"Anchor A795."

Includes footnotes with bibliographical references, and index.

This volume, the first English translation of "Morales du Grand Siècle" by the noted French scholar Paul Bénichou, fills the need for a critical study of the great French classicists of the 17th century. The study is constructed around the works of the dominant figures of that age--the dramatists Corneille, Racine, and Molière, and the philosopher Pascal--each reflecting the social and moral relationships that bound together the conditions of life in the 17th century. Bénichou describes the impact these writers had in their own time and traces the critical reaction to their work in such figures as Bossuet, Boileau, Brunetière, Taine, and Sainte-Beuve. This is a stimulating and comprehensive intellectual history of the 'grand siècle' which witnessed the first great moral debates about the nature of man and his role in society.

English translation of "Morales du Grand Siècle" originally published by Editions Gallimard, 1948.

SACFinal081324