Ethics and Politics in Seventeenth-Century France

This collection of twenty essays, of which five are in French, written by leading English and French literary and historical scholars, deconstructs the ethical and political framework supporting and circumscribing the actions of a powerful elite in France between the early 1600s and the final years of Louis XIV’s reign.

This collection of twenty essays, of which five are in French, written by leading English and French literary and historical scholars, deconstructs the ethical and political framework supporting and circumscribing the actions of a powerful elite in France between the early 1600s and the final years of Louis XIV’s reign. Reflecting a diversity of individual concerns, the essays, which offer a radical double questioning of the absolute values in which were founded the authority of Church, King and nobility, have been divided into two interrelated parts in acknowledgement of the complex tensions between codes of behaviour and political practice in the different theatrical spaces of government in the real and imaginary world. The dual political and moral theme of this study is not new, but it is one which has always been highly regarded by historians and literary specialists alike. It is in fact one of the ‘classics’ of seventeenth-century studies, the one to which critics must always return, and to which students must always address themselves, if they are to comprehend the intellectual core of seventeenth-century French studies.

Derek Watts Derek Watts: A Bibliography Contributors Part I: The Ethics of Action Introduction, Elizabeth Woodrough 1. 'Alternative' Ethical Systems in France during the Grand Siecle, William D. Howarth 2. A Note on Lay Piety in the Early Seventeenth Century, John Cruickshank 3. Guez de Balzac: The Enduring Influence of Rome, Margaret McGowan 4. L'Image de la Ligue dans les MEmoires du Cardinal de Retz, Simone Bertiere 5. The Political Testaments of Richelieu and La Rochefoucauld, Elizabeth Woodrough 6. ConsidErations morales et politiques autour d'Henri II de Montmorency: Une polyphonie discordante, Noemi Hepp 7. Medicine and Statecraft in the MEmoires of the Cardinal de Retz, Colin Jones 8. The Fouquet-Colbert Rivalry and the 'Revolution' of 1661, Richard Bonney 9. Crescit ut aspicitur: CondE and the Reinterpretation of Heroism, 1650-1662, Mark Bannister 10. Love, Marriage and a Disputed Sentence in La Princesse de Cleves, John Campbell 11. Marie de Villars: A Political Woman?, Wendy Perkins 12. Ascendant et dEclinaison de la noblesse franCaise dans le systeme de Boulainvilliers, Yves Coirault Part II: The Politics of Theatre 13. Corneille: Ethic and Polis, Henry Phillips 14. Sur l'echec des conjurEs dans La Mort de SEneque, Madeleine Bertaud 15. 'Le poids d'une couronne': The Dilemma of Monarchy in La Calprenede's Tragedies, Guy Snaith 16. African Temptresses and Roman Matrons: Female Roles on the Paris Stage, 1634-1643, David Clarke 17. How Quinault uses Political Commonplaces, William Brooks 18. Politics and Tragedy: The Case of the Earl of Essex, C.J. Gossip 19. 'Je commence ... rougir': Shame, Self-Esteem and Guilt in the Presentation of Racine's Hippolyte, Edward Forman 20. L'influence de Louis XIV sur la vie littEraire: pour un bilan critique, Jean Rohou Index

• Contributions by Mark Bannister
• Contributions by Madeline Bertaud
• Contributions by Simone Bertiere
• Contributions by Richard Bonney
• Contributions by William Brooks
• Contributions by Keith Cameron
• Contributions by John Campbell
• Contributions by David Clarke
• Contributions by Yves Coirault
• Contributions by John Cruickshank
• Contributions by Edward Forman
• Contributions by C. J. Gossip
• Contributions by Noemi Hepp
• Contributions by William D. Howarth
• Contributions by Colin Jones
• Contributions by Margaret McGowan
• Contributions by Wendy Perkins
• Contributions by Henry Phillips
• Contributions by Jean Rohou
• Contributions by Guy Snaith
• Contributions by Elizabeth Woodrough
• Edited by Keith Cameron
• Edited by Elizabeth Woodrough

"The editors are to be complimented for assembling this international team of scholars, who have explored a theme which is central to the cultural and political history of seventeenth-century France." French History Vol. 12, No. 3 1998 "... this collection contains much that will interest the historian and the literary scholar." English Historical Review, April 1998)
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