Valéry's La Soirée avec Monsieur Teste appears
Poet involved
What happened
While living in Paris and largely withdrawing from poetry, Valéry published La Soirée avec Monsieur Teste in 1896. The prose work explored a highly self-conscious and analytical figure concerned with the operations of the mind. It followed his earlier essay on Leonardo da Vinci and formed part of his intellectual work during his poetic silence.
Literary impact
Monsieur Teste became one of Valéry's defining creations and a vehicle for his investigation of consciousness, intelligence and self-observation. The work demonstrated that his retreat from verse was not a retreat from literature but a redirection towards prose, philosophy and the study of the mind.
Source: Wikipedia
