The Princesse de Cleves (1678)

Written in 1678, this novel can claim to be the first historical novel of the French court of the preceding century and it is also a novel of analysis examining emotions and attitudes. The primary object of the novel is morals but it avoids over simplification of judgments. Love in marriage was a novel idea. Marriage was for social status and mistresses were for love. This book is relatively short and addresses marriage, love and doing the honorable thing. The Princess of Cleves falls in love with a man not her husband, she confesses. Her husband even though he has said that a husband should understand these things becomes horribly jealous. He dies from the emotional disturbance. The princess feels unable to marry the man she loves because this love is the cause of her husband’s death. She dies pious and virtuous. I found the story interesting in looking at court behavior, ideas of love and marriage and that this early historical novel was written by a woman. It's a quick read. ( )

Melancólico e lindo. Parece pertencer profundamente à sua época, e por isso é curioso ver a adaptação La Belle Personne, de Christophe Honoré, que se passa hoje em dia em um liceu francês. ( )

I ended up liking this, but, it was very difficult in the beginning because of all the names and titles. I can't imagine reading this without any knowledge of the court of Henri II. It does have a good basic plot with a main character who reminded me of Madame de Tourvel in Les Liaisons Dangereuses. I will be interested to see the modern version recently filmed in response to the book's renewed popularity in the wake of Sarkozy's criticism of it. ( )

Had to read this for a romance fiction class. Don't remember much other than it was better than I had expected.

During the seventeenth century, England was full of Puritans and France was filled with naughty people. However, The Princess of Cleves is a wonderful novel about the passions of not having an affair, while everyone else is. Strange and delightful. ( )