The scene of Marianne is laid in aristocratic circles, while that of the Paysan presents to us the bourgeoisie and the world of finance.  Though there are many differences between these two novels, there are likewise many points of similarity.  We have to do with the same cunning observer, and with one who did not consider the common people beneath his notice.  Marivaux has in his style of description many traits of the realist, as we understand the term to-day.  Witness the quarrel of the linen dealer and the cabman in Marianne, of which Grimm writes as follows:  “On est excede, par exemple, de cette querelle de la lingere et du fiacre, dans la Marianne de M. de Marivaux:  rien n’est mieux rendu d’apres nature, et d’un gout plus detestable que le tableau que je cite."[95]

Another trait common to Marianne and le Paysan parvenu, and indeed in a degree to all of his writings, is his detestation of false piety and his attack upon hypocrisy in all its forms, whether in the person of M. de Climal, M. Doucin or Mlle. Habert ainee; but, while false devotion was constantly the object of his most bitter hatred, his attitude toward true religion was noteworthy, especially for the time in which he lived.  “A Dieu ne plaise qu’on me soupconne d’avoir, un seul instant de ma vie, doute de ce que nous dit cette religion,"[96] he exclaims through the lips of one of his characters.

His whole nature, his kindliness, his compassion for human suffering, his hope for the ultimate welfare of all, inclined him to a kindly dogmatism, which included even those unbelievers “qui ont beau faire, pour s’etourdir sur l’autre monde, et qui finiront par etre sauves malgre eux."[97] “La religion, disait-il, est la ressource du malheureux, quelquefois meme celle du philosophe; n’enlevons pas a la pauvre espece humaine cette consolation, que la Providence divine lui a menagee."[98] He had a distinct dislike for philosophical arguments in refutation of things spiritual, and one day on being asked as to what he considered the nature of the soul, he replied, “Je sais qu’elle est spirituelle et immortelle, et je n’en sais rien de plus “; and when it was suggested to refer the discussion to Fontenelle, with his characteristic readiness of speech retorted, “Il a trop d’esprit pour en savoir la-dessus plus que moi."[99]

If Marivaux was preeminently admired in England for his Spectateur, he was scarcely less so for his novels; there is no doubt that Marianne inspired Richardson’s Pamela and Clarissa Harlowe, and that le Paysan parvenu had its influence upon Fielding’s Joseph Andrews and Tom Jones.[100]