Musset - Alfred de Musset

French Romantic poet, playwright, and novelist. Born in Paris on December 11th. His father was a civil servant and a scholar of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He graduated from the École Henri IV with outstanding grades, and entered the Cénacle, a gathering of Romantic poets, through one of his classmates, Paul Foucher, Hugo's brother-in-law. He made friends with wealthy and cultured dandies such as Alfred Tattet, and was known early on as a playboy. In 1830, he published his first collection of poems, Stories of Spain and Italy, which was a collection of poems written from the age of 18 onwards. He was regarded as the "terrible child of Romanticism" for his sensual, immoral imagination and precocious irony. In the same year, the premiere of his first play, A Night in Venice, at the Odeon was a disastrous failure due to a mistake by the leading actress, and he gave up on staging his works thereafter. In 1832, after losing his father, he reflected on his dissolute lifestyle and published his second collection of poems, Plays in an Armchair, in which the central theme of the poet, dissoluteness and pure love, appears early on. In the following year, 1833, he met the female writer George Sand and the two traveled to Venice together, but his determination to break his dissolute habits through this romance was in vain, and he fell seriously ill, losing his mistress Sand to Pagello, the doctor who cared for him. His relationship with Sand was rekindled several times after that, but they finally broke up in 1835, and this unfortunate relationship left a scar in the poet's heart. From then on, he had many lovers, including the actress Rachelle, Mme Allan, and the poet Louise Colet (1810-76), and spent the rest of his life as a romantic poet.

In terms of creativity, the period between 1834 and 1836 was his most fruitful, and in his masterpieces of elegy, the four-part series "Night" (1835-37) and "Recollections" (1841), both of which were later included in "New Poems," he shows the poet's way of life, in which he continues to pursue love despite the pain of love in order to obtain the "memories of happiness," the greatest treasure of life. He also produced "Letters of Dupy and Cotone" (1836-37), which declared his break with Romanticism, and the autobiographical novel "Confessions of a Child of the Century" (1836). His plays include "The Whims of Marianne" (1833), and in the following year, 1834, " Lorenzaccio ", a historical drama considered the greatest masterpiece of romantic drama, " On ne badine pas avec l'amour " (No Love in Play), and "Fantasio", which were published in 1840 in "Plays and Dramas of aphorisms". In 1847, " Un caprice " (1837), starring Madame Alain, was performed at the Comédie-Française, which triggered a reevaluation of Musset's plays, and since then, his plays have been in the limelight one after another, but because he wrote them without regard for the constraints of theatrical performance, his plays retain a fresh and free lyricism, and they have not lost their appeal even today. In 1852, he became a member of the Academie. Although he was classically educated and had excellent psychological intuition, in the field of poetry, his only principle was to express feelings, so the life of his works quickly faded, and today he is more highly regarded as a playwright. He died in Paris on May 2, 1857.

[Mie Sato]

"Shindo Seiichi's translation of "Love is not for fun" (Iwanami Bunko)" ▽ "Komatsu Kiyoshi's translation of "Early Poems (excerpts) New Poems (excerpts)" (included in "World Famous Poems Collection 2", 1960, Heibonsha)" ▽ "Kato Michio's translation of "Marianne's Whims" (Iwanami Bunko)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

フランス・ロマン派の詩人、劇作家、小説家。12月11日パリに生まれる。父は官吏でジャン・ジャック・ルソーの研究家でもある。アンリ4世校を抜群の成績で卒業、級友の一人でユゴーの義弟ポール・フーシェPaul Foucherを通じてロマン派の集い「セナークル」cénacleに入る。アルフレッド・タッテAlfred Tattetのような金持ちで教養あるダンディを友とし、早くから蕩児(とうじ)として知られる。1830年、18歳からの作品を集めた処女詩集『スペインとイタリアの物語』を出版。官能的、背徳的な空想力と早熟なアイロニーで「ロマン派の恐るべき子」とみなされた。同年、オデオン座での処女戯曲『ベニスの夜』の初演は主演女優のミスから惨憺(さんたん)たる失敗に終わり、以後作品の舞台化を断念する。32年父を失って放蕩生活を反省、二つ目の詩集『肘掛椅子(ひじかけいす)で見る芝居』を出版するが、ここには放蕩と純粋な愛をめぐる、この作家の中心的テーマが早くも現れる。翌33年女流作家ジョルジュ・サンドを知り2人はベネチアに旅するが、この恋愛によって放蕩の習慣を断ち切ろうとした決意はむなしく、そのうえ大病にかかり、彼を看護した医師パジェルロPagelloに愛人サンドを奪われる。サンドとの仲はその後幾度か再燃したが35年最終的に決別、この不幸な恋愛は詩人の心に傷を残した。以後、女優のラシェルやアラン夫人Mme Allan、詩人のルイーズ・コレLouise Colet（1810―76）など数多くの愛人をもち、恋愛詩人としての生涯を送る。

　創作面では1834～36年ごろがもっとも稔(みの)り多く、のちに『新詩集』に収められた悲歌の傑作「夜」の四つの連作（1835～37）や「想(おも)い出」（1841）には、恋愛の苦悩にまみれながらも「幸福の追憶」という人生の至宝を手に入れるために、あくまで恋愛を追求しようとする詩人の生き方が示される。そのほか、ロマン派との決別を宣した『デュピイとコトネの手紙』（1836～37）や自伝的小説『世紀児の告白』（1836）も生まれた。戯曲では『マリアンヌの気紛(きまぐ)れ』（1833）、翌34年にはロマン派劇の最高傑作といわれる史劇『ロレンザッチョ』Lorenzaccioをはじめ『戯れに恋はすまじ』On ne badine pas avec l'amour、『ファンタジオ』が出版され、40年『喜劇と格言劇』に収められた。47年コメディ・フランセーズでのアラン夫人主演『気紛れ』Un caprice（1837）がミュッセ劇再評価のきっかけをつくり、以後彼の戯曲は次々と脚光を浴びたが、上演上の制約を無視して書かれたためにかえって新鮮で自由な詩情を保ち、今日なお魅力を失わない。52年アカデミー会員。古典的教養と心理的直観力に優れていたが、詩の分野では心情吐露を唯一の主義としたため作品の生命は早く衰え、今日ではむしろ劇作家としての評価が高い。57年5月2日パリで没。

［佐藤実枝］

『進藤誠一訳『戯れに恋はすまじ』（岩波文庫）』▽『小松清訳『初期詩集（抄）　新詩集（抄）』（『世界名詩集大成2』所収・1960・平凡社）』▽『加藤道夫訳『マリアンヌの気紛れ』（岩波文庫）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例