LL n°8: Portraits in the Service of Criticism

La Bruyère is a classic writer, a moralist, studied law, and was the tutor of the grandson of the Prince of Condé. He observes the Court and its courtiers.

Known for Les Caractères, inspired by the Greek writer Theophrastus (portraits written in the 4th century BC); a painting of human nature.

Section entitled "De la cour" (About the court)

Double portraits of Cimon and Clitandre.

How does the moralist denounce careerism through a double portrait?

Movement 1: lines 1 to 5: Description of two very active aristocrats

Movement 2: lines 5 to 10: Fictional encounter with the characters

Movement 3: lines 11 to end: A self-interested relationship with others: the parasites of the Court

The text begins with the names "Clitandre and Cimon," it is a Hellenic mask (= a filter to convey a message, using Greek names to criticize the French Court)

The initials are the same, it can be assumed that the characters are interchangeable.

Cimon was an Athenian politician of the 5th century BC.

Clitandre was a fictional character in Corneille's comedies.

Line 1 rhetorical question without a question mark, repetition of "alone," brings them together

Lines 2 to 4 verb "represented" conditional phrase "expressed," La Bruyère fails to grasp the character of Clitandre and Cimon, pictorial metaphor "painting movement,"

Lines 3-4 enumeration "enthusiasm" flaws, referring to the intensity of the characters

Line 4 indefinite pronoun "they" ? Court, repeated adverb "never," ironic question "Who even saw them walking"

After describing the portrait of the two characters, we will see their encounter.

Movement 2: It is composed of parataxes, which activates the rhythm. It is a single long sentence = a period. The sentence mimics the fact that the characters never stop. It develops a perpetual movement.

Line 5 polyptote "running while running"

Line 7 obsession with speed "pass and repass," hyperbole "rushed course --> absurd agitation

Lines 7-8 imperative mood, addresses the reader and emphasizes speed "don't make them," as if La Bruyère gives us ironic advice: "don't delay them" emphasizes their psychological fragility, reification "dismantle their machine"

Line 9 "nothing to do" shows the idleness (they do nothing) of Clitandre and Cimon

The chaining of phrases is caricatural, it is a satire

Movement 3: line 10 italicized metaphor "they are not the Satellites of Jupiter"

Jupiter refers to the monarch of divine right, and to a Roman context

Satellites = Clitandre and Cimon revolve around the king, they have no personality, they need a core? Galileo's astronomical discovery

Lines 11-12 "I" personal implication of the author, "sense, surround, announce, precede"

Lines 12-13 hyperbole that points to ambition "launch themselves impetuously"

Line 14 irony with "profession and occupation" and "so serious and so useful" (antiphrasis = irony on one or two phrases)

Lines 15-16 "educated" in antithesis with "ignored," there is a crescendo, it gives the impression that they know a lot of things, but this is destroyed with the adjective "indifferent"

Line 16 false praise "lack none of the necessary talents"

Line 17 oxymoron "advance mediocrely" reflects the absurdity of Clitandre and Cimon

Line 18 periphrasis "nevertheless awake and alert people" refers to the characters, verb "believes" which expresses La Bruyère's doubt, ternary rhythm "enterprising, light and precipitated" preceded by a litote "a little"

Line 19 clausule (small conclusion) or art of the point (concetto = incisive conclusion, Italian technique, and brilliant ending)

Mythological extended metaphor, ironic? animalization of Clitandre and Cimon, they are compared to "harnessed" horses? shows that they do not know how to make choices

Antithesis "harnessed" "sitting" that recalls the imposture of the characters (imposters), just like parasites,

Chiasmus that reinforces the ridicule of the characters, and their agitation, "fortune" can be interpreted in both senses, money or destiny

Caricature portrait, the objective is to condemn two ambitious characters, by depicting them as restless characters. La Bruyère is a keen observer of 17th-century manners who denounces immoral behavior.

The portrait is a fictional narrative in the service of criticism. Our two impostors oppose the ideal of the honest man.

Courtiers who behave like parasites are also found in La Fontaine. Especially in "Les Obsèques de la Lionne" (The Funeral of the Lioness): hypocrisy, appearance and reality, which brings to mind the "Satellites of Jupiter".