Séduction narrative et donjuanisme chez Barbey d'Aurevilly

The classic Don Juan is traditionally young and handsome, full of life, fearless, materialistic, unfaithful, licentious and incapable of engaging in a lasting relationship. He loves to seduce for the mere pleasure of seducing and refuses to face the consequences of his actions. Barbey d'Aurevilly in "Le plus bel amour de Don Juan" (Les Diaboliques) introduces a Don Juan devoid of all those characteristics, whose best remembrance is the desire of a homely young girl as reported to him by her mother and Don Juan's long time mistress. What then justifies the novella's title? In shifting the Don Juan's characteristics from the Don Juan's figure to the narration itself, Barbey d'Aurevilly demonstrates that narration is a powerfui tool of seduction when it applies the methods of donjuanism. Seduction occurs at different narrative levels as the novella involves women of all ages being seduced by h1s mistress's narration. Thus the author creates a chain of narrative seduction of which the reader constitutes the ultimate victim. (in French) (GIH)