The Nuttall Encyclopedia

1. La Fayette, Madame de

   novelist, born in Paris; is credited with being the originator of the class of fiction in which character and its analysis are held of chief account; she was the daughter of the governor of Havre, and contracted a Platonic affection for La Rochefoucauld in his old age, and was besides on intimate terms with Madame Sévigné and the most eminent literary men of the time; her "Princess de Clèves" is a classic work, and the merit of it is enhanced by the reflection that it preceded by nearly half a century the works both of Le Sage and Defoe (1634-1693).