University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 12-1962 The Novels and Plays of Francoise Sagan Barbara Kathryn Cottle University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the French and Francophone Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Cottle, Barbara Kathryn, "The Novels and Plays of Francoise Sagan. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 1962. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/2907 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Barbara Kathryn Cottle entitled "The Novels and Plays of Francoise Sagan." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in French. James A. Walldovia, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Walter E. Stiefel, John McBride Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) August 21, 1962 To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Barbara Kathryn Cottle entitled 11The Novels and Plays of Fran�oise Sagan. 11 I recommend that it be accepted for n.ine quarter hours of credit.J.n. partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a maj or in French. c¥-M a.�� =;;;;; Piofessor '- . We have read this ·thesis and recommend its acceptance: Accepted for the Council : �acaLdDean of the Graduate School THE NOVELS AND PLAYS OF FRANCOISE SAGAN A Thesis Presented to the Graduate Council of . The University of Tennessee In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts by Barbara Kathryn. Cottle December 1962 . ACKNOWLEDGMENT To Jean Pi erre, without whose aid and inspiration this thesis could never have been written. I should al s o like to express my sincere gratitude to the entire staff of the Department of Romance Languages for enc ouragement, confidenc e, and a consideration far beyond th e call of duty. BKC 5�38 INTRODUCTION One of th e most controver sial young Fr·enchwomen of today, Fran�oise Sagan became ·famous by writing, at th e unprec edented age of 18, a novel which was awarded th e Prix �es Critiques ·in .1954, Bonjour tristes se. Sinc e that time, she has written four other novels and two plays . He·r first work was tranal.a.ted.lnto 1 fourteen languages, and her other wo rks have enjoyed a similar ... success. Controversial becaus e of her personality as well as becaus e of her novels, Sagan remains a dominating :figure of contemporar y French .literature.• Th e purpose of this th esis is to present a critical study of th e novels and plays of Fran�oise Sagan. The novels will be considered first, and th e two plays last. They will be examined by means of summaries and.c-ritical analyses. The conclusion will present th e main philosophical . ideas to be found in Sagan's works and will attempt to explain th e importanc e of her role in .contemporary ·literatur e. Although she is still very young and ha s only rec ently made her debut in .th e literary world, . some of her novels. have alr eady been made -into films, which ha s assured her an even larger public. 2 She has been described as "un puissant temoin de son temps, 11 - and a wh ole myth has sprung up about her . She has been the subj ect of many articles, in which "il s' agit generalement de comm entaires d' une tres haute tenue et sign.es des plus grands noms de la critique. "3 Her literary gifts have been proclaimed almost unanimously: - 11Dons exc eptionnels," "dons dejh.re marquables, " "dons d' ecrivain tt .evidentS, 11du talent . • • un metier dejh, treS ·assure, II 11oeuvr e de talent, " "beaucoup de talent, et une personnalite certaine, " "surpr enante dexterite. u4 ·iv Jacques Chardonne says that she belongs to "la famille des grands 5 · .ecrivains, n a:nd Fran�ois Mauriac ·wrote that "le merite litteraire 6 eclate d�s la premiere page ·et n' est pas discutabl e. n •.L Born Fran�oise Quoirez, she took the name Sagan ·from .th e 7 works of her favorite author, Marcel Proust. It is under this name that she has become famous . The best means of understanding Sagan' s. genius is through her works, and any rapports between her background and her novels will be ·established in .the analys es which follow. 1 Malcolm Cowley (ed. ), Writers � Work, The Paris · Revie� \. Interviews ·(New York: The Viking Press, . 1958), p. 30 1. } �Pierre ·de Bois deffre, Le secret de Fran�oise Sagan, cited.in Gerard Mourgue, Fran� oise Sagan: Temoins du xxe Sil!cle ·(Paris: Editions Universitaires, 1 958), p. 7. 3 Michel Guggenheim, "Fran�oise Sagan devant la Critique, 11 French Review, XXXII, (October, 1958), p. 3. ·4Ibid ., p. 4. 5 -rbid.' p. 4. 6 Ibid.' p. 4. 7 Cowley, �· cit. , p. 301. TABLE OF CONTENTS' CHAPTER PAGE I. BONJOUR TRISTESSE ( 1954). 1 II. UN CERTAIN SOURIRE (1956) .. 18 III. AIMEZ- VOUS BRAHMS (1959) . 25 IV. DANS UN MOIS DANS UN.AN (1957) 38 V. LES MERVEILLEUX NUAGES (1961) •. 51 VI. CHATEAU EN SUEDE (1960) ••. 77 VII. LES VIOLONS PARFOIS (1962) . .. 90 VIII. CONCLUSION . 100 BIBLIOGRAPHY . • . • . 106 CHAPTER I BONJOUR . TRISTESSE ' (1954) This story, told in the first person, opens as the heroine examines a new sentiment which pervades her, one whose ·complete egoism causes her some shame, not unmixed with fear, which sets her apart from "the other�. " In an .opening paragraph which .is almost poetic in its lyricism, Fran�oise Sagan sets. the tone ·of �he ( � / story. she describes the mixed feelings f awe and fear of a young girl experiencing, for the first time, a feeling so personal, so completely the result of her own actions, that it remains impossible ·to communicate.:) It forms a private barrier between her and "the others1� by virtue of this very intimacy; it leaves her alone with a thought which .both frightens and fascinates her, and of which sh.e can talk to no one: Sur ce sentiment inconnu dont 11 ennui, la douceur :__. :-; :,.; ..... , m1obs:�dent, j1 hesite ·h. apposer le nom, le beaw;r nom grave de tristesse . 0 est un s.entiment si complet, si egotste que j1 en ai presque honte alors que la tristesse m1 a toujours paru honorable. Je ne·1a .connaissais pas, elle, mais 1'ennui, le regret, plus rarement le remords. Aujourd' h.ui, quelque chose se replie sur moi comme une soie,. enervante et douce, et me s:epar·e des autres . (page-13) As the action begins, the reader is transported.to the preceding summer, when the heroine was 17 and complete! y .happy, . before the intervention of this strange "tristesse. " Cecile, just out of school, has gone to live with her father� Raymond, a handsome widower of 40, and his mistress of the moment, Elsa, a beautiful redhead, charming but painfully lacking in intelligence. Cecile finds nothing 2 strange in h.er father's having a mistress, though s.he ·�s shocked . upon learning that his fancy changes every six months! This, she soon accepts, due to her father's charm and genuine affection for her as well as to her lack of initiative and desire for an easy ·life. Soon after realizing the situation of which she has become a part, she says: . Mais bientOt sa seduction, cette ·vie nouvelle et facile, mes dispositions, m' y amenerent. (page� 14} Raymond has rented ·a vil.la on the Mediterranean and proposes . that the three of them spend the summer there, subject .to Cecile's willing approval of Elsa as a companion, an approval which is readily given. The white and beautiful villa faces the sea where they spend every day. Cecile finds .herself almost drugged by the combination of water, blistering sun, and intense heat, a combination which .tends to dull her senses and leads her into an indifferent idleness from which she will find it. increasingly difficult to free herself. Watching the sand tr.ickle slowly .t hrough her fingers, she says: . je me disais qu' il s' enfuyait comme le temps; que c1 etait une idee facile et qu' il etait agreable d'a voir des idees. faciles. C) etait 11 �te. (pages 15 - 16) ·It is at this point that Cecile meets Cyril, a young college student. She is immediate! y attracted .to him, not only. because of his physical attributes, but also because of something very responsible and protective that she sees in his face, a strength of c�aracter of which she is complete! y devoid. The prospects of sailing with C::Y,ril and of spending long hours in the amusing company. of her . father and Elsa render her happiness almost too complete. Content, and absorbed in h.er own happiness, Cecile is startled by,her father's sudden announcement that a visitor is coming. She is immediately apprehensive, fearing le�t. the slightest intrusion· 3 menace h.er pleas ure. Her concern, however, turns to bewilderment wh en she learns that the visitor is Anne Lar s en, the last person she would have ·expected.