Alain René Lesage

Alain René Lesage (1668-1747), French novelist and playwright, whose picaresque novel L'histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane (The Story of Gil Blas of Santillane, 1715-1735) had a strong influence on subsequent European fiction. His name is also spelled Le Sage. Born in Sarzeau, Brittany, Lesage studied law and was admitted to the bar in Paris in 1692. He decided, however, to devote himself to writing. His first successful works included the dramatic comedy Crispin, rival de son maître (Crispin, His Master's Rival, 1707), the novel Le diable boiteaux (The Devil with a Limp, 1707), and the play Turcaret (1709), a satire remarking on financial greed. He later wrote about 100 comedies for the Théâtre de la Foire, the name given to the comic operas that were held in booths during festivals. Lesage's most important work is L'histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane, the satirical tale of the adventures of a Spanish rogue, which Lesage wrote in the style of the Spanish picaresque romances of the 16th and 17th centuries. The considerable influence of the book, one of the earliest significant realistic novels in European fiction, can be seen particularly in the works of English novelists Tobias Smollett and Henry Fielding.