Les Causes de L’indélité des Femmes dans L’heptaméron

Abstract

Entertainment is the inherent function of the novella (short stories), and historical facts are the inherent material of the novella. It is influenced by a narrative tradition that dates back to the fabliau and it is also influenced by the didactic moralism of the Exemplum. Besides entertainment, Marguerite de Navarre's L’Heptaméron presents a picture of the crisis in social morality, in spite of the fact that Christian morality was anchored in French society in the sixteenth century. The main thing is to appreciate the lessons learned from the frequent cases of rape, from the evil acts exposed by the author of L’Heptaméron.