A Selection from the Comedies of Marivaux | Page 5

himself, or was shot, at her house. Although imprisoned on suspicion at the Chatelet, and later at the Bastille, she soon gained her liberty by the intervention of powerful friends. That she could maintain her position in society as she did is a striking proof of its terribly corrupt condition. In her declining years she sought to veil the disorders of her youth by more serious pursuits, and gathered about her a number of literary spirits of whom she spoke as her _b��tes_ or her _m��nagerie_.
Marmontel gives the following description of the habitu��s of her salon and of the desire that pervaded all to show their wit: "L'auditoire ��tait respectable. J'y vis rassembl��s Montesquieu, Fontenelle, Mairan, Marivaux, le jeune Helv��tius, Astruc, je ne sais qui encore, tous gens de lettres ou savants, et au milieu d'eux une femme d'un esprit et d'un sens profonds, mais qui, envelopp��e dans son ext��rieur de bonhomie et de simplicit��, avait plut?t l'air de la m��nag��re que de la ma?tresse de la maison: c'��tait l�� Mme. de Tencin ... je m'aper?us bient?t qu'on y arrivait pr��par�� �� jouer son r?le, et que l'envie d'entrer en sc��ne n'y laissait pas toujours �� la conversation la libert�� de suivre son cours facile et naturel. C'��tait �� qui saisirait le plus vite, et comme �� la vol��e, le moment de placer son mot, son conte, son anecdote, sa maxime ou son trait l��ger et piquant; et, pour amener l'��-propos, on le tirait quelquefois d'un peu loin. Dans Marivaux, l'impatience de faire preuve de finesse et de sagacit�� per?ait visiblement."[21]
Marivaux, in describing the feelings of Marianne upon being introduced into polite society at the home of Mme. Dorsin, makes an evident allusion to the salon of Mme. de Tencin, and shows how differently from Marmontel he regarded the spirit that marked those gatherings. As though to answer the latter's accusations, he exclaims: "On accuse quelquefois Ses gens d'esprit de vouloir briller; oh! il n'��tait pas question de cela ici." "Ce n'��tait point eux qui y mettaient de la finesse, c'��tait de la finesse qui s'y rencontrait; ils ne sentaient pas qu'ils parlaient mieux qu'on ne parle ordinairement; c'��taient seulement de meilleurs esprits que d'autres."[22] All that was said there, he adds, was uttered with so little effort, so naturally, so simply, and yet with so much brilliancy that one could see that it was a company of persons of exquisite taste and breeding. Society, as depicted here, was not "full of solemn and important trifles, difficult to learn, and, however ridiculous they are in themselves, necessary to be known under penalty of being ridiculous." [23] One was made to feel at home, and what one lacked in wit was supplemented by that of the company, without one's being made to feel that what he seemed to utter was not all his own.
The description of Mme. Dorsin is that of Mme. de Tencin herself, seen through the eyes of an enthusiastic friend, and she knew the art of gaining friends, and of keeping them, too. In fact, she was never weary of doing for them, as Marivaux had reason to know as well as any of them, and, had it not been for her efforts, he would never have belonged to the French Academy. Her judgment of the literary productions of her friends was most unprejudiced and judicious, so that whatever met with an enthusiastic reception in her salon was reasonably certain of success in the world.
After the death of Mme. de Tencin, in 1749, Marivaux frequented the mercredis of the bonne maman Geoffrin, and, through friendship for her, sustained the candidature of Marmontel for the French Academy.[24] However, he must have felt ill at ease in company with the philosophers and encylopedists who gave dignity to her salon, and, with his love of admiration, must have sighed for the days when he shone so brilliantly in the circle that surrounded Mme. de Lambert or Mme. de Tencin; and, perhaps in sheer desperation, was led to seek in the salons of the brilliant but discontented Mme. du Deffand, of that poet too highly valued by her contemporaries, Mme. du Bocage, and of the actress Mlle. Quinault _cadette_, that form of _pr��ciosit��_ for which his mind was suited, and which he never found again, because he had outlived the fashion.
Marmontel, in describing the society that frequented the salon of Mme. Geoffrin, mentions d'Alembert as "the gayest, the most animated, the most amusing in his gayety,"[25] and goes on to say that Marivaux, too, "would have liked to have this playful humour; but he had in his head an affair which constantly preoccupied him and gave him an anxious air. As he had acquired through his works the reputation of a keen and subtle wit, he considered himself obliged to constantly display