Guez de Balzac and the eloquence of patronag

Patronage played a central role in seventeenth-century literary culture, defining and shaping the relationship between writers and society. Although it placed constraints upon individual expression, patronage could also give the writer a sense of place in society. Indeed, writers often saw themselves as modern-day counterparts to the orators of antiquity. Using their eloquence to harangue their patrons and the reading public, they imagined influencing public affairs. Centering upon the exemplary case of Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac (1597-1654), this investigation examines the tensions inherent in this idea of the "eloquence of patronage" and explores its implications for notions of authorship in seventeenth-century France.;The first two chapters examine the Premieres lettres and the Prince, two of Balzac's early writings. I argue that Balzac attempts, in these texts, to define a modern eloquence that is suited to the constraints of patronage and absolutist society. This can be seen in his complex use of the thematics of space: moving away from the traditional space of the public forum, he turns to more intimate and private discursive spaces such as the letter, the pastoral, and the sage's hermitage. Such spaces underscore the supposed sincerity of the writer's praise of the patron and allow him to contemplate the spectacle of political power from a prudent distance. I also trace Balzac's use, in these texts, of rhetorical figures such as hyperbole, irony, and hypotyposis. Within the framework of the patronage relationship, these figures have a conciliatory function, smoothing over personal conflicts and resolving rhetorical paradoxes.;The last chapter examines Balzac's work after the failure of the Prince and the collapse of his patronage aspirations in 1631. In his later works, Balzac uses figurative language and the thematics of space to distance himself from society and subtly undermine the ideology of patronage. I conclude that his withdrawal from society and his celebration of solitude are in fact deeply rhetorical: incapable of silence, he needs an audience to whom he can speak his disaffection. This voice of eloquent resentment, the legacy of the fallen ideal of patronage, prefigures the Romantic idea of the writer.