The Precious (precieux) Metaphor in Giraudoux's Theatre

Abstract

Giraudoux gives his own definitipn of "preciosite" which is in a word, to compare objects to human beings, human beings to gods and gods to animals. We will try to analyze Giraudoux's "precious/precieux" metaphor whose elements are rather unconventional. Human beings are compared to objects, abstractions are compared to specific objects and men to all sort of animals. Finally it is maybe not wrong to pretend that what makes Giraudoux's metaphors "precious/precieux" is their unexpected character.