La Fontaine and Rococo Style: Metonymy, Immanence, and Euphemization in Les amours de Psyché et de Cupidon

Abstract

Intcrtcxts, Vol. 3, No. 1. 1999 La Fontaine and Rococo Style: Metonymy, Immanence, and Euphemization in Les amours de Psyche et de Cupidon Sharon Diane Nell T E X A S T E C H U N I V E R S I T Y La Fontaine’s version of the loves of Cupid and Psyche is amusing, eroticandcomplex.Criticallyneglectedformanyyearsinfavorofhisless problematic Fables^ Psyche has recendy been granted an increase in critical attention.^Despitethisrenewalininterest,however,manyareasofdis¬ agreementremainconcerningthepiece.Intheareaofgeneralcritical for example, Marcel Raymond asserts that this masterpiece of “littdrature-divertissement” [“entertainment literature”^] (114) displays a facile charm that “il faut avoir goute au moins une fois” [“one must have tasted at least one time”] (88). On the other hand, Margaret McGowan, echoingOdettedeMourgues,^findsthat“Psycheremainsnomore^ana very interesting experiment” (330). The work’s hybridity—its mixing of verseandprose—hasalsocausedcriticalconsternation:isitbeyondgenenc categorization(Rousset116;GrazianiGiacobbi393)orwasLaFontaine attractedtotheflexibilityandlackofrulesofaspecificgenre,thatofthe novel (Jeanneret 246).> Inaddition.Psychereflectsmanysourcesandtraditions^andcriticso notagreeastoitsperiodstyle.RendeKohnstatesthatLaFontaine’sgemus is so varied that it defies classification: in her opinion, while it anticipates the tastes of the end of the century, the structure of the narrative imitates thatofaclassicalgarden(126,115).Onthelatterpoint,DavidShaw agrees: “c’est atravers cette complexite evocatrice que I’on apcr^oit e meme dessein rigoureux, la meme ordonnance classique ^ Versailles,presidaientaladispositiondesbatimentsetdesjarmns[itis throughthisevocativecomplexitythatoneperceivesthesamengorouse sign,thesameclassicalorderwhich,atVauxandatVersailles,presiea the placement of the buildings and gardens”] (27). MarcelRaymondoffersamorecomplexexplanation:Psycheisamix¬ ture of two problematic classical elements, the baroque and the effeminate. Dans un cadre et parmi des 61dments descriptifs de couleur assez baroque, lesvertuslesplusraresdePsychesontcellesqueTonaccorde4nommer classiques.Maisleclassicismedontils’agitestd’ordrefeminin,sansnul hdroisme, et de rapport assez incertain, quand on yrefl^chit, avec les theo¬ riesqu’enseignaientlesdocteursduXVITsi4cle.(113) a s ¬ s e s s m e n t 5 7 5 8 I N T E R T E X T S [Withinaframeworkandamongdescriptiveelementsofaratherbaroq color,themostrarevirtuesofPsychearethosewhichweagreeareclassical. Butitsclassisicmisofafeminineorder,withnoheroismwhatsoever,and with arather uncertain relationship, when one thinks about it, with the theorieswhichthelearnedoftheseventeenthcenturytaught.] u e NotonlydoesRaymondpointoutthedifficultieswhichthisworkposes, buthealsoclaimstodiscerncharacteristicswhichanticipaterococostyle (99).WhileRaymonddoesnotgointodetail,theperspicacityofthisobser¬ vationismadeclearwhenviewedinlightofPatrickBrady’sstudyof style{StructuralistPerspectives92,WQ).Indeed,asthisessaywilldemon¬ strate, this seventeenth-century work embodies all the three traits which Bradydeemsessentialtorococostyle:metonymy,immanenceand euphemization {Structuralist Perspectives 97-1Q9). Rather than operating from the preconceived notion, for example, that structure in the piece repli¬ catesaclassicalspace,wewillexploreinsteadthe“nigglingdetails”that, banish[ed]tothetext’smargins”(Eagleton133)andthatundercutand subvertsuchrepresentations.LaFontaine’sproblematicrelationstothe canonsofclassicismarethusrevealedasprecursorsofthenextcentury’sro¬ cocoinconstance.Hence,thepresentstudy,bydemonstratingthefirm roots of rococo style in classicism, will move beyond Patrick Brady’s struc¬ turalist approach toward adeconstruction of the opposition between these two period styles. La Fontaine’s version of Cupid and Psyche’s loves are framed within estoryoffourfnends,Poliphile, Ariste, AcanteandGelaste,whospenda aytounngVersailles.Poliphile,oneofthefour,haswrittenaversionof syc esstory in two “books.”After the friends setde in agrotto on the groundsofVersailles,Poliphilebeginstoreadthefirstbook,whichre¬ countsthehappyphaseofPsyche’sstory.5 P^^doxkally,hertalebeginsonaforbodingnote.Psyche’sre¬ nownedbeautyhasexcitedthejealousyofVenuswhoclaimsthatthe ormeriseeratelywooingawaythegoddess’sdevotees.Cupidon promisesh.smotherffiathewillavengeher,butdoessoinasurprising way: he marries Psyche. Through an oracle, the young woman’s parents ar? msctetoeaeirdaughterinafuneralprocessiontoarockonthetop of amountain and to abandon her. There, her husband, acruel monster, willcometoclaimhisbride.Althoughherparentsresistcomplyingatfirst. Psycheconvincesthemthattheymustfollowtheoracle. Afterherhorrifiedparentsleaveher.Psycheisagreeablysurprised whenZephiretakesherupintheairanddelivershertoasplendidpalace. There,thebrideisgreetedbynymphswhoprepareherforthewedding night.Afterdinner,thenymphsputafearfiilPsycheinbedandundera cloakofdarknessandanonymity,the“monster,”herhusbandCupidon, comestoher.Psyche’spleasurethenextmorningisevidentinherblushes. The young woman is unhappy, however, that her husband will not tell her r o c o c o a r e Nell—La Fontaine and Rococo Style 5 9 who he is or allow her to sec him. During the daylight hours, Psyche amuses herself by dressing in avariety of costumes, visiting all the rooms of the palace and its extensive grounds. Psyche’s life is filled with sexual pleas¬ ure as well: she and her husband make love in variety of places—a cave, a chariot—and each time, it is as exciting as if they were making love for the first time. Psyche gradually adjusts to her new life; she can never be con¬ tent, however, because her husband refuses to reveal himself to her. In fact, Cupidon explains that if she ever does see him, he has made an oath on the Styx to leave her. Trouble begins when Psyche’s two married sisters visit her. When these jealous women, whom Zephire transports up to the palace, learn that their sister has never seen her husband, they are bent on convincing her to kill him. Alarmed, when warned about the possibility of bringing mon¬ strous children into the world...