Lesage, Alain René

Lesage, Alain René (1668–1747), French novelist and dramatist, orphaned when young and left penniless. Little is known of his early years; by 1694 he was married and established in Paris. His brilliant literary career began with translations from the Spanish and it was under the influence of Spanish literature in general that he wrote the two novels which constitute his main claim to fame: Le Diable boiteux (1707) and Gil Blas (1715). Though pre-eminently a novelist, Lesage is by no means negligible as a dramatist. His first success in the theatre was a one-act comedy, Crispin rival de son maître (1707). Two years later a one-act play, Les Étrennes, which the actors had refused, was remodelled as Turcaret (1710), one of the outstanding comedies in the history of French drama. It is a satire on the vulgar parvenu, the tax-farmer who has enriched himself by exploiting the poor, and it reflects that bitterness against taxation which came to a head under Louis XVI. It met with considerable opposition, and those whom it satirized tried to bribe the actors to suppress it; but it was eventually put on, and was not only successful at the time but has remained in the repertory. It was produced, for instance, in 1960 by Jean Vilar for the Théâtre National Populaire, with a musical accompaniment by Duke Ellington. A quarrel between Lesage and the actors of the Comédie-Française led him to break off his association with the official theatre, and for many years he wrote farces for the theatres of the Paris fairs, alone or in collaboration.