Abstract
M.A. (French)
This study examines the Comptes amoureux, Le Printemps and L'Esté, three frame novels of the sixteenth century in which the setting plays an important rôle. The setting in both the framework and the seven interpolated tales of the Comptes amoureux by Jeanne Flore is largely responsible for their thematic cohesion. Since parts of the volume have been lost, a garden is the only remaining setting in which the storytellers are presented. The garden constitutes a charming spot, containing many features traditionally encountered in descriptions of literary pleasances, including a preponderance of elements representing Venus. These emblems keep the theme of love, illustrated in each of the interpolated stories, constantly in view. Jacques Yver's work, Le Printemps d'Yver, contains five stories about love narrated by a group of storytellers who have retired to a country seat created by fairy enchantment. Since the frame narrative has been developed more in this collection than it appears to have been in the admittedly fragmentary Comptes amoureux, it permits the detailed description
of the many distinguishing features of the gardens in which the company sit, particularly of various emblems of Venus. These garden settings provide a great many motifs
which are taken up by the storytellers in their narrations, establishing an intimate relationship between the setting and the themes of the stories and thereby constituting an important difference between Le Printemps and the other two works. In this frame novel, settings within the stories themselves are not usually elaborated. Those which are presented in detail mirror the setting in which the storytellers are gathered, further strengthening the cohesion between framework and tale. The evocation of Venus, together with the motifs introduced by the outstanding features of the gardens, strengthen the bond between the disparate narratives, drawing attention to the subject of love and contributing greatly to the thematic unity of the work. In Benigne Poissenot's volume, L'Esté, the setting is not approached in the same way as it is in either of the other two works. As in the case of Le Printemps, it is painted in detail in the frame narrative rather than in the interpolated stories, but here the resemblance ends. The debates and stories are launched in three comparatively unadorned places. Although two of these are reminiscent of the attractive settings encountered in the other two works, the author emphasises their utility rather than their beauty. This incongruity, combining a down-to-earth backdrop with the often idealistic stories, constitutes the most striking feature of this volume. Unlike the traditional settings in the other two frame novels, the decor of L'Esté, by its very distance from the conventionally idyllic, ndermines the serious nature of the themes discussed, producing a mildly satirical effect. Thus, the setting in each of these three frame novels plays an instrumental, and unique, role in establishing the overall unity of each work.