How you explore The Princess of Cleves on Literah
The cast, the places, the objects, the plot, and the author’s own words — each one a card in a feed you scroll on your phone. One at a time, at your pace, in any order you like.
- Built for your phone. Literah is designed for mobile, so your worlds travel with you. On a laptop it shows a QR code to carry the world to your phone.
- A feed, not a wall of text. 22 characters, 12 places, 9 objects and 7 plot beats, each its own card with its own illustration.
- The author’s own words. 40 passages of The Princess of Cleves sit in the feed verbatim, exactly as Madame de La Fayette wrote them, each with a short reading of what it is doing. The map is ours; the prose is always the book’s.
- The same scroll, a better world. The gesture you already give away to feeds, spent on Madame de La Fayette instead.
The Princess of Cleves feed, as it appears in your mobile
The plot of The Princess of Cleves
The story beat by beat, as Literah maps it.
- The Court of Splendor
- The Marriage
- The Duc de Nemours
- The Stolen Portrait
- The Confession
- Coulommiers and the Prince's Death
- The Final Refusal
The author's pen in The Princess of Cleves
The passages themselves, Madame de La Fayette's own words, as Literah maps it.
- Henry's Unfading Passionch. 1
- The Court's Finest Gracesch. 1
- The Irresistible Duke de Nemoursch. 1
- A Mother's Warnings About Lovech. 1
- The Vigil of Virtuech. 1
- Brought to Courtch. 1
- The Prince's First Astonishmentch. 1
- Her Uneasy Modestych. 1
- The Court Praises Mademoiselle de Chartresch. 1
- A Mother as Friendch. 1
- The Prince of Cleves's Rivalsch. 1
- A Higher Matchch. 1
- Esteem Without Affectionch. 1
- Civility Without Lovech. 1
- A Dance Before Introductionch. 2
- Nemours Sees Only Madame de Clevesch. 2
- A Considerable Impressionch. 2
- A Mother Names the Dangerch. 2
- The Last Farewellch. 2
- She Avoided Himch. 2
The characters of The Princess of Cleves
Who is who, as Literah maps it.
- The Princess of Clevesmajor
- Prince of Clevesmajor
- Duke of Nemoursmajor
- Madame de Chartresmajor
- Queen-Dauphin Mary Stuartsupporting
- King Henry IIsupporting
- Diane de Poitiers, Duchess of Valentinoissupporting
- Chevalier de Guisesupporting
- Viscount de Chartressupporting
- Queen Catherine de Medicisupporting
- Madame, the King's Sistersupporting
- Cardinal of Lorrainesupporting
- Duke of Guisesupporting
- Duke of Neverssupporting
- Monsieur d'Anvillesupporting
- Monsieur de Sancerresupporting
The locations in The Princess of Cleves
Where it happens, as Literah maps it.
- The French Royal Courtcourt
- The Louvre and Royal Apartmentspalace
- The Chartres Householdhousehold
- The Cleves Householdhousehold
- The Queen-Dauphin's Apartmentsroyal apartments
- Court Ball and Festival Spacesceremonial hall
- Tournament Groundstournament field
- Royal Tennis Courtsporting venue
- Coulommierscountry estate
- Coulommiers Garden Paviliongarden pavilion
- The Italian Jeweler's Housemerchant house
- Fontainebleauroyal residence
The core concepts in The Princess of Cleves
What the book keeps returning to, as Literah maps it.
- Virtue requires distrust of the self
- Courtly visibility turns private feeling into evidence
- Honorable marriage cannot create reciprocal love
- Desire begins by watching and becomes dangerous when it is watched
- Honesty can be morally noble and emotionally destructive
- Reputation cannot prove inward truth
- Objects carry desire more safely than speech, until they betray it
- Renunciation becomes a form of power rather than defeat
The objects of note in The Princess of Cleves
The things that carry meaning, as Literah maps it.
- The Princess's Portrait
- Letters and Written Communications
- Jewels and Court Adornments
- Marriage Arrangements and Contracts
- Nemours's Cane and Tournament Ribbons
- Miniature Court Portraits
- The King's Ring to Diane de Poitiers
- Masquerade Dress
- The Siege of Metz Picture
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This collection includes The Princess of Cleves, along with Wuthering Heights, Anna Karenina, Romeo and Juliet, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Age of Innocence and The Sorrows of Young Werther.
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This collection includes The Princess of Cleves, along with Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Frankenstein, Little Women, Middlemarch, My Ántonia, North and South, The Age of Innocence, The Awakening and The Tale of Genji.
Counts in full toward the library. See the collection · Give it as a gift
This collection includes The Princess of Cleves, along with Les Misérables, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, Madame Bovary, Notre-Dame de Paris, Father Goriot, Germinal, Salammbô and The Red and the Black.
Counts in full toward the library. See the collection · Give it as a gift
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