Alexis Piron, La Métromanie [Metermania; Metremania]

Derek Frederick Connon (Swansea University)

Ed. by Síofra Pierse, University College Dublin, Jenny Mander, University of Cambridge
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.04: French Writing and Culture: Eighteenth-Century and the Enlightenment, 1700-1800.
Vol. editors: Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Jenny Mander (University of Cambridge), Síofra Pierse (University College Dublin), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1738

Places

France (Country of Origin; Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Comedy
Play

Resources

In 1729 an event occurred that amused playwright Alexis Piron (1689-1773) and caused significant excitement in French literary circles: the Mercure de France began publishing verse by Antoinette Malcrais de La Vigne, who would eventually become known as “la muse bretonne” [the Breton muse]. Although she was far from being the first female French writer, the event was still unusual enough to attract attention, and a number of important authors of the time, including most famously Voltaire, but also Destouches, Fontenelle, and La Motte, expressed admiration for her. Indeed, in 1732 Voltaire even went as far as to publish in the Mercure a poem in praise of her which stopped just short of including a …

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3362 words

Citation: Connon, Derek Frederick. "La Métromanie". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 August 2019 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38969, accessed 24 November 2024.]

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