La Fontaine

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La Fontaine
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Outline

• Introduction
• Part I. His life
• Part II. His work
• Part III. The Animals Stricken with the Plague
• Conclusion
• References

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Introduction

• La Fontaine (1621-1695) is one of the most famous
  French poets and storytellers
• He produced the most famous fables of modern
  times
• La Fontaines masterpiece is the collection of
  Fables choisies, mises en vers selected fables
  versified (166894), comprising 12 books of some
  230 fables drawn largely from Aesop, Italian and
  Indian stories
• Many of the Morales contained in the fables are
  nowadays widely known The argument of the
  strongest is always the best Help thyself and
  Heaven will help thee

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Part I. His life

• Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695) born in
  Champagne, the son of a superintendent of forests
• In 1647, he married Marie Héricart, an heiress,
  but the marriage was not happy
• Eleven years later, they separated. Then, he
  moved to Paris and dedicated his life to writing
• He was protected by Nicolas Fouquet, who was
  arrested by Louis XIV (see Vaux-le-Vicomte)
• La Fontaine died in Paris, and is interred at
  Père Lachaise Cemetery

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La Fontaine The Shepherd Wolf illustration by
Gustave Doré
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Part II. His work

• His first collection of 124 fables called Fables
  Choisies (selected fables) dedicated to the
  Dauphin, the grandson of Louis XIV
• His work well received in 1683 member of the
  Académie française
• These stories are attractive to children, but
  they are also loved by adults who can read
  between the lines a serious and timeless critique
  of French society
• At intervals through the rest of his life, new
  editions with more Fables. The last edition came
  out in 1694
• By the end of his life, he had produced 12 books
  containing some 230 fables

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La Fontaine The Lion and the Rat illustration
by Gustave Doré
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Part II. His work

• Among the most famous fables are La Cigale et la
  Fourmi Le Corbeau et le Renard Le Lièvre et la
  Tortue La Grenouille qui se veut faire aussi
  grosse que le boeuf
• Among his other works are Contes et nouvelles en
  vers (4 vol., 166474, tr. Tales and Novels in
  Verse, 1934), humorous and often ribald verse
  tales drawn from Boccaccio, Ariosto, and others
• He wrote comedies and librettos for opera, poems
  on classical themes, and long original poems,
  notably the Élégie aux nymphes de Vaux (1671), a
  complaint on the disgrace (1661) of his patron
  Fouquet

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La Fontaine The Milkmaid illustration by
Gustave Doré
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Part III. The Animals Stricken with the Plague

• In The Animals Stricken with the Plague (Volume
  7, fable 1), the truth teller that is not
  rewarded La Fontaine criticizes Louis XIV and
  his court
• The plague has been sent by God to punish crimes
  committed in the country the lion king invites
  all the animals to make a public confession
• The lion is forgiven for his crimes by a
  complaisant court, while the ass sees his minor
  tort become a criminal offense. La Fontaine
  concludes that depending on your social height,
  the law will see your crime as black-or else as
  white

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Part III. The Animals Stricken with the Plague

• This is a quite sad story. La Fontaine considers
  that there is no justice for the weak. As to the
  powerful, there are always above the law
• This story is close to Oedipus the King by
  Sophocles (around 427 BC) the play begins after
  Thebes has been struck with plague by the gods in
  outrage at Oedipus unintentional wrongdoing
• The play shows Oedipus investigation, in which he
  curses and promises to exile those responsible
  for the murder
• The blind prophet Tiresias tells Oedipus at the
  beginning of the play that he is the cause of the
  plague
• The difference with La Fontaines fable is that
  the king eventually recognized his wrongdoing.

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Conclusion

• La Fontaines Fables of animals and everyday life
  are masterworks of French literature and took
  their inspiration from Aesop, Horace, Phaedrus
  and ancient Indian literature (Panchatantra)
• Natural and easy, droll, witty, the fables were
  an immediate success
• The fables have been illustrated by Grandville in
  1838 Gustave Doré in 1867 Benjamin Rabier at
  the beginning of the 20th century

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References

• http//www.biblioweb.org/-LA-FONTAINE-Jean-de-.htm
  l
• http//www.biblioweb.org/Les-animaux-malades-de-la
  -peste.html
• http//www.lafontaine.net/lesFables/afficheFable.p
  hp?id129
• http//www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/la1758
• http//www.bartleby.com/cgi-bin/texis/webinator/si
  tesearch?FILTERqueryjeanlafontaine
• http//fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_DorC3A9
• http//mennis.web.wesleyan.edu/fist255s.mle.dore.h
  tml
• http//dore.artpassions.net/
• http//www.site-magister.com/prepas/fables.htm