This study explores the letters which Flaubert wrote to Louise Colet between 1851 and 1854, and scrutinizes more particularly the dynamics of their epistolary relationship as well as the nature of the "contract" between the author and his mistress. A letter justifies and exists only by virtue of the distance and absence of the other person, and its appears that Flaubert resolutely availed himself of this mode of communication with Louise, and thus preserved efficiently the necessary solitude and silence for the composition of his work. The first part of the inquiry, which attempts to define the status and function of Louise in the Correspondence, is devoted to the eloquent forcefulness and the sheer quality of Flaubert's exposition. The second part of this work focuses on the originality of Flaubert's ideas in the letters and how they are representative of this life long literary beliefs. This so called love correspondence is literally permeated with literary discussion, and the reader of these letters quickly begins to wonder why Flaubert elected as his privileged correspondent a mistress who was incapable of understanding or sharing his profound convictions on aesthetic matters.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.26264 |
| Date | January 1994 |
| Creators | Fisher, Martine |
| Contributors | Duquette, Jean-Pierre (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | French |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Département de langue et littérature françaises.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001431424, proquestno: MM99897, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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