The first meeting with the Duke of Nemours to the final flight in the "rest", to a confession which causes the death of her husband, Madame de Cleves lucidly assists in a rout against which his arguments are powerless. La Princesse de Cleves shows the devastating effect of passion in a soul that wants mistress of herself. Madame de Lafayette did not invent it. Madame de Lafayette and combat much of the literature in love with this weapon called the "analysis". Here, for the first time, the analysis becomes a means of progress and the substance of the story. But until then, it only served to explain the behavior of the characters. 2000. This explains the audacity of the novel exceptional fortune, and his numerous progeny.