MIMETIC DESIRE AND THE PROCESS OF CRYSTALLIZATION IN THE LETTER OF MADAME DE RENAL

Abstract

René Girard offers his own interpretation of love in fiction, building on familiar mimetic theories but adding his own element. Love becomes an object of study because the romantic myth of two lovers is decrystallized. A mimetic triangle is formed, which is composed of a love object, a subject and a mediator. The subject is the actor who is subject to external or internal influences. These influences arise from the clash between the subject, the mediator and the desire to emulate the mediator in order to reach the object of love. The mediator's role is specific because it generates and reinforces the subject's desire for the object. Desire is mediated. At the heart of the novel, Stendhal posits another idea of his, namely that of the process of crystallization, which consists in attributing perfections to the object of desire. Thus, there is an interweaving of the two theories and the entry of mimetic desire into the field of crystallization. A conflict arises between the two female characters who struggle for Julien Sorel's heart, subject not so much to jealousy as to mimetic rivalry.