Enlightenment (18th Century)

Philosophers have helped lay the foundation of French Enlightenment, which was fully developed in France during the 18th century, leading figures in literature at this time often become anti-religious and anti-tradition oriented philosophy – Encyclopaedists – Voltaire, Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d’Alembert. Thoughts of these philosophers have added Jean Jacques Rousseau.

Classical literature of this period in France was closely linked with philosophy and unable to break out of Enlightenment ideas. Ideas representatives as Alain-René Lesage, Pierre Carlet Marivaux and Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais definitely not the conditions for popularization in literature. Their faith in reason, mathematics, etc. in effect led to the French Revolution (1792 – 1804), subsequently the Directory (in 1799) and later the Napoleonic wars (until 1815). The effect of this decline was of course interested in literature, developed mainly rhetoric, journalism and song.