A Short History of French Literature
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A Short History of French Literature George Saintsbury A Short History of French Literature Table of Contents A Short History of French Literature...............................................................................................................1 George Saintsbury....................................................................................................................................2 PREFACE.........................................................................................................................................5 BOOK I. MEDIAEVAL LITERATURE........................................................................................14 CHAPTER I. THE ORIGINS.........................................................................................................15 CHAPTER II. THE CHANSONS DE GESTES.............................................................................20 CHAPTER III. PROVENÇAL LITERATURE..............................................................................29 CHAPTER IV. ROMANCES OF ARTHUR AND OF ANTIQUITY...........................................33 CHAPTER V. FABLIAUX. THE ROMAN DU RENART...........................................................42 CHAPTER VI. EARLY LYRICS...................................................................................................51 CHAPTER VII. SERIOUS AND ALLEGORICAL POETRY......................................................60 CHAPTER VIII. ROMANS D'AVENTURES...............................................................................70 CHAPTER IX. LATER SONGS AND POEMS.............................................................................75 CHAPTER X. THE DRAMA.........................................................................................................82 CHAPTER XI. PROSE CHRONICLES.........................................................................................91 CHAPTER XII. MISCELLANEOUS PROSE.............................................................................100 BOOK II. THE RENAISSANCE..................................................................................................108 CHAPTER I. VILLON, COMINES, AND THE LATER FIFTEENTH CENTURY..................109 CHAPTER II. MAROT AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES..........................................................115 CHAPTER III. RABELAIS AND HIS FOLLOWERS................................................................122 CHAPTER IV. THE PLÉIADE....................................................................................................128 CHAPTER V. THE THEATRE FROM GRINGORE TO GARNIER.........................................137 CHAPTER VI. CALVIN AND AMYOT.....................................................................................143 CHAPTER VII. MONTAIGNE AND BRANTÔME...................................................................149 CHAPTER VIII. THE SATYRE MÉNIPPÉE. REGNIER...........................................................158 BOOK III. THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY............................................................................165 CHAPTER I. POETS....................................................................................................................166 CHAPTER II. DRAMATISTS......................................................................................................173 CHAPTER III. NOVELISTS........................................................................................................187 CHAPTER IV. HISTORIANS, MEMOIR-WRITERS, LETTER-WRITERS.............................193 CHAPTER V. ESSAYISTS, MINOR MORALISTS, CRITICS..................................................203 CHAPTER VI. PHILOSOPHERS................................................................................................210 CHAPTER VII. THEOLOGIANS AND PREACHERS..............................................................215 BOOK IV. THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY...............................................................................222 CHAPTER I. POETS....................................................................................................................223 CHAPTER II. DRAMATISTS......................................................................................................228 CHAPTER III. NOVELISTS........................................................................................................233 CHAPTER IV. HISTORIANS, MEMOIR-WRITERS, LETTER-WRITERS.............................243 CHAPTER V. ESSAYISTS, MINOR MORALISTS, CRITICS..................................................251 CHAPTER VI. PHILOSOPHERS................................................................................................261 CHAPTER VII. SCIENTIFIC WRITERS....................................................................................273 BOOK V. THE NINETEENTH CENTURY................................................................................278 i A Short History of French Literature 1 A Short History of French Literature George Saintsbury This page formatted 2011 Munsey's. http://www.munseys.com PREFACE. BOOK I. MEDIAEVAL LITERATURE. CHAPTER I. THE ORIGINS. CHAPTER II. THE CHANSONS DE GESTES. CHAPTER III. PROVENÇAL LITERATURE. CHAPTER IV. ROMANCES OF ARTHUR AND OF ANTIQUITY. CHAPTER V. FABLIAUX. THE ROMAN DU RENART. CHAPTER VI. EARLY LYRICS. CHAPTER VII. SERIOUS AND ALLEGORICAL POETRY. CHAPTER VIII. ROMANS D'AVENTURES. CHAPTER IX. LATER SONGS AND POEMS. CHAPTER X. THE DRAMA. CHAPTER XI. PROSE CHRONICLES. CHAPTER XII. MISCELLANEOUS PROSE. BOOK II. THE RENAISSANCE. CHAPTER I. VILLON, COMINES, AND THE LATER FIFTEENTH CENTURY. CHAPTER II. MAROT AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES. CHAPTER III. RABELAIS AND HIS FOLLOWERS. CHAPTER IV. THE PLÉIADE. CHAPTER V. THE THEATRE FROM GRINGORE TO GARNIER. CHAPTER VI. CALVIN AND AMYOT. CHAPTER VII. MONTAIGNE AND BRANTÔME. 2 A Short History of French Literature CHAPTER VIII. THE SATYRE MÉNIPPÉE. REGNIER. BOOK III. THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. CHAPTER I. POETS. CHAPTER II. DRAMATISTS. CHAPTER III. NOVELISTS. CHAPTER IV. HISTORIANS, MEMOIR-WRITERS, LETTER-WRITERS. CHAPTER V. ESSAYISTS, MINOR MORALISTS, CRITICS. CHAPTER VI. PHILOSOPHERS. CHAPTER VII. THEOLOGIANS AND PREACHERS. BOOK IV. THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. CHAPTER I. POETS. CHAPTER II. DRAMATISTS. CHAPTER III. NOVELISTS. CHAPTER IV. HISTORIANS, MEMOIR-WRITERS, LETTER-WRITERS. CHAPTER V. ESSAYISTS, MINOR MORALISTS, CRITICS. CHAPTER VI. PHILOSOPHERS. CHAPTER VII. SCIENTIFIC WRITERS. BOOK V. THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Josephine Paolucci and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. London HENRY FROWDE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE AMEN CORNER, E.C. New York 112 FOURTH AVENUE Clarendon Press Series A SHORT HISTORY 3 A Short History of French Literature OF FRENCH LITERATURE BY GEORGE SAINTSBURY FOURTH EDITION Oxford AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 1892 Oxford HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY 4 A Short History of French Literature PREFACE. An attempt to present to students a succinct history of the course of French literature compiled from an examination of that literature itself, and not merely from previous accounts of it is, I believe, a new one in English. There will be observed in the parts of this Short History a considerable difference of method; and as such a difference is not usual in works of the kind, it may be well to state the reasons which have induced me to adopt it. Early French literature is to a great extent anonymous. Moreover, even where it is not, the authors were usually more influenced by certain prevalent styles or forms than by anything else. Into these forms they threw without considerations of congruity whatever they had to say. Nothing, for instance, can be less suitable for historical or scientific disquisition than the octosyllabic metre of a satiric poem. But Jean de Meung and one at least of the authors of Renart le Contrefait[1] do not think of composing prose diatribes. At one moment and place the form of the Chanson de Geste is all-absorbing, at another the form of the Roman d'Aventures, at another the form of the Fabliau. In Book I. I shall therefore proceed by these forms, giving an account of each separately. After Villon the case changes. Instead of classes of chroniclers, trouvères, jongleurs, we get individual authors of eminence and individuality striking out their own way and saying their own say in the manner not that is fashionable but that seems best to them. During this time, therefore, and especially during that brilliant age of French literature, the sixteenth century, I shall proceed by authors, taking the most remarkable individually, and grouping their followers around them. From the time of Malherbe the system of schools begins, divided according to subjects. The poet, the dramatist, the historian, have their predecessors, and either intentionally copy them or intentionally innovate upon them. Malherbe and Delille, Corneille and Lemercier, Sarrasin and Rulhière, whatever the difference of merit, stand to one another in a definite relation, and the later writers represent more or less the accepted traditions each of his school. In this part, therefore, I shall proceed by subjects, taking historians, poets, dramatists, etc., together. One difference will be noticed between the third and fourth Books, dealing respectively with the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It has seemed unnecessary to allot a special chapter to theological and ecclesiastical writing in the latter, or to scientific writing in the former. Almost