Marivaux, Pierre-Carlet de Chamblain de

(1688-1763)

   dramatist and writer

   Born in Paris, Pierre-Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux, whose distinctive style of writing came to be known as "marivaudage," was the son of the director of the royal mint. He began his writing career early, frequenting the Paris salons (1712) and by 1720 produced his first important comedy, Arlequin, poli par l'amour. He also soon founded his own literary journal, Le Spectateur français (1722), followed by L'Indigent philosophe (1728) and then Le Cabinet du philosophe (1734). Outside of two other novels, which are his main genre writings, La Vie de Marianne (1731-41) and Le Paysan parvenu (1735), Marivaux dedicated most of his energy to writing for the theater. over a period of 20 years he wrote a large number of works for both the comédie-française and the Comédie-Italienne, which was based on the commedia dell'arte and, which had a great influence on Marivaux. Marivaux's incomparable elegance, his use of language, the rustic charm of his characters, and his subtle, analytical style were all critiqued in a lively manner by voltaire, and his works represent the optimism that was in fashion before the revolution of 1789. Marivaux was elected to the Académie Française in 1743.