Lafayette

Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne (Paris, 18 march 1634 - Aldaar, 25 may 1693), also known as Madame de la Fayette ) was a royal French writer. her most known work, La Princesse de Clèves, brought forth a new literary genre: the psychological novel. Her work is considered to be the first published French historic novel. She is widely regarded as one of the best french authoresses of the 17th century.

Works

In 1659, Madame de La Fayette settled in Paris for good. Under a year she would debut as a writer by writing for a publishing house run by Huet and Jean Regnault de Segrais. In 1661, she carried through to completion a novel titled La Princesse de Montpensier, which would eventually be issued a year later under the nom de plume of Segrais. In 1669 the first review about Zaide was released, an adventure story issued again under Segrais' name but which again had probably been co-authored by the striving female writer. The second half of the work was finished in 1671.

Madale de La Fayette's most famous work, La Princesse de Clèves, presumed to have started in 1672, was first issued in march 1678 by someone part of her circle of acquaintances. A narrative from around 1560 based on the court of Henry II tells the life story of the princess of Chartres, whom was limerence-struck by the Duke of Nemours. Since he is a different man than the one to whom she is married, it consitutes one of the first literary accounts of female infidelity and an early example of game dynamics played out in the wild, complete with the whole alpha male and beta male roles played to the hilt. Along with a typical female rationalisation hamster going the predictable path of gravitating towards the man with the perceived higher sexual market.
 
Three more works authored by Madame de La Fayette were eventually issued several years after her death: La Contesse de Tende, Histoire d' Henriette d'Anglaterre and Mémoires de la Cour de France.