Simulation and dissimulation in the heroine-narrator of Marivaux's Life of Marianne

This paper analyzes the forms and effects of simulation and dissimulation in Marivaux's novel The Life of Marianne, or the Adventures of the Countess of *** (La Vie de Marianne, 1731-42). In the diegesis, young Marianne is a dissembler inclined to playacting on the world stage. She often acts coquettishly, easily manipulates some of her interlocutors, and gives in to romantic storytelling when fantasizing about her origins. In keeping with such a trend, the autodiegetic narrator also resorts to dissimulation and duplicity. She tells readers a partial tale of her youth, which is both biased and incomplete. Some events in her past are concealed, or glossed over. Through a deft handling of rhetoric, she truly makes her life story, written for her friend the Marquise, a literary act of seduction. As a result, an ambiguous relationship develops between the reader and the narrating heroine, which keeps oscillating between secret understanding and critical distance.

Keywords: simulation; dissimulation; duplicity; novel; Marivaux