Madame De La Fayette – författare

Originally published in 1925. this is an edition of the highly regarded seventeenth-century novel by Madame de La Fayette, La Princesse de Cleves. The complete text of the 1678 first edition is presented here in the original French, with accompanying English annotations by Harry Ashton. In addition to the notes, Ashton provides an English introduction to the book, discussing aspects of the author's life and works and examining the sources, characters, style and influence of the novel. Thanks to the economy of the vocabulary and the usefulness of the notes, this volume will be particularly welcome by students of French as well as anyone eager to read a popular classic of seventeenth-century French literature.

Perhaps one of the greatest works of French literature is Madame de Lafayette’s The Princess of Clèves, often described as the first of all “modern” novels. This classic translation, with an introduction, by the late English novelist and biographer Nancy Mitford, was first brought out in 1951 by New Directions. It is now available as a New Directions Paperbook. Published in 1678 and written by Marie Madeleine Roche de la Vergne, Countess de Lafayette––a Parisian lady of fashion and great wit––it recreates with matchless vitality the lives and loves of the sixteenth-century courtiers of King Henry II of France. In her exquisite tapestry, we encounter such historic figures as Diane de Poitiers, the kings mistress; Catherine de Médicis, his queen; the doomed Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland. It tells the story of the consuming passion of the young Duc de Nemours for the beautiful wife of his friend the Prince of Clèves. Madame de Sévigne, the great letter writer and life-long friend of Madame de Lafayette, called The Princess of Clèves “one of the most charming things.” It is still that––and it is also one of the truly great love stories of all literature.

Madame de La Fayettes Prinsessan de Clèves tillhör den franska litteraturens klassiker. Romanen publicerades anonymt 1678 och utspelar sig vid hovet under de sista åren av Henrik II styre. Prinsessan de Clèves har har genom historien både beundrats och gett upphov till litterära stridigheter.? Romanen har inte slutat engagera läsare och kritiker och tycks ständigt vara aktuell. Denna nyutgåva av Eva Alexanderssons översättning är försedd med ett förord av professor Carin Franzén och ett efterord av den amerikanska filosofen Peggy Kamuf.