Sevigne, Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise of

Sévigné, Marie De Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise of 

Born Feb. 5, 1626, in Paris; died Apr. 17, 1696, at the Chateau of Grignan in Provence. French writer.

Sévigné is known for her letters, written over a period of many years, to her daughter and friends. In the letters she discussed life in Paris and Versailles, political events, and literary and theatrical news. Writing in a rather witty style, she criticized the policies of the Jesuits, the hypocrisy of the court, and the wars that were burdening the country. She viewed her epoch through the eyes of an intelligent, if not unprejudiced, aristocrat. She took an irreconcilably hostile position toward peasant disturbances. Her letters are a model of the elegant and precise prose style of classicism.

WORKS

Lettres de Mme de Sévigné, de sa famille et des amis: Recueillies et annotées par Monmerqué, new ed., vols. 1–[15], Paris, 1862–68.
Lettres: [Texte] établi [et annoté] par Gérard-Gaillv, vols. 1–3. Paris, 1953–57.

REFERENCES

Istoriia Frantsuzskoi Literatury, vol. 1. Moscow-Leningrad, 1946. Pages 454–56.
Bailly, A. Mme de Sévigné. Paris, 1955.
Cioranescu, A. Bibliographie de la littérature française du dix-septième siècle, vol. 3. Paris, 1966.

T. G. KHATISOVA