La Vie de Marianne

La Vie de Marianne (1731–41), which preceded Samuel Richardson’s Pamela (1740), anticipates the novel of sensibility in its glorification of a woman’s feelings and intuition. Le Paysan parvenu (1734–35; “The Fortunate Peasant”) is the story of a handsome opportunistic young peasant who uses his attractiveness…

…La Vie de Marianne (1731–41; The Life of Marianne) and Le Paysan parvenu (1734–35; Up from the Country), follow one single character recounting, as in Manon Lescaut, her or his past experience. But it is the comic note that prevails as Marianne and Jacob make their way upward in society.…