Précieuses
Encyclopedia
The French literary style called préciosité (pʁesjɔzite, preciousness) arose in the 17th century from the lively conversations and playful word games of les précieuses (le pʁesjøz), the witty and educated intellectual ladies who frequented the salon
of Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet
; her Chambre bleue (the "blue room" of her hôtel particulier
) offered a Parisian refuge from the dangerous political factionism and coarse manners of the royal court during the minority of Louis XIII
. One of the central figures of the salon that gathered at the hôtel de Rambouillet, Madeleine de Scudéry
, wrote voluminous romance novels that embodied the refinements of preciosité; they were suffused with feminine elegance, exquisitely correct scruples of behavior and Platonic love that were hugely popular with a largely female audience, but scorned by most men. The "questions of love" that were debated in the précieuses' salons reflected the "courts of love" that were a feature of medieval courtly love
. The satire of Molière
's comedy Les Precieuses ridicules
(1659) punctured their pretensions.
None of the ladies ever applied the term précieuse to herself or defined it. Myriam Maître has found in préciosité not so much a listable series of characteristics "as an interplay of forces, a place of encounter and mutual ordering of certain of the tensions that extend through the century, the court and the field of literature". In assessing the career of Philippe Quinault
, which began at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, 1653, Patricia Howard noted, "For if in French theatre in the second half of the century, women's roles are preeminent, it was the précieux movement which made them so."
In the Fronde
, the bluestocking
s tended to be aligned with the superintendent of finances, Nicolas Fouquet
, drawing the satire and ire of the aubignaciens, of the Cardinal de Retz
's party.
One précieuse parlor game, the retelling of fairy tale
s as if spontaneously (though the tales were in fact carefully prepared), was to have great effects. Many of these fairy tale
s, in the précieuse style, were written, mostly notably by Madame d'Aulnoy
. This fashion for fairy tales, and the writers themselves, were a notable influence later upon Charles Perrault
, and also many other writers such as Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve
, the author of the first known variant of Beauty and the Beast
. They altered the stories notably from the folk tradition, as in making every character at least a gentleman by birth. The heroes and heroines of fairy tale
s written by the précieuses often appeared in pastoral
settings and as shepherds and shepherdesses, but these figures were royal or noble, and their simple setting does not cloud their innate nobility.
The précieuses are remembered through the filter of Molière
's one-act satire of them in Les précieuses ridicules
(1659), a bitter comedy of manners
that brought Molière and his company to the attention of Parisians, after years of touring the provinces, and attracted the patronage of Louis XIV
; it still plays well today. Les précieuses ridicules permanently fixed the pejorative
connotation of précieuse as "affected". In the play the two provincial young ladies reject the suitors proposed by their father as insufficiently refined, only to fall in love with the suitors' valets, disguised as wits. In the provinces, the young ladies' Parisian pretensions were worth mockery, and in Paris, their puffed-up provincial naiveté and self-esteem were laughable. Thus Molière pleased all possible audiences.
The phenomenon of the précieuses in establishing French literary classicism was first revived, in an atmosphere of nostalgia for the douceurs de vivre of the Ancien Regime and the aristocratic leisure of its authoresses, by Louis Roederer, in his Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de la société polie en France (1838).
Roxane, a critical character in Edmond Rostand
's 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac
, is described as a précieuse.
Salon (gathering)
A salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to...
of Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet
Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet
Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet , known as Madame de Rambouillet, was a society hostess and a major figure in the literary history of 17th-century France.-Biography:...
; her Chambre bleue (the "blue room" of her hôtel particulier
Hôtel particulier
In French contexts an hôtel particulier is an urban "private house" of a grand sort. Whereas an ordinary maison was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a street, an hôtel particulier was often free-standing, and by the 18th century it...
) offered a Parisian refuge from the dangerous political factionism and coarse manners of the royal court during the minority of Louis XIII
Louis XIII of France
Louis XIII was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1610 to 1643.Louis was only eight years old when he succeeded his father. His mother, Marie de Medici, acted as regent during Louis' minority...
. One of the central figures of the salon that gathered at the hôtel de Rambouillet, Madeleine de Scudéry
Madeleine de Scudéry
Madeleine de Scudéry , often known simply as Mademoiselle de Scudéry, was a French writer. She was the younger sister of author Georges de Scudéry.-Biography:...
, wrote voluminous romance novels that embodied the refinements of preciosité; they were suffused with feminine elegance, exquisitely correct scruples of behavior and Platonic love that were hugely popular with a largely female audience, but scorned by most men. The "questions of love" that were debated in the précieuses' salons reflected the "courts of love" that were a feature of medieval courtly love
Courtly love
Courtly love was a medieval European conception of nobly and chivalrously expressing love and admiration. Generally, courtly love was secret and between members of the nobility. It was also generally not practiced between husband and wife....
. The satire of Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
's comedy Les Precieuses ridicules
Les Précieuses ridicules
Les Précieuses ridicules is a one-act satire by Molière in prose. It takes aim at the précieuses, the ultra-witty ladies who indulged in lively conversations, word games and, in a word, préciosité ....
(1659) punctured their pretensions.
None of the ladies ever applied the term précieuse to herself or defined it. Myriam Maître has found in préciosité not so much a listable series of characteristics "as an interplay of forces, a place of encounter and mutual ordering of certain of the tensions that extend through the century, the court and the field of literature". In assessing the career of Philippe Quinault
Philippe Quinault
Philippe Quinault , French dramatist and librettist, was born in Paris.- Biography :Quinault was educated by the liberality of François Tristan l'Hermite, the author of Marianne. Quinault's first play was produced at the Hôtel de Bourgogne in 1653, when he was only eighteen...
, which began at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, 1653, Patricia Howard noted, "For if in French theatre in the second half of the century, women's roles are preeminent, it was the précieux movement which made them so."
In the Fronde
Fronde
The Fronde was a civil war in France, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. The word fronde means sling, which Parisian mobs used to smash the windows of supporters of Cardinal Mazarin....
, the bluestocking
Bluestocking
A bluestocking is an educated, intellectual woman. Until the late 18th century, the term had referred to learned people of both sexes. However it subsequently was applied primarily to intellectual women, and the French equivalent bas bleu had a similar connotation. The term later developed...
s tended to be aligned with the superintendent of finances, Nicolas Fouquet
Nicolas Fouquet
Nicolas Fouquet, marquis de Belle-Île, vicomte de Melun et Vaux was the Superintendent of Finances in France from 1653 until 1661 under King Louis XIV...
, drawing the satire and ire of the aubignaciens, of the Cardinal de Retz
Jean François Paul de Gondi, cardinal de Retz
Jean François Paul de Gondi, cardinal de Retz was a French churchman, writer of memoirs, and agitator in the Fronde....
's party.
One précieuse parlor game, the retelling of fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
s as if spontaneously (though the tales were in fact carefully prepared), was to have great effects. Many of these fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
s, in the précieuse style, were written, mostly notably by Madame d'Aulnoy
Madame d'Aulnoy
Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baroness d'Aulnoy , also known as Countess d'Aulnoy, was a French writer known for her fairy tales...
. This fashion for fairy tales, and the writers themselves, were a notable influence later upon Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault was a French author who laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from pre-existing folk tales. The best known include Le Petit Chaperon rouge , Cendrillon , Le Chat Botté and La Barbe bleue...
, and also many other writers such as Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve
Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve
Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, French author , influenced by Madame d'Aulnoy, Charles Perrault, and various précieuse writers....
, the author of the first known variant of Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale. The first published version of the fairy tale was a rendition by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in La jeune américaine, et les contes marins in 1740...
. They altered the stories notably from the folk tradition, as in making every character at least a gentleman by birth. The heroes and heroines of fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
s written by the précieuses often appeared in pastoral
Pastoral
The adjective pastoral refers to the lifestyle of pastoralists, such as shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasturage. It also refers to a genre in literature, art or music that depicts such shepherd life in an...
settings and as shepherds and shepherdesses, but these figures were royal or noble, and their simple setting does not cloud their innate nobility.
The précieuses are remembered through the filter of Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
's one-act satire of them in Les précieuses ridicules
Les Précieuses ridicules
Les Précieuses ridicules is a one-act satire by Molière in prose. It takes aim at the précieuses, the ultra-witty ladies who indulged in lively conversations, word games and, in a word, préciosité ....
(1659), a bitter comedy of manners
Comedy of manners
The comedy of manners is a genre of play/television/film which satirizes the manners and affectations of a social class, often represented by stock characters, such as the miles gloriosus in ancient times, the fop and the rake during the Restoration, or an old person pretending to be young...
that brought Molière and his company to the attention of Parisians, after years of touring the provinces, and attracted the patronage of Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
; it still plays well today. Les précieuses ridicules permanently fixed the pejorative
Pejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
connotation of précieuse as "affected". In the play the two provincial young ladies reject the suitors proposed by their father as insufficiently refined, only to fall in love with the suitors' valets, disguised as wits. In the provinces, the young ladies' Parisian pretensions were worth mockery, and in Paris, their puffed-up provincial naiveté and self-esteem were laughable. Thus Molière pleased all possible audiences.
The phenomenon of the précieuses in establishing French literary classicism was first revived, in an atmosphere of nostalgia for the douceurs de vivre of the Ancien Regime and the aristocratic leisure of its authoresses, by Louis Roederer, in his Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de la société polie en France (1838).
Roxane, a critical character in Edmond Rostand
Edmond Rostand
Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with neo-romanticism, and is best known for his play Cyrano de Bergerac. Rostand's romantic plays provided an alternative to the naturalistic theatre popular during the late nineteenth century...
's 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac (play)
Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand. Although there was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, the play bears very scant resemblance to his life....
, is described as a précieuse.