The language of fiction -- Mme de La Fayette and the Princesse de Clèves -- Choderlos de Laclos and the Liaisons Dangereuses -- Benjamin Constant and Adolphe: Portrait of the artist ; Adolphe -- Stendhal: M. Beyle's press conference ; La Vie de Henri Brulard ; Le Rouge et le Noir ; Lucien Leuwen, or the novelist in politics ; La Chartreuse de Parme ; 'A ticket in a lottery' -- Balzac: The novelist and his age ; The world of the Comédie Humaine ; Four novels ; 'What does it prove?' -- Flaubert: The politics of a novelist ; The man and the writer ; Madame Bovary ; L'Éducation Sentimentale ; Style and language ; Conclusion -- Proust: A new vision ; A Noah's ark ; A la Recherche du Temps Perdu ; Style ; The place of Proust -- 'The French dialogue'.
