 The book explores the multiple imaginary worlds put forth by French 17th-century literature, thus rejecting the idea of a homogeneous period-style, sometimes called "Zeitgeist" or "episteme".Pavel claimed, however, that by emphasizing the distance between its fictional worlds and the actual world, 17th-century literature is historically different from the later, 19th -and 20th- century literature, which most often tries to stay as close as possible to its public's experience.