SOURCE: “Sun, Veil and Maze: Mlle de Scudéry's Parthenie” in Papers on French Seventeenth Century Literature, Vol. XX, No. 38, 1993, pp. 97-111.

In the following essay, Capasso analyzes the character of Parthenie in Artamène, utilizing techniques derived from “constructivist” psychology, an approach, she maintains, that approximates seventeenth-century understanding of character.

Mlle de Scudéry is best known for her analyses of love in the abstract, as illustrated by the famous “Carte du Tendre,” and for her creation of certain famous characters or types, such as Sapho and Mandane in Artamène. Yet her work in creating individual characters and tracing their psychology has not received the attention it deserves. Y. Fukui writes: “un autre apport de Madeleine de Scudéry est l'intérêt qu'elle porte aux analyses psychologiques. Ses dissertations sur le cœur de l'homme furent une des premières tentatives sérieuses de psychologie...