The Provincial Letters
by Blaise Pascal · Les Provinciales
Assigned by 2 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1656-1657
- Form
- Satire
- Language
- French
- Length
- Medium · 300 pp120 to 300 pages
- Difficulty
- Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Provincial Letters, translated by A. J. KrailsheimerPenguin Classics, 1967The standard English translation, with an introduction on the quarrel between the Jansenists and the Jesuits.
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Eighteen letters published anonymously in 1656 and 1657 in defence of Antoine Arnauld and the Jansenists of Port-Royal against the Sorbonne and the Jesuits. The early letters, written as reports from a puzzled Parisian to a friend in the provinces, use comic dialogue to expose the theological hair-splitting over grace. The middle letters turn on Jesuit casuistry, quoting their own moral handbooks to show how mental reservation and probable opinion excuse almost any sin. The last letters answer the Jesuits directly. The work was placed on the Index and burned, and admired by Voltaire.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Provincial Letters are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
