Novel
The Comic Romance
Le Roman comique
Paul Scarron · 1651
Opening lines
Le soleil avoit achevé plus de la moitié de sa course, et son char, ayant attrapé le penchant du monde, rouloit plus vite qu'il ne vouloit.
The sun had completed more than half its course, and its chariot, having reached the downward slope of the world, was rolling faster than it wished.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from gutenberg.org
Synopsis
A troupe of travelling players arrives by cart in Le Mans. The book follows their performances, their inn quarrels and their love affairs, mingled with the life of the town, while Ragotin, a small-time local lawyer, vainly tries to please l'Étoile, one of the actresses. The narrative is often interrupted, to let Le Destin and other characters tell of their past, or to insert four tales of Spanish origin.
Context
The first part appeared in 1651, the second in 1657. In 1660 the author obtained the privilege for a third part, but died before he had finished it, and the book remained unfinished. The main narrative contains four novellas adapted from the Spanish, among them the Histoire de l'amante invisible. By its subject and its tone, the novel goes against the heroic and idealised romances that its age read with passion.
Who it is for
An unfinished novel in two parts, in French of the middle of the seventeenth century, which mixes burlesque narrative with romance novellas.
Prizes and reception
Translated into English as early as 1665 under the title The Comical Romance, it was translated again in 2012 by Jacques Houis.
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