Syllabus of six lectures on French literature in the seventeenth century

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UNIVERSITY EXTENSION COURSE,

SYLLABUS

OF

SIX LECTURES

ON

• ..

French Literature in the

.Century

BY

'. W. BOA'

FRED. W. BOATWRIGHT,

Professor of Modern Languages in Richmond College, Virginia.

' ' To become European the thought of every country must first pass
through the mouth of France. From this standpoint, the history of French
literature is the history of man, a psychological study of the human race"
— DEMOGEOT.

UNIVERSITY EXTENSION COURSE.

SYLLABUS

OF

SIX LECTURES

ON

French Literature in the Seventeenth Century

BY

FRED. W. BOATWRIGHT,

• >
Professor of Modern Languages in Richmond College, Virginia.

" To become European the thought of every country must first pass
through the mouth of France. From this standpoint, the history of French
literature is the history of man, a psychological study of the human race."
— DEMOGEOT.

RICHMOND :

C. N. WILLIAMS, PRINTER.
I894.

Bacon says that " reading maketh a full man, writing an exact man, and
conference a ready man." It is proposed to combine, as far as practicable,
the advantages of these three kinds of exercise.

I. LECTURES AND CONFERENCE.

Each Lecture will occupy about an hour. The Lecturer will then devote
half an hour to conference with any auditors who may desire to get more
satisfactory explanation, or to propound questions, or to receive suggestions
about further study, of the subject treated.

II. WRITTEN ESSAYS.

Appended to each Lecture are certain topics from which every student is
requested to select one, for a brief, compact essay, to be written on cap
paper and handed in at or before the next Lecture. These will be read,
valued and returned. A certificate will be awarded for satisfactory essays
on a full set of six topics.

III. BOOKS RECOMMENDED.

1. Geschichte der Franzosischen Literatur im XVII Jahrhundert, von
Ferdinand Lotheissen, four vols., $12.00 ; Karl Gerold's Sohn, Vienna.

2. Annals of the French Stage, two vols., $10.00; Chapman and Hall,
London.

3. Saintsbury's Short History of French Literature, $2.25, Macmillan.

4. Wilkinson's Classic French Course in English, (enlarged edition), $1.00,
Chautauqua Press, New York.

5. On lecture II., A Study in Corneille, by L. D. Lodge, $1.00, Murphy,
Baltimore.

LECTURE I.

INTRODUCTION TO FRENCH LANGUAGE, LIFE, AND LITERATURE

I. LANGUAGE.

Between 200 B. C. and 500 A. D., the Celts inhabiting Gaul were com-
pletely Romanized. The Celtic language disappeared, leaving very few
traces. (Cf. French in Algeria to-day). By the time of the Germanic in-
vasions Roman law and culture were dominant in all Gaul. The language
of the barbaric invaders finally succumbed before the superior culture of the
Gallo-Romans, but left to modem French a considerable legacy of Teutonic
words.

Earliest monument of French language is Strasburg oath, 842 A. D.

Gallo-Romanic early branched into Provencal in the South, where Teu-
tonic influence scarcely penetrated, and Old French in the North. The di-
viding line was the river Loire, and the Shibboleth the adverb " yes."

Provencal literature developed early and independently, flourished in the
eleventh and twelfth centuries, and perished with the political independence
of Southern France. The political and literary predominence of the prov-
ince Ile-de-France under Philip II., (1180-1223), gradually spread the dia-
lect of that province, until about the fourteenth century it attained the dig-
nity of a national language. Here Modern French begins.

II. LIFE.

The decline of feudalism under the centralizing policy of the later Valois
and the Bourbons. The structure of society. Nobility, Clergy, and the
Third Estate. The chasm between first and last not bridged by second.
The rise of Paris to be the center and source of all political and social life.
The pomp of court life. The growth of absolutism and the loss of interest
on the part of nobility and people in politics. Absenteeism and its result-
ant evils. All intellectual activity centered in the salons. The influence of
life on literature.

III. LITERATURE.

French literature, the most brilliant and varied in the world, but deficient
in poetry. The charm of this literature is its style. Distinguishing char-
acteristics are a vein of light satire and sociability.

1. Medieval Literature, 900-1450.

The striking independence and richness of early French literature. The
debt of English and other literatures to medieval France.

The Chansons de Gestes, or Carlovingian, Arthurian and Alexandrian
epics. The Fabliaux. The Trouveres and Jongleurs.

Thibaut de Champagne (1201-1253), one of the first lyric poets.

The great allegorical poems Roman du Renart and Roman de la Rose.

Froissart (1337-1410), the Herodotus, and Comines (1447-1511), the Taci-
tus of French history.

The unsurpassed fertility of Southern France in lyric poetry.

2. The Renaissance.

Clement Marot (1497-1544), introduced directness and simplicity-

The Ple"iade, a group of seven writers, chief among whom werej^onsard
(i524-'85), and Jpdelle (1532-^3), endeavored to Vnbuld French language
and poetry on classical models. This school the best known representa
tives of the Renaissance.

Up to the sixteenth century prose had been but little cultivated in France,
yet Rabelais (1495-1553), and Calvin (1509-' 64)^ wrote works which to this
day remain masterpieces in style and thought. ""

The last great work betpre the classical period was the Essais ofJVlc
taigne

Saintsbury, pp. 1-273 ; Wilkinson, pp. 1-54. On French life consult Taine's
"Ancient Regime."

TOPICS FOR WRITTEN ESSAY.

1. Origin and development of French language.

2. Life in the seventeenth century.
*. The Pleiade.

LECTURE II.

THE GREAT CORNEILLE.

By the opening of the seventeenth century the French language had at-
tained its growth. Almost every variety of literary style had been culti-
vated. Malherbe (1555-1628), prepared the way for classicism bv purging-
the language from the excesses of the Renaissance, and insisting upon har-
mony f regularity^ and delicacy of expression. '

To three contemporaries, Hardy (1560-1631), Mairet (i6o4~'86), and Ro-
trou (i6o9-'6o\ Corneille owed much.

PIERRE CORNEILLE was born at Rouen, June 6, 1606, and died at Paris,
October i, 1684. His father, of the same name, was a royal advocate and
master of waters and forests in the viscounty of Rouen. His mother, Marthe
le Pesant, belonged to a family of local prominence. For distinguished ser-
vice the father was ennobled in 1637. Young Corneille was educated for
tliebar, but after brief practice, ''sans gout et sans succes," retired from
theproTession. The youthful barrister was not insensible to womanly grace,
and confesses that love taught him to rhyme.

His first comedy, JMtttte (1629), succeeded at Rouen and then at Paris.
This was followed by the extravagant tragedy Clitandre (1632), four come-
dies, and the tradegy Medec (1635), in which is sounded the first note of
future greatness. The celebrated " moi " of Medee.

Engaged as collaborateur by the minister Rjrhelien, but soon dismissed
because he lacked^an "esprit de suite," he retired to Rouen and studied
the Spanish language and drama. The young queen, consort of Louis
XIII. was making Spanish language and customs fashionable in France.

To this study of Spanish we owe the epoch-making Cid (1636). Some
reasons why the Cid roused the ire of Richelieu, and call ect Forth the savage
attacks of Scudery and other literary hirelings. Le Cid before the Academy.
(A brief sketch of origin and development of French Academy.) The
public right from the first. " Cela est beau comme le Cid" became a
proverb. Boileau wrote "For Chimene all Paris has the eyes of Rod-
rigue." The best known of Corneille's dramas.

Horace (1639), based on Livy, celebrates the heroic patriotism of the
early Romans. With this play classicism won undisputed supremacy and
reigned triumphant for nearly two centuries. The " Qu'il mourut " of old
Horace has never been surpassed in tragic grandeur.

Cinna (1639), a Roman tragedy at the court of Augustus, contains
speeches of sublime eloquence. Has been called the breviary of kings.
Accorded first rank by the French. The opinion of Napoleon.

Polyeucte (1640), suggested by a passage in Surius, ranks as the greatest
Christian tragedy in any language. Condemned by the literary coterie of
the Hotel de Rambouillet at a preliminary reading, this play nevertheless
proved immediately successful. An enlightened critic declares "The Cid
raised Corneille above his rivals ; the Horace and Cinna above his models ;
the Polyeucte above himself."

Le Rlenteur (1642), the best French comedy before Moliere, and Rodogune
(1644), a tragedy of the highest artistic perfection, about close the list of
Corneille's dramas which still retain their popularity on the stage. The
whole number of his plays is thirty-three.

The characteristics of Qorneille's style are grandeur, and stateliness of
thought and language, which, however, ^re notainiformly maintained. His
chief faults are undue fondness for the_sterner virtues, and a tendency to
depict character and motive as single rather than complex.

Corneille is described as common in appearance, and negligent in dress.
His face was agreeable, and he had a handsome mouth and flashing eyes.

His Hittpn^tinn was rnalanrhnlv, and JOSS of popularity together with in-

creas'irig"povertv; .embittered his^oJUL age- His marital relations seem to
have been pleasant, but his private life was so retired that not man/ details
are known. His nephew says, " He was a good father, a good husband,
and full of friendship."

Saintsbury, pp. 274-281, and 290-300; Wilkinson, pp. 117-127. Eclectic
Magazine, vol. XLI, pp. 359-362 ; Consult Lodge.

TOPICS FOR WRITTEN ESSAY.

1. Malherbe.

2. The excellencies and defects of classic style.

3. Le Cid.

LECTURE III.

RACINE AND HIS CRITIC.

I. The Critic, NICOLAS BOILEAU. measured by his influence over his con-
temporaries, is the greatest critic France has yet produced. Long after his
death he was revered as the " Law-giver of Parnassus." Born November
i, 1636, in Paris, he was next to the youngest of fifteen children who were
soon left motherless.

Nicolas was destined for the priesthood and put to studying theology, but
changed to jla^-r not, however, until he had reimbursed the Church for his
board and tuition as theological student. He passed in his family as a
dreamer, and imrjractical, because he was always reading Latin and Greek
and writing verses.

On reaching his majority he retired from the bar, and dedicated his
talents to the Muses. At this time he occupied an attic in the house of an
older brother, but the rats and mice, together with literary rivalry and gen-
eral incompatibility, induced him to separate himself from his family and
assume the name Despre"aux, by which he was generally called until the
nineteenth century.

TliQjfriendship between I^oyleau. Racine. Moliere. La Fontaine. They
generally met in Boileau's house, in the faubourg St. Germain.

Boileau modeled himself on Horace, but wrote less than his master. His
Satires, which were often offensively personal, appeared in i666-'69. Mme*
de Sevigne complains at this time of the wild life her son is leading with
Boileau and Racine.

Between i66g-'jj appeared the Epistles, Ars Poetica, and the Lutrin.
Here Boileau shows himself a master of language and reveals rich stores of

thought. The Ars Poetica undertakes a theory of poetic composition, and
is itself an excellent model.

Boileau enjoyed the favor and bounty of the king, and was an adept in the
art oFlvalktng upiigllt on the slippery floors of palaces. Appointed Histo-
riographer of France (along with Racine) 1677. Member of Academy 1684.

Boileau was the ' * literary conscience ' ' of Racine, and gave direction to
the tastes of Louis XIV.

The great critic was an invalid all his life. He was never married, and
spent the morose old age of a satirist. He died in Paris, March 13, 1711.

RACINE.

II. RACINE realized the literary ideals of his century. Within the limita-
tions decreed by his critic he is unapproachable, and occupies a place apart.

Jean Racine was born near Soissons, December 22, 1639, and died in Paris,
April 26, 1699. His parents, Jean Racine and Jeanne Sconin, belonged to
the upper middle-class. Left an orphan in infancy, he was reared by pater-
nal grandparents who, though poor, gave him the very best educational ad-
vantages, first at College Beauvais, then at Port Roval. and finally at College
d'Harcourt. The young orphan was a diligent and brilliant student, espe-
cially of Greek. He is said to have known the dramas of Sophocles and
Euripides by^rieart, and to have memorized a Greek novel he had been for-
bidden to read .

Friends tried to make a priest of the ardent Hellenist, and then a lawyer,
but after some years of indecisioft he yielded to his inclinations and became
a poet. La Nymphe de la Seine (1660) brought him to the notice of the
king, and gained him a small pension.

The Thebaide (1664) and Alexandre le Grand (1665) were modeled after
Corneille in situation and method and showed faults of inexperience, but
were sufficiently successful to inspire the author and his friends with the
highest hopes.

Rarine.'s ingratitude Hjs treatment of Chapelain, Port Royal fathers.
Moliere, and others. Partly explained by his sensitiveness and his fataT
gift of wit.

The poet's strength in depicting passion, and

revealed in Andi'omague (1667) which, like Le Cid, marked a new epoch in
Frpr[rh^trfi<ypdv The character of Andromaque is"clrawn with extraordi-
nary tenderness, and Hermione is perhaps the most attractive woman of the
French stage. To have been able to create feminine types so full of ardour
and tenderness, of gloomy majesty and fearful energy, Racine must have
fathomed woman's heart and loveHlmcrs'iTflrered much. We find this ex-
plained in his love for the actresses Miles Ou J^arC and Champmesle. Vol-
taire said that with a few love scenes left out, Andromaque would be the
best French tragedy.

Tho^fohfeitrs (1668), a farcical comedy, based on the Wasps of Aristo-
phans and a private law-suit, was not well received, but has won permanent
popularity. Brittannicus jj 669) based on Roman history of the time of Nero,

8

was also coolly received, but is now regarded as one of the poet's most in-
teresting tragedies.

Berenice (1670) grew out of a rivalry between Corneille and Racine insti-
gated by the Duchess of Orleans. The younger poet won an easy victory,
and Corneille felt humiliated.

Bajazet (1672) is based on Turkish history. In this year Racine was
electedTo the Academy.

Mithridate (1673) contains scenes of superb character painting. It was
the favorite" tragedy of the king. Racine had now reached the height of
his Jame^ andjyas in high favor with the king and court.

Iphigenie (1674), based on Euripides, scored such success before the on-
bilify oT France at Versailles that Boileau wrote " Never did the sacrifice of
Iphigenia cost the Greeks assembled at Aulis as many tears as Mile Champ-
mesle in her name has brought to the eyes of France."

Phedre (1677), based on Euripides and Seneca, shows the classic regu-
laritv and polish a| t*10 ^Hp;1^ ^f pfTf^ri^n Through the intrigues 01 aii
hostile cabal this tragedy met with an icy reception, while a similar tragedy
by Pradon, produced simultaneously on the stage, was loudly applauded.
Racine was mortified beyond expression, and announced that he would re-
tire to a monastery and write no more dramas.

He became very devout but was dissuaded from taking orders, and ad-
vised to marry. On June i, 1677, Racine married Catherine de Romanet, a
matter-of-fact woman, who never read her husband's poems. Marriage as-
sured him a better position in society. He was appointed Historiographer,
and spent much time in the society of the king, from whom he received
large bounties.

Mine, de Mamtenon married Louis XIV. in 1684, and in the same year
founded a young ladies' boarding school at St. Cyr. At her request, and
in spite of his own objections and the entreaties of Boileau, Racine wrote
Esther, (1689), a lyrical drama which the school girls acted. The delight of
the king and his invited guests was so great that Racine was persuaded to
write another play for the school. This was the occasion of Athalie (1691)
based on II Kings xi. This was the master stroke of the poet's genius, a
dramatic epic on fire with Hebrew ardour, and noble in its Greek simplicity.

On account of Jansenistic proclivities Racine lost the favor of the king,
and died mourning his fall. j

&jf- Read Saihtsbury, pp. 300-308; Wilkinson, pp. 127-137.

TOPICS FOR WRITTEN ESSAY.

1. Estimate effects of Boileau's criticism.

2. Discuss Racine's women.

3. Point out Racine's masterpiece, with reasons for choice.

LECTURE IV.

MOLIERE.

Jean Baptiste Poquelin, who more than twenty years later assumed the
stage name of MOLIERE, was born in Paris early in January, 1622. His
father was royal upholsterer and gentleman in waiting, and seems to have
been prosperous. The boy lost his mother when he was ten years old.
There are many fathers, but few mothers in Mnjj^re^ comedies.

Grandparents showred great interest in the young orphan and had much
to do with his training. He was sent to school at the Jesuit College de
Clermont, in Paris, then took semi-private lessons in philosophy from the
celebrated Gassendi, and finally in Orleans, acquired the right to practice
law. He was admitted to the bar in Paris, but probably never practiced.

Moliere had made the acquintance of an actress named Madeleine BeMart.
and in 1643 renounced his right of succession to his father's business, and
in spite of earnest remonstrances, joined her company of players, known
as L'lllustre Theatre. The company failed in Paris, but, after many em-
barassments, decided to make a tour of the provinces. Moliere seems to
have gone upon the stage with no thought of becoming more than an actor,
but during the eleven years that his company diverted provincial France in
the cities of Lyons, Nantes, Grenoble, Rouen, and elsewhere, he became
not only the leading spirit and star actor of the troupe, but dramaturg as
well. He began by translating and adapting, and then composed after-
plays and farces. All but two of these early pieces are lost.

In the autumn of 1658, Moliere and his players returned to Paris, and on
October 24th, acted Conieille's Nicomede at the Louvre in the presence of
Louis XIV. After the performance, Moliere asked and obtained permission
to play one of his owrn pieces, which, he said, had amused the provinces.
The gay little comedy won more applause than the tragedy, and established
its author in .royal favor. The strolling comedians were assigned a hall in
the Palais Bourbon, and allowed to bear the name Troupe de Monsieur.

To the rich and varied experiences of life in th*" pr^n^c Moliere
presently added fruitful observations of life at Paris and Versailles. In the
literary activity which now ensues, we may distinguish three periods :

i. The first period, 1659-64, is marked bv attacks upon artificiality and
affectation in art and life. Les Preri.f.usps Riril<-nlf>s] the first French rorn^rty
of manners, /,' Ecole des Marts, and Z,' Ecole des Femmes characterize this
epoch On February 20, 1662, Moliere married Armande Bejart, the nine-
teen-year old daughter (or sister) of Madeleine Bejart. The marriage was
very unhappy, and deeply affected the poet's subsequent life and work.
Compare in this connection L' Ecole des Marts, Act I, sc. 2, and L1 Ecole
des Femmes, Act. IV, sc. i. MoHere's enemies were now legion.

10

2. The second period, extending from 1664-67, gave us Tartuffe, Le
Fes tin de Pierre^ (or Don Juan}, and Le Misanthrope. These are character
dramas, where human nature is portrayed in its essential and changeless
attributes. In them, as in the author's life at this time, comedy verges on
tragedy. Tartuffe, or The Hypocrite, was more studiously revised and
aroused greater opposition than any of Moliere's plays. By Goethe and
many others, the character of Tartuffe is not only considereotne psycholo-
gical masterpiece of Moliere, but of human genius. In Le Festin de Pierre
Mofi^re supplemented his picture of hypocrisy by the portrayal of cynical
unbelief, and to this he soon added Le Misanthrope , a perennial picture of
the world's foibles, heartlessness, and insincerity. These three master-
pieces really form a grand trilogy .

3. After the feuds occasioned by Tartuffe, Moliere returned to the lighter
style of Fis earlier comedies, but wltn Droaaer conceptions and fuller treat-
ment. From ibby to ms death is the period of the great comedies LAvare,
Le Boitrgois Gentilhomme, La Comtesse d* Escarbagnas and Les Femmes
Sdvantes. The character ot the miser Harpagon rankiTwith Moliere's most
successful work.

Although he had amassed a considerable fortune, and was in feeble
health, Moliere continued his work as actor. On February, 17, 1673, while
playing the principal role in Le Malade Imaginaire, he was overcome with
sudden weakness and in a few hours was dead.

One of Moliere's company describes the great comedian as having a good
figure, noble carriage, mobile features, grave manners, and a melancholy
air. We know that he was unselfish, independent, a true friend, a good
conversationalist, and especially generous to youthful talenT

Moliere h elcl up the mirror fr> nature' In his comedies we find njt only
the court of Louis XIV.. but citizen life as well. Moreover, his characters
are not merely faithful representatives of their century, but are instinct with
human nature and human feeling1, Which makey them intelligible and inter-
esting for all time and to all nations.

A brief comparison ol Moliere and Shakspeare (i) as authors, actors,
managers ; (2) as to environment, development, treatment, aim.

Saintsbury, pp. 309-318; Wilkinson, pp. 7-91; Scribner's Magizine, vol.
IX. pp. 725-737; Century Magazine, vol. XXXVIII, pp. 819-830.

TOPICS FOR WRITTEN ESSAY.

1. Give some account of the man Moliere.

2. What is the difference between comedy of intrigue and comedy of
manners.

3. Compare Harpagon and Shylock.

4. Compare Moliere and Shakspeare as writers of comedy.

II

LECTURE V.

THE GREAT PULPIT ORATORS.

Celtic blood breeds orators. In the latter half of the seventeenth century
centralization made political oratory impossible. Judicial oratory was emas-
culated by pedantry and affectation. But the times favored pulpit oratory,
and it flourished as never before. The policy of Mazarin and Richelieu had
raised the Gallican church to great dignity, the passions of recent religious
wars lent ardour and earnestness to eloquence, and the language had
become rich, harmonious, and flexible. The narrow limits of public activity
invited, if it did not force, many men of energy and talent into the service
of the church.

The sermons which have literary value were almost all preached before
the king or some portion of his court. Most of them were delivered during
Lent, at funerals, on feast days, or other special occasions. They were care-
fully written out before delivery, and were generally advertised in advance.
Audiences were usually very large, for it was almost as fashionable to attend
church as the theatre. The aim of the majority of the preachers is indicated
in a remark of the king to one of them : " You have accomplished a hard
thing ; you have satisfied the court, which is so aesthetic."

JACQUES BENIGNE BOSSUET was born at Dijon September 27, 1627, and
died at Saint Roch April 12, 1704. He came of good family and received an
excellent education. He was made doctor and priest at Metz in 1652. He
soon won fame as a preacher and controversialist, and was called to Paris in
1657. In 1669 he delivered a funeral discourse over Henrietta, Queen of
England, wife of Charles I., and, as a reward for his brilliant oration, was
made Bishop of Condom. He resigned his bishopric the next year to
become tutor to the Dauphin, and about this time preached his second cele-
brated funeral discourse over the Duchesse d'Orle'ans. He was elected to the
Academy in 1671. When the education of the Dauphin was finished, in 1681,
Bossuet was appointed Bishop of Meaux, which position he held at the time
of his death.

Bossuet's principal funeral discourses, besides the two already mentioned,
were over Marie Therese (1683) ; Le Tellier (1686) ; Le Grand Conde (1687).
The great orator was a voluminous write/, but after his sermons, the " Dis-
course on Universal History," written for his royal pupil, is his only \\ork
much read outside of Catholic circles.

Bossuet has been called the ' ' Corneille of the pulpit, ' ' but is best known as
the " Eagle of Meaux." He was the classicist among pulpit orators. For
majestic periods, soaring eloquence, and~sererTe~ sublimity, he has found no
equal. The darkest blot on his history is his attack on Fenelon.

12

Louis DE BOURDALOUE was born at Bourgesin 1632 and died in Paris May
13, 1704, a few weeks after Bossuet. He was of noble family and was well
educated. His stainless life has no history— he was simply Jesuit priest and
preacher. In 1669 he began to preach in Paris, and attracted widespread
attention from the very first. The next year he was called to preach before
the king, and the court praised him extravagantly. Mme de Sevigne wrote
that everybody who was anything in society attended his sermons, and that
in a word he was the greatest of all preachers. He is thought to have had
much to do with the strict life of the king's latter years. Bourdaloue kept
self in the background, and sought worldly applause less than any preacher
of his time. He discussed great moral questions, but in such a plain, earn-
est, interesting, and convincing manner as to win the attention of all classes.
His beauty of style and lucid analysis of human passions give his sermons
enduring worth.

JEAN BAPTISTE MASSILLON (1663-1724) must be mentioned here, though he
preached his first sermon November i, 1699. He was a worthy successor to
Bossuet and Bourdaloue, and in powers of persuasion and range of thought
surpassed both.

Other great names are MASCARON (1634-1703) and FLECHIER (1632-1710)
among Catholics, and CLAUDE (1*619-1687) and SAURIN (1670-1730) among
Protestants.

FRANCOIS FENELON (1661-1710) hardly ranks among pulpit orators, but en-
joys a reputation as a theologian scarcely second to Bossuet. His literary sig-
nificance is great, and his Telemaque and Education of Girls are still widely
read at home and abroad. He was tutor to the Duke of Bourgogne, heir to
the throne, and won lasting distinction as an educator. His last years were
profoundly saddened by religious controversy with Bossuet and others, and
he died in retirement in the diocese of which he had been appointed arch-
bishop.

/Kg=-Read Saintsbury, pp. 379-390 ; Wilkinson, pp. 137-173.

TOPICS FOR WRITTEN ESSAY.
Discuss the literary significance of any one of the great preachers.

13
LECTURE VI.

SOME PROSE WRITERS AND A POET.

The best prose of the seventeenth century is not to be found in the novels
and romances of the time, but in essays and letters. Newspapers were not
in vogue, and the memoir-writers and letter-writers were very numerous.
Only a few can be maintained.

JEAN BALZAC vi594-i655) holds about the same relation to classic French
prose that Malherbe does to classic poetry. Both deserve a place in litera-
ture for their attention to the form of expression. Balzac's chief work is
Socrate Chretien.

THREE MORALISTS.

i. BLAISE PASCAL was born June 19, 1623, at Clermont, where his father
was president of a court. The boy was remarkable for his precocity and
the early development of his reasoning powers. He was educated by his
father at home. The youthful genius worked out the propositions of
Euclid before seeing a book on geometry, and at sixteen wrote a valuable
treatise on conic sections.

Pascal was never strong, and from his eighteenth year was never free
from painT Residence in Paris brought him in contact with the^Jansenists.
He embraced their doctrines, took up his abode in a cell at Port Royal, and
became exceedingly ascetic. At the request of his new companions he
undertook to defend their views against the strictures of the Sorbonne, and
in 1656 entered upon the dangerous task with a pseudonymous letter to a
friend in the country. This was the beginning of the celebrated JLettres_
Provinciates-. — Their wonderful success led him from defence to attack, and
he assailed the Jesuits as the most prominent, and at the same time most
vulnerable, among his opponents. His chief weapon was irony of the most
delicate and sharpest kind, and it cut like a damascene blade. The Jesuits
have never recovered from Pascal's scathing criticism. His letters have not
only been the point of departure of all subsequent attacks upon the order,
but have become a grand arsenal upon which later critics and satirists have
freely drawn for their most effective weapons. Classic prose was created
when the Lettres Provinciates appeared.

Pascal died of small-pox August 19, 1662. When his papers were exam-
ined the executors found packages of scraps of paper on which were jotted
down disconnected thoughts, short essays, and scattered reflections. These
form the Pensees. and the bond of union between them is the truth and sub-
limity of the Christian religion. The Pensees, though lacking revision and
coordination by the author, nevertheless attest~"a" piercing intellect, and
make a book the world could ill afford to loose.

H

2. LA ROCHEFOUCAULD (1613-1680) was a duke and peer of France. He
wrote Memoires and Maximes. In the art of expressing thought clearly in
the fewest words he has never been surpassed.

3. JEAN DE LA BRUYERE (1645-1696) was a man of one book — Les Car-
acteres — modeled on Theophrastus. These character sketches are mostly
portraits of living people veiled under fictitious names, but are at the same
time delineations of human nature under various conditions. Thus they
become brief treatises on morality, and may be compared with the Pensee
or Maxime. Comparing himself with Pascal and La Rochefoucauld, La
Bruyere said : " Less aspiring than the former, and less acute than the latter,
I purposed merely to teach men reason, and that in a plain and simple way,
without much method, but just as my theme might point the way."

A MEMOIR-WRITER.

SAINT SIMON (1675-1755) was a duke and peer of France. He entered
the army at an early age and rose rapidly, bnt feeling that he had been
slighted by the king, he left the service in 1702. Though not in high favor
at court, he spent the next twenty years at Versailles, and with close and
even prying gaze observed the king and court. His observations, noted
down at random, extend from 1694 to 1723. They were revised before his
death and form his voluminous Memoires.

Saint Simon was an aristocrat of the bluest blood and could ill brook the
humiliation of the nobility by Louis XIV. He was born a century too late,
and was out of joint with his times. He was prejudiced and misanthropic,
but he wrote a part of French history which his contemporaries left un-
touched. Others painted the glories, he the miseries of his age. Yet he is
not always gloomy and not often unjust. His graphic sketches of leading
men and important events greatly enhance the interest and historical value
of his writings.

A WOMAN OF LETTERS.

MADAME DE SEVIGNE (1626-1696) is the most celebrated letter-writer in
any literature. A baroness by birth and a marchioness by marriage, she
spent her life at court and in the best society of her day. She was left a
widow with two children in 1651, and in 1669 her daughter married Count
de Grignan and removed to the South of France. Never did mother love
daughter more fondly or excessively, and this necessary separation stirred
the maternal heart to its depths. At this time began the world-famous cor-
respondence. The letters are generally dated from Paris, and give brilliant
sketches of court life and remarkable occurrences ; or they are from the
Rocks, the writer's country-seat, and depict rural scenes and customs. A
mother's love runs through them all, stimulating the author's fancy and
brightening her wit. The great bulk of Mme. de Sevigne*'s correspondence
was addressed to her daughter, though she often exchanged letters with
distinguished friends. Aside from her vivid descriptions, and the histori-
cal value of her letters, Mme. de Se*vigne"'s frank, artless and original style
assure her a worthy place in literature.

A PROSE-POET.

JEAN DE LA FONTAINE (1621-1695) was the son of a r^ya1 fr)rpgtp*r-tt44^
spent his childhood with the birds and beasts. His early education was
neglected, bul he made amends by later studies. He seemed to his con-
temporaries to live without fixed purpose, and was incapable of managing
his own affairs or submitting himself to the will of others. Always living
on the bounty of friends, untrammelled by public or private cares, absent-
minded, egotistic, La Fontaine led an independent, happy existence and
found friends even in his old age.

La Fontaine is celebrated for his Fables and his Contes or Tales. He
wrote other poems, but they are forgotten. The tales, like their author's
youth, are licentious, and by some were considered immoral even at the
time they were written. The Fables are untainted, and on these the poet's
fame rests secure: — As a fabulist he is unequalled, though he entirely lacks
the passion of a poet. His language, unlike that of most of his contempo-
raries, is natural, arid ' sometimes archaic, and his style is easy, naive and
humorous.

Read Saintsbury, pp. 342-367 and 280-284; Wilkinson, pp. 55-75 and 91-117.

TOPICS FOR WRITTEN ESSAY.

1. Who wrote b^st prose in the seventeenth century? Why do you
think so ?

2. Find an English counterpart to Mme. de SeVigne" and compare the
two.

3. Compare La Fontaine with other fabulists.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
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