"DILECTIO" Y "AMOR" EN LA NOVELA FRANCESA

Abstract

Asper the French novel we have traditionally been told about the confrontation between dilectio and love. The former was understood as a kind of restrained, measured affection between husband and wife that was aimed at reproduction. Against this idea, over and over again, a sort of passionate love keeps coming up as an indicator of the drives that the Christain religion unsuccessfully tried to repress. As the church was worried about the moral education of young women, during the 19^th and the first part of the 20^{th<(sup> centuries it launched a literary offensive consisting of the publication of novels that followed the Catholic ideal and which were designed for the feminine public. However, the new lifestyles for wotnan had a role in doing away with this type of publication and in the 20th century the traditional novel itself will have to adapt to the currently prevailing social reality.}