Atala and Rene
eBook - PDF

Atala and Rene

François-René de Chateaubriand

Share book
  1. 128 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Atala and Rene

François-René de Chateaubriand

Book details
Book preview
Table of contents
Citations

About This Book

Chateaubriand was the giant of French literature in the early nineteenth century. Drawing on eighteenth-century English romanticists, on explorers in America, and on Goethe's Werther, he had a profound effect on French writers from Victor Hugo and Lamartine to George Sand and Flaubert. A quixotic and paradoxical personality, he combined impressive careers as a brilliant prose-poet, a spiritual guide, a high-ranking diplomat, and an enterprising lover. Atala and René are his two best-known works, reflecting not only his own joys, aspirations, and despair, but the emerging tastes of a new literary era. Atala is the passionate and tragic love story of a young Indian couple wandering in the wilderness, enthralled by the beauties of nature, drawn to a revivified Christianity by its esthetic charm and consoling beneficence, and finally succumbing to the cruelty of fate. Perhaps even more than Werther or Childe Harold, René embodies the romantic hero, and is not wholly foreign to the disorientation of youth today. Solitary, mysterious, ardent, and poetic, he is in open revolt against a society whose values he rejects. Withough question this archetype played a large part in determining the course of French literature up to the 1850's.

Frequently asked questions

How do I cancel my subscription?
Simply head over to the account section in settings and click on “Cancel Subscription” - it’s as simple as that. After you cancel, your membership will stay active for the remainder of the time you’ve paid for. Learn more here.
Can/how do I download books?
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
What is the difference between the pricing plans?
Both plans give you full access to the library and all of Perlego’s features. The only differences are the price and subscription period: With the annual plan you’ll save around 30% compared to 12 months on the monthly plan.
What is Perlego?
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Do you support text-to-speech?
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Is Atala and Rene an online PDF/ePUB?
Yes, you can access Atala and Rene by François-René de Chateaubriand in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Littérature & Critique littéraire européenne. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

122
Notes
attitude:
the
aspiración
to
something
superior
to
life
on 
the 
one
hand,
and
the
desire
for 
the
pleasures
of
life
on 
the
other.
Page
98. 
/
was
no
more
than
a
traveler.
This
feeling 
that
the
earth
is 
a
place
of
exile
was
soon
to
become
common
among
the
romantics.
Lamartine,
íor
instance, 
expresses
it 
in
Solitude
(L'Isolement)
and
God
(Dieu).
Page
98.
Alas!
was
alone.
This
paragraph
is 
a
concise
rendition
o£ 
the
romantic
malady,
the
French 
"mal
du
siécle"
or
"ennui."
Byron
describes
it
as
"that
settled 
ceaseless
gloom...
That
will
not
look
beyond
the
tomb,
But
cannot
hope
for
rest
before."
Page
98. 
/
resolved
to
give
up
my
life.
Chateaubriand
tells
us
that
he 
had
tried
to
take
his
life
in 
his
youth,
but 
the
gun
failed
to 
go
ofE.
"I
assumed
that
my
time
had 
not 
yet
come,
and
I
postponed
putting
my
plan
into
effect
until
another
day."
Page
99.
The 
final
moments
of
my
existence.
Werther
had
gone
about
his
suicide
with
this 
same 
delibérate 
calmness.
Page
loz.
The
world
has
nothing
...
worthy
of
you.
Similarly
Átala
at
iirst 
rejoices
in 
the
unfortunate 
situation
her
mother
has
created
because
she
sees
all
about
her
only
unworthy
people.
In 
his
Memoirs
Chateaubriand
writes:
"A
hidden
instinct
warned
me
that,
as 
I
went
forth
in 
the
world,
I
would
find
nothing
I
sought."
Page 
102.
Better
to
resemble
ordinary
men.
The
author
says
of
himself
in
the
Memoirs:
"Had
I
been 
more
like
other 
men,
I
should 
nave 
been
happier.
If,
without
robbing
me 
of 
my
intelligence,
someone
had
succeeded
in
killing
my
so-called
talent,
he
would
have
treated
me 
as 
a
friend."
Werther,
too,
laments:
"Gracious
Providence
...
why
didst 
thou
not
withhold
some
of
those
blessings
I
possess,
and
substitute
in
their
place
a
feeling
of
self-
confidence
and
contentraent?"
(October 
20.)
Page 
104.
A
last
farewell.
This
is
based
on 
an
actual
visit
of
Chateaubriand
to
Combourg;
he 
saw 
the
oíd
cháteau 
again
in
1791
before 
leaving
for
America,
and
once 
more
around
1801, 
before
publishing
Rene.
At
this 
latter
date
the
Revolution
had
already 
occurred,
and
this
may
explain
the
aban-
doned
condition
of 
the
cháteau.
Page 
106.
So
beautiful
was 
she
...
flowers 
and
aromas.
When 
Chateau-
briand
was
twelve
years
oíd,
he 
had
witnessed
a
cousin
of 
his
taking
the
veil.
This
probably
left
a
deep
impression
on
him.
Page
109.
Satisfaction
in 
the
fullness
of 
my
anguish.
Expressions
such
as
these
(cf.
"cherished
melancholy"
and
"sorrow
cióse 
akin
to
joy")
are 
too
significant
to 
be
mere 
literary 
paradoxes;
in 
the
Memoirs,
too, 
Chateau-
briand 
speaks
of
"this 
sadness 
which
has
been
my
torment
and 
my
felicity."
Page 
113.
Why,
what
a
shame.
The
same 
type
of
reproval 
condueles
Adolphe:
"I
hate
that 
type
of
vanity 
which
is
concerned 
with 
itself
while
telling
of 
the
harm
it 
has
done,
which
means
to
draw 
pity
by
describing
itself,
and
which,
hovering 
invulnerable
amidst
the
ruins,
analyzes
itself
iristead
of
repenting."
Page
114.
A
rock
.
..in
the
setting
sun.
This
last 
evocative 
picture 
again
represcnts
one 
of 
the
author's 
personal 
postures.
In 
the
Memoirs
he
writes:
"North
of 
the
cháteau 
stretched
a
plain
strewn 
with 
druidic 
rocks;
I
would
go
off
and 
sit 
on 
one 
of
these
in 
the
setting 
sun.
The
gilded 
summit
of 
the
woods,
the
splendor
of 
the
earth
and 
the
evening 
star
twinkling
through
the
pink
clouds 
brought
me
back
to 
my
dreams..."

Table of contents