After a prefatorial note on the literary atmosphere of the time, the first chapter of this thesis outlines the life and literary career of Rene Ghil and indicates his personal relations with Mallarme, Verhaeren, Vlele-Griffin and Stuart Merrill together with his general attitude towards symbolism. The interest is then concentrated on certain of Ghil's works. His first publication La Legende d'Ames et de Sangs which brought him into the literary foreground, is discussed. The next phase of Ghil's development which covered Le Geste Ingenu and ia Traite du Verbe reveals how deeply he was influenced by allarme. The importance of these works among the earliest publications of the Symbolist school is noted. The fourth chapter records the bresk with Mallarme. Le Meilleur Devenir which appeared shortly afterwards is considered as an example of Ghil's scientific poetry. His views on scientific poetry - both as regards material and methods of expression are investigated and Ghil's place among the scientific poets of France is discussed. In the following chapter the introduction into Ghil's poetry of modern industrial life and of the depopulation of the countryside is studied. This theme leads to a comparison with similar aspects of Varhaeren's work. We next survey the strange fascination of the Orient and of Java in particular, which is noticeable in many of Ghfil's writings and in Le Pantoun des Pantoun especially. A chapter on Ghil's attitude towards nature whilst developing points made in previous chapters leads to an examination of Chil's cosmic verse. The last chapter summerises the aspects of Ghil's verse and indicates his importance in the literature of his time. Ghil's influence, often transitory in the development of the writers concerned, is found to fall into three main periods and to spread to many countries point of comparison between Poe and Ghil are noted in an Appendix. The question of the colouration of vowels, and of English translations of some of Ghil's poems form the subject of other Appendices.

The present study, in describing the various aspects of Flaubert's search for truth, seeks to illustrate the evolution and implications of Ms thought. With the exception of references in Chapter two to an unpublished MB, it is based on Flaubert's published work, and not on any new material. It is concerned with the familiar facts of his biography only in so far as they influence or explain in some measure his personal evolution end the development of his ideas. The first four chapters, in a detailed study of the Oeuvres de Jeunesse, with particular reference in Chapter Three to the first Education sentimentale, describe Flaubert's attempts, considerably influenced by Romantic doctrine and by Spinozist pantheism, to arrive at an understanding of his personal destiny and to discover some satisfactory philosophy of existence. The first of these problems was at least partially solved in the discovery of his artistic vocation and in the formulation of an aesthetic which was not only a literary doctrine, but a rule of life. The second continued to preoccupy him throughout life, and receives its fullest expression in the philosophical fantasy, la Tentatlon de Saint Antoine. This work is considered in its three successive versions in Chapter Five. Chapter Six a study of the characters of the three great novels and the Trois Contes, seeks to elucidate still further Flaubert's conception of man and society, whilst the two remaining chapters are concerned to show, with particular reference to the unfinished Bouvard et Pecuehet, that his final position represents the same uneasy combination of idealism and scepticism that was evident in the adolescent writings. For Flaubert's quest for the Absolute led him only to the Unknowable.

The introductory section is taken up with an examination of the moral climate of the society in which Mme de Lafayette wrote. The eclectic nature of honnetete is pointed out, together with its lack of concern for perfection to which it preferred a pursuit of refined pleasure guided by reason, Mme de Lafayette's ethics are found to be those of her generation in the setting of her novel, whilst her conception of love presents greater complexities, Mme de Villedieu is seen to preach a doctrine of hedonism which reflects exactly 'mondain' mentality, A study of the feminine novel from 1678 to 1703, at which point it seems to have suffered a relative eclipse, shows that whereas women writers portrayed passion and not amorous dalliance, they remain faithful to the ideal held by an earlier generation: that of pure love. Their conception of passion as omnipotent, together with the absolute virtue of the protagonists, means that there is no real moral dilemma. The heroes and heroines are thus represented as being worthy of pity, and their helplessness leads them to adopt a fatalistic attitude. The didactic aim, which had been so strong in the novel, tends thus to be replaced by a desire to move the reader. The moral notions, which act as an accurate guide to the ethics implied in the novels, reflect this change of emphasis from the struggle of will to the portrayal of sensitivity and suffering virtue. Such notions as 'la delicatesse', which has replaced 'la gloire' in importance, seem to hold the key to the understanding of this new ideal, A comparison with the contemporaneous masculine novel demonstrates the unity of tone in the novels of women writers; from the masculine novel is absent such evidence of moral preoccupation as we have found in the main part of this study. Thus it is to the works of women writers from the publication of the Princesse de Cleves until the end of the reign of Louis XIV that the credit must go for the development of the cult of sensibility in the novel.

This thesis is an attempt to survey the development of the Anti-Courtier Trend in sixteenth century French literature. The first part of the thesis is devoted to an examination of the literary sources which influenced this trend, starting with Latin and Greek literature, and including Neo-Latin works, Italian works, Spanish works and finally, Medieval works - both in Latin and in French. Part two is a chronological survey of the sixteenth century French works which constitute the anti-courtier trend. It is divided into three chapters which represent three distinct periods in the evolution of the trend. These are, firstly, the Pre-Renaissance period, from 1498-1539, secondly, the Renaissance period, from 1540-1559, and finally, the period of the Religious Wars, from 1560 to the close of the century. Each of these chapters is preceded by a short account of the factors, political, social, economic and literary, operative in determining or modifying the development and evolution of the trend in that particular period. The thesis is completed by two appendices, the first a chronological list of sixteenth century French works comprising the anti-courtier trend, the second a bibliography of the French translations of the works of Antonio de Guevara published between 1531-1605, and finally by a bibliography of works consulted.

Between 1730 and 1789, the most striking experiments in French drama were the "comedie larmoyante" and the "Drame bourgeois". The study of English influences on these new forms falls into three divisions; the effect of English ideas on French theory, the use of themes from English sources by French playwrights, and changes in stage technique brought about in France by the assimilation to English practice. The theory of "comedie larmoyante" was not vitally affected by English ideas, because current prejudices hindered the spread of innovations from England introduced by writers like Prevost. On the contrary, the theory of "drame bourgeois", which Diderot worked out, and which Beaumarchais and Mercier subsequently modified, was more susceptible to English influence. This was because Diderot was peculiarly sensitive to the influence of ideas from England, and because circumstances favoured the reception of such ideas during the rise and growth of the new genre. Shaftesbury, Lillo, Moore, Young, and Richardson all contributed to develop the new form of tragedy in France, inspired its moral aim, its sentimental appeal, or its use of the bourgeois as a hero of tragedy. Johnson's critical work also had a certain effect on Mercier's conception of "drame bourgeois". Both "camedie larmoyante" and "drame bourgeois" borrowed themes from English novels, like "Clarissa" or "Tom Jones"; from plays like the "London Merchant"; from poems like the "Night Thoughts"; and from contemporary accounts of English life, like the "Spectator" papers. The personal influence of Garrick helped to introduce some changes in the style of acting on the French stage; and English practice encouraged the use of prose in tragedy, and the disregard of the "three unities" in France. English contributions to experiments in French drama in the eighteenth century reflected most of the significant movements in French thought that arose from contact with England, and the importance of such contributions is greater than is commonly believed.

From his childhood Stendhal was fascinated by the theatre, and from the age of seventeen to twenty-two he aimed at achieving fame as a playwright. In spite of failure he made desultory efforts for a further twenty years. His study of eighteenth-century philosophy (French) and English and Italian plays, freed him from his early orthodox views on drama. The influence of the Italian Romantics completed this emancipation, and from 1821 to 1828 Stendhal was accounted a leader in the French Romantic Movement. He advocated the writing of historical drama, modelled on Shakespeare, unrestricted by classical conventions and in prose. "Le Globe" echoes these arguments and a group of writers put his theories into practice. They failed as dramatists, but their plays form a transition between the pseudo-classic and the romantic theatre. After 1834 Stendhal lost interest in the theatre and prophesied that the novel would be the comedy of the nineteenth century. The "Theatre" contains an adaptation from Florian, a translation from Goldoni and attempts at original plays, the most important being "Les Deux Hommes" and "Letellier". These examples reveal Stendhal's lack of creative imagination and his pre-occupation with theory. They also indicate the growth of his methods of building up characters by collecting traits from people he had observed. His tendency to portray himself as the hero is already marked. There remains the problem of his long and unsatisfactory apprenticeship to the theatre. The fact that drama was traditionally a higher form of literature than the novel, and brought swifter success may have caused Stendhal to persist in his attempts, but by temperament and bent of mind he was unsuitable to be a playwright. He was too self-centred and had a deductive mind that preferred analysing the motives of his characters to depicting their actions. Traces of his early studies are visible in his novels, but the unity of his work as a playwright and novelist is his passion for the study of human nature.

The Symbolistic technique as applied to the novel. A consideration of Marcel Proust, as exponent in the novel of some of the themes dear to Symbolism, and, before the Symbolists, to their precursor Charles Baudelaire. In treatment of all these themes of memory, synesthesia, and music; symbol, liturgical symbolism, and mysticism: Time, and dreams; he shows close affinity with Baudelaire, and varying degrees of affinity with Symbolism proper, but everywhere he makes the novel a flexible instrument for expression of subject matter, and use of technique, hitherto considered the domain of poetry and the other arts, such as music, even the province of metaphysics (time) and psycho-analysis (sleep and dreams, memory and synesthesia).

The subject of this study is the fantastic Voyage in French Literature from 1662 to 1789, that is to say a number of works of prose-fiction in which can clearly be recognised a pattern of voyage and discovery, but in which the author (in spite of a somotimes ambiguous attitude) encourages the reader's disbelief in the characters and the adventures recounted. This study therefore aims at being complementary to those of Geoffrey Atkinson on the Extraordinary Voyage. The Fantastic Voyage was felt as an entity by contemporaries, in spite of a certain confusion of issues in the classification of fiction. Its sources are numerous, for it is one of the earliest types of fiction; but the genre underwent during the seventeenth century a definite twist which increased its dependence on contemporary philosophy, either of a rationalistic or of an occultist type. Nevertheless, the existing pattern could also be applied to literary criticism (of an author or a genre) to the satire of manners, or to the spreading of revolutionary ideas; its study therefore has a sociological as well as a literary interest. After an examination of the various types of fantastic Voyages (determined either by the setting or by the philosophical attitude of the author), there is a summary of the salient features of the genre. Finally, there is a bibliography of the works studied within the period considered, which helps one to appreciate the popularity of this type of fiction.

This thesis examines how Brittany and Corsica are represented in the medium of bande dessinée. Both are peripheral French regions with cultural identities markedly different from that of the overarching French norm, and both have been historically subject to ridicule from the political and cultural centre. By comparing a fair selection of bandes dessinées which are either set in Brittany or Corsica or feature characters from the relevant regions, this thesis sets out to discover whether representations of Brittany and Corsica differ according to the origin of the creators of the bandes dessinées and, if so, how. To facilitate this analysis, the bandes dessinées included for study have been classified as either external representations (published by mainstream bande dessinée publishers and/or the work of creators originating from outside the two regions) or internal representations (published by local Breton or Corsican companies and/or the work of local creators). It transpires that there are clear differences between mainstream and local bande dessinée authors and illustrators with regard to their portrayal of the local culture of both ‘outlying’ regions. External representations rely on broad stereotypes and received ideas, while internal representations draw on local folklore, regional history and regional identity to create works with more local relevance. In some cases internal representations are or were clearly aimed at a local market, while others aim both at local readers and at the wider bande dessinée market. Those aimed at a wider readership have an additional function, namely that of promoting their regional cultures in French culture generally and offering an alternative to the stereotypical representations presented by larger publishers of bandes dessinées. Brittany and Corsica are examined separately, each taking up roughly half of the thesis. Each half has the same general structure, beginning with discussion of how historical events have shaped perceptions of Brittany and Corsica in French popular consciousness, followed by analysis of the respective external representations and lastly internal representations. There are also two case studies of representations of Corsica in wider visual culture. Owing to its widespread appeal, its adaptability and its capacity to reflect popular opinion in different sectors of society, the medium of bande dessinée offers a potentially rich field for the investigation of social and cultural attitudes and prejudices. It is hoped that this thesis points the way to further research on the topic.

The purpose of this study is to explore literary representations of the human subject in the work of Alain Robbe-Grillet (1922–2008) and Marguerite Duras (1914–1996), and to do so using a modified, updated version of Peter Brooks’s influential theorization of plot in terms of desire. Both ‘subject’ and ‘representation’ will receive critical attention; in particular, the relation of ‘subject’ to ‘character’ will be explored. Post-Cartesian traditions tend to ground definitions of the subject in particular concepts of its relation to knowledge. As far as Descartes’s shadow extends, the individual is seen as coherent, self-aware and exercising freedom of choice. Throughout the nineteenth century, theories of social and medical determinism reflected in Realism and Naturalism posed new challenges to the belief that individuals are self-determining; but whilst they eroded certain assumptions concerning subjecthood in this way, they did not pose radical questions concerning the ability of art accurately to represent the relation of the individual to the (social) world. The assumptions underlying the writing of novels remained rooted in a concept of literature as mimesis. The classic nineteenth-century realist novel aspired to offer a plausible representation or imitation of the real world and, in spite of subsequent radical movements including the nouveau roman, it has left an enduring legacy. The 1950s and 1960s were a time of self-conscious experimentation with the novel: when Robbe-Grillet, Duras and others were writing their most celebrated works, the anti-realist novel – the nouveau roman – with its radical break from conventionally mimetic storytelling was only just beginning to develop a set of conventions and descriptions. Roland Barthes confidently proclaimed the ‘death of the author’ and celebrated the ‘birth of the reader’. During and after the nouveau roman movement, Robbe-Grillet and Duras attempt very different writing experiments, but there are clear parallels to be made. In Pour un nouveau roman, Robbe-Grillet initially presents his work as breaking with realism and mimesis, and ultimately concerned with (self-reflexive) ‘écriture’ alone. Accordingly, he claims that his works cannot be read in terms of their ‘representation’ of the world, or related to conventional notions of character; he seems to distance himself, in particular, from readings that assume a coherent, analysable ‘psychology’ in the (post-Cartesian) character. Similarly, Duras has often been assimilated with the nouveau roman movement, as she is held to write experimentally from the early 1950s in ways that subvert and challenge the traditional, male-authored novels of the literary canon as it was constituted in mid-twentieth-century France. Indeed, she has been held up as a rare example of écriture féminine. Peter Brooks’s argument that plot is driven (as if) by desire is a valid and exciting one that allows narratology and psychoanalysis to be brought into conjunction. But the desire he invokes is (stereotypically) ‘masculine’, being the desire of a male subject for a (passive) female object; and he allows this ‘plot of desire’, which might be termed ‘desire in the masculine’, a normative status. Using close readings of Robbe-Grillet and Duras, this thesis modifies Brooks’s thesis by asking what a plot of ‘female’ desire might be, besides a softened or more passive version of the ‘male’ plot. This allows us to reassess each writer’s break with traditional notions of representation and subject by reviewing their writing practice in terms of desire. In spite of his claims in Pour un nouveau roman, Robbe-Grillet clings tenaciously to a ‘masculine’ plot throughout his writing; and whilst Duras initially deploys a similar structure, she increasingly problematises it, though without breaking from it altogether, and so offers possibilities for representing desire ‘in the feminine’.