From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Erica Bauermeister
Written over three hundred years ago, The Princess of Cleves transports the reader to seventeenth-century French court society, where "love was always allied to politics and politics to love. No one was untroubled or unmoved: each considered how to advance, to flatter, to serve or to harm; boredom and idleness were unknown, since everyone was engaged in intrigue or the pursuit of pleasure." The story concerns a strikingly beautiful young woman, raised in seclusion and brought to the court at marriageable age. She is married to the Prince de Cleves, a powerful, sensitive man who adores her and hopes she will eventually reciprocate his feelings. Unfortunately, Madame de Cleves falls passionately in love with the Duc de Nemors, a man "born with every predisposition for courtship and every quality tending toward its success." Lost letters, whispered messages, extensive introspection - all are described in minute detail as Madame de Cleves attempts to overcome her feelings and remain a virtuous woman. The obsession of these characters can seem excessive, yet Madame de Lafayette is careful to place this story within a larger historical context which shows the extraordinary influence these intimate affairs had upon foreign and domestic policy. Her book gives an insider's view into the personal lives of Henry XIII, Mary Stuart, Queen Elizabeth, and others as she initiates Madame de Cleves and the reader into the morals and political maneuverings of her time and class. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14.
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Book Description
Though the Congress of Cercamp had been broken off, the negotiations for the peace were continued, and things were so disposed, that towards the latter end of February the conferences were reassumed at Chateau-Cambresis; the same plenipotentiaries were sent as before, and the Mareschal de St. Andre being one, his absence freed the Duke de Nemours from a rival, who was formidable rather from his curiosity in observing those who addressed to Madam de Cleves, than from any advances he was capable of making himself in her favour.
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