Marivaux might be described in the same terms that he used when referring to Racine and Corneille in “Réflexions sur l'esprit humain” [Reflections on the Human Mind]: he is one of those authors who paints the “portrait that best depicts the importance and singularity of the being which we call Man”. By giving equal importance to both experience and feelings, Marivaux thus embodies the “experimental humanist” who – as a man of the theater as well as a novelist and journalist – was committed to attaining a full understanding of the successive states of the human mind before attempting to describe them.
Little is known about the life of this major French literary figure of the Enlightenment. Under the pseudonym of Marivaux, he achieved a major reputation throughout Europe :
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Citation: Poirson, Martial. "Pierre Marivaux". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 April 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2935, accessed 21 November 2024.]
