FRENCH LITERATURE
Study Guide
French Literature
Articles
GENRES (Poetry - Drama - Fiction - Autobiography - Essay)
PERIODS (Postclassical - E Modern - 19th Century - 20th Century )
Literary Works
POSTCLASSICAL LITERATURE
Chrétien de Troyes (1130-1191) CLIGES(1164)-EREC AND ENIDE(1164)-LANCELOT(1168)-YVAIN(1170)Turoldus CHANSON DE ROLAND (1140-1170)France, Marie De (1160-1215) LAIS OF MARIE DE FRANCE(1167)Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun ROMAN DE LA ROSA (1230-1275)Froissart, Jean (1337-1405) CHRONICLES(1373-1410)Pisan, Christine De (1363-1430) Villon, François (1431- ) GREAT TESTAMENT (1489) 16TH CENTURY Navarra, Margeurite De (1492-1549) HEPTAMERON (1559)Rabelais, François (1494-1553) GARGANTUA AND PANTAGRUEL(1567)Du Bellay, Joachim (1522-1560) POETRY OF DU BELLAY(1549)Ronsard, Pierre de (1524-1585) SONNETS FOR HELEN(1578)-TO BE ON THE SKIDS / Estre IndigentMontaigne, Michel Eyquem de (1533-1592) ESSAYS (1580-1595)
17TH CENTURY
Descartes, René(1596-1650) DISCOURSE ON METHOD (1637)-MEDITATIONS ON FIRST PHILOSOPHY(1641)Corneille, Pierre(1606-1684) CID (1637)-CINNA(1640)-HORACE(1640)-POLYEUCTE(1642)-LIAR (1643)La Rochefoucauld, François de(1613-1680) MAXIMS (1665-1678)La Fontaine, Jean de(1621-1695) FABLES (1668-1694)Moliere(1622-1673) SCHOOL FOR HUSBANDS (1661)-TARTUFFE(1664)-DON JUAN (1665)-MISANTHROPE (1666)-MISER (1668)-WOULD-BE GENTLEMAN (1670)Pascal, Blaise(1623-1662) PENSÉES (1670)La Fayette, Madame de(1634-1693) PRINCESS OF CLEVES (1678)Boileau-Despréaux, Nicolas(1636-1711) SATIRES(1666)-HEROES OF ROMANCES (1688)Racine, Jean(1639-1699) ANDROMACHE(1667)-BRITANNICUS(1669)-BERENICE(1670)-MITHRIDATES(1673)-IPHIGENIA (1674)-PHAEDRA(1677)-ESTHER (1689)
18TH CENTURY
Lesage, Alain-René(1668-1747) DEVIL UPON TWO STICKS(1707)-GIL BLAS(1715-1735)Crebillon, Prosper Jolyot de(1674-1762) RHADAMISTUS AND ZENOBIA(1711)Marivaux(1688-1763) LIFE OF MARIANNE(1731-1741)Montesquieu(1689-1755) SPIRIT OF THE LAWS (1748)Voltaire (Francois Marie Arouet) (1694-1778) OEDIPUS (1717)-ZAIRE(1732)-ZADIG(1748)-CANDIDE(1759)Prevost, Abbe(1697-1763) MANON LESCAUT(1731-1753)Rousseau, Jean-Jacques(1712-1778) NEW HELOISE(1761)-ÉMILE(1762)-SOCIAL CONTRACT(1762)-CONFESSIONS(1782-1789)Diderot, Denis(1713-1784) RAMEAU’S NEPHEW (1762)-JACQUES THE FATALIST AND HIS MASTER (1796)-NUN (1796) Etienne Bonnot, Abbe of Condillac (1714-1780)Beaumarchais, Pierre-Augustin Caron de(1732-1799) BARBER OF SEVILLE(1775)-MARRIAGE OF FIGARO(1784)Crevecoeur, Michel-Guillaume Jean de(1735-1813) LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN FARMER (1782) Bernardin de Saint Pierre (1737-1814) PAUL ET VIRGINIE (1788)Laclos, Pierre Choderlos de(1741-1803) DANGEROUS ACQUAINTANCES(1782) 19TH CENTURY (ROMANTICISM - REALISM) Staël, Madame de(1766-1817) DELPHINE(1802)-DE L’ALLEMAGNE (1813)Constant, Benjamin(1767-1830) ADOLPHE(1816)Chateaubriand, François-Rene de(1768-1848) ATALA(1801) Senancour, Etienne Pivert de (1770-1846) OBERMANN (1804)Stendhal(1783-1842) RED AND THE BLACK (1830)-MEMOIRS OF AN EGOIST (1932)-CHARTERHOUSE OF PARMA (1839)Lamartine, Alphonse de(1790-1869) POETICAL MEDITATIONS(1820) Cousin, Vıctor (1792-1867)Vigny, Alfred de(1797-1863) CINQ-MARS(1826)Balzac, Honoré de(1799-1850) WILD ASS’S SKIN(1931)-PERE GORIOT(1834)-TWO BROTHERS-COUSIN BETTE(1846)-COUSIN PONS(1847)Dumas, Alexandre, pere(1802-1870)CORSICAN BROTHERS (1844)-COUNT OF MONTE-CRISTO (1844)-THREE MUSKETEERS (1844)Hugo, Victor(1802-1885) HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1831)-LES MISERABLE(1862)-TOILERS OF THE SEA (1866)Merimee, Prosper(1803-1870) CARMEN(1845)Sainte-Beuve, Charles-Augustin(1804-1869) VOLUPTE (1834)-M. DE TALLEYRAND (!870) Sand, George(1804-1876) INDIANA(1832)-CONSUELO(1842-1843)Sue, Eugene(1804-1857) MYSTERIES OF PARIS(1842-1843)-WANDERING JEW (1844-1845)Tocqueville, Alexis de(1805-1859) DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA(1835)Nerval, Gerard De(1808-1855) CHIMERAS (1854)Musset, Alfred De(1810-1857) NO TRIFLING WITH LOVE(1834)-FIRST POETIC WORKS(1840)-NEW POETIC WORKS(1840)Gautier, Theophile(1811-1872) MADEMOISELLE DE MAUPIN(1835-1836)-ENAMELS AND CAMEOS(1852)Maquet, Auguste(1813-1888) CHEVALIER DE MAISON-ROUGE(1846)-MEMOIRS OF A PHYSICIAN(1846-1848)Ravaisson, Felix (1813-1900)Fromentin, Eugene(1820-1876) DOMINIQUE(1862)Baudelaire, Charles(1821-1867) FLOWERS OF EVIL(1857)Flaubert, Gustave(1821-1880) MADAME BOVARY (1856)-SALAMMBÔ (1862)-SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION, A (1869)-TEMPTATION OF SAINT ANTHONY(1874)- A SIMPLE SOUL(1877)Goncourt, Edmond De(1822-1896) and Goncourt, Jules De(1830-1870) CHARLES DEMAILLY(1860)-SISTER PHILOMDNE(1861)-RENÉE MAUPERIN(1864)Murger, Henri(1822-1861) BOHEMIANS OF THE LATIN QUARTER(1847-1849)Dumas, Alexandre, fils(1824-1895) CAMILLE(1852)Taine, Hippolyte (1828-1893) PHILOSOPHY OF ART (1865)Verne, Jules(1828-1905) JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH,A(1864)-TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA(1870)Gaboriau, Émile(1832-1873) MONSIEUR LECOQ(1869)Daudet, Alphonse(1840-1897) SAPPHO(1884)Zola, Émile(1840-1902) THÉRÈSE RAQUIN(1867)-ASSOMMOIR, L’(1877)-NANA(1880)-GERMINAL(1885)-EARTH(1887)-HUMAN BEAST(1890)Mallarme, Stephane(1842-1898) AFTERNOON OF A FAUN(1876)France, Anatole (1844-1924) PENGUIN ISLAND(1908)Verlaine, Paul(1844-1896) POETRY OF PAUL VERLAINE(1866-1977)Corbiere, Tristan(1845-1875) THESE JAUNDICED LOVES(1873)Huysmans, Joris-Karl(1848-1907) AGAINST THE GRAIN(1884)-DOWN THERE(1891)Maupassant, Guy de(1850-1893) WOMAN’S LIFE, A(1883)-NECKLACE (1884)-BEL-AMI(1885)-MONT-ORIOL(1887)Bourget, Paul(1852-1935) DISCIPLE(1889)Rimbaud, Arthur(1854-1891) SEASON IN HELL, A(1873)Bergson, Henri(1859-1941) LAUGHTER(1900)Laforgue, Jules(1860-1887) POETRY OF LAFORGUE(1885-1903)Claudel, Paul(1868-1955) BREAK OF NOON(1948)Rostand, Edmond(1868-1918) CYRANO DE BERGERAC(1897)
20TH CENTURY
Gide, Andre(1869-1951) IMMORALIST(1902)-COUNTERFEITERS(1925)Proust, Marcel(1871-1922) REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST(1913-1927)Valéry, Paul(1871-1945) CHARMS(1922)Barbusse, Henri(1873-1935) UNDER FIRE(1916)Colette(1873-1954) VAGABOND (1911)-CHERI(1920)- OTHER ONE(1929)Apollinaire, Guillaume(1880-1918) ALCOOLS(1913)Martin du Gard, Roger(1881-1958) WORLD OF THE THIBAULTS(1922)Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre (1881-1955) PHENOMENON OF MAN(1955)Giraudoux, Jean(1882-1944) AMPHITRYON(1929)-TIGER AT THE GATES(1935)-MADWOMAN OF CHAILLOT(1945)Mauriac, François(1885-1970) THERESE(1927)Fournier, Alain (1886-1914) WANDERER (1913)Maran, René(1887-1960) BATOUALA(1921)Perse, Saint-John(1887-1975) ELOGES, AND OTHER POEMS(1911)-ANABASIS(1924)Bernanos, Georges (1888-1948) DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST (1936)Céline, Louis-Ferdinand(1894-1961) JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE NIGHT(1932)Giono, Jean(1895-1970) SONG OF THE WORLD (1934)Breton, André(1896-1966) MANIFESTO OF SURREALISM(1924)Aragon, Louis (1897-1982) Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de(1900-1944)NIGHT FLIGHT(1931)-WIND, SAND, AND STARS(1939)-LITTLE PRINCE(1943)Malraux, André(1901-1976) MAN’S FATE(1933)Nin, Anais(1903-1977) DIARY OF ANAIS NIN (1966)Sartre, Jean-Paul(1905-1980) NAUSEA (1938)-BEING AND NOTHINGNESS (1943)-FLIES(1943)-NO EXIT (1944)-WORDS (1963)Beckett, Samuel (1906-1989) Weil, Simone (1909-1943)Beauvoir, Simone de(1908-1986) SECOND SEX(1949)Levi-Strauss, Claude(1908-2009) SAVAGE MIND(1962)Anouilh, Jean (1910-1987) ANTIGONE(1944)-BECKET(1959)Genet, Jean (1910-1986) MAIDS(1948)Boulle, Pierre(1912-1994) PLANET OF THE APES(1963)Camus, Albert (1913-1960)Duras, Marguerite(1914-1996) LOVER(1984)Mauriac, Claude(1914-1996) DINNER PARTY(1959)Oldenbourg, Zoe(1916-2002) CORNERSTONE(1953)Robbe-Grillet, Alain(1922-2008) JEALOUSY(1957)Foucault, Michel(1926-1984) ORDER OF THINGS (1966)-DISCIPLINE AND PUNISH (1975) Sagan, Françoise(1935-2004) BONJOUR TRISTESSE (1954)Le Clézio, J. M. G.(1940- ) INTERROGATION(1963)-DESERT(1980)Kristeva, Julia(1941- ) DESIRE IN LANGUAGE(1969-1970)
Literary Works
POSTCLASSICAL LITERATURE
Chrétien de Troyes (1130-1191) CLIGES(1164)-EREC AND ENIDE(1164)-LANCELOT(1168)-YVAIN(1170)Turoldus CHANSON DE ROLAND (1140-1170)France, Marie De (1160-1215) LAIS OF MARIE DE FRANCE(1167)Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun ROMAN DE LA ROSA (1230-1275)Froissart, Jean (1337-1405) CHRONICLES(1373-1410)Pisan, Christine De (1363-1430) Villon, François (1431- ) GREAT TESTAMENT (1489) 16TH CENTURY Navarra, Margeurite De (1492-1549) HEPTAMERON (1559)Rabelais, François (1494-1553) GARGANTUA AND PANTAGRUEL(1567)Du Bellay, Joachim (1522-1560) POETRY OF DU BELLAY(1549)Ronsard, Pierre de (1524-1585) SONNETS FOR HELEN(1578)-TO BE ON THE SKIDS / Estre IndigentMontaigne, Michel Eyquem de (1533-1592) ESSAYS (1580-1595)
17TH CENTURY
Descartes, René(1596-1650) DISCOURSE ON METHOD (1637)-MEDITATIONS ON FIRST PHILOSOPHY(1641)Corneille, Pierre(1606-1684) CID (1637)-CINNA(1640)-HORACE(1640)-POLYEUCTE(1642)-LIAR (1643)La Rochefoucauld, François de(1613-1680) MAXIMS (1665-1678)La Fontaine, Jean de(1621-1695) FABLES (1668-1694)Moliere(1622-1673) SCHOOL FOR HUSBANDS (1661)-TARTUFFE(1664)-DON JUAN (1665)-MISANTHROPE (1666)-MISER (1668)-WOULD-BE GENTLEMAN (1670)Pascal, Blaise(1623-1662) PENSÉES (1670)La Fayette, Madame de(1634-1693) PRINCESS OF CLEVES (1678)Boileau-Despréaux, Nicolas(1636-1711) SATIRES(1666)-HEROES OF ROMANCES (1688)Racine, Jean(1639-1699) ANDROMACHE(1667)-BRITANNICUS(1669)-BERENICE(1670)-MITHRIDATES(1673)-IPHIGENIA (1674)-PHAEDRA(1677)-ESTHER (1689)
18TH CENTURY
Lesage, Alain-René(1668-1747) DEVIL UPON TWO STICKS(1707)-GIL BLAS(1715-1735)Crebillon, Prosper Jolyot de(1674-1762) RHADAMISTUS AND ZENOBIA(1711)Marivaux(1688-1763) LIFE OF MARIANNE(1731-1741)Montesquieu(1689-1755) SPIRIT OF THE LAWS (1748)Voltaire (Francois Marie Arouet) (1694-1778) OEDIPUS (1717)-ZAIRE(1732)-ZADIG(1748)-CANDIDE(1759)Prevost, Abbe(1697-1763) MANON LESCAUT(1731-1753)Rousseau, Jean-Jacques(1712-1778) NEW HELOISE(1761)-ÉMILE(1762)-SOCIAL CONTRACT(1762)-CONFESSIONS(1782-1789)Diderot, Denis(1713-1784) RAMEAU’S NEPHEW (1762)-JACQUES THE FATALIST AND HIS MASTER (1796)-NUN (1796) Etienne Bonnot, Abbe of Condillac (1714-1780)Beaumarchais, Pierre-Augustin Caron de(1732-1799) BARBER OF SEVILLE(1775)-MARRIAGE OF FIGARO(1784)Crevecoeur, Michel-Guillaume Jean de(1735-1813) LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN FARMER (1782) Bernardin de Saint Pierre (1737-1814) PAUL ET VIRGINIE (1788)Laclos, Pierre Choderlos de(1741-1803) DANGEROUS ACQUAINTANCES(1782) 19TH CENTURY (ROMANTICISM - REALISM) Staël, Madame de(1766-1817) DELPHINE(1802)-DE L’ALLEMAGNE (1813)Constant, Benjamin(1767-1830) ADOLPHE(1816)Chateaubriand, François-Rene de(1768-1848) ATALA(1801) Senancour, Etienne Pivert de (1770-1846) OBERMANN (1804)Stendhal(1783-1842) RED AND THE BLACK (1830)-MEMOIRS OF AN EGOIST (1932)-CHARTERHOUSE OF PARMA (1839)Lamartine, Alphonse de(1790-1869) POETICAL MEDITATIONS(1820) Cousin, Vıctor (1792-1867)Vigny, Alfred de(1797-1863) CINQ-MARS(1826)Balzac, Honoré de(1799-1850) WILD ASS’S SKIN(1931)-PERE GORIOT(1834)-TWO BROTHERS-COUSIN BETTE(1846)-COUSIN PONS(1847)Dumas, Alexandre, pere(1802-1870)CORSICAN BROTHERS (1844)-COUNT OF MONTE-CRISTO (1844)-THREE MUSKETEERS (1844)Hugo, Victor(1802-1885) HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1831)-LES MISERABLE(1862)-TOILERS OF THE SEA (1866)Merimee, Prosper(1803-1870) CARMEN(1845)Sainte-Beuve, Charles-Augustin(1804-1869) VOLUPTE (1834)-M. DE TALLEYRAND (!870) Sand, George(1804-1876) INDIANA(1832)-CONSUELO(1842-1843)Sue, Eugene(1804-1857) MYSTERIES OF PARIS(1842-1843)-WANDERING JEW (1844-1845)Tocqueville, Alexis de(1805-1859) DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA(1835)Nerval, Gerard De(1808-1855) CHIMERAS (1854)Musset, Alfred De(1810-1857) NO TRIFLING WITH LOVE(1834)-FIRST POETIC WORKS(1840)-NEW POETIC WORKS(1840)Gautier, Theophile(1811-1872) MADEMOISELLE DE MAUPIN(1835-1836)-ENAMELS AND CAMEOS(1852)Maquet, Auguste(1813-1888) CHEVALIER DE MAISON-ROUGE(1846)-MEMOIRS OF A PHYSICIAN(1846-1848)Ravaisson, Felix (1813-1900)Fromentin, Eugene(1820-1876) DOMINIQUE(1862)Baudelaire, Charles(1821-1867) FLOWERS OF EVIL(1857)Flaubert, Gustave(1821-1880) MADAME BOVARY (1856)-SALAMMBÔ (1862)-SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION, A (1869)-TEMPTATION OF SAINT ANTHONY(1874)- A SIMPLE SOUL(1877)Goncourt, Edmond De(1822-1896) and Goncourt, Jules De(1830-1870) CHARLES DEMAILLY(1860)-SISTER PHILOMDNE(1861)-RENÉE MAUPERIN(1864)Murger, Henri(1822-1861) BOHEMIANS OF THE LATIN QUARTER(1847-1849)Dumas, Alexandre, fils(1824-1895) CAMILLE(1852)Taine, Hippolyte (1828-1893) PHILOSOPHY OF ART (1865)Verne, Jules(1828-1905) JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH,A(1864)-TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA(1870)Gaboriau, Émile(1832-1873) MONSIEUR LECOQ(1869)Daudet, Alphonse(1840-1897) SAPPHO(1884)Zola, Émile(1840-1902) THÉRÈSE RAQUIN(1867)-ASSOMMOIR, L’(1877)-NANA(1880)-GERMINAL(1885)-EARTH(1887)-HUMAN BEAST(1890)Mallarme, Stephane(1842-1898) AFTERNOON OF A FAUN(1876)France, Anatole (1844-1924) PENGUIN ISLAND(1908)Verlaine, Paul(1844-1896) POETRY OF PAUL VERLAINE(1866-1977)Corbiere, Tristan(1845-1875) THESE JAUNDICED LOVES(1873)Huysmans, Joris-Karl(1848-1907) AGAINST THE GRAIN(1884)-DOWN THERE(1891)Maupassant, Guy de(1850-1893) WOMAN’S LIFE, A(1883)-NECKLACE (1884)-BEL-AMI(1885)-MONT-ORIOL(1887)Bourget, Paul(1852-1935) DISCIPLE(1889)Rimbaud, Arthur(1854-1891) SEASON IN HELL, A(1873)Bergson, Henri(1859-1941) LAUGHTER(1900)Laforgue, Jules(1860-1887) POETRY OF LAFORGUE(1885-1903)Claudel, Paul(1868-1955) BREAK OF NOON(1948)Rostand, Edmond(1868-1918) CYRANO DE BERGERAC(1897)
20TH CENTURY
Gide, Andre(1869-1951) IMMORALIST(1902)-COUNTERFEITERS(1925)Proust, Marcel(1871-1922) REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST(1913-1927)Valéry, Paul(1871-1945) CHARMS(1922)Barbusse, Henri(1873-1935) UNDER FIRE(1916)Colette(1873-1954) VAGABOND (1911)-CHERI(1920)- OTHER ONE(1929)Apollinaire, Guillaume(1880-1918) ALCOOLS(1913)Martin du Gard, Roger(1881-1958) WORLD OF THE THIBAULTS(1922)Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre (1881-1955) PHENOMENON OF MAN(1955)Giraudoux, Jean(1882-1944) AMPHITRYON(1929)-TIGER AT THE GATES(1935)-MADWOMAN OF CHAILLOT(1945)Mauriac, François(1885-1970) THERESE(1927)Fournier, Alain (1886-1914) WANDERER (1913)Maran, René(1887-1960) BATOUALA(1921)Perse, Saint-John(1887-1975) ELOGES, AND OTHER POEMS(1911)-ANABASIS(1924)Bernanos, Georges (1888-1948) DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST (1936)Céline, Louis-Ferdinand(1894-1961) JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE NIGHT(1932)Giono, Jean(1895-1970) SONG OF THE WORLD (1934)Breton, André(1896-1966) MANIFESTO OF SURREALISM(1924)Aragon, Louis (1897-1982) Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de(1900-1944)NIGHT FLIGHT(1931)-WIND, SAND, AND STARS(1939)-LITTLE PRINCE(1943)Malraux, André(1901-1976) MAN’S FATE(1933)Nin, Anais(1903-1977) DIARY OF ANAIS NIN (1966)Sartre, Jean-Paul(1905-1980) NAUSEA (1938)-BEING AND NOTHINGNESS (1943)-FLIES(1943)-NO EXIT (1944)-WORDS (1963)Beckett, Samuel (1906-1989) Weil, Simone (1909-1943)Beauvoir, Simone de(1908-1986) SECOND SEX(1949)Levi-Strauss, Claude(1908-2009) SAVAGE MIND(1962)Anouilh, Jean (1910-1987) ANTIGONE(1944)-BECKET(1959)Genet, Jean (1910-1986) MAIDS(1948)Boulle, Pierre(1912-1994) PLANET OF THE APES(1963)Camus, Albert (1913-1960)Duras, Marguerite(1914-1996) LOVER(1984)Mauriac, Claude(1914-1996) DINNER PARTY(1959)Oldenbourg, Zoe(1916-2002) CORNERSTONE(1953)Robbe-Grillet, Alain(1922-2008) JEALOUSY(1957)Foucault, Michel(1926-1984) ORDER OF THINGS (1966)-DISCIPLINE AND PUNISH (1975) Sagan, Françoise(1935-2004) BONJOUR TRISTESSE (1954)Le Clézio, J. M. G.(1940- ) INTERROGATION(1963)-DESERT(1980)Kristeva, Julia(1941- ) DESIRE IN LANGUAGE(1969-1970)