Marivaux, Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de (1688–1763)
French novelist and dramatist. His sophisticated comedies deal primarily with love and include Le Jeu de l'amour et du hasard/The Game of Love and Chance (1730) and Les Fausses Confidences/False Confidences (1737). He wrote two novels: La Vie de Marianne/The Life of Marianne (1731–41), the study of a young girl written with much psychological insight, which has autobiographical elements; and Le Paysan parvenu/The Fortunate Villager (1735–36), which gives a broader picture of French society. Both were left incomplete.
Marivaux was a master of brilliant dialogue, full of veiled avowals and subtle indications, and he gave the word marivaudage (oversubtle lovers' conversation) to the French language.
| He was born and lived for most of his life in Paris, turning to literature seriously when the loss of his fortune obliged him to earn his living. He wrote for both of the major Paris theatre companies: the Comédie Française and the Comédie Italienne, which specialized in commedia dell'arte. |
