The age of enlightenment, an anthology of eighteenth-century French literature

698 Pages·1971·19.01 MB·English

by  Otis E. Fellows

THE AGE OF
ENLIGHTENMENT
T h e Age of
A n Anthology o f
French
Edited by
O T I S E. F E L L O W S
and
NORMAN L.TO RREY
Columbia University
Enlightenment
Eighteenth-Century
Literature
SECOND EDITIO N
APPLETON-CENTURY-CROFTS
Educational Division
New York M EREDITH CORPORATION
The Age of Enlightenment: An Anthology of
Eighteenth-Century French Literature, Second
Edition-, Edited by Otis E. Fellows and Norman
L. Torrey.
Copyright © 1971 by
MEREDITH CORPORATION
All rights reserved
This book, or parts thereof, must not be used
or reproduced in any manner without written
permission. For information address the pub­
lisher, Appleton-Century-Crofts, Educational
Division, Meredith Corporation, 440 Park Ave­
nue South, New York, N. Y. 10016.
7100-1
Library of Congress Card Number: 73-147121
Copyright © 1942 by Meredith Corporation
Copyright © renewed 1970 by Otis Edward Fellows
and Norman L. Torrey
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
390-30616-9
PREFACE
This book is designed as a presentation of basic material for a study of
the Enlightenment. The texts have been chosen for their importance in the
history of the movement of ideas and for their literary quality. The
collection thus offers a background not only for the study of French
eighteenth-century literature but also for courses in French historical or
political thought and French civilization.
The literature of the century stressed content above form. In the more
formalistic genres, especially in tragedy and comedy, it fell below the
standards set by the previous age, whereas in the novel, the dialogue, and
minor genres, it found its most successful modes of literary expression.
Here content was given form and masterpieces were produced such as
Manon Lescaut, Diderot’s dialogues, and Voltaire’s comes. The editors
have felt that, except in rare cases, these literary units, together with the
plays of Marivaux, Voltaire, and Beaumarchais, should not be presented
in fragmentary form but should be enjoyed in their entirety in the readily
.1
available texts which will supplement the background material
The selections are grouped by authors, under whom they are chrono­
logically arranged except for Diderot, whose works present a special case,
and Voltaire, where grouping of ideas seemed highly desirable. Voltaire
is also placed late in the volume because he summed up with such clarity
and precision the more important trends of the century. It is particularly
recommended, however, that his Lettres philosophiques, because of their
historical importance in the movement of ideas, be read between Mon­
tesquieu’s Lettres persanes and Esprit des lois.
It is the common observation of Europeans that the American student
arrives late at intellectual maturity and that the philosophical education
of our graduate students, particularly those who have specialized in lit­
erary fields, is decidedly limited. Eighteenth-century French literature
offers a training in unsystematic philosophy which can hardly be equaled.
The writers of this period were, as Gustave Lanson said of Voltaire, “a
procedure, a method of education, a philosophy of life.” They present a
community of ideas upon which has been built for the last century and a
half every civilized form of society worthy of the name. Whether the
general tendencies of the Enlightenment are approved or disapproved,
they are already of tremendous historical significance.
i. For example, the Classiques Larousse include: Beaumarchais, Le Barbier de
Séville and Le Mariage de Figaro; Lesage, Gil Bias (extracts) and Turcaret; Marivaux,
Le Jeu de Vamour et du hasard; Prévost, Manon Lescaut; Sedaine, Le Philosophe
sans le savoir; Voltaire, Contes en prose (Candide, Zadig, etc., i v.).
v
vi Preface
The following readings are therefore presented in the faith that the
student will understand and judge them according to the spirit of Cardinal
Newman’s well-known definition of the university as a place “where
inquiry is pushed forward, and discoveries are verified and perfected, and
rashness rendered innocuous, and error exposed, by the collision of mind
with mind, and knowledge with knowledge.”
The present revised edition is published in response to the urging of
many who have used this book. Through page 263 no pagination changes
have been made. After that point there have been a few deletions and a
number of additions which we think will be welcome. Throughout there
has been an attempt to correct errors and, when necessary, to alter word­
ing.
YVe gratefully acknowledge the many suggestions that have come from
a great variety of sources, often from our former students.
Since the book was first intended to present basic texts for the use of
advanced students rather than as a manual for scholars, it has been im­
possible to refer to many recent scholarly books and articles. The addition
of further suggested reading has, however, been added at the end of the
volume for those wishing to extend their understanding of the age.
O. E. F.
N. L. T.
CONTENTS
General Introduction 1
Precursors
CYRANO DE BERGERAC 19
Voyage dans la lune 20
SAINT-EVREMOND 34
Conversation du maréchal d’Hocquincourt avec le père Canaye 35
FONTENELLE 39
Dialogues des morts 40
Digression sur les anciens et les modernes 49
Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes 51
L’Origine des fables 60
L’Histoire des oracles 63
BAYLE 67
Pensées diverses sur la comète 67
Commentaire philosophique sur ces paroles de Jésus-Christ:
Contrains-les d’entrer 76
Dictionnaire historique et critique 79
FENELON 90
Lettre à Louis XIV 91
Télémaque 95
Montesquieu 100
Lettres persanes 103
Considérations sur les causes de la grandeur des Romains et leur
décadence 137
De l’esprit des lois 143
vii