The Princesse de Cleves

This is what France has been reading. President Sarkozy took some flack for saying he disagreed with Mme Cleves action. What is at the core here is not a torrid love affair, a la Mme Bovary, nor is it a tale of revenge. It's really about ethics and the "mores" of the time. The heroine's temptations, her confession to her husband and resulting tragedy bring us into the seventeenth century. Should she have confessed when there was no sin? Did she do even more harm in her admission? It's a great discussion book and we know how the french love to "discuss".

The Princess de Cleves is one of those books that smart people cite and which one should eventually read. Why so important? It is generally regarded as being one of the first European modern novels and a classic of its period (published anonymously in 1678). It is also quite an important milestone in the history of women's writing. More recently, its popularity resurged in France as a result of French President Sarkozy making nasty remarks about its relevance in early 2009. What else is good to know before you pick up the book? It's a historical novel, set 100 years before the writer's lifetime. Historians who read this confidently write that Madame de Lafayette (or Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne) was extremely faithful to the time period of the book. I don't know enough about the court of Henri II to be able to do anything except report those claims. It is also possibly good to know what the book is about. The Princess de Cleves is a kind of a romance-- contrasting the duties of formal marriage with the pressures of romantic love. Its main character is a lovely young woman who is untouched emotionally by any man and who is tragically awoken by the Duc de Nemours only after her marriage to the Prince de Cleves. How is it for the modern reader to read? (Note: this review refers to the Penguin Classics edition which was translated by Nancy Mitford and revised by Leonard Tancock.) Well, I'd recommend that you take the time to find out for yourself. So that's one point. It is easy enough to see the influences that this book has had when you read it and for that alone is worth the time to read. The plot is one that will also have relevance today and should readily draw readers into the story. The value given to romantic love is naturally very different than it is today, so it may even appear bleak or shocking to the modern reader. All that is naturally good. I felt frustrated because I felt I was far enough away from the time that I was missing some of the book's conversation. Much seemed to turn on courtly manners-- point and counterpoint. I'm not educated enough in the etiquette of the time to really appreciate it and so sections of the book went on over my head. I could have done with an edition that explained some of that-- or at least more than this Penguin Classics edition achieved. (One funny thing about this edition was listening to Leonard Tancock in his foreword struggle to explain how he had to revise basically everything about the translation without coming right out and criticizing Mitford.)

The most surprising thing one finds when reading The Princesse de Cleves is its unbelievable level of modernity. An interesting research study would be to draw parallels between the plot of this 17th century novel and the modern romantic dramas, as I believe the results would be quite surprising. The political and social dramas it raises seem much more at home in a more jaded modern story. The book also features a shockingly unconventional love story that must have raised quite a few eyebrows in the time of its author, Madame de Lafayette.The plot takes place inside the closed world of the French elite, during the reign of Henry II. Although the novel starts out famously slow, once you get past that tedious interval the story gets much more interesting. We are introduced to the true powerbrokers of France, men and women absolutely possessed with the thirst for power. Those with some education of the French Revolution should find this section of the novel very enlightening, as it highlights their absolute isolation and ignorance of the body politik itself. Instead, the pampered court spends their time stabbing each other in the back and doing everything possible to get close to the king. To do this, they employ everything in the arsenal, including arranged marriages, family ties, and a lot of sex. If one wants a fictional but definitely reality based account of Machiavellian politics in the Renaissance, this is a great book to read.Then of course, we come to the actual love story. In the beginning, the love between our Princesse and her suitor seems to be a familiar romance, one which numerous writers have regaled us with. A dashing young prince falls in love with a beautiful fair maden. However, this book quickly pulls away from such monotonous convention, and, in glorious French style, takes the reader on a descent into true human nature. That is the kind that harbors jealously and intrigue. The love story quickly becomes a fierce and tumultuous event, with the actual lovers stuck in the middle. A very progressive love story.This book is definitely a classic, as it really represents a big development in the genesis of the novel. However, it does get very tedious at times, and often drifts into meaningless window dressing. Nevertheless, The Princesse de Cleves is on the whole a very engaging and complex love story that should satisfy any modern reader interested in the multitude of topics it covers.

This book is written in an unusual format, almost at a remove from the main character. This however, only serves to heighten the passion of the doomed lovers. In some ways it reminds me of mme de tourvil in dangerous liaisons. Unable to help herself falling in love. Knowing she was doing the wrong thing, and hurting the people who love her most, but unable to stop.I really enjoyed this book,and I'm sure I'll read it again one day. Apparently this is the only decent book this author ever wrote, the rest being pretty unreadable. If you want a historical novel written in an historical period itself then try this.

This book is a passionate tale of a love like no other. Set in a rich, historical period, the author offers a glimpse into the life of French court society, and into the true meaning of love