The French Salon Of The Age Of Enlightenment

‘Salon'--as a beautiful landscape in the history of modern French culture,it reached its peak in the Age of Enlightenment,and many kinds of literary and philosophy salon occurred repeatedly.As an important medium in the upper class of society,it not only influenced the zeitgeist and ethos of the times,but also had an important impact in the public sphere.On the one hand,Salon in this period was the main activity place of the Enlightenment scholars,on the other hand,it was an important stepping-stone for scholars to enter the high society,which has both idealism and secular utility.The Enlightenment scholars represented by Jean Fran?ois Marmontel(1723-1799)shuttled their way through a variety of salons,building a subtle social relationship with salon owners and guests,and expected to find a balance between idealism and secular utility.Memoirs of Jean Francois Marmontel published in 1804 is a work of Marmontel,the French famous literary critic and dramatist in the Age of Enlightenment,that records his lifetime journey of social mobility,and the majority of which describes the social life of salon in Paris in the 18 th century.This memoir gives us a vivid picture of an Enlightenment scholar in the life of the Paris salon,including many anecdotes and spiritual experiences of him,and it also provides important historical evidence for the study of the social life of French literati in this period.This paper attempts to explore the salon social life of the French literati in the18 th century through the review,analysis and research of Memoirs of Jean Francois Marmontel.This paper is divided into three parts: the introduction,three chapters and the conclusion.The introduction mainly expounds the significance of studying French salon society during the Enlightenment,comprehensively analyzes the present situation of relevant historical research in this field at home and abroad,and briefly describes the main research methods and content framework used in this paper.The first chapter discusses the background Marmontel lived and the main content of his Memoir,including the characteristics of the Age of Enlightenment in culture and social life and the author's three stages of social mobility.The second chapter mainly discusses the performance and reasons of salon society as literati's path to success,including the recommendation of the upper literati,the protection of the salonieres,the friendsourcing in the salon circle and the honor as a salon minion.The third chapter mainly discusses the inner world of Marmontel and the upper Enlightenment scholars,including their views of the upper society and the dual qualities of idealism and secular utility in salon society.The conclusion is an overview of the relationship between salon society and Enlightenment literati in France,which highlights the important role that salon society had played in the literati group and the French social and cultural development.