Vérités romantiques et dévoilements tragiques

The existential sadness, which is the great theme of Romantic literature, implies a mistrust towards the power of truth, a mistrust towards the possibility that this truth could assert itself in the real world. It is a powerful constant that at this time comes over the whole field of literature in an obsessive way. Starting from Rousseau's heritage, this article finds this constant in some works of Constant, Cottin, Merimee, Musset, Stendhal and Balzac. The lie, the misunderstanding, the ruse corrupt social and personal relationships and the disclosure of the truth does not manage to restore them: it always has a tragic outcome.

The existential sadness, which is the great theme of Romantic literature, implies a mistrust towards the power of truth, a mistrust towards the possibility that this truth could assert itself in the real world. It is a powerful constant that at this time comes over the whole field of literature in an obsessive way. Starting from Rousseau’s heritage, this article finds this constant in some works of Constant, Cottin, Mérimée, Musset, Stendhal and Balzac. The lie, the misunderstanding, the ruse corrupt social and personal relationships and the disclosure of the truth does not manage to restore them: it always has a tragic outcome.