La naissance illégitime : faute ou innocence maternelles ?

Abstract

Isabelle Brouard : Illegitimate birth Maternal crime or innocence ? Illegitimate birth is a favourite theme in 18th-century fiction. Picaresque or libertine novels use it to add spice or as an excuse for misogyny or licentiousness ; but there are also several novels which use it to increase the pathetic side of a dramatic situation. Other works are based on the transgression of illegitimate birth, which is particularly interesting as it raises the issue of the social and moral basis of the family. Conflict arises from the opposition between two codes, that of the individual and that of the family. In works such as La Religieuse, La mère coupable or Florian's short story Claudine we find a growing plea for the recognition of the pleasures of love and their consequence, namely the love child. The illegitimate child is no longer an outsider, for mother and child are rehabilitated and the original stain is washed clean.