Paul et Virginie explained

Paul et Virginie (sometimes known in English as Paul and Virginia) is a novel by Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, first published in 1788. The novel's title characters are friends since birth who fall in love. The story is set on the island of Mauritius under French rule, then named Île de France. Written on the eve of the French Revolution, the novel is recognized as perhaps Bernardin's finest work.[1] It records the fate of a child of nature corrupted by the artificial sentimentality of the French upper classes in the late eighteenth century. Bernardin de Saint-Pierre lived on the island for a time and based part of the novel on a shipwreck he witnessed there.[2]

Book critics

Bernardin de Saint-Pierre's novel criticizes the social class divisions found in eighteenth-century French society. He describes the perfect equality of social relations on Mauritius, whose inhabitants share their possessions, have equal amounts of land, and all work to cultivate it. They live in harmony, without violence or unrest. The author's beliefs echo those of Enlightenment philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau.[3] He argues for the emancipation of slaves. He was a friend of Mahé de La Bourdonnais, the governor of Mauritius, who appears in the novel providing training and encouragement for the island's natives. Although Paul and Virginie own slaves, they appreciate their labour and do not treat them badly. When other slaves in the novel are mistreated, the book's heroes confront the cruel masters.

The novel presents an Enlightenment view of religion: that God, or "Providence", has designed a world that is harmonious and pleasing. The characters of Paul et Virginie live off the land without needing technology or man-made interference. For instance, they tell time by observing the shadows of the trees. One critic noted that Bernadin de Saint-Pierre "admired the forethought which ensured that dark-coloured fleas should be conspicuous on white skin", believing "that the earth was designed for man’s terrestrial happiness and convenience".

Thomas Carlyle in , wrote: "[It is a novel in which] there rises melodiously, as it were, the wail of a moribund world: everywhere wholesome Nature in unequal conflict with diseased, perfidious art; cannot escape from it in the lowest hut, in the remotest island of the sea."[4] Alexander von Humboldt, too, cherished Paul et Virginie since his youth and recalled the novel on his American journey.[5]

The novel's fame was such that when the participants at the Versailles Peace Conference in 1920 considered the status of Mauritius, the New York Times headlined its coverage:[6]

Literary references and adaptations

Popular music

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.splrarebooks.com/collection/view/paul-et-virginie
  2. News: The First Idea of Paul and Virginia. 23 June 2015. New York Times. 8 November 1874. The New York Times article cites the British magazine Belgravia as its source.
  3. News: St. Pierre. 23 June 2015. New York Times. 20 September 1905.
  4. Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution, Chapter VIII "Printed Paper": Second last paragraph, Sentence 3
  5. Book: Daum, Andreas. Andreas Daum

    . Andreas Daum . 2019 . Alexander von Humboldt . Munich . C.H. Beck . 35.

  6. News: Sentimental Domain. 23 June 2015. New York Times. 11 January 1920.
  7. Book: de Balzac. Honoré. Comédie Humaine: The country parson . 1996 . Macmillan Company. New York. 18, 26. 24 June 2015.
  8. Book: Flaubert. Gustave. Madame Bovary . 2009 . Hackett Publishing Company. 31. 24 June 2015. 9781603843577.
  9. Book: Flaubert. Gustave. Three Tales. 1924. Alfred A. Knopf . New York. 9. 24 June 2015. 9780486149387.
  10. Book: The Small House at Allington. Trollope, Anthony. 1864. Smith, Elder.
  11. Book: Little Dorrit. Dickens, Charles. 1992. David Campbell. 1857151119. London. 27925118.
  12. News: Affairs in France. 23 June 2015. New York Times. 26 November 1876.
  13. Book: de Maupassant. Guy. Bel-Ami. 2001. Oxford University Press . 165. registration. 24 June 2015. 9780192836830.
  14. Book: Le Corbusier . Etchells . Frederick . Frederick Etchells . Towards a New Architecture . 1986 . New York . Dover Publications .