The bitter thrill of the end. A reading of “Point de lendemain”
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.6093/sigma.v0i5.8765Keywords:
Denon, Point de lendemain, moment, libertinism, post-enlightenment meloncholyAbstract
Published in 1777 and then in 1812, Point de lendemain has been compared for its general tone, the materialist hedonism which permeates it and the narrative structure that complies with rigorous eighteenth-century modalities, to the works of Crébillon, Dorat, Nerciat, and Duclos, which euphorically solemnize the moment, the instant that propitiates the triumph of senses and ensures bonheur.
Starting from the analysis of its textual elements, this article claims that the awareness of the unrepeatability of the moment engenders a pleasure whose nature differs completely from the one that emerges in libertine novels. This melancholic pleasure places this work in a literary space that borders late eighteenth-century euphoric libertinism and post-revolution Romantic melancholy and that will significantly acquire a tragic tinge in Balzac’s Les Chouans.
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