SOURCE: "Lesage—Marivaux—Prévost," in A Literary History of France: The Eighteenth Century, 1715-1789, Ernest Benn Limited, 1970, pp. 78-119.

In the following excerpt, Niklaus analyzes the evolution of Lesage's writings in relation to events in his life, contending that the author "recorded faithfully and in a straightforward, incisive manner his own … experience; the picture of his times which he gives us may be over-dramatised, yet it strikes one as exceptionally vivid, illuminating, basically accurate, and often penetrating."

Alain-René Lesage was born on 8 May 1668 at Sarzeau, near Vannes, in Brittany, and he retained many Breton characteristics, including a love of independence that led him to accept poverty rather than to forfeit his freedom of action and his integrity. He was the only son of Claude Lesage, barrister, solicitor, and recorder of the royal court of Rhuis, who died in 1682; since his mother, Damoiselle Jeanne Brenugat, had died in...