French literature

Depending on usage, the term "French literature" may or may not include literature composed in the Provençal dialect, or langue d'oc.

Notable French writers include:

•  François Villon: 15th century French poet. ^[e]

• Pierre de Ronsard: French poet, 1524—1585. ^[e]

•  Molière: (January 15, 1622 – February 17, 1673) French 17th-century playwright and actor, author of many comedies. ^[e]

• Jean Racine: French playwright and poet, 1639—1690. ^[e]

•  Voltaire: The pen-name of François-Marie Arouet (1694-1778), a French writer and philosopher, who was one of the leading figures of The Enlightenment. ^[e]

Stendhal: Pen name of Marie-Henri Beyle (1783–1842), French author of Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black) and La Chartreuse de Parme (The Charterhouse of Parma) ^[e]

 Honoré de Balzac: (20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) French novelist and playwright, famous for writing over 100 novels and plays on life collectively entitled La Comédie humaine. ^[e]

 Victor Hugo: Victor-Marie Hugo (1802-1885), poet, novelist and playwright, was the dominant French writer of the 19th century, and also a considerable political figure. ^[e]

 George Sand: (1804-76). The male pen-name of the female romantic writer, Aurore Dupin, baronne Dudevant. ^[e]

 Alexandre Dumas: (1806-1876) Writer of iconic French literature, including The Three Musketeers; usually suffixed "père" to distinguish him from his namesake son, always suffixed "fils", who was also a major French writer. ^[e]

 Marcel Proust: (1871-1922) French writer, famous for the largely autobiographical novel À la recherche du temps perdu. ^[e]