Essays and Research Papers on French Literature

A 5 page essay that examines Voltaire's Candide and argues that despite the negativity in Voltaire's famous satire, this work is still representative of the optimism of the Enlightenment. No additional sources cited.

This 5 page report discusses Voltaire’s famous work “Candide” ad addresses how experience repeatedly proves itself to be the greatest of teachers. Candide discovers that fact time and time again. Voltaire is constantly showing his readers, through the adventures and misfortunes of Candide, the good and the evil of the world, the compassionate and the cruel. Bibliography lists only the primary ...

A 5 page paper which analyzes the short story "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant. Bibliography lists 6 additional sources.

This 5 page paper supports the assumption that Orgon's brother Cleante uses common sense. The concept of reason and how it is depicted in the work is also explored. The play is discussed in general and the characters are evaluated. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

This 6 page paper considers this work, summarizing the story and considering the structure and meaning of the play. The writer uses quotes to illustrate the points raised. The bibliography cites 5 sources.

This 5 page report discusses Jean Paul Sartre’s short story, “The Wall,” which takes place during the 1930s in the era of the Spanish Civil War. Three men are arrested, placed on trial, and sentenced to death for rather nebulous political reasons. The authorities are prepared to execute people for little or no reason whatsoever, and this lack of causality -- ...

This 4 page paper examines and supports Hugo's main theme, which is that the wrong kind of love can be destructive, and things are not as they appear. No additional sources cited.

A paper which looks in detail at the philosophical elements of Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus, and considers the way in which Camus relates the mythical tale to the human condition, in terms of Sisyphus’ perception of the absurdity of his situation and the way in which he has defeated the gods through his ...

A 5 page paper which compares Marx and Engels' "Communist Manifesto" and Voltaire's "Candide." Bibliography lists 3 additional sources.

A 5 page paper which examines the Surrealist philosopher’s bizarre autobiographical text. No additional sources are used.

A 5 page research paper that explores the metaphysical position of Bataille, the way he saw sex, death and religious experience as interconnected. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

A 6 page discussion of the differences in these author’s character portrayals of the young Antigone in the classic play “Antigone”, first written by Sophocles then by French playwright Jean Anouilh. The author of this paper contends that Antigone was shaped by the characters around her, particularly Creon and that this shaping was somewhat ...

A 5 page paper which examines the classic 1873 fantasy, along descriptions of main characters Phileas Fogg, Jean Passepartout and Detective Fix. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

A five page paper which looks at the way the concept of the outsider is treated in Woolf's 'Mrs Dalloway', Steinbeck's 'East of Eden' and Camus's 'The Outsider'. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

A 5 page paper which discusses the roles of women in Sartre's "Les Mains Sales" and Camus'' "Les Justes." Bibliography lists 4 additional sources.

A 7 page essay that discusses how Moliere in Tartuffe and Voltaire in Candide utilized comedy in order to criticize social and political conventions of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

5 pages. The interesting beginning of comedy is the topic of this paper. During the time of King Louis XIV comedy was born. Up until then the tragedy was the main theme of stage productions. This paper will trace the history and development of comedy in the Renaissance time as compared to now, ...

A 6 page essay that analyzes nineteenth century French author Benjamin Constant's novel Adolphe. The writer argues that this novel captures the ambiguities pertaining to masculinity that were inherent in social code of French nineteenth century aristocracy. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

A 5 page essay that analyzes Marie de Lafayette's The Princess of Cleves, a seventeenth century novel that depicts a heroine's struggle to remain loyal, good and true to her husband, even though she is madly in love with another man. The writer discusses whether or not the ending the novel, when the Princess rejects ...

A 5 page paper which discusses the role and the importance of the character of Father Paneloux in Albert Camus' "The Plague." No additional sources cited.

A 9 page essay/analysis of the final passage from Honore de Balzac's Le Pere Goriot. The writer, first, places this passage within the context of the novel, and then thoroughly discusses the technique, style, tone and structure of this passage. No additional sources cited.

This 6 page report discusses François de La Rochefoucauld (1613-80) and Blaise Pascal (1623-62) who were both French, brilliant, and thoroughly involved in what has come to be thought of as the moralist tradition. Each was interested in the nature of human beings and human interaction. Each saw that social realities were of a far ...

A 5 page literary critique of “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

A paper which considers the concepts of loyalty and fidelity in Flaubert's 'Madame Bovary', particularly in relation to the character of Emma herself and her interactions with the other characters in the novel. Bibliography lists 1 source.

A 5 page paper which examines the differences in the witnessing of the events, as presented in the first portion of the book, and the trial’s presentation of the truth in Albert Camus’ “The Stranger.” No additional sources cited.