MME. DE SEVIGNÉ AND HER TIMES.

Marie de Rabutin Chantal, marquise de Sevigné, was 70 years old when she died,
300 years ago, in April of 1696. She lived in what is called the century of Louis
XIV, so well described by Voltaire: “It was a time worth the attention of times to
come, when the heroes created by Corneille and Racine, Moliere’s characters and
Lulli’s symphonies spoke to Louis XIV, to Madame -so celebrated by her refined
taste- to Condé, Colbert, to all those men superior in every sense. No other time
will be found in which the Duke de la Rochefoucauld, the author of the Maximes,
after conversing with Pascal, attended a play by Corneille”. The glory of France
pervades the century; two great politicians, Richelieu and Mazarin, lay the
foundations for Louis XIV’s absolute monarchy, supported by the great
bourgeoisie. The court at Versailles is the center of attention, ambition and talent.
Modern French is born and the French Academy founded (1635); its first dictionary
is published in 1694. It is the time of Racine’s and Corneille’s classical theater,
Moliere’s satirical plays, the janseniste Pascal’s philosophical Pensées, La
Fontaine’s fables; Descartes’ Discours de la Méthode brings order and logic into
the minds of men. The literature and ideas from France that inundated the
European world of that time still live among us.
¿What was the talent of this aristocrat, the marquise de Sevigné, that
allowed her to glow among men of genius? She is not the only one of her sex; it is
a time when women shine with their own light or reflect other people’s; in their
salons and reunions, Mme. de Rambouillet and Mlle. de Scudéry bring together
the wits of men who excel in politics and art. Moliere will later criticize this type of
gathering in Les Precieuses Ridicules; but at best, they stimulate culture and act
as a refining element of society and the minds of the epoch.
Mme. de Sevigné deserves a special mention among these women,
doyennes of intellectual elegance. She outshines them; her talent does not belong
with preciosisme, that mundane effort towards social preeminence and frisky
witticism. Orphaned in childhood, Marie de Rabutin Chantal profited from an
unusual upbringing, cultivated and independent, under the care of her uncle and
tutor, the abbé de Livry. She was fortunate enough to become a widow at 25; her
husband was killed in a duel fought over the favors of a lady known as la belle
Lolo. Mme. de Sevigné finds herself young, rich and free. She is the mother of two
beautiful children, Charles and Francoise, whom she idolizes. Francoise is as
attractive as her mother, so much so that she allows herself to snub the king. In
the salons, Mme. de Sevigné is a rival for the doyennes, she seduces politicians
and intellectuals; when the hectic life of the salons becomes too demanding, she
takes refuge in her country estate.
Her literary work takes the form of letters, mostly written to her daughter
after her marriage and her departure from home. “It seemed as if my body and my
soul were torn off...every single thought made me wish for death”, she writes on
the day after her departure. Nearly 1,500 letters are kept, written by this mother
who adores her daughter; we find in them not only motherly love but a chronicle of
her times as well. Mme. de Sevigné has the eye of a reporter when describing the
drama of court intrigues, the anecdotes of everyday life. She is witty and
scintillating in her portraits of the king’s favorites, the ministers, the women. One of
the reasons why we may find it difficult to read her work today are the many
popular proverbs and expressions she uses; she can nevertheless be deeply
literary. In a letter she regrets the fact that her son has devastated a tract of
woodland for money: “To dare destroy all this life, all this beauty of the woods, this
ancient abode of mystery and daydreaming”...

The process of development lies in the talent and effort of the women of our time
and the legacy of those who have made history; those who dared defy the barriers
of their time in order to grow; those who trusted their own intelligence and listened
to the voices of their creative talent. Mme. de Sevigné is representative of these
women, a writer capable not only of portraying her epoch but of exploring her inner
self. A dedicated mother, she turns her love into literature; family life does not
prevent her from taking part in the world around her. Young in heart and spirit, the
innate joy she pours into her letters makes them a delightful means of
understanding her contemporaries. She trusts her own mind enough to pass
judgment on Racine -then at the top of his glory- or to express her admiration for
Pascal. There is a touch of black humour to her writing; she describes thus the
scene of a fire: “If one could bring oneself to laugh over such an unfortunate
happening, one could paint such portraits of the circumstances in which we found
ourselves! Guitaut was nearly naked, in his nightshirt and shorts; Mme. de
Guitaut’s legs were bare, and she had lost one of her slippers”. We find no
preciosisme in this paragraph; it comes nearer to the mocking tone of Voltaire.