Although this characterization by Marmontel may be true, too much must not be attributed to self-conceit, for Marivaux was rather timid and suspicious of himself at heart than self-conceited, and this very lack of confidence, this desire to please and to be thought well of, which caused him, at times, to emphasize before his friends his own worth, is a key to his nature, without which it would be difficult to understand him.  This timidity of his explains his fear of being duped by the ingenue of Limoges, as well as his mistrust of the man who made rough draughts of his letters, instead of writing them off-hand.  That Marivaux was over-sensitive we must agree, for, although the testimony of his contemporaries may be somewhat biased by jealousy, it is too overwhelmingly unanimous to be gainsaid.[27]

We cannot conclude, however, despite the testimony of Grimm, whose caustic tongue was none too chary of his friends, that intercourse with Marivaux was “epineux et insupportable,” for, were it so, he never would have been so cordially welcomed into society as he was, for which, according to the abbe de La Porte, he possessed all the qualities required, “an exact honesty, a noble disinterestedness,... a pleasing candour, a charitable soul, a modesty without affectation and without pretense, an extremely sensitive courtesy, and the most scrupulous attention to avoid whatever might offend or displease."[28]

A brilliant conversationalist, Marivaux excelled in the quality, no less rare, of being a good listener, and never gave way to “that distraction which always wounds when it does not provoke laughter."[29]

The following incident[30] will serve to illustrate the extreme sensitiveness of Marivaux.  He had confided to Mme. Geoffrin a certain grievance against Marmontel.  She, in turn, spoke to the latter of the fancied slight, although she assured him that, even in his complaints, Marivaux spoke only well of him, a small matter, but one that proves the nobility of our author’s nature.  When the occasion presented itself, Marmontel asked for an explanation of his grievance, and, with some difficulty, elicited the following reply:  “Have you forgotten that at the house of Mme. du Bocage, one evening, being seated near Mme. de Villaumont, you both kept looking at me and laughing, while whispering together?  Assuredly you were laughing at me, and I do not know why, for on that day I was no more ridiculous than usual.”  Upon an assurance from Marmontel that he was not the object of their amusement, he declared that he believed him, but it is doubtful whether he ever quite forgave him or forgot the fact.

This habit of suspiciousness grew upon Marivaux with age; but we must return to his early years at Paris and to his first literary attempts, after this long digression, which has served, I hope, to give something of an idea of the milieu in which he moved, and of the influences at work upon the formation of his talent.