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Marie-Madeleine Pioche de la Vergne was born in Paris in 1634. in 1656 she married the Comte de Lafayette, had two sons, and lived on his country estate. She then returned to Paris, and the couple remained largely separate from then on. She started a literary salon with her close friends Madame de Sevigne and the Duc de la Rochefoucauld. She also mixed in court circles and wrote a biography of her friend Henriette, wife of the Duc d'Orleans, after her death. She is mostly remembered for her novels. She died in 1693.
Robin Buss is a writer and translator who works for the Independent on Sunday and as television critic for the Times Literary Supplement. He has published on Vigny and Coteau and written three books on European cinema.
At no time in France were splendour and refinement so brilliantly displayed as in the last years of the reign of Henri II.1 Read the first page
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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. Excellent.
This is a terrific restrained love story and Lafayette brilliantly plays the power of the lovers' emotions against their understanding of the conventions of society and their place in it. The second half of the book is very tender and draws the reader into the unfolding tragedy. However, the first part, setting up the scene, is very densely written and assumes a knowledge of the court, its characters and manners that a modern reader struggles with. I had to re-read much of this material in order to follow who was who and how it all fitted together. Some of this is simply background of the nature of gossip and does not directly relate to the matter at hand, although it does provide wonderful colour. I found the book a slow read even though it is a very short and I often had to put it down to take stock.
Overall, it is more of historical interest than ideal for a modern reader, what it really deserves is a contemporary retelling because the story at the heart of the book is genuinely human.
The main character is a woman of extraordinary beauty who quickly captures the hearts of men at the court of Henri II of France. She marries Monsieur de Cleves, even though she doesn't really love him. The marriage is more for position than emotion, although it's hard not to sympathize with her husband, as he treats her well and always tries to win her heart. His wife quickly becomes enraptured with the Duc de Nemours, a court dandy who has the reputation of loving 'em and leaving 'em. He falls in love with her, and the rest of the book is spent explaining their machinations as the Duc tries to get close to her, and Mme. de Cleves tries to keep him at arms length and honor her marriage to her husband. Everything comes to a head in the end, which is bleak and not at all happy as one would expect.
This book is fairly one-dimensional in shape. There is little character development beyond love affairs, and almost no description of scenery. This is an intensely character driven book, without the character, and very complex once the political intrigues enter the picture. All royal courts had intrigue, and France was probably one of the worst. When love affairs bloom, the webs become even more convoluted. It really is like a soap opera, although I couldn't help but notice that a deep cynicism runs throughout the book. Love as an emotion is reduced to mere politics, or a relationship in which power over another person is the sole goal. This is probably how it really was, though. The love between Mme. de Cleves and M. de Nemours is more genuine, but the system, and Mme. De Cleves misplaced honor, ultimately keeps them apart.
I'm not sure if I can recommend this book. You not only have to have an interest in history, but also the right frame of mind. The Penguin version is apt, although chapter breaks would have been helpful.
Clouet Mary StuartAnd then one night, many years later, I flew to France from California and was suffering from a bad case of jetlag. I rose and went to the bookshelves in my aunt and uncle's home, searching for something to while away the hours that still separated me from daylight. I happened upon La Princess de Clèves, and started reading.
And I was amazed! I was a grown woman now and I found the story of the heroine heartbreaking.
The plot is very simple: a young noblewoman, Mademoiselle de Chartres, marries the Prince de Clèves, a man she esteems and respects but does not love. This is not a forced marriage as in Mistress of the Revolution, not even an arranged marriage.
Madame de Chartres, the heroine's mother, is a caring parent, though she is also ambitious and wants the best possible match for her daughter. The husband, the Prince de Clèves, is a completely decent man, very much in love with his young bride.
What is tragic here is that the heroine does not even suspect that something is missing from her marriage. She is, in a way, happy in her naiveté.
And suddenly, her universe collapses when she meets, and falls passionately in love with the dashing Duke de Nemours. She is torn between her passion and her high religious and moral standards.
I said earlier that Princess is a historical. It has all the makings of one. The setting is the French Court in the 16th century, during the final years of the reign of Henri II. The author lived 120 years later and she thoroughly researched the period.
Many historical characters appear in the novel: Queen Catherine de Medici, her fearsome rival, the King's mistress, Diane de Poitiers, and Mary Queen of Scots (pictured here.) Young Mary was then married to the Dauphin, future François II. The intrigues and shifting alliances between the followers of these three powerful women form a complex web that surrounds the heroine.
I will simply translate the first sentence: "Magnificence and chivalry have never appeared in France with such brilliance as in the last years of the reign of Henri Second."
You read the rest...
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