The Princesse de Clèves (The Princess of Cleves)

Madame de Lafayette published The Princesse de Clèves anonymously in 1678. She was acquainted with the manners of Louis XIV’s court, and she drew upon her court experiences when writing the book, adding to the book’s historical fidelity. It was a great success upon its publication. As Robin Buss (whose Penguin Classics translation provides the source for this summary) writes in her Chronology of Mme de Lafayette’s life, The Princess de Clèves started fierce speculation about its authorship, as well as “a heated debate over the question of whether Mme de Clèves was right to confess her feelings for the Duc de Nemours” (185). Some contemporary commentators, including Buss, attribute to Lafayette the invention of the “analytical” novel, or novel of psychological realism, favored by later French authors. Storytelling in 1678 was defined by Arthurian romance and other tales of improbable chivalry; by contrast, The Princesse de Clèves delved into its characters’ inner lives and motivations, concluding that happiness and pain were crucially interlinked.

The story, narrated in omniscient third person, is set more than 100 years before the novel’s publication date, during the last year of the reign of King Henri II.