Jean de La Fontaine, The Fables of La Fontaine

Céline Bohnert (Université de Reims)

Ed. by Polly Mangerson, DePaul University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.03: French Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century: Classical and Baroque, 1600-1700.
Vol. editors: Heather Kirk (University of Western Ontario), Kathrina LaPorta (New York University), Polly Mangerson (DePaul University), Julia Prest (University of St Andrews), Allison Stedman (University of North Carolina, Charlotte), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1668

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Fable

Resources

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Recommended Reading

When the first

Fables choisies, mises en vers par Monsieur de La Fontaine

[

SelectedFables, set to verse by M. de La Fontaine

] were released in 1668, the poet was forty-seven years old. From then on, he would continue to experiment with a poetic form which he turned towards a wider audience. La Fontaine made his fables a humble but crucial vantage point on human nature and the society of his time, in the manner of La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680)’s

Maximes

and La Bruyère (1645-1696)’s

Caractères

. He thus expanded the genre’s potential, as his style benefited from his practice of many other literary forms: tale, epic, idyll, novel, and dramatic genres. Indeed, the

Fables

’ lyrical quality results from their versatility, their allusive yet suggestive manner, their musical and…

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2392 words

Citation: Bohnert, Céline. "The Fables of La Fontaine". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 February 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=39762, accessed 20 April 2024.]

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