Crossword Dictionary
Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée, (born Sept. 28, 1803, Paris—died Sept. 23, 1870, Cannes, Fr.), French dramatist, historian, archaeologist, and master of the short story whose works—Romantic in theme but Classical and controlled in style—were a renewal of Classicism in a Romantic age.
Of a cultured, middle-class Norman background, Mérimée first studied law but was more devoted to learning the Greek, Spanish, English, and Russian languages and their literatures. At 19 he wrote his first play, Cromwell (1822); his close friend the novelist Stendhal encouraged him in this literary direction.
A collection of his plays, Le Théâtre de Clara Gazul, appeared in 1825. Indulging his taste for mystification, he presented them as translations by a certain Joseph L’Estrange of the work of a Spanish actress. His next hoax was La Guzla (1827), by “Hyacinthe Maglanowich,†ballads about murder, revenge, and vampires, supposedly translated from the Illyrian. Both works deceived even scholars of the day.
Mérimée’s passions were mysticism, history, and the unusual. Inspired by the vogue for historical fiction established by Sir Walter Scott, he wrote La Jacquerie (1828), 36 dramatic scenes about a peasant insurrection in feudal times, and the novel La Chronique du temps de Charles IX (1829), concerning French court life during war and peace.
Mérimée’s short stories best illustrate his imagination and sombre temperament; many are mysteries, of foreign inspiration and local colour. Spain and Russia were his principal literary sources; he was the first interpreter of Russian literature in France. Pushkin was his master, especially for his themes of violence and cruelty and the human psychology behind them. In one of his best known stories, “Mateo Falcone†(1833), a father kills a son for betraying the family honour.