Approaches to Teaching Lafayette's The Princess of Clèves ed. by Faith E. Beasley and Katharine Ann Jensen (review)

Faith E. Beasley and Katharine Ann Jensen, eds. Approaches to Teaching Lafayette's The Princess ofClèves. New York: MLA, 1998. 21 Ip. Helynne H. Hansen Western State College of Colorado Madame de Lafayette's 1678 psychological study oflove, avowal, and seeming selfsacrifice in the 16th-century court of King Henri II recently has experienced a resurgence of popularity in college-level curricula, not only in French literature classes, but also in English-language studies of feminist criticism and courses in women's studies. This collection of essays on varying aspects of The Princess of Clèves— the latest i? editorJoseph Gibaldi's series ofApproaches to TeachingWorld Literature — is a timely response to this revival. "Teaching La Princesse de Clèves to undergraduates is like administering codliver oil to a child; it requires a lot of coaxing," states Marie-Paule Laden in the essay "Virtue and Civility in La Princesse de Clèves." This and numerous other articles in this collection focus on how teachers can help students comprehend and value the rich layers ofthis novel, and, in particular, reduce the typical frustration they experience with the story's unexpected and ostensibly unromantic conclusion. Geared for professors and scholars who teach in English as well as French (in every article, quotations from Lafayette's novel are given in both the original French and in English translation), these essays offer professors suggestions for classroom approaches, discussion questions, and various assignments that will aid students in grasping an appreciation for the novel. Much advice is centered on how professors can develop students' sensitivity towards the time period in which the work was written — the classical era during the reign ofLouis XIV — and the time in which the story takes place — the French royal court in the late 155Os. In their introduction, Beasley and Jensen list and evaluate various versions of the book that have existed since the original anonymous publication, including early and more recent English translations. They also recommend a number of critical studies on the work and some other aids to teaching including two different film versions of the story and a teaching film with narrated excerpts. Two appendixes include portions ofa debate by Valincour and Chames, two critics of the novel during its own time, and a comprehensive study guide for undergraduates . The editors note that today's students can relate to many issues that La Princesse de Clèves identifies such as difficulties in heterosexual relationships oflove or desire , the need to keep up appearances, the restricted position ofwomen in society, problems in mother-daughter relations, and the insularity ofsocial circles. What 78 * ROCKY MOUNTAIN REVIEW + FALL 1999 modem university students probably will not understand are the historical contexts of 16th- and 17th-century court life — with its salons, strict mores, and expectations for women and for the institution of marriage. Students also need to be aware ofspecific influences ofthe time such as the Fronde and other reactions again human liberties and die rise of austere, Calvinist-inspired Jansenism that gave rise to deeper analysis of die allegedly corrupt nature of the human mind and soul. (Louis MacKenzie's "Jansenist Resonances in La Princesse de Clèves" offers several interesting insights on this last concept as he mulls the meaning(s) of "virtue" in the princess' actions.) Beasley and Jensen also point out that the 17di-century salon was a unique place where women, such as Lafayette and her heroine, could display dieir intellectual and artistic talents with impunity and achieve a measure ofautonomy. Such a background gives this novel an anachronistic feminist twist. Where are all the domineering males? die editors ask. Several ofthe essayists focus on how to help students address and comprehend the questions of sex roles, sexuality, and celibacy within die story's social/historical context. "The sooner students begin to read La Princesse de Clèves, die better," states Michèle Longino in "The Mother-Daughter Subtext in La Princesse de Clèves." In addition to his thought-provokingdiscussion ofthe maternal dynamic in the text, he admonishes instructors to introduce die novel early in students' careers, helping them through the historical apparatus and abstract language, but letting them teach it largely to one...