Marivaux, << ma ree VOH, >> Pierre (1688-1763), was a French playwright and novelist. His novels and some of his plays deal with the rising middle class, which was slowly replacing the nobility as the ruling social force in France. Many of his plays offer subtle analysis of the psychology of love.
Marivaux is best known for his comedies. His originality lies in his basing them on the birth of love and its struggle against the individual’s pride. His heroines are elegant, intellectual, and cunning, and their speech is delicate and refined. His comedies include The Double Inconstancy (1723), The Game of Love and Chance (1730), and The False Confessions (1737). His two unfinished novels, The Life of Marianne (1731-1741) and The Successful Peasant (1735-1736), were among the first French novels to give a realistic picture of the middle class. Marivaux was born Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux in Paris on Feb. 4, 1688. He died on Feb. 12, 1763.
