Jacques the Fatalist and His Master (Masterplots II: World Fiction Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Denis Diderot
- First Published: 1796
- Type of Work: Philosophical comedy/satire
- Time of Work: The third quarter of the eighteenth century
- Setting: France, both countryside and town, possibly Paris
- Principal Characters: The Narrator, Jacques, The Master, The innkeeper’s Wife
- Genres: Long fiction, Satire, Philosophical realism, Picaresque fiction
- Subjects: Traveling or travelers, France or French people, Love or romance, Eighteenth century, Storytelling, Servants, Adventure, Fate or fatalism
- Locales: France
The Novel
Jacques the Fatalist and His Master is deceptively simple in plot. The two title characters travel through an unidentified French landscape telling each other stories, which are interrupted by various adventures and misadventures. Usually, Jacques does the talking, for his master has an insatiable appetite for stories, and Jacques is a compulsive talker. Throughout the novel, Jacques tells his master the story of his falling in love, though he is bedeviled by constant interruptions, mishaps, separations, and other people’s stories: his master’s,...
[The entire page is 3446 words long]
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