A Selection from the Comedies of Marivaux | Page 6

that turn of mind, and was continually on the watch for ideas susceptible of contrast or analysis, in order to set them off against each other or to put them through a test. He would agree that such a thing was true up to a certain point or under a certain aspect; but there was always some restriction, some distinction to be made, which he alone had perceived. This labor of attention was hard for him, often painful for the others; but sometimes there resulted from it happy observations and brilliant hits. However, by the anxiety of his glances, one could see that he was uneasy about the success that he was having or might have. There never was, I think, a more delicate, more tender, and more apprehensive _amour-propre_; but, as he carefully considered that of others, they respected his, and merely pitied him for not being able to determine to be simple and natural."[26]
Although this characterization by Marmontel may be true, too much must not be attributed to self-conceit, for Marivaux was rather timid and suspicious of himself at heart than self-conceited, and this very lack of confidence, this desire to please and to be thought well of, which caused him, at times, to emphasize before his friends his own worth, is a key to his nature, without which it would be difficult to understand him. This timidity of his explains his fear of being duped by the _ing��nue_ of Limoges, as well as his mistrust of the man who made rough draughts of his letters, instead of writing them off-hand. That Marivaux was over- sensitive we must agree, for, although the testimony of his contemporaries may be somewhat biased by jealousy, it is too overwhelmingly unanimous to be gainsaid.[27]
We cannot conclude, however, despite the testimony of Grimm, whose caustic tongue was none too chary of his friends, that intercourse with Marivaux was "��pineux et insupportable," for, were it so, he never would have been so cordially welcomed into society as he was, for which, according to the abb�� de La Porte, he possessed all the qualities required, "an exact honesty, a noble disinterestedness,... a pleasing candour, a charitable soul, a modesty without affectation and without pretense, an extremely sensitive courtesy, and the most scrupulous attention to avoid whatever might offend or displease."[28]
A brilliant conversationalist, Marivaux excelled in the quality, no less rare, of being a good listener, and never gave way to "that distraction which always wounds when it does not provoke laughter."[29]
The following incident[30] will serve to illustrate the extreme sensitiveness of Marivaux. He had confided to Mme. Geoffrin a certain grievance against Marmontel. She, in turn, spoke to the latter of the fancied slight, although she assured him that, even in his complaints, Marivaux spoke only well of him, a small matter, but one that proves the nobility of our author's nature. When the occasion presented itself, Marmontel asked for an explanation of his grievance, and, with some difficulty, elicited the following reply: "Have you forgotten that at the house of Mme. du Bocage, one evening, being seated near Mme. de Villaumont, you both kept looking at me and laughing, while whispering together? Assuredly you were laughing at me, and I do not know why, for on that day I was no more ridiculous than usual." Upon an assurance from Marmontel that he was not the object of their amusement, he declared that he believed him, but it is doubtful whether he ever quite forgave him or forgot the fact.
This habit of suspiciousness grew upon Marivaux with age; but we must return to his early years at Paris and to his first literary attempts, after this long digression, which has served, I hope, to give something of an idea of the milieu in which he moved, and of the influences at work upon the formation of his talent.
He had made his d��but, as has been said, with _le P��re prudent_ in 1706. This was followed a few years later by three mediocre novels. The first of these, written in 1712, though not published" until 1737, appeared under the several titles of _Pharsamon_, _les Folies romanesques_, and _le Don Quichotte moderne_, and was, as one of the titles discloses, an attack upon the romantic novel, as exemplified in those of Mlle. de Scud��ry. It must not be considered a parody, but rather a weak imitation of Cervantes' Don Quijote. He was no more successful in _les Aventures de..., ou les Effets surprenants de la sympathie_ (1713-1714), written, in much the same style, or in _la Voiture embourb��e_,[31] which appeared between the two publications of the former. This latter follows a familiar device: that is to say, one of the personages of the main narrative begins a story. which is continued by another when he reaches the