La Fontaine and His Friends: A Biography

Title

en_US La Fontaine and His Friends: A Biography

Description

en_US This is a hardbound book (hard cover)

en_US Agnes Ethel Mackay

Creator

en_US Mackay, Agnes Ethel See all items with this value

Date

2016-01-25T20:15:38Z

en_US 1989-04

en_US 1973

Date Available

2016-01-25T20:15:38Z

Date Issued

en_US 1973

Abstract

en_US This is indeed a biography -- not comprehensive, to be sure, but accurate and lively. La Fontaine comes alive in these pages. I am happy to learn here of what it was that got Fouquet into trouble and what came of his arrest. I have learned of the meeting of the famous foursome about 1659: Moliere, Racine, Boileau, and La Fontaine. Moliere was the natural leader of this group that met for meals several times a week. Their intention was to introduce into their works le beau, le naturel et le vrai while maintaining their respect for the ancients (80). Moliere was the natural leader of the group. Moliere and Racine experienced a rupture in their relationship about 1665. There is an account here of a famous -- but perhaps only fictional -- picnic among the four at Versailles, reported in La Fontaine's Psyche. There is more here than I had known of Madame de La Sabliere and her circle. She played an important role in La Fontaine's life, and he missed her when she gave herself to religion and the service of the sick. His admission into the Academy in 1684 was stormy, and Mackay makes sense of the troubles here. Those who want more specifically on the fables will find it gathered here in the book's last chapter, Chapter XIII. At the finish of each chapter there is a translation of the French passages quoted in the chapter. Along the way there are a number of photographs of historically relevant personages and places. This is a helpful book!

Identifier

en_US 9780807606940

en_US 8176 (Access ID)

uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10504/83417

Language

en_US eng

Publisher

en_US George Braziller

en_US New York

Subject

en_US PQ1812 .M26 1973 See all items with this value

en_US Jean de La Fontaine See all items with this value

en_US Title Page Scanned See all items with this value

Type

en_US Book, Whole