French Literature Reviews - 2026
É. Leborgne, Figures de l'imaginaire dans le Cleveland de Prévost.
Novel and Narrative Prose
Erik Leborgne
Figures de l’imaginaire dans le Cleveland de Prévost
Desjonquères, coll. « L’Esprit des Lettres », 2006.
296 p.
ISBN : 2 84321 088 7
EUR : 22
Le Philosophe anglais ou Histoire de M. Cleveland stands as a monumental 18th-century novel, on a par with Persian Letters or Julie, or the New Heloise. Upon discovering its baths of blood and tears, its subterranean realms and islands, its extraordinary misfortunes and horrific scenes, Prévost's contemporaries could not help but wonder: "What dark and fierce imagination conceived this novel?" Yet this imaginative world possesses its own deep coherence: this study explores it through a descent into the caverns of the mind and the heart. Furthermore, this exploration offers a reassessment of the work's philosophical dimension, wherein Prévost addresses the major religious, political, philosophical, and anthropological questions of his era, with a particular focus on religious persecution and the tyranny of conscience.
Table of Contents
Author's Note
Prologue: The Man of Quality's Anxious Dream
Chapter I: Exploring the Cavern
Chapter II: On the Uses of Philosophy
Chapter III: On History
Chapter IV: On Anthropology
Chapter V: On the Family
Chapter VI: Cleveland and His Doubles
Chapter VII: On Women
Epilogue
Index of Characters and Authors
Critical Bibliography on Cleveland
Summary
The 18th-century French novel is often characterized by its engagement with the burgeoning philosophical debates of the Enlightenment. Works such as Le Philosophe anglais reflect a period where narrative prose served as a vehicle for exploring human nature, social structures, and the limits of individual reason. By examining the interplay between plot developments and the underlying intellectual framework of the text, scholars seek to uncover how authors of this era navigated the tensions between subjective experience and the rationalist aspirations of their time.
This study focuses on the internal coherence of the imaginative landscape within Le Philosophe anglais, addressing questions of religious persecution, political authority, and the tyranny of conscience. The text investigates the novel's treatment of anthropology, family dynamics, and the role of the double, situating Prévost’s work within 18th-century philosophical and moral inquiry. Readers interested in the evolution of the French novel and the intersection of narrative fiction with the intellectual history of the Enlightenment may find this exploration of the text's thematic depth relevant.