eenth century there was a revival of
preciosity, which Moliere had never really killed, and in the _salon_
of Madame de Lambert, Marivaux may have learned something of his
metaphysics of love and something of his subtleties or affectations
of style. He anticipates the sensibility of the later part of the
century; but sensibility with Marivaux is not profound, and it is
relieved by intellectual vivacity. His conception of love has in it
not a little of mere gallantry. Like later eighteenth-century writers,
he at once exalts "virtue," and indulges his fancy in a licence which
does not tend towards good morals or manners. His _Vie de Marianne_
(1731-41), which occupied him during many years, is a picture of
social life, and a study, sometimes infinitely subtle, of the emotions
of his heroine; her genius for coquetry is finely allied to her maiden
pride; the hypocrite, M. de Climal--old angel fallen--is a new variety
of the family of Tartufe. _Le Paysan Parvenu_ (1735-36), which tells
of the successes of one whom women favour, is on a lower level of
art and of morals. Both novels were left unfinished; and while both
attract, they also repel, and finally weary the reader.[2] Their
influence was considerable in converting the romance of adventures
into the romance of emotional incident and analysis.

[Footnote 2: The twelfth part of _Marianne_ is by Madam Riccoboni.
Only five parts of the _Paysan_ are by Marivaux.]

The work of Marivaux for the stage is more important than his work
in prose fiction. His comedy has been described as the tragedy of
Racine transposed, with love leading to marriage, not to death. Love
is his central theme--sometimes in conflict with self-love--and
women are his protagonists. He discovers passion in its germ, and
traces it through its shy developments. His plays are little romances
handled in dramatic fashion; each records some delicate adventure
of the heart. He wrote much for the Comedie-Italienne, where he did
not suffer from the tyranny of rules and models, and where his graceful
fancy had free play. Of his large repertoire, the most admirable
pieces are _Le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard_ (1730) and _Les Fausses
Confidences_ (1732). In the former the heroine and her chambermaid
exchange costumes; the hero and his valet make a like exchange; yet
love is not misled, and heroine and hero find each other through their
disguises. In _Les Fausses Confidences_ the young widow Araminte is
won to a sec