This article considers the influence that exile had on the development of the Mémoires of Mademoiselle de Montpensier (1627-1693). It discusses the dyna mics of her relationship towards royal disgrace, as well as towards the writing of memoir as a peculiar type of therapy for a princess in the unfamiliar circumstances of non-public life. Fragments written during the periods of her first and second exiles are correlated in terms of the transformation of the image of protagonist and narrator. Conclusions are reached regarding the reasons and results of de Montpensier's fall from grace, and the meaning of memoir-creation for her fate. An analysis of the episodes related to exile allows us to portray the intensification of the problematics related to private life and the inne r world of the person, and deepens our understanding of French memoirs of the second half of the 17th century.

Public and private life Memoires French literature of the xvii century Mlle de montpensier The fronde Exile

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