Contents:
Sure I want some backstory on the situation but not pages upon pages upon pages of it. No one is more surprised than me at how much I liked this book because this is not my kind of book at all. But the writing was so addicting and the storyline was so interesting. Jun 08, Roman Clodia rated it really liked it. As a courtier herself, Mme de Lafayette knew intimately the intrigues and gossip that went on at court and she conveys that magnificently.
The young and very beautiful Madame de Cleves comes to court, is married rapidly to a man whom she admires and respects but ca Mme de Lafayette wrote this during the reign of Louis XIV but the novel is set in the court of Henri II when his queen is Catherine de Medici, the young Mary Queen of Scots is his daughter-in-law and Diana de Poitiers was his mistress. The young and very beautiful Madame de Cleves comes to court, is married rapidly to a man whom she admires and respects but cannot love, and falls in love herself with the Duke de Nemours, who feels the same for her.
But tied by her sense of morality and the stories she has been told by her mother and others about the insincerity of court love, she restrains her passions and turns away from love. This is a vivid, and exquisitely written novel that turns on the small emotions of love, duty and passion lived out in a public court where everyone is watching everyone else, and no-one's secrets remain hidden. Aos 21 anos casou com o conde Laffayeet , que viveu sempre longe dela. A little too far back into French literary history for me. What potential for interpretation! I hate pouring scorn over influential works.
This is best left to students of French literature and other trainspotters. Apr 29, Dorothea rated it it was amazing Shelves: I have never studied French literature and in fact was completely unaware of this work's existence until a week and a half ago. I'm going to come back and put in a paragraph here about how there was one sentence in Daniel Pennac's The Rights of the Reader that made me want to read this book right away.
But I want to quote that sent N. But I want to quote that sentence and I can't right now because I lent my copy of The Rights of the Reader to somebody. And it's a good description. I don't know what translation it was but I could barely get through the first very long paragraph, and I soon realized that I would require a lot of historical and literary context to get anything out of the reading. I was very lucky to find this Oxford edition at the library.
I read the Introduction right away and am so glad I did. However, the central story is entirely made up: While the main plot is sometimes pushed forward by external, historical events, what really matters is the state of the characters' hearts and minds. The Prince loves the Princess, the Princess agrees to marry him although she has never loved anyone, and then she and the Duc de Nemours fall in love at first sight. The Princess is determined not to betray her husband, but can't help her feelings, and the real plot concerns her navigation between her inescapable passion and her determination to be virtuous, and the consequences of her choices.
I was already enjoying this edition because of how satisfying the Introduction was to me, but the story itself mediated through Cave's explanations surprised me by how appealing I found it. I have read many modern romance novels and always like it when I get to read about the characters thinking very hard about their position, considering how to reconcile what they want with their own ethics and without hurting others. I know that the book wouldn't be a romance novel if that didn't happen, but frankly in some cases things happen during the course of the story that make me think that the couple would either benefit by going their separate ways temporarily and thinking about what they really want from life, or would find that they were really disappointed by living together without any obstacles to their love.
She retreats from society and never sees him again. It doesn't seem to me that the narrator presents Mme. I don't agree with some of the principles that led Mme.
Another thing I really enjoyed was the balance between hyperbole and reality. The main characters are described in the most extreme terms. The beginning of the story establishes that at the court of Henri II, everyone is very beautiful and very witty, but the main characters of the story are exceptional even in this place. He was the most handsome and the most nobly built man in the world; but these were the least remarkable of his qualities Peerless indeed her beauty must have been, since it aroused wonder and admiration in a place where the sight of beautiful women was commmonplace.
But, at the same time, the reader is shown that these characters are not unchangingly flawless all the way through. Sometimes she deceives herself about her real motivations, and sometimes she doesn't have the willpower to carry out her intentions, and sometimes she finds herself reacting by impulse instead of according to a thoughtful plan. Before his marriage, he had told a friend that if his wife were in love with someone else, he would rather she told him about it than kept the secret, and that he would want her to treat him as a friend to share confidences and advice with in this situation.
This is such a sweet intention, and it seems that after M. He knows that Mme. He overhears the confession that Mme. Definitely not the behavior of an ethical slut. If I read the hyperbolic descriptions in a modern story, they would seem the mark of an immature writer -- someone who's trying to get the reader to care about the characters because they are the Best Ever, while failing to portray them in a genuinely interesting way.
Then, to place these headings of The Most Beautiful Person Ever, With Astonishing Wit and Grace over such thoughtful and thorough explorations of human motivations, self-understanding, the tension between desire and duty -- Mme. I am not quite certain about Cave's statement, since I thought that El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha published was also a novel. Perhaps Cave is defining "novel" as something that deals with changes in the characters' inner selves more than the outward adventures they have? Dec 20, Nicole Hale rated it really liked it Shelves: I've had this book sitting on my shelf since a college Humanities course, and it tickled my fancy for a heavier holiday read.
Once I began reading the introduction and some of the analytic essays, I discovered that this book is an acclaimed French classic, considered one of the forerunners of the novel genre. I really need to brush up on my French literature. The story is about Mademoiselle de Chartres, a newcomer to the French court. She quickly becomes the Princess de Cleves when she marries Mo I've had this book sitting on my shelf since a college Humanities course, and it tickled my fancy for a heavier holiday read.
She quickly becomes the Princess de Cleves when she marries Monsieur de Cleves, who is smitten with her at first sight. The lady is described as being a woman without equal, brilliant and virtuous. For her part, Madame de Cleves is not in love with her husband, though she appreciates his good qualities and considers him a noble person. She has never hidden these feelings, and although Monsieur de Cleves is dissatisfied with her feelings, he knows he is a lucky man for loving and marrying the woman of his dreams. This placid state of affairs may have continued for the duration of their lives, but fate intervenes; the Princess de Cleves meets Monsieur de Nemours for the first time, several months after her marriage, and falls in love with him.
The narrative may begin like a medieval romance, with the star-crossed lovers meeting too late and tragically separated, but the plot takes a divergent course from there. Instead of making efforts to be with the man she loves, the Princess de Cleves strenuously resists forming a relationship with him. She considers it her duty to be faithful to her husband, and not only that, but she doesn't want to hurt such a good man. In addition, all of her mother's teachings were about loyalty and being steadfast, as well as the treachery of passionate love, especially love affairs.
Madame de Cleves falls ever more in love with Nemours, but refuses to do more than harbor these feelings privately. Her final choice in the book is quite contrary a typical romance story, and surprises not only Nemours, but the reader as well.
The structure of the book is an interesting use of stories within stories, and a blending of historical narrative with the personal drama surrounding the Princess de Cleves. The book uses an omniscient third person narrator, which is not shocking to today's reader, but was a startling innovation during Madame de LaFayette's time. In fact, much of this book was surprising to her contemporary audience, because the idea of the nature of a novel was still in formation, and very different from current conceptions of the novel.
www.farmersmarketmusic.com: La Princesse de Cleves (Moliere & Co. French Classics) (French Edition) (): Madame de Lafayette, La Fayette, Melanie E. Gregg: . La Princesse De Cleves (French Edition) [Madame de Lafayette] on www.farmersmarketmusic.com . *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Author: Madame De La Fayette, Jean.
For instance, the novel hadn't progressed to that time when writers used details to create vivid settings and physical descriptions, it hadn't developed that "show don't tell" mandate yet. For me, that is a drawback, as I relish language and a story that creates a world in words. In this novel, sentences tend to be dryer, and just give the information; this person was ambitious, this one is the most handsome and charming at court, and other tags like that.
Not to say that she used no imagery, for she certainly did, but it is much more restrained than what I would read in novels from later periods. On the positive side for me, the book has a lot of depth in its symbolism and motifs. The cane that Madame de Cleves secretly took from Nemours, the portrait that he steals with her knowledge, the house at Coulommiers; these and other objects are clearly important symbols with multiple meanings, and they give us insight into the sometimes hidden emotional layers of the characters.
That there is a relationship between earthy love and spiritual love is unsaid but hangs in the background despite the complete absence of priests or explicit religious practise. However, I could not deal with being served such a confusing, boring platter so I have to mark this one a DNF. In the -sense of military prowess and physical force, the males in the novel seem to display greater strength; nowhere do we encounter any female with physical force greater than that expressed in Henri II, the Duke de Nemours and the Duke de Guise, the male "giants. Aug 28, Wealhtheow rated it did not like it Shelves: So glad to have found this newish translation of this great classic. Sign up to receive offers and updates:
Along the emotion angle, the author also uses clever techniques to occasionally reveal the subconsciousness of the heroine, another writer's trick that was relatively new at the time this was published. The use of parallels between characters and events - for instance Madame de Chartes and the Prince de Cleves, who are surprisingly similar in their actions and fates, or the repetition of two confession scenes - have heavy impact on the message of the book. In other words, this is a clever story.
A lot is happening in these pages. Moreover, I had fun while reading. I was never bogged down, the action flows swiftly, the stories within the story are interesting, the characters sympathetic, and I always wanted to see what would happen next. When I read literature, I am looking for depth like this, entertainment that is pregnant with meaning.
As the back of these critical editions, they always include analytic essays, samples that show the reaction from contemporaries of the writer, and any other nonfiction material that the editors feel is relevant to a deeper reading of the book. I learned so much from reading this information, some revelations that I discovered on my own as I read, but many that I never would have thought of. If you have taken literature courses, and miss the discussions that peel away the book on different levels and different topics to construct a rich understanding of a novel, than these essays are one way to recapture that feeling.
I certainly am glad I finally read this book, and even happier that I read the Norton edition. El elogio de "la primera novela moderna" es un elogio que pesa como una losa. Y me ha sorprendido. Me ha sorprendido gratamente. Me ha sorprendido lo mucho que me ha llegado a gustar. Lo bien que me lo he pasado.
Se puede leer como una novela moral que hace una defensa y un elogio de la virtud sorprendentemente sin meter nunca de por medio conceptos religiosos como Dios. Todas estas lecturas por supuesto no funcionan por separado sino que se entrecruzan. Y todo se junta para formar un mosaico compacto y de una gran riqueza. Una cosa es la imagen que dan los tres personajes principales y otra lo que realmente son. Los tres protagonistas son un fraude o, en el mejor de los casos, un fracaso.
Una cosa son nuestros ideales y otra la realidad. El amor una vez se consigue deja de existir. View all 18 comments. Young Mlle de Chartres, at the age of 16 is introduced to court, as she is now at an age to be married. Beautiful and graceful, she was raised by her mother to be virtuous, modest, and deeply honest. It is not long before Prince de Cleves falls in love with her, and as the future husband is of a noble family, parents agree, they soon get married.
But soon after their marriage, at a dancing event, she meets Douc de Nemours and both fall in love instantly, thunderstruck. The young lady soon realizes that she now knows what love means and that she will have to live with this passion, without ever being allowed to reveal anything of it in public, or even to the man she is attracted to, or in private to anybody.
And she will also find out that this is impossible. Her mother, as a mother would, guesses and soon knows about the situation.
Mother falls very ill and on her deathbed makes her daughter promise not to fall into the trap of unfaithfulness. The Princess is passionately in love but is now trying to hide from the suitor, for she fears that everyone will soon find out. The Prince had loved his wife passionately and faithfully. He is now devastated by jealousy, falls seriously ill of grief and soon dies.
The Princess, on his deathbed, convinces him of her innocence, but too late. And so it happened that the poor Princess, who had so brilliantly started her young life, would never know happiness and being faithful to her promise, spends her last years in a distant and silent convent. May 25, Joselito Honestly and Brilliantly rated it really liked it. Paris, France sometime in the 17th century. There's the king, the queen and the rest of the nobility, one of whom is the very young, stunningly beautiful Mme de Cleves who is married to M.
Then there's the playboy Duc de Nemours, described as "nature's masterpiece" and "the most handsome and the most nobly built man in the world. But the star here, of course, is Mme de Cleves, or the Princesse de Cleves. I won't give here the ending of the novel but I would just like to say that after you've gone past the maze of confusing names of some historical characters here and their amusing titles, you'll finally get to the main plot: Mme de Cleves has fallen for M. Mme de Cleves, however, is no slut. Her whole body quivers, with all its delicious possibilities, whenever he sees or even just thinks of M.
Mme de Cleves, in her bewildered attempt to free herself from M. Mi smo samo ljudi, i bogovi su nas stvorili za ljubav. Ona je potpuna suprotnost Eme Bovari!
Bedazzled by all the functional name-dropping and court-gossip, I can see through all the intrigues a very good psychological portrait of the main character. May 23, Bob rated it really liked it. Aside from its significance in literary history the first example of the modern psychological novel , this book provides some useful background reading for Proust. The constellation of royal and noble families in which the Baron de Charlus, in particular, is always elucidating his position, is shown here at its apex of dominance. The plot itself includes a few devices that were probably already hackneyed in overhearing a crucial conversation while hiding in some bower , but includes quite Aside from its significance in literary history the first example of the modern psychological novel , this book provides some useful background reading for Proust.
The plot itself includes a few devices that were probably already hackneyed in overhearing a crucial conversation while hiding in some bower , but includes quite a clever move; a letter between two lovers, neither sender nor recipient identified, which is dropped by its owner and found by someone else, then passed around to several other hands, results in half a dozen or more people all supposing a different pair of interlocuters.
The revelation of who sent it to whom is actually a surprise and fuels several further developments. Also appealing, and contributing to the book's ongoing reputation, is how the pains of unrequited love are captured in a universal way that quite transcends the specificity of the setting. Aug 28, Wealhtheow rated it did not like it Shelves: I can easily see why someone would enjoy this--court politics!
Everyone seems to have a nickname, a full name, several titles, etc, and they're referred to each indiscriminately.
Plus, I have a hard time with any novel that assumes that just thinking about another person is The Worst Adultery Ever, so the ending view spoiler [ where the Princess's husband finally dies, but the Princess feels so guilty that s I can easily see why someone would enjoy this--court politics! Madame de La Fayette novel , Jean Cocteau adaptation. Our Favorite Trailers of the Week. Share this Rating Title: Use the HTML below.
You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Learn more More Like This. GP Biography Drama History. The Star Maker Passage to Marseille The Moment of Truth Maigret and the St. The Nothing Factory A serial killer is targeting women in the seedy district of Montmartre. An examination of the historical context for the current migrant crisis.
Zanitar, Kyaw Zayar Htun. Edit Cast Cast overview, first billed only: Le Duc de Nemours Annie Ducaux Diane de Poitiers Lea Padovani Le Roi Alain Ferral Le Bouffon Ivan Dominique Madame de Mercoeur Jacques Hilling Edit Storyline Princess of Cleves is married with a rich and old prince but she loves secretly a lord younger, more beautiful and also very popular. Edit Did You Know? Add the first question.
User Reviews admirable work 1 March by Kirpianuscus — See all my reviews.