Abstract
Literature is a device for managing duration, according to a succession of planes that take turns and clash. Here, we propose an analysis of the montage of the text of The Princess of Cleves , following on from the work of Michel Charles.
Firstly, we can see that its coherence (the elements " necessary and indestructible ") is akin to the model of tragedy. But there are also effects of listing and repetition, which are in no way necessary (such as the motif of the princess's desire to retreat, which recurs ten times). Nevertheless, it is possible to make all the repetitions useful, either by making the story more complex, or by postulating the existence of " regional coherences ", i.e. multiple stories. Finally, we need to analyze the rhythm of the montage : whereas the recommendations of the seventeenth century favor long, discreet transitions, La Princesse de Clèves , on the contrary, proposes a strongly scandé rhythm (by the royal chronicle).
This analysis reveals three main types of organizing hypothesis : partitioning, serialization and ordering.
