Jean de La Fontaine: biography, authorship

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

In world literature, two names can be named among the most famous fabulists: Aesop and Jean de La Fontaine. The first lived in ancient Greece, and the data on his life are rather fabulous. The second - in France, in the second half of the XVII century. And it is the French author of small moralizing works that will be discussed in this article.

Biography

The childhood of the great fabulist passed near picturesque forests and fields. Jean de La Fontaine was the son of a forestry official. He came from an ancient we althy family. The father was preparing his son for a spiritual career, which did not at all appeal to the future fabulist. But he also thought about moralizing works already in adulthood. From a young age, he was interested above all in philosophy. Lafontaine was also a fan of poetic works, which prompted him to create poems, which, however, did not bring him success.

At twenty-six, Jean de Lafontaine got married. However, he treated his family extremely easily. Lafontaine spent most of his life in Paris,away from relatives. For a long time, literary work was the only source of income for him.

According to the memoirs of contemporaries, the French poet led a cheerful and frivolous life. I didn't see my family for years. And one day, having met his already adult son in a noble house, he did not even recognize him.

Early creativity

Jean de La Fontaine created his first works in the genre of poetry and dramaturgy. Fables appeared in the late period of creativity. The first work that was published was a translation of the ancient Roman author Terentius. Subsequent creations were also created under the influence of ancient drama.

Dream in Vo

Under the patronage of Fouquet, Lafontaine wrote a poem glorifying the country palace. Only three excerpts from this work have survived. In them there is a mixture of various literary forms, and the influence of ancient, medieval authors is visible. But Renaissance poetry had a special influence on Lafontaine's poetics.

Fairy tales

I drew inspiration from the works of not only ancient writers, but also the authors of the Renaissance, Jean de La Fontaine. The biography of this person was formed under the influence of his character. And his temper was very careless and frivolous, which for many years blocked his access to the court. Only in the last years of his life did he renounce a carefree lifestyle, which had a positive effect on his work. In the seventies of the 17th century, Jean de La Fontaine published twofairy tales that differed from previous works in stylistic and plot diversity. The writing of these works was prompted by the work of Giovanni Boccaccio.

Becoming a regular visitor to one of the fashionable salons of Paris, Lafontaine came under the auspices of independent-minded philosophers and scientists. Their views impressed the poet, who was distinguished by freethinking and unwillingness to support the way of thinking approved by the Catholic Church. Hypocritical asceticism became the subject of satire in Tales, but later the author of this collection felt the need to look critically at other human vices.

Fables

But Jean de La Fontaine is not known today as the author of comedies and fairy tales. The biography of this poet is of interest to modern people, since it belongs to the creator of a new literary genre. Borrowing the plot from the ancient author, he created a number of fables, which later were translated by poets into other languages. It was taking Aesop's creation as a source that Jean de Lafontaine wrote "The Fox and the Grapes" - a fable, which Ivan Krylov later translated into Russian. Many other works of the Russian poet are also, although very talented, but still translations from French.

Lafontaine's literary style

Jean de La Fontaine had a unique literary style. His fables would hardly have entered world literature, if not for a peculiar didactic genre, thanks to which his works convey to the reader quitesober outlook on life. Rousseau and Lamartine argued about the pedagogical benefits of reading Lafontaine's morals. Lafontaine cannot be called a moralist, since in his fables there is too clearly confidence in the inevitability of human vice. His work is close to the philosophy of Epicurus, who assured that life must be treated with equanimity and be able to see it without embellishment.

Poetics

The structure of La Fontaine's works includes the main part, introduction and digressions. Each of the fables has a variety of poetic forms. The poetic form was not accepted by everyone in the 17th century, so they were written in a free style. Instructive character, according to the author and his contemporaries, was more suitable for free verse.

The fabulist Jean de Lafontaine is an author about whom there is an opinion that he created from time to time, solely by inspiration. Nevertheless, his creative heritage includes creations created in various genres. Among them are mythological poems and comedies. In addition, Lafontaine became the founder of the scientific descriptive genre. Lyric operas are also found in his work. However, he entered world literature thanks to a publication with a very modest title - "Aesop's Fables Arranged in La Fontaine's Poems." His work is a high achievement of French literature. And the artistic discoveries of Lafontaine predetermined the development of the fable genre in the literatures of other countries.