The Lady of Cleves - La Princesse de Clèves

A novel by French author Madame de Lafayette. Published anonymously in 1678, it is said that friends assisted in the creation of the work. It has a documentary-like structure based on the historical background of the French court around 1558, but its main theme is the love affair of Madame de Cleves. Madame de Cleves, who was taught the virtues of womanhood by her mother and served at court, is dismayed and tormented by her intense love for the Duke of Nemours, which is completely different from the respect she has for her husband. Seeking emotional support, she finally confesses her love to her husband and asks for his help, but the shock causes her husband to die. Skeptical of the fidelity and passion of her late husband, Madame de Lafayette rejects Nemours's advances and retires. The work excels in its psychological depiction, probing the conflict between reason and passion of the lady, who is cornered within the gaze of the opulent, closed society of the court. Combined with a tightly-woven plot that stood out among the many lengthy, epic novels of the same era, it has had a lasting influence as a representative work of French classicism in prose and the first masterpiece of modern French psychological novels.

[Fusa Ninomiya]

"The Lady of Cleves" translated by Ryoichi Ikushima (Iwanami Bunko)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

フランスの作家ラファイエット夫人の小説。匿名で1678年刊。創作には友人の協力があったともされる。1558年前後のフランス宮廷の史実を背景とする記録風の結構だが、主題はクレーブ公夫人の恋。母親から婦徳を教えられて育ち宮廷に出仕したクレーブ夫人は、夫への敬愛とはまったく異質の激しい恋をヌムール公に対して抱く自分にうろたえ苦しむ。心の支えを求めてついには夫に告白して助力を乞(こ)うが、夫はその衝撃が原因となって死ぬ。夫人は亡き夫への貞節と情熱に対する懐疑からヌムール公の求愛を退けて隠棲(いんせい)する。宮廷という華麗な閉鎖社会の視線のなかで追い詰められる夫人の理性と情念の葛藤(かっとう)をまさぐり出す心理描写に秀でる。冗長な大作の多い同時代の小説のなかで際だった緊密な展開と相まって、フランス古典主義の代表的散文作品、近代フランス心理小説の最初の傑作として長く影響を及ぼした。

［二宮フサ］

『生島遼一訳『クレーヴの奥方』（岩波文庫）』

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