Reading Order
Le Jeu de l'amour et du hasard Reading Order
Le Jeu de l'amour et du hasard (1730) by Pierre de Marivaux is the perfect expression of 'marivaudage' — the delicate and witty exploration of nascent love, amour-propre, and social class that made Marivaux the supreme French comic playwright of the 18th century and the true heir of Molière for the Comédie-Italienne. The play's premise is a double disguise: Silvia decides to observe her future husband (Dorante, whom she has never met) in secret by exchanging places with her maid Lisette; unknown to her, Dorante has had the same idea and exchanged places with his valet Arlequin; master and mistress, valet and maid meet each other in disguise. The plot's mechanism produces a perfect comic trap: Silvia falls in love with who she thinks is a valet (actually Dorante) and is horrified at herself; Dorante falls in love with who he thinks is a maid (actually Silvia) and is equally horrified. The play is not primarily about the resolution of the disguise but about the psychology of this moment — the pride that fights against desire, the class feeling that struggles with love, the self-deception through which the characters avoid acknowledging what they feel. Marivaux is the dramatist of the moment before the declaration — the entire play takes place in the psychological interval between feeling love and acknowledging it.
Where to start
Le Jeu de l'amour et du hasard is short (three acts, easily read in one sitting) and is the best single-play entry into Marivaux. Then read La Double inconstance (1723) and Les Fausses confidences (1737) — the three plays together give the full range of the marivaudage. For Marivaux's prose, La Vie de Marianne (1731–1742) and Le Paysan parvenu (1734–1735) are the great novels, far more ambitious but in the same psychological register.
Complete Le Jeu de l'amour et du hasard Book List
- 1Buy
Le Jeu de l'amour et du hasard
Marivaux·1730·The masterpiece — Silvia and Dorante, Lisette and Arlequin; the double disguise; the moment before the declaration; the perfect marivaudage - 2Buy
La Double inconstance
Marivaux·1723·The early masterpiece — the prince removes Arlequin from his village love Silvia; the analysis of how a court education changes a person; darker than Le Jeu - 3Buy
Les Fausses confidences
Marivaux·1737·The late masterpiece — Dubois engineers Araminte's love for Dorante through a series of manufactured confessions; the most sophisticated plot mechanism in Marivaux; the closest to intrigue comedy - 4Buy
La Vie de Marianne
Marivaux·1742·The great novel — Marianne's account of her rise from unknown orphan to comtesse; the novelistic extension of the marivaudage psychological analysis across eleven volumes - 5Buy
L'Île des esclaves
Marivaux·1725·The utopian play — masters and slaves exchange roles on an island of escaped slaves; the analysis of class and power through the social experiment of inversion; the most politically explicit Marivaux
Le Jeu de l'amour et du hasard — Frequently Asked Questions
What is "marivaudage"?
Marivaudage is the style associated with Marivaux — the delicate, witty, psychologically precise language through which his characters half-reveal and half-conceal nascent love; the term was coined by his contemporaries as a criticism (too precious, too subtle) but has become a term of praise for psychological finesse in dialogue.
Why does Silvia keep her disguise after she has recognized Dorante?
Silvia keeps the disguise because she wants Dorante to declare his love for her as a maid — to prove that his love transcends class prejudice; the third act is entirely about her pride requiring this proof before she will admit her own feelings; the disguise becomes an instrument of psychological verification.
How does Marivaux differ from Molière?
Molière's comic theatre is satirical — it targets social vices (hypocrisy, avarice, misanthropy) through exposure and ridicule. Marivaux's theatre is psychological — it observes the micro-movements of nascent love and amour-propre without satire; there are no villains in Marivaux, only people fighting their own feelings.
What is the role of the servants in Marivaux?
The valets and maids (Arlequin, Lisette, Dubois) in Marivaux are not comic foils but psychologically intelligent observers who often understand the masters' feelings before the masters do; the servant-master disguise reveals that class is a social performance rather than a natural distinction.
What is the Italian connection in Marivaux?
Marivaux wrote most of his plays for the Comédie-Italienne rather than the Comédie-Française — the Italian company performed commedia dell'arte and its descendants; Arlequin, the commedia character, appears in many Marivaux plays and the improvisatory, physical energy of the Italian tradition shapes the Marivaux style.
Monthly Newsletter
Never miss a big release
Get the most anticipated upcoming books delivered to your inbox once a month — no spam, no filler.
Monthly only. Unsubscribe anytime.
Book links are Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, BookReleaseRadar earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.