Why is the passé simple not used in spoken French?

Question

Why has the usage of this tense been confined to literature or formal situations?EDIT: After reading the answers I realize I may have not been clear enough. I understand the fact that some constructions are more used in more formal contexts for whatever reasons. What I would like to know is the if there is some historical reason (maybe of the influence of some other language) that explains the non usage of the passé simple in spoken French. I am quite intrigued that for example in Spanish "el pasado simple" is used, and in French it is not, being both romance languages.

Answer 1

So, I just want to say that structures like passé composé exist in Spanish, portuguese, and Italian... if I had to guess, I would say the same about Catalan, Romanian, Romansch, and other Romance languages. However, aside from Italian - which uses the exact same structure as in French, and often why Italian grammar is considered closer to French grammar - the meaning is changed and sounds rather antiquated. I’m sorry that there is not some cool, historical answer to your question; however, it’s just the influence of how l’academie francaise wanted standard French to be !