This book is addressed not only to students and teachers of French literature, but to all English-speaking students and amateurs of French culture and civilization, irrespective of their degree of familiarity with the French language. It is one of the shortcomings of formal education that few attempts are made to explain the relationship between 'subjects' within the framework of human knowledge. The subjects of study of the humanities, and especially of literature, while not dependent on it, is furthered by an acquaintance with other fields of knowledge which throw light on the nature of man and the world in which he lives. And conversely, of course, the study of man in his fourfold relationship, with himself, with others, with Nature, and with his God, as depicted in literature, not only enriches other studies, but in itself affords a depth and a kind of experience which no other kind of writing can give. French literature, a humanist literature in the best sense of the term, will always have man and his nature, human society and its destiny, for its focus, no matter what forms it may take.