becoming. His literary devices (his authorial comments, the improvisational tone of his narration) seem to grant his characters the freedom to discover themselves. Various forms of freedom are Stendhal's ultimate preoccupation, which probably explains why he repeatedly explores the ambiguities of the prison image. True freedom, in the world of Stendhal, reveals itself in the context of the cell, once confinement becomes the symbol of the inner world of dreams and longings. His novels thus illustrate metaphorically the fundamental conflict between the demands of society and those of the individual.
ORGON I'm going a long way to humour you, I must say; but I'll see you through your scheme. ELMIRE And then you'll have, I think, no more to say. (To her husband, who is now under the table.) But mind, I'm going to meddle with strange matters; Prepare yourself to be in no wise shocked. Whatever I may say must pass, because 'Tis only to convince you, as I promised. By wheedling speeches, since I'm forced to do it, I'll make this hypocrite put off his mask, Flatter the longings of his shameless passion, And give free play to all his impudence. But, since 'tis for your sake, to prove to you His guilt, that I shall feign to share his love, I can leave off as soon as you're convinced, And things shall go no farther than you choose. So, when you think they've gone quite far enough, It is for you to stop his mad pursuit, To spare your wife, and not expose me farther Than you shall need, yourself, to undeceive you. It is your own affair, and you must end it When . .
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