Transcending the Rhetorical Impasse: Madame De Lafayette's La Princesse De Cleves and the Seventeenth-Century Querelle Des Femmes‪.‬

IMMEDIATELY after its publication Madame de Lafayette's La Princesse de Cleves ignited an impassioned debate. Certain critics claimed that the behavior of the heroine was "invraisemblable," or implausible. They expressed fervent disagreement with various ideas in the narrative, especially those relating to the moral choices of the Princess. Bussy-Rabutin claimed that a woman's passions would inevitably surpass her virtue and Valincour condemned the Princess's actions calling her a "coquettish prude." (1) The divergent perceptions of the Princess's behavior resulted in an outpouring of writings known as the "quarrel of La Princesse de Cleves." (2) Scholars have overlooked the fact that many notions expressed in this debate were very similar in nature to the most salient points of contention in the ongoing querelle des femmes. This essay will argue that Madame de Lafayette's text can be viewed in relation to the seventeenth-century querelle des femmes. (3) This connection has not been recognized in the scholarship for numerous factors such as the work's date of publication, the atypical genre, and especially the unique rhetorical approach of Madame de Lafayette. I will explore these diverse notions as well as analyze certain key issues of the debate in order to highlight Madame de Lafayette's novel response to the traditional polarized discourses of the querelle. La Princesse de Cleves, which was first published in 1678, has thus far been disregarded in relation to the querelle des femmes perhaps in part because of its date of publication. Some scholars argue that the intense controversy over women had dwindled by the middle of the seventeenth century. (4) In contrast to this emphasis on the debate in the early portion of the century, however, others claim that the querelle was intermittently reinvigorated throughout the Grand Siecle. Isabelle Ducharme notes, "[...] la Querelle s'est poursuivie au XVIIe siecle et s'est sporadiquement reactivee [...]" (131). Certain literary productions in the latter half of the century suggest that the controversy over women did indeed continue. Madeleine de Scudery's Les Femmes illustres, which appeared in 1665, and Moliere's 1672 publication of Les Femmes savantes can be viewed in connection with the seventeenth-century querelle. Other texts that prolonged the debate were Poulain de la Barre's well-known treatises, De l'egalite des deux sexes and De l'education des dames, which were published in 1673 and 1674 respectively just before Madame de Lafayette started composing La Princesse de Cleves. (5) Furthermore, several of Boileau's writings, especially his tenth satire in 1694, also suggest a continuation of the hostilities toward women well into the latter portion of the century. These publications can serve as evidence that the central issues of the querelle des femmes remained contentious when Madame de Lafayette was writing her text.