BOILEAU-DESPRÉAUX, NICOLAS (1636–1711)

BOILEAU-DESPRÉAUX, NICOLAS (1636–1711), French satirist, poet and poetic theoretician. Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux was the fifteenth child of a Parisian government scribe and the younger brother of Gilles Boileau (1631–1669), also a poet (the family possession of Despréaux was often added to Nicolas's name to distinguish him from Gilles). Destined for either the law or the church, he found his talent lay in writing verse mocking societal ills and the popular writers of the time. The publication of the Satires in 1666 established his literary reputation, and his acceptance in the circle of President Lamoignon, the leader of the Parisian Parlement, gave him proper social status. He recognized early the talents of newer writers, such as Molière (1622–1673), Jean Baptiste Racine (1639–1699), and Jean de La Fontaine (1621–1695), who became his friends. As was typical in his age, he dismissed authors from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Wishing not only to follow Horatian poetic theory but to become the French Horace, he turned to writing poetic epistles and a verse L'art poétique (Art of poetry), which were published in 1674. In the same volume of collected works were a six-canto, mock-heroic poem "The Lectern" and a prose translation into French of the "Treatise on the Sublime" by the Greek theoretician Longinus (which some claimed was made by his brother Gilles, who had died in 1669). Apart from a few satires and epistles written later in his life, his literary production was limited to the 1660s and 1670s.

In 1677 Boileau and Racine became historiographers to Louis XIV. This was more an honorary title than a writing task, but both accompanied the king on some military campaigns. Elected to the French Academy in 1684, Boileau championed the ancients' cause in opposition to Charles Perrault (1628–1703). In the final decade of his life, having survived most of his fellow classical authors, he refined the exaggerated image of himself, which lasted for two centuries, as the Regent of Parnassus, whose rules defined good literary taste and maintained the aesthetic movement of French classicism.

His most popular and influential satires describe scenes from contemporary life (III, "The Ridiculous Meal" and VI, "The Obstacles of Paris") or literary critiques (II, "To Molière"; VII, "The Satiric Genre"; and IX, "To My Wit") which combine subjects and approaches from Horace (65–8 B.C.E.), Juvenal (c. 60–140 C.E.), and Mathurin Régnier (1573–1613). First read aloud in cabarets and literary gatherings, with different satiric targets substituted to fit the moment, Boileau's satires display oral techniques with a striking opening, rapid narration of events, and variety of verbal techniques to keep the crowd listening and laughing. With a bit of reported conversation and picturesque detail, the scene comes alive. His subject matter is bourgeois, whether people, places or concepts; he mocks baroque excess, exaggerated gallantry, and precious expression, but not the aristocracy. The epistles, which complement the satires by their moral and didactic intent of praising laudable people and actions, were not nearly as popular. Of interest, however, and concisely expressed, is "Epistle VII, To Racine."

In his masterpiece, The Art of Poetry, Boileau distinguishes himself not by the theoretical argument of the content, but by the witty, succinct phrases that summarize concepts examined previously by others. Added to this are several satiric passages that ridicule those authors whose bad taste or poor judgment led them to stray from the ideals of order, simplicity, and reason. In the first of four cantos, general principles of versification and clarity of expression are developed, and the useful service a poet's honest friend and critic can provide are described. The second canto provides the guidelines for the lesser genres, such as ode, elegy, satire, and sonnet. The third canto presents rules for writing the major poetic genres: tragedy, epic, and comedy. The well-known classical principle of the three dramatic unities (time, place, and action) is stated in a memorable couplet. The final canto is general in scope, moving from satire of Perrault to praise for the king, who encourages poetry and civilized discourse.

In one of his last works, "Satire XII, On the Love of God" (1698), Boileau reveals a preference for the simplicity and rigor of Jansenism as he chastises the ambiguities and subtleties cherished by the Jesuits. In both this world and the next, he sought the order and harmony obtained by an adherence to doctrine.

Revered in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries only to be reviled in the twentieth, Boileau's influence and importance have more recently been placed between these two extremes, in a classical "just middle" that recognizes the technical skill of his poetic ability and the role of the Art of Poetry as a commentary on, not a cause of, French classicism.

BOILEAU-DESPRÉAUX, NICOLAS (1636–1711)

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