Maîtrise esthétique de la passion féminine. Fonctionnement topique du pavillon dans La Princesse de Clèves. (French)

When La Princèsse de Clèves was published in 1678 it was celebrated as a literary achievement by some readers but criticized by others, in particular by some of the most reknowned and influential critiques of the time Jean-Baptiste Henri du Trousset Valincour and Roger de Bussy-Rabutin, as an attack on the ideals of plausibility and moral decency. It was notably the two scenes known as “The Confession” and “The Dream”, both taking place in the pavilion at the Clèves estate La Coulommiers, that appeared indecent and implausible in the eyes of the two critiques. Taking the multiple symbolique connotations of the pavilion as a starting point, this article will argue that the accusations of implausibility and indecency should be understood as ideological reactions to the novel's negociations of desire, aesthetics and power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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