Social Realism in the Dialogue of Eighteenth-Century French Fiction

Abstract

Social Realism in the Dialogue oj Eighteenth-Century French Fiction VI VIENNE MYLNE One element of French novels which shows a marked change during the eighteenth century is that of dialogue. The simplest and most obvious way of describing the change is to say that, in a significant number of novels, dialogue becomes more “realistic” in manner and presentation: the style of conversations in a work by Balzac is more like the way people talk in real life than is, say, the dialogue style of La Princesse de Cleves. However, once we try to go beyond simplistic statements of this kind, the criterion of “realism” becomes less satisfactory. There are problems in ap­ plying the criterion (some of which involve conflicts between different types of “realism”); and in any case, “realism” alone cannot serve as a criterion of literary excellence. In this essay we shall consider the theoretical problems as they arise in the course of discussing our examples, while the question of the evaluation of literary merit will be left until the end. In order to keep the discussion within manageable limits, I shall concentrate here on the kinds of realism which can be most easily identified. These are the cases where a novelist indicates—by grammar, vocabulary and even spelling—that the character in 265 266 / VIVIENNE MYLNE question does not use the language of well-educated Parisians. Such divergences from standard French thus carry implicit infor­ mation about the character’s social class, level of education, and place of origin. Before considering eighteenth-century developments, however, we need to look briefly at some of the conventions concerning dialogue which were in force toward the end of the seventeenth century. There are two main points which should be mentioned here. The first is merely one aspect of the more general question of levels of style: the concept of literary genres, and of maintain­ ing a style consonant with each genre or type of work. This “rule” was followed in fiction as well as in drama and poetry, and it covered not only passages where the voice is that of the narrator, but dialogue too. Thus, in France, it was only in comic fiction, and more especially in burlesque novels or anti-romans, that one found common characters talking in a low style. Far more frequent were novels in which the protagonists were noble and the dialogue was presented in correct and fairly formal language. Commenting on the style of such works, Henri Coulet says: Sa politesse amortit toute violence, toute erudite, son absence d’elan est propre a insinuer la tristesse; les conversations sont tres souvent rapportees au style indirect, dans le meme but d’attenuation , et quand elles sont transcrites au style direct, toujours tres eloignees de la phraseologie baroque, elles ne sont pas moins eloignees du dialogue familier.1 This regular correlation between certain identifiable kinds of fiction and their corresponding stylistic registers is one that begins to break down in the eighteenth century; and dialogue, as we shall see, is one of the elements which contributes to the breakdown. Coulet’s remark about the frequency of reported speech brings me to my second point concerning conventions. In this case we are dealing with a specific device or technique. Besides using indirect speech liberally, seventeenth-century writers also had frequent recourse to what one might call narrated speech, which presents the gist of what was said—sometimes fully, sometimes in a Social Realism in the Dialogue ofFrench Fiction I 267 compressed form—but without supplying the actual words of the speaker. Narrated speech is often combined with reported speech, and this mode of presentation continued throughout the eight­ eenth century. In the hands of a skillful writer the technique can be quite lively and effective. The following passage, by Louvet de Couvray, relates a scene in which the Count is teasing the Marquise, in her husband’s presence, about her guilty secret (“Mile Duportail” is in reality young Faublas himself, disguised as a girl): Preludant avec la Marquise par de legeres epigrammes, il protestoit qu’elle seule, jusqu’a present, savoit precisement combien Mademoiselle Duportail meritoit d’etre aimee. La Mar­ quise, egalement adroite et prompte...