Madame De La Fayette

Mlle de M zi res et le duc de Guise deviennent amoureux (1563), un projet de mariage se forme mais une intrigue le fait chouer. Mlle de M zi res est alors mari e au prince de Montpensier (1566). Les personnages principaux (sauf le duc d'Anjou) sont d sormais pr sent s. La seconde guerre de religion d bute. La seconde guerre de religion ayant d but et le prince de Montpensier y participant, la princesse de Montpensier s journe au ch teau de Champigny, en compagnie du comte de Chabanes; le comte tombe amoureux de la princesse, en fait l'aveu et est rejet . La guerre prend fin (1568), le prince de Montpensier est de retour Champigny. Apr s une reprise de la guerre, le duc de Guise et le duc d'Anjou s' garent dans la for t. Arriv s au bord d'une rivi re, ils aper oivent une femme dans un bateau, qui se trouve tre la princesse de Montpensier. Tous se rendent au ch teau de Champigny. cette occasion le duc d'Anjou devient lui aussi amoureux de la princesse de Montpensier. Apr s le d part des deux ducs, le prince laisse clater sa jalousie. Paris, le duc de Guise et la princesse se d clarent ouvertement leur amour, tandis que le duc d'Anjou, dans l'ignorance des sentiments qui les rapprochent, courtise la princesse. Lors d'un bal masqu donn l'occasion du mariage de Charles IX avec lisabeth d'Autriche en 1570, la princesse de Montpensier, croyant parler au duc de Guise, r v le par accident sa relation au duc d'Anjou. Ce dernier en con oit une haine violente pour son rival...

"La Princesse de Cl ves" de Madame de La Fayette. Femme de lettres fran aise (1634-1693).

"Zayde" de Madame de La Fayette. Madame de La Fayette, femme de lettres fran aise (1634-1693).

Originally published in 1925. this is an edition of the highly regarded seventeenth-century novel by Madame de La Fayette, La Princesse de Cleves. The complete text of the 1678 first edition is presented here in the original French, with accompanying English annotations by Harry Ashton. In addition to the notes, Ashton provides an English introduction to the book, discussing aspects of the author's life and works and examining the sources, characters, style and influence of the novel. Thanks to the economy of the vocabulary and the usefulness of the notes, this volume will be particularly welcome by students of French as well as anyone eager to read a popular classic of seventeenth-century French literature.

Perhaps one of the greatest works of French literature is Madame de Lafayette's The Princess of Cl ves, often described as the first of all "modern" novels. This classic translation, with an introduction, by the late English novelist and biographer Nancy Mitford, was first brought out in 1951 by New Directions. It is now available as a New Directions Paperbook. Published in 1678 and written by Marie Madeleine Roche de la Vergne, Countess de Lafayette--a Parisian lady of fashion and great wit--it recreates with matchless vitality the lives and loves of the sixteenth-century courtiers of King Henry II of France. In her exquisite tapestry, we encounter such historic figures as Diane de Poitiers, the kings mistress; Catherine de M dicis, his queen; the doomed Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland. It tells the story of the consuming passion of the young Duc de Nemours for the beautiful wife of his friend the Prince of Cl ves. Madame de S vigne, the great letter writer and life-long friend of Madame de Lafayette, called The Princess of Cl ves "one of the most charming things." It is still that--and it is also one of the truly great love stories of all literature.