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Posts tagged with "Voltaire"

French History Enigma: L’Homme au Masque de Fer (The Man with the Iron Mask)

Sep 30 2011

Today’s article is about une énigme (an engima) of l’histoire de France. But don’t get too excited while reading the title above: It’s got nothing to do with any comics fictional character—Fans of “Iron Man“, really désolé, but stick around nevertheless!

Usually, les secrets d’états (state secrets) take a few decades before they are divulgués (divulged) to le public, but it seems that some secrets are never truly meant to be unveiled—or at least, not quite easily so.

The secret at hand goes back to le XVIIe siècle, the century of Louis XIV, known to the world as “Le Roi Soleil“ (“the Sun King.”) Ever since, it has elicited a considerable amount of speculation, inflamed the passion and imagination of so many écrivains (writers) and historiens, but none could determine avec certitude (with certainty) who was “l’Homme au masque de fer“, or the “Man in the Iron Mask.”

Qui est donc l’Homme au masque de fer ?

Today’s post only pretends to present the historical enigma to you in very broad terms. As for the task of “unmasking” the mysterious character, as well as forming votre propre opinion sur le sujet (your own opinion on the subject), that would, bien entendu (of course), remain entirely your responsibility.

Having clarified that, one then is allowed to ask: What are les faits connus (the known facts), and from what point does la spéculation begin?

C’est un fait (it is a fact) that by the winter of 1703, the mysterious prisoner who was to be later known to posterity as the Man in the Iron Mask had passed away, after spending 34 years of his life locked up in prison cells. His geôlier (jailer), a man by the name of Bénigne D. de Saint-Mars (quite a “benign” name for such a profession!), kept him in complete seclusion, in three different prisons, the last of which being the famous -or rather infamous- Bastille prison. He was to wear at all times a mask, which was first thought to be made out of iron, but according to most historians today, it was most likely black velvet.

34 years earlier, in a letter exchange between le Secrétaire d’État de la Guerre (the Secretary of State for War), the shadowy Louvois (who was to be closely involved in another sinistrous affaire known as “l’affaire des poisons“, which is yet another “dossier” in its own right) and the jailer Saint-Mars, there was a mention of a new “low profile” prisoner, by the name of “Eustache Dauger.“

Was that only a pseudonym, or the real name of l’Homme au masque de fer ? And why was it so important for the King to conceal his real identity from the public?

It is at this point that the speculation begins per se.

The most privileged, if not most publicized, hypothesis presents him as being rien d’autre que le frère (none other than the brother) of the “Sun King” himself!

The first to champion this hypothèse was the famous philosopher Voltaire, though he never offered any piece of serious evidence to support it.

Then came Alexandre Dumas, père, the celebrated author of “The Three Musketeers” and “The Count of Monte Cristo“, who this time portrayed the mysterious prisoner, in his novel “Vicomte de Bragelonne“, as the frère jumeau du Roi (the twin brother of the King.)

The Dumas novel has subsequently inspired several other works and movie adaptations, one of which is Randall Wallace’s (1998), the director of “Braveheart“, “Pearl Harbor“, “We Were Soldiers”, and featuring Leonardo Di Caprio as Louis XIV (as well as his alleged “twin” brother.)

One piste intéressante (interesting track), and a likely candidate for the mysterious Homme au masque de fer, (though officially declared dead earlier than 1703) is Nicolas Fouquet: A close friend of La Fontaine and Molière (to name but a few of his “BFFs” at the time), who was charged by the King of massive embazzlement, in a long-running financial scandal that has little to envy our latter-day affaires de corruption, ranging from ENRON in the US, to l’affair ELF in France, or the many mafia oligarchs-related scandals in Mother Russia.

If you wish to better explore this énigme of l’histoire de France (and exercise your French listening skills by the same token), then here is a documentaire you definitely ought to check (in four parts.)
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8l5t1

French Books to Read in the Summer!

Posted by Mr. Transparent 3 Comments

Jun 24 2011

C’est l’été, enfin! (It’s the Summer, finally!)

Many friends of mine have been telling me as of late how they’re excited to seize the opportunity of the sudden extra free time in their hands to catch up with la lecture de loisir (leisure reading)—As opposed to the force-fed textbook “reading assignments” of the school year- and they especially asked me about some good book titles to read en français…

Naturellement, not everyone is necessarily into “les classiques”, but if you are, and are at a loss as to where to begin, here is a short list which should help you decide par quel livre entamer vos vacancs d’été (through which book to kick-start your Summer holidays)—It’s of no particular order, so it’s all up to you!

“Le Petit Prince“, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

“L’Étranger“, by Albert Camus

“Phaedra“ by Racine

“Tartuffe ou L’Imposteur“, “L’École des femmes“, or “Le Bourgeois gentilhomme“, all great works by Molière

“Candide“, by Voltaire

“Mémoires d’Outre-Tombe“ (meaning literally “Memoirs from Beyond the Grave”) by François-René de Chateaubriand

“Le Rouge et le Noir” (“The Red and the Black”), and “La Chartreuse de Parme” (“The Charterhouse of Parma”), by Stendhal

“Madame Bovary“ by Gustave Flaubert

- Here is a famous movie adaptation by Claude Chabrol, with the celebrated actress Isabelle Huppert:

“La Bête humaine“, “Germinal“, or “Aux Bonheur des Dames” (translated as “The Ladies’ Delight“, or “The Ladies’ Paradise“) by Émile Zola

“Pierre et Jean“, or “Bel Ami“, by Guy de Maupassant

“Notre-Dame de Paris“, or, of course, “Les Misérables“, by Victor Hugo

“Pantagruel” or “La vie très horrifique du grand Gargantua” (often known simply as “Gargantua”), by François Rabelais

“Eugénie Grandet“, or “Le Père Goriot“, both from Honoré de Balzac’s “La Comédie Divine”

“À la recherche du temps perdu” (“In Search of Lost Time“), or “Du côté de chez Swann“ (“The Way by Swann’s“), by Marcel Proust

* * *

Je souhaite une très bonne et agréable lecture à tous nos amis!

Lèche-vitrine (Window-shopping) with Voltaire—A Dangerously “Zadig-stic” Addiction

Posted by Mr. Transparent No Comments

Apr 7 2011

“Tous les jours, je lave mon cerveau avec la pub” (“Everyday I wash my brain with advertisings”)

* * *

While it is not as widely renowned as “Candide“, the novel “Zadig ou la Destinée” (“Zadig, or The Book of Fate”) stands today as one of the major works of Voltaire, although, we are told, the French philosopher may have opportunistically discarded its value and significance vers la fin de sa vie (towards the end of his life)—”Age of the Enligntenment” oblige!

* * *

The namesake of the novel, “Zadig“, presented as Babylonian by the author who otherwise makes no pretense to historical insight, means in Arabic “véridique” (“truthful”), as in the name of the faithful companion in Islam, Abu Bakr “Es-Siddiq“, and, quite similarly, means “le juste” (the just) in Hebrew, as in “Tsadik“, the religious title related to the Hassidic tradtion.

In fact, and it is a rather curious fact that only a few “critiques littéraires” seem to have noticed that before, the tale of Voltaire’s hero makes several thinly-veiled allusions to the well-known story of Moïse (Moses) and El-Khidr, mentioned in le Coran, the Holy Book of Islam.

True to his name, Zadig is truthful, brave, compassionate, and stands for justice whatever contrées lointaines (far-off lands) his destin (destiny, or fate) leads him to—In short, a diametric opposite of a “Zadig-stic” (read “sadistic”) behavior, you may say.

But, if that is the case, what justifies le jeu de mot (the pun) in the title of today’s post?

* * *

A simple look around the world we live in today, ceaselessly “bombarded” by des pubs (ads) that “urge” our brave citizenry to buy such and such glorified produit (product), could serve to remind us of what the authoritative Edward Bernays -considered the “forefather” of the field of les relations publiques, (PR), and accessorily neveu (nephew) of Dr. Sigmund Freud- wrote in his “seminal work”, “Propaganda“, several years before the emergence of la télévision and l’Internet:

"[Our] minds are molded, our tastes formed,

our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of.

This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic

society is organized."

In these conditions, there is little wonder that some of us, more “sensible” (“sensitive”), and perhaps more “obedient” by nature, to this type of psychological treatment or “conditioning” of the masses, would tend to confuse, say, faire du shopping (doing shopping) with… la philosophie (philosophy)!

* * *

Take the fine, nearly Pavlovian, example offered to us by Frédéric Lefebvre, a French politician associated with the ruling party, l’UMP.

Asked a few days ago about the book which had left the most powerful impact upon him, Monsieur Lefebvre, who, understandably, was then busy promoting his own new book, answered: “Sans doute, “Zadig et Voltaire”” (“Undoubtedly, ‘Zadig and Voltaire’”),and even enfonce le clou (drives the point home) by saying: “Je m’y replonge d’ailleurs assez souvent“, meaning that he goes back to reading it quite often…

The only trouble is, while Voltaire has indeed written a novel called “Zadig ou la Destinée” (“Zadig, or The Book of Fate”), as we have seen above—”Zadig et Voltaire” happens to be the name of a French prêt-à-porter (ready-to-wear) manufacturer.

* * *

A “Zadig & Voltaire” commercial: After the clothes, enters the “Zadig & Voltaire Music”—Talk about a spin!

* * *

In a sudden fit of what ought to be described as frantic “cyber sadism“, “E-sadism” (or plain “Zadig-stic” behavior, in this specific case), French and Francophone Internautes (Internet surfers) at large have since then seized on the unfortunate lapsus freudien (“Freudian slip”) of Monsieur Lefebvre to build (construire) an entire “bibliothèque Lefebvre“, composed of books of the same “shopping-meets-literature-and-philosophy” genre (which by the way you can follow here: http://twitter.com/search?q=%23bibliolefebvre)

* * *

From “Les misérables” by “Victor Hugo Boss”, to the even more Orwellian-sounding “1664” (instead of “1984“), you’ll find out more of such exquisitely “telling” titles in an upcoming post.

* * *

Le Figaro wants to figure out “ce que lisent les politiques” (“What politicians read”)—Besides Monsieur Lefebvre, of course

L’Homme au masque de fer (“Iron Man” pour les “ironiques”)

Posted by Mr. Transparent 3 Comments

Jun 3 2010

Today, we will evoke une énigme de l’histoire de France, and it is not related to a fiction character (fans of “Iron Man”, désolé, but stick around nevertheless.)

Usually, les secrets d’états (state secrets) take a few decades before they are divulgués (divulged) to le public, but it seems that some secrets are never really meant to be unveiled –or at least, not so easily.

This one secret goes back to le XVIIe siècle, the century of Louis XIV, known to the world as “Le Roi Soleil” (“the Sun King.”) Ever since, it has elicited a considerable amount of speculation, inflamed the passion and imagination of so many écrivains (writers) and historiens, but none could determine avec certitude (with certainty) who was “l’Homme au masque de fer“, or the “Man in the Iron Mask.”

Qui est donc l’Homme au masque de fer ?

This post is only destined to present the historical enigma to you in very broad terms, and the “task to unmask” him, if you will, and thus former votre propre opinion sur le sujet (to form your own opinion on the subject) is entirely yours, bien entendu.

So, having established that, what are les faits connus (the known facts), and where does la spéculation begin?

C’est un fait (It is a fact) that by the winter of 1703, the mysterious prisoner who was to be later known to us as the Man in the Iron Mask had passed away, after having spent 34 years of his life detained in prison cells. His geôlier (jailer), a man by the name of Bénigne D. de Saint-Mars, kept him in complete seclusion, at three different prisons, the last of which being the famous -or rather infamous, actually- Bastille prison. He was to wear at all times a mask, which was first thought to be of iron, but according to most historians today, it was most likely made of black velvet.

34 years earlier, in a letter exchange between le Secrétaire d’État de la Guerre (the Secretary of State for War), the shadowy Louvois (who was to be closely involved in another sinistrous affaire known as “l’affaire des poisons“, which is yet another story in its own right) and the jailer Saint-Mars, there was a mention of a new “low profile” prisoner, named “Eustache Dauger.“

Was that only a pseudonym, or the real name of l’Homme au masque de fer ? And why was it so important for the King to conceal his real identity from the public?

It is at this point that the speculation begins per se.

The most privileged, if not most publicized, hypothesis presents him as being rien d’autre que le frère (none other than the brother) of the “Sun King” himself!

The first champion of this hypothèse was the famous philosopher Voltaire, though he never offered any piece of serious evidence to support it.

The Dumas novel has subsequently inspired several other works and movie adaptations, one of which is Randall Wallace’s (1998), the director of “Braveheart“, “Pearl Harbor”, “We Were Soldiers”, and featuring Leonardo Di Caprio as Louis XIV (as well as his alleged “twin” brother.)

If you wish to better explore this énigme of l’histoire de France (and exercise your French listening skills), here is a documentaire you ought to check (in four parts.)
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8l5t1

Summer Reads Summary (en français, svp!)

Posted by Mr. Transparent 3 Comments

May 27 2010

C’est l’été, et les vacances sont enfin arrivées (It’s the Summer, and the holidays have finally arrived.)
Quel bonheur !

Je remercie aussi Jennie de ses nombreux compliments (I thank her for her many compliments), et je souhaite lui dire ceci: J’aime sincèrement beaucoup tes contributions, elles sont variées (they are varied), très souvent amusantes (very often amusing), et particuliérement informatives (particularly informative). J’espère enfin qu’aux yeux de nos lecteurs, nous formons tous les deux une très bonne équipe. Notre blog deviendra bientôt le meilleur sur la scène internautique francophone !

Maintenant, for today’s post, I found recently several friends of mine telling me how they’re excited to seize the opportunity of the sudden extra free time at their disposal in order to catch up with la lecture de loisir (leisure reading) -as opposed to the force-fed textbook assignments of the school year- and they especially asked me about some good book titles to read en français…

Naturellement, not everyone is necessarily into les classiques, but if you are, and are at a loss as to where to begin, here is a short-list that is meant to help you decide par quel livre entamer vos vacancs d’été (which book to kick-start your Summer holidays), which is in no particular order.

Summer Reads Summary (en français, svp!)* “Le Petit Prince” , by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

* “L’Étranger“, by Albert Camus.

* “Phaedra” by Racine.* “Tartuffe ou L’Imposteur“, “L’École des femmes“, or “Le Bourgeois gentilhomme“, all great works by Molière.“Candide“, by Voltaire.

* “Mémoires d’Outre-Tombe“ (meaning literally “Memoirs from Beyond the Grave”) by François-René de Chateaubriand.

* “Le Rouge et le Noir” (“The Red and the Black”), and “La Chartreuse de Parme” (“The Charterhouse of Parma”), by Stendhal.

* “Madame Bovary“ by Gustave Flaubert.
Here is a famous movie adaptation by Claude Chabrol, with the celebrated actress Isabelle Huppert.
�

* “La Bête humaine“, “Germinal“, or “Aux Bonheur des Dames” (translated as “The Ladies’ Delight”, or “The Ladies’ Paradise”) by Émile Zola.

* “Pierre et Jean“, or “Bel Ami“, by Guy de Maupassant.

* “Notre-Dame de Paris“, or, of course, “Les Misérables“, by Victor Hugo.

* “Pantagruel” or “La vie très horrifique du grand Gargantua” (often known simply as “Gargantua”), by François Rabelais.

* “Eugénie Grandet“, or “Le Père Goriot“, both from Honoré de Balzac’s “La Comédie Divine.“�

* “À la recherche du temps perdu” (“In Search of Lost Time”), or “Du côté de chez Swann“ (“The Way by Swann’s”), by Marcel Proust.

***

Je souhaite une très bonne et agréable lecture à tous nos amis!

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Posts tagged with "Voltaire"

French History Enigma: L’Homme au Masque de Fer (The Man with the Iron Mask)

French Books to Read in the Summer!

Lèche-vitrine (Window-shopping) with Voltaire—A Dangerously “Zadig-stic” Addiction

L’Homme au masque de fer (“Iron Man” pour les “ironiques”)

Summer Reads Summary (en français, svp!)