Charles Dufresny, Sieur de la Rivière (1648 – 6 October 1724) was a French playwright.

Biography

Dufresny was born in Paris. The allegation that his grandfather was an illegitimate son of Henry IV procured him the liberal patronage of

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

, who gave him the post of ''

valet de chambre ''Valet de chambre'' (), or ''varlet de chambre'', was a court appointment introduced in the late Middle Ages, common from the 14th century onwards. Royal households had many persons appointed at any time. While some valets simply waited on t ...

'', and affixed his name to many lucrative privileges. Dufresny's expensive habits neutralized all efforts to enrich him, and as if to furnish a piquant commentary on the proverb that poverty makes us acquainted with strange bedfellows, he married, as his second wife, a washerwoman, in discharge of her bill a whimsicality which supplied

Alain-René Lesage Alain-René Lesage (; 6 May 166817 November 1747; older spelling Le Sage) was a French novelist and playwright. Lesage is best known for his comic novel '' The Devil upon Two Sticks'' (1707, ''Le Diable boiteux''), his comedy ''Turcaret'' (170 ...

with an episode in ''Le Diable boiteux'' (1707), and was made the subject of a comedy by J.-M. Deschamps (''Charles Rivière Dufresny, ou le mariage impromptu''). He died in Paris. His plays, destitute for the most part of all higher qualities, abound in sprightly wit and pithy sayings. In the six volumes of his ''Théatre'' (Paris, 1731), some of the best are ''L'Esprit de contradiction'' (1700), ''Le Double Veuvage'' (1701), ''La Joueuse'' (1709), ''La Coquette de village'' (1715), ''La Réconciliation normande'' (1719) and ''Le Mariage fait et rompu'' (1721). A volume of ''Poésies diverses'', two volumes of ''Nouvelles historiques'' (1692), and ''Les Amusements sérieux et comiques d'un Siamois'' (1705), a work to which

Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (; ; 18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the principa ...

was indebted for the idea of his ''Lettres persanes'', complete the list of Dufresny's writings. The best edition of his works is that of 1747 (4 vols.). His ''Théatre'' was edited (1882) by Georges d'Heylli. His comedies include: *1692: ''L'Opéra de campagne'' *1692: ''Le Négligent'' *1697: ''Les fées, ou Contes de ma mère l'oye'' *1697: ''Le Chevalier joueur'' *1699: ''La Malade sans maladie'' *1699: ''La Noce interrompue'' *1700: ''L'Esprit de contradiction'' *1701: ''Le Double Veuvage'' *1703: ''Le Faux Honnête-Homme'' *1708: ''Le Jaloux honteux'' *1709: ''La Joueuse'' *1715: ''La Coquette de village, ou Le lot supposé'' *1719: ''Le Dédit'' *1719: ''La Réconciliation normande'' *1721: ''Le Mariage fait et rompu, ou l'hôtesse de Marseille'' *1731: ''Le Faux Sincère'' He also wrote short stories: ', ''Le Puits de la vérité, histoire gauloise'' (1698), ''Amusements sérieux et comiques'' (Paris, 1699, in-12, Second edition augmented, 1707)? A great part of his ''Œuvres'' was collected by d'Alençon, in six volumes in 12° (1731, in 4 volumes in-8° corrected 1747, 1779). Auger published his ''Œuvres choisies'' (1801, 2 vol. in-18) and the last edition of his ''Théâtre'' dates back to 1881.

Studies

* ''Les Dominos'', comédie inédite, en un acte, en vers libres publiée par Jean Vic. Paris, Hachette, 1917 * ''Amusements sérieux et comiques'', Éd. Vic, Jean, Paris, Bossard, 1921, Édition originale (1699) Read online
/small>

References

Bibliography

* Jean Vic, ''Les idées de Charles Rivière Dufresny'', 2 volumes, Paris, Hachette, 1916-1917 * Georges Jamati, ''La Querelle du ''Joueur'' ; Regnard et Dufresny'', Paris, Messein, 1936 * François Moureau, ''Dufresny, auteur dramatique : 1657-1724'', Paris Klincksieck, 1979 * François Moureau, ''Le Mercure galant de Dufresny (1710-1714), ou, Le journalisme à la mode'', Oxford Voltaire Foundation at the Taylor Institution, 1982 ()

External links

Charles du Fresny
on data.bnf.fr * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dufresny, Charles, Sieur de la Riviere 1648 births 1724 deaths Writers from Paris French chansonniers 17th-century French dramatists and playwrights 18th-century French dramatists and playwrights 17th-century French poets 18th-century French poets 17th-century French male writers 18th-century French male writers