet, 254, 262; and narrator as an exile, 262; and places visited, 255–56; and religious subjects, 255; and travel writing, 259–60; and Voyage de Paris en Limousin, 254, 256, 262
Lettres d’une peruvienne (Letters from a Peruvian Woman) (Graffigny), 295, 327–28, 346–47
Lettres persanes (Montesquieu), 295, 345
Lettres provinciales (Pascal), 241–43
Lettre sur les aveugles (Letter to the Blind) (Diderot), 372
Leviathan, The (Hobbes), 182, 238
liaisons dangereuses, Les (Dangerous Liaisons) (Laclos): and the boudoir or bedroom, 317–18, 319, 320, 324, copies of, 32–33; and the epistolary novel, 317, 318–20; and immorality of Marquise de Merteuil, 343; and libertines’ use of space, 317–20; and observation of Mme de Tourvel, 318–19; publishing of, 337; and rendezvous between Mme de Merteuil and Prévan, 319; and smallpox, 326; and Valmont’s seduction of Mme de Tourvel, 318–19
libertines: and adventures of the self, 232; and belief in God, 244–45; and cultural authority, 234; and Cyrano de Bergerac, 251–52; and freethinking, 182, 229, 230, 231; and Gassendi, 182; and human excesses, 231; and illusions about oneself, 235; and La Fontaine, 230–31; and libertinage, 229, 230; and libertine writers, 230–32, 235, 238; and libertine writing, 229, 230, 313, 315–20, 324–27; and matter, 238; Pascal’s feelings on, 241
; and people’s motivations, 232; and politics, 247; and power of imagination, 235, 238; and search for secrets, 327; and self-love, 231; and site of the bed, 324, 326; and spatial strategies in novels, 317–19; and violence, 326
literary career: and alienation, 10; and authors as members of society, 25, 28, 29; and authors’ copyrights, 28; and authors’ wages, 25, 26, 27–28; and dictionary, 26; and encyclopedists, 26; and journalists, 26, 27–28; and literary self-consciousness, 9; and patronage of court and Church, 25–27; and personas or pseudonyms, 25, 37; and professional writers, 27–31, 42; and rise of the middle class, 26, 30; and royalty payments, 27; and value of independence, 25; and writer as intellectual, 28, 29; and writer as rebel and outsider, 9, 28
literary history: and aesthetics, 234, 288; and attack on Rousseau’s Confessions, 402–3; and Charles Baudelaire, 470; and beginnings of modernization, 8; and Benedictines of Saint Maur, 6; and border-crossing, 12–13; and censor Briffaut, 443–44; and the century, 15, 42, 43; and context, 6, 7, 18, 92; and cosmopolitanism, 12; and criticism, 39–42, 213; and dating of chronology, 18; and discussion about La Princesse de Clèves (Lafayette), 213; and dominant, emergent, and residual stages, 16–17; and the eighteenth century, 6, 9; and the fifteenth century, 21; and First and Second Romanticism, 440; and the “first Renaissance,” 51, 54; and Francois I’s plan for institution of higher learning, 50; and francophone literature, 591, 636, 644, 645, 650; and French arts, 287–88; and French literary prose, 241–42; and French literature, 45, 242, 287–88; and French poetry, 3–5; and French world, 7; and the Heptameron (Marguerite de Navarre), 92; as a history of readings, 18–19; and influence of a work, 19; and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 394–95; and Lettres provinciales (Pascal), 241–42; and literary criticism, 39–42, 591; and the literary marketplace, 9–10, 11; and literary movements, 491; and literary self-consciousness, 9, 10–11; and literary trials, 10, 37–38, 452, 462, 463, 464–66, 468; and The Marriage of Figaro (Beaumarchais), 362; and Méditations poétiques (Lamartine), 503; and membership in canon, 6, 9; and modern Western literary history, 206; and Montaigne’s Essays, 155, 168; and Montesquieu, 43, 288; and national literary culture, 12–13, 14, 20; and new forms of writing, 45–46; and the nineteenth century, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12–13, 16; as opposed to history of literature, 5–7; and patronage of writers, 25–27; and pioneering nature of Césaire’s writings, 591–92; and political change, 43; and prepublication censorship, 36–37; and presenting interiority, 206–7; and Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns, 272, 275, 277, 287–88, 440; and the Renaissance, 15–16, 43, 269, 438; and revolution of printing, 35; and rise of books on moral doctrine, 234; and the seventeenth century, 7–9, 11–12, 13, 16, 17, 43, 234, 266; and the sixteenth century, 3, 4, 11, 16, 51; and story’s reproduction, 19; and term Renaissance, 137; and travel writing, 266; and the twentieth century, 3, 11, 13, 22, 43, 596–97, 600; and the twenty-first century, 11, 44, 46; and vocation of literature, 21; writer or work’s place in, 18, 19. See also classicism; history; Quarrels
literary trials: and Baudelaire’s Les fleurs du mal, 10; and Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, 10, 452, 462–66, 468; and trial of Théophile de Viau, 230
Locke, John: and empiricism, 295; and Essay concerning Human Understanding, 295; and human mind as a blank tablet, 295, 303; and natural laws, 396
Louis XIV: absolute rule of, 180, 203, 263, 269; and Anne of Austria, 180, 203; and centralized state formation, 8; and Jean Chapelain, 122; and classical culture, 273, 275, 276; court of, 81, 178, 214, 222, 225, 263, 518; and fashion, 444–45; and imprisonment of Fouquet, 254; and incorporation in Tartuffe (Molière), 178–80; and marquise de Montespan, 225; and patronage of writers, 26, 174; and Charles Perrault, 15, 275; and poem “Le siècle de Louis Le Grand” (Perrault), 270; Racine as historiographer for, 191; and Versailles, 22, 214, 225, 270; and wife Mme de Maintenon, 225
Louverture, Toussaint, 580, 581, 585–86
Lucian of Samosata, 48, 54, 55, 58, 261
Luther, Martin, 36, 60, 61, 91; sermons of, 107; and treatise on monastic vows of celibacy, 100. See also religion
Lyons, France, 3, 36, 71, 117, 140, 330
Madame Bovary (Flaubert): and Emma Bovary, 452–59, 461–65, 467, 468; and censorship by editors, 464; and clichés of language, 459–62; and detail of description, 451, 452–55, 460, 463; and Emma’s child with Charles, 464; and Emma’s debt, 462–63; and Emma’s lovers, 454, 458–64; and Flaubert’s impersonality of narration, 451–52; and influence of romance novels, 456; and language, 456–61, 467; as modern, 455, 467–68; and realism, 7, 451–56, 465–68; and reality of marriage, 462, 465, 467; and scandal, 452, 464–66; serial publishing of, 464; and suicide, 463; and sympathy for main character, 456–57, 468; themes of, 451, 456–57, 464–66, 467, 468; and trial concerning public and religious morality, 10, 452, 462, 463, 464–66, 468; and use of pronoun on (one), 460–61. See also language
Mallarmé, Stephane: and alexandrine verse form, 4; as an atheist, 502; and authority, 503; careers of, 502–3; and Crise de vers (Verse Crisis), 13, 127, 128, 499–501; death of, 495, 496; and difficult modes of expression, 28; family of, 503; and history of modernity, 630; and language, 509; and music, 128, 501–2, 503; and Poésies, 495; and poet as seer, 501; and poetic meters, 134; and poetry, 4, 122, 128, 495–503, 511; and prosody, 126; and sonnets, 500–501; and versification, 122
Malraux, André: and challenge to traditional treatment of protagonists, 546; cinematic montage in novel of, 546–48, 550–51; and Les conquerants, 534, 549; and Duthuit’s journal Transition, 630; and film Espoir: Sierra de Teruel, 548; and literature of extreme situations, 547; as a member of the Gallimard staff, 538; and the 1930s, 7, 534, 535; politics of, 535, 551; and Prix Goncourt for La condition humaine, 537; and “the human condition,” 539; tragic vision of, 550
manifestos: and conflict with the state, 10; and La deffence et illustration de la langue francoyse as Pléiade manifesto, 137, 147; and French authors, 25, 190, 466, 590; and Goethe’s Weltliteratur and globalization, 11; and modernizing impulse, 8; and Perrault’s modern-party manifesto, 271, 273; and In Praise of Creoleness, 579; for realism, 466; and Romantic manifesto Racine and Shakespeare (Stendhal), 190, 444, 445; and surrealist manifestos, 511, 558, 561, 562, 571
Marguerite de Navarre: as Marguerite d’Angoulême, 52, 59, 96; as anti-Erasmian, 52, 62–65, 99; attacks by Béda on, 59, 67; and belief in Bible, 52, 63, 97, 109–10; and Guillaume Briçonnet, 54, 61, 91; and Jean Calvin, 59, 67; and correspondence with social network, 54, 61, 91; and court in Nérac, 100; courtly and medieval works of, 59, 94; and daughter Jeanne, 121; death of, 68, 92; diplomatic skill of, 91; and education, 63, 97; and Erasmus’s letters, 53–54, 59, 65; as evangelical, 61, 62, 63, 110; farces and songs of, 52, 61–64, 66; and Henri d’Albret, king of Navarre, 107; and the Heptameron, 92, 93, 100–101, 103, 110; husbands of, 97–98, 107; and imitation in English, 102–3; influence of, 101–2, 109; and innovations to narrative traditions, 104–6; and interaction with Boccaccio, 11; and marriage, 98–99, 103; and Clément Marot, 66, 123; and mother Louise de Savoie, 97; and mystico-Lutheran ideology, 61, 62; and La passion secrète d’une reine (Chardak), 109; and patronage of writers, 91–92, 99, 100; piety and faith of, 52, 60–62, 97, 99; plays of, 92; poetry of, 59–61, 64–65, 92, 97, 101; and political change, 91, 97; as queen of Navarre, 53, 96–97; readership of, 59; and relationship with brother, 108; and relationship with Rabelais, 100, 109; and religious themes, 60–65, 108, 109; and Mellin de Saint-Gelais, 123; and salvation, 62, 64; as sister of François I, 25, 51, 52, 59, 91, 97, 99; and translations of seditious writings, 100; writing style of, 59, 60, 61, 62
Marivaux, Pierre Carlet de: and absence of gender hierarchy, 357; and authority, 352; and autonomy, 352, 357, 361; and characters’ names, 353–54, 356; and cross-dressing, 357, 358; and discovery of the self, 361; and family, 352, 356–57; and La fausse suivante (The False Lady’s Maid), 353–54, 357, 358; and The Game of Love and Chance, 357–59; and gender equality, 359; and happiness, 361; and love, 35
2, 354–61; and marriage, 352, 355, 356–57, 360–61; and novel Le paysan parvenu (Up from the Country), 314–15; and relationship between servants and masters, 352–60, 365; and second Surprise of Love, 354, 356–57; and self-determining female characters, 356–57; and sentiment, 360–61; and servants as twins of upper-class characters, 354–55; and social hierarchy, 359, 360, 368; social views of, 357; and Surprise of Love (1722), 354–57; and traditions of Molière and the commedia dell’arte, 352, 356; and widows, 356–57; and women’s marital status, 356, 357. See also class
Marot, Clément: allegories of, 52, 66; death of, 67, 68; enemies of, 67; and L’enfer, 66; as Erasmian, 66, 67; and evangelism, 66, 67; and human institutions of the Church, 66; and lyric stanzas, 66; and patronage of Marguerite de Navarre, 99, 123; as a poet, 4, 52, 65–67, 113–14, 117, 138, 139; and poetic forms, 68–69; and refuge at Marguerite’s court, 100; and sonnets, 139, 151; and Le temple de Cupido, 66–67; and translation of Petrarch, 139, 150–51; and translations of biblical psalms into French, 65–66, 67; as a vernacular poet, 113–14
Marriage of Figaro, The (Beaumarchais): and attack on censorship, 363; and attack on judicial system, 364; and character of Count Almaviva, 362, 363, 365–68; and character of Fanchette, 367; and character of Figaro, 363, 364, 365–68; and class and gender cross-dressing, 365; as a critique of the ancien régime’s values, 363, 365; and family, 366–67; and happiness, 365, 366, 367; and lack of economic opportunity for women, 364; and love, 368–69; and marriage, 365–68; and meritocracy, 364; popularity of, 364; and public opinion, 364–65, 368; and relationship between Figaro and Suzanne, 366, 367, 368; and relationship between servants and masters, 365, 368; and “seigneurial rights,” 366; and struggle to stage, 362–64
Martinique: and antillanité (Caribbeanness), 575; and Aimé Cesairé, 575, 576–77, 578, 581, 647; and Raphael Confiant, 579; and Creole language, 641; and créolité (Creoleness), 575, 579, 592; and French “overseas departements,” 578, 637, 641; and négritude, 575; politics in, 577, 578; and rule of Admiral Robert, 577; and works of Glissant and Fanon, 581
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