Editing Pierre de Marivaux (section)

==Life==
Marivaux's father was a [[Normandy|Norman]] financier whose name from birth was Carlet, but who assumed the surname of Chamblain, and then that of Marivaux.  He brought up his family in [[Limoges]] and [[Riom]], in the province of [[Auvergne (province)|Auvergne]], where he directed the mint.<ref name=EB1911/>

Marivaux is said to have written his first play, the ''Père prudent et équitable'', when he was only eighteen, but it was not published until 1712, when he was twenty-four. However, the young Marivaux concentrated more on writing novels than plays. In the three years from 1713 to 1715 he produced three novels – ''Effets surprenants de la sympathie''; ''La Voiture embourbée'', and a book which had three titles – ''Pharsamon'', ''Les Folies romanesques'', and ''Le Don Quichotte moderne''. These books are very different from his later, more famous pieces: they are inspired by Spanish romances and the heroic novels of the preceding century, with a certain mixture of the marvelous.<ref name=EB1911/>

Then Marivaux's literary ardour entered a new phase. He parodied [[Homer]] to serve the cause of [[Antoine Houdar de La Motte]], (1672–1731) an ingenious paradoxer; Marivaux had already done something similar for [[François Fénelon]], whose ''Telemachus'' he parodied and updated as ''Le Telemaque travesti'' (written in 1714 but not published until 1736). His friendship with Antoine Houdar de La Motte introduced him to the ''Mercure'', the chief newspaper of France, and he started writing articles for it in 1717.  His work was noted for its keen observation and literary skill. His work showed the first signs of what is now called "marivaudage," the flirtatious bantering tone characteristic of Marivaux's dialogues.<ref name=EB1911/> In 1742 he became acquainted with the then-unknown [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]], helping him revise a play, ''Narcissus,'' though it wasn't produced till long afterwards.<ref>{{cite book|title=Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Restless Genius|author=Leo Damrosch|year=2007|publisher=Mariner Books}}</ref>

Marivaux is reputed to have been a witty conversationalist, with a somewhat contradictory personality. He was extremely good-natured but fond of saying very severe things, unhesitating in his acceptance of favours (he drew a regular annuity from [[Claude Adrien Helvétius]]) but exceedingly touchy if he thought himself in any way slighted. At the same time, he was a great cultivator of sensibility and unsparingly criticized the rising ''philosophes''. Perhaps for this reason, [[Voltaire]] became his enemy and often disparaged him. Marivaux's friends included Helvétius, [[Claudine Guérin de Tencin]], [[Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle]] and even [[Madame de Pompadour]] (who allegedly provided him with a pension).  Marivaux had one daughter, who became a nun; the duke of Orleans, the regent's successor, furnished her with her dowry.<ref name=EB1911/>