Paul et Virginie is a novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 by Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre

Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre

Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre was a French writer and botanist...

, first published in 1787. The novel's title characters are very good friends since birth who fall in love. The story is set in the island of Mauritius

Mauritius

Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...

 under French rule, then named Île de France, which the author had visited.
Written on the eve of the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

, the novel is hailed as Bernardin's finest work. It records the fate of a child of nature corrupted by the false, artificial sentimentality that prevailed at the time among the upper classes of France.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia says of it, "[it is a novel in which] there rises melodiously, as it were, the wail of a moribund world: everywhere wholesome Nature in unequal conflict with diseased, perfidious art; cannot escape from it in the lowest hut, in the remotest island of the sea."This quotation is from Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution, Chapter VIII "Printed Paper": Second last paragraph, Sentence 3

Saint-Pierre attacked the issues of divided social classes present in eighteenth century French society (see Estates general

French States-General

In France under the Old Regime, the States-General or Estates-General , was a legislative assembly of the different classes of French subjects. It had a separate assembly for each of the three estates, which were called and dismissed by the king...

). In Paul et Virginie, Saint-Pierre describes perfect equality occurring on Mauritius, where inhabitants share the same possessions, have equal amounts of land, and all work to cultivate it. They live in harmony, without violence or unrest. These beliefs of Saint-Pierre's echo those of Enlightenment

Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...

 philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...

. Furthermore, Saint-Pierre argues for the emancipation

Emancipation

Emancipation means the act of setting an individual or social group free or making equal to citizens in a political society.Emancipation may also refer to:* Emancipation , a champion Australian thoroughbred racehorse foaled in 1979...

 of slaves; in real life, he was a friend of Mahe de Labourdonnais, the governor of Mauritius who provided training and encouragement for the island's natives. Although Paul and Virginie own slaves, they appreciate their labor and do not treat them badly. When other slaves in the novel are mistreated, the book's heroes confront the cruel masters.

The book also presents an Enlightenment view of religion: that God, or "Providence," had perfectly designed the world to be harmonious and pleasing. The characters of Paul et Virginie live off the land without needing technology or man-made interference. For instance, they tell time by looking at the shadows of the trees. Norman Hampson

Norman Hampson

Norman Hampson was the Professor of History at the University of York from 1974 to 1989. He was born in 1922 and educated at Manchester Grammar School and University College. His service in the Navy from 1941 to 1945 included two years as liaison officer with the Free French Navy...

 mentions that Saint-Pierre’s idea of divine Providence was evident in that he "admired the forethought which ensured that dark-coloured fleas should be conspicuous on white skin", believing "that the earth was designed for man’s terrestrial happiness and convenience".

English author William Hurrell Mallock

William Hurrell Mallock

William Hurrell Mallock was an English novelist and economics writer.-Biography:He was educated privately and then at Balliol College, Oxford. He won the Newdigate prize in 1872 and took a second class in the final classical schools in 1874, securing his Bachelor of Arts degree from Oxford...

 named his 1878 satirical novel The New Paul and Virginia

The New Paul and Virginia

The New Paul and Virginia, or Positivism on an Island is a satirical dystopian novel written by William Hurrell Mallock, and first published in 1878...

after Saint-Pierre's work. Victor Massé

Victor Massé

Victor Massé was a French composer.-Biography:...

wrote a very successful opera on the subject in 1876.

External links

Paul et Virginie, audio version