La princesse de Monpensier

by Madame de (Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne) La Fayette

"La princesse de Monpensier" by Madame de La Fayette is a novella published anonymously in 1662. Set during the reign of Charles IX amid the French Wars of Religion, this story follows a young princess trapped between duty and desire. As civil war rages outside, an interior battle unfolds through forbidden love, jealousy, and dangerous secrets at court. Through invented adventures anchored in historical events, La Fayette explores passion's destructive power and the fatal weakness of those consumed by love.