Chapter 20 "Princess Clive"

Now come back to French literature.French literature is the richest and most colorful in every other respect than poetry.The French, as a whole, are cold poets, yet their prose is brilliant and brilliant.It would be apt to say that they have had a long and profound influence on our country's writers, for we have long learned all the skill and accomplishment of the French in prose.This is not surprising.France had clear advantages: being in the center of Europe, densely populated, wealthy, civilized - all factors conducive to the creation of a great literary genre.In addition, the French are naturally fond of order, moderation and reason.These qualities are more suited to the essayist than to the poet, and are conducive to the birth of genius.French is a precise and logical language that enables French writers to express their ideas clearly and gracefully.And English, though learned from French for centuries, has not been assimilated, and remains confused and cumbersome.French literature is rich and unusual. However, due to space limitations, I can only pick out a few books here and talk about them briefly.

The first book I want to talk about is very short, La Princess de Cleves by Madame Lafayette.Published in 1678, the book is considered by literary historians to be the earliest psychological novel.Of course, this book is very interesting, but what is more worth mentioning is that it tells a unique and modern story.The background of the story is Henry II's palace, and the heroine is a noble and virtuous lady who respects her husband but does not love him.At a court ball, she met Duke Gazewart and fell in love with him at first sight.She decided not to tarnish her reputation.She confessed her feelings to her husband, hoping to use her husband's strength to help her better resist temptation.

He is a gentleman of good character and trusts his wife, knowing that she will not betray him, but human nature is fragile, and he suffers from jealousy, becoming suspicious, irritable and annoying.I have never seen a novel that can so naturally describe the process of a soul's slow degradation under excessive tension.This is a touching story, the characters in the book are eager to act according to their own sense of responsibility, but are defeated by external uncontrollable factors.It tells us not to ask others to do what they can't do.In today's era when it is generally believed that love has no law and responsibility will eventually yield to the heart, this is a good book with educational significance.