La folie féminine dans l’univers capitaliste mauriacien

Abstract

The French novels of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century are marked by a close relationship between writing and context, generally based on determinism and the psychology of the characters. François Mauriac is no exception to such a conception of romantic aesthetics, as evidenced by the novels, which retrace the life cycle of the heroine Therese Desqueyroux and revolve around the family nucleus, the forest economy, painting provincial customs, etc. In such a universe, the individual, in general, and the woman, in particular, unnecessarily go to war against the constraints of the environment. The dizzying decline of the rebellious character reveals all the beauty and greatness of his rejection. The objective of this article is therefore to show that the course of this character obeys certain poetics of feminine madness that can be identified with the help of criteria, in addition to those already mentioned by critics. These aspects of Mauritian writing already herald the impact of the impossible fitting of fragmentary soul shards in modern romantic aesthetics.