Publication

La mer vagabonde du jeune commandeur de Prévost

Bibliographic Details
Summary:In this paper we propose an analysis emphasizing the theme of the Sea at presence in one of the less known of Prévost’s novels entitled Mémoires pour servir à l’Histoire de Malte, ou Histoire de la jeunesse du Commandeur (1741). In this barbaric adventure novel, the sea constitutes, on one hand, the spatial frame for adventure and love and, on the other, the place for reflection, misfortune, suffering, sea battles, as well as for the narrating hero’s inner struggle, a Malta’s chevalier who falls in love with a beautiful young girl, however unworthy of him. Here we can verify the development of themes such as the drift and dissolution of the self, the storms of wandering and love masked by an effervescent Romanesque. In the end, however, the young commendator leaves his mistress, disfigured by smallpox, which emphasizes Prévost’s pessimistic conception of fatal love.
Subject:Mer Love Vagabondage Roman d’aventures Wandering Sea Prévost Adventure novel Amour
Country:Portugal
Document type:journal article
Access type:Open
Associated institution:Carnets, Revista Electrónica de Estudos Franceses
Language:French
Origin:Carnets, Revista Electrónica de Estudos Franceses
Description
Summary:In this paper we propose an analysis emphasizing the theme of the Sea at presence in one of the less known of Prévost’s novels entitled Mémoires pour servir à l’Histoire de Malte, ou Histoire de la jeunesse du Commandeur (1741). In this barbaric adventure novel, the sea constitutes, on one hand, the spatial frame for adventure and love and, on the other, the place for reflection, misfortune, suffering, sea battles, as well as for the narrating hero’s inner struggle, a Malta’s chevalier who falls in love with a beautiful young girl, however unworthy of him. Here we can verify the development of themes such as the drift and dissolution of the self, the storms of wandering and love masked by an effervescent Romanesque. In the end, however, the young commendator leaves his mistress, disfigured by smallpox, which emphasizes Prévost’s pessimistic conception of fatal love.