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La Princesse de Clèves is remarkable as one of the first real psychological novels to delve into the emotions, thoughts and interior life of its characters in great depth - in that aspect it feels ahead of its time in so many ways, as it does also in its moral ambiguity and the dilemma at its core over which debate raged (and to a lesser extent still does). Clèves predates Les Liaisons dangereuses by a century in its depiction of a fiercely regulated aristocratic society and order where the smallest indiscretions face ruthless punishment and shame even as the proper veneer disguises a seedy and illicit underbelly; the Princess' reactions to this and to the adulterous temptations she is drawn toward through the love of the Duke of Nemours are hard to discern the core root of, whether they be born out of genuine belief and martyrdom for a notion of purity or a more pragmatic withdrawal from the hothouse environment of the French court - she might appear a tragic victim of such a society even in the former instance, and the quasi-medieval view of passion and marriage as so in conflict gives this a pessimistic air to this day, but there's much in here to chew over and it's probably Mme. de la Fayette's finest accomplishment having previously read her shorter pieces.

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As I commonly found with her works, the actual French vocabulary used is quite intuitive and easy to pick up; I had trouble at first because the first part of this novel is made up of one of the world's worst exposition dumps but it picks up greatly from there onward and also became a much easier read such that even though I was going from my Kindle I barely used the dictionary even if I sometimes had to struggle to piece together the older literary structure. Some wonderful literary French expressions and turns of phrase I learnt from this also. ( )

La principessa di Clèves è la storia di una giovane donna che sacrifica il suo cuore sull'altare della paura di soffrire.

Sposata ad un uomo che la ama, la principessa di Clèves si innamora del duca di Nemours, non meno degno del marito del suo amore. La sua tranquillità e la sua pace scompaiono quindi nel timore di tradire il marito, un'azione tanto lontana dal suo carattere e dalla sua educazione.

Deciderà quindi di agire contro le convenzioni amorose e mondane dell'epoca: confesserà al marito la sua debolezza, scaricando così sulle spalle del consorte il peso di una consapevolezza che lo divorerà. Così facendo, però, metterà se stessa al sicuro dal cedere alle lusinghe del duca di Nemours senza impedirsi di fantasticare su una loro relazione.

La principessa di Clèves si dimostra un personaggio egoista che mira alla propria serenità, che per lei equivale a rinunciare ad ogni pena d'amore. E per raggiungere il suo scopo continuerà ad usare la figura del marito anche da morto, finché il suo isolamento non le garantirà la tranquillità che aveva sempre desiderato. ( )

8432038911

Fiction