1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,040 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in history class, the production 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:12,720 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hello, and welcome 3 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:15,840 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy D. Wilson. 4 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:18,319 Speaker 1: I will apologize right out of the gate that I 5 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:21,919 Speaker 1: have Torch Song voice. I think sometimes people wonder why 6 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 1: we don't uh maybe postpone recording if one of us 7 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:28,080 Speaker 1: is ill. I suddenly I sound hoarse and I'm not 8 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:31,720 Speaker 1: even the person who has been We already canceled last 9 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:35,560 Speaker 1: week completely. Yeah, like we're at the point of no return. 10 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:37,720 Speaker 1: We have to record an episode. The good news is, 11 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:39,879 Speaker 1: I will tell you I'm mostly better, Like I'm not 12 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:43,560 Speaker 1: suffering through this. My voice just hasn't fully recovered yet. 13 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:49,760 Speaker 1: I'm at like good. Yeah, I just sound a little froggy. Yeah, 14 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: and I'm fine. But for some reason, the moment I 15 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:53,960 Speaker 1: got on Mike just now, my voice was like, you know, 16 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:56,360 Speaker 1: what I think I want to do is have sympathy 17 00:00:56,440 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 1: for Holly, right, sympathetic Frog, I unders, and but we're 18 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:04,840 Speaker 1: gonna carry on because that's what we do. We're going 19 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:07,440 Speaker 1: to talk about somebody that's been on my list forever, 20 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:11,400 Speaker 1: which is George Song and the popular image of George 21 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: Sound is sort of this sexy artiste of early eight 22 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 1: hundreds Paris. It's not entirely off base, but she was, 23 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 1: above all else a writer of incredible output and was 24 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:26,040 Speaker 1: in her time incredibly famous. Her behavior and her personal 25 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 1: style were almost as talked about as her novels, and 26 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 1: all of these factors combined made her into a figure 27 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: that was admired by many, despised by some. But it 28 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:39,960 Speaker 1: seems like fascination with her was almost universal, and we 29 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 1: should mention George Sound was involved romantically with a lot 30 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 1: of people. She was kind of a serial monogamist um. 31 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: She would kind of bounce from one paramore to another, 32 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:52,240 Speaker 1: and that was a big influence on her work. And 33 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: she wrote a lot of different works. We will not 34 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 1: list them all because, as we said, her output was astonishing. 35 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 1: We also won't list all of her paramore's or all 36 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 1: of her writing titles. But just no, we're giving you 37 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: a brief version. And I still think it's a pretty 38 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:10,240 Speaker 1: full of of saucy adventure and writing. Yes, so if 39 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:14,320 Speaker 1: we if we omit your favorite book or your favorite romance, 40 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:18,359 Speaker 1: it's not personal. There are just a lot of them. 41 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: Don't worry Chopin is in here, which is what everybody's 42 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:24,760 Speaker 1: thinking right now, right, They're not going to leave our Chopin. No. 43 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:28,639 Speaker 1: I think that's actually how how she wound up moving 44 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: finally up to the top of your list. As we 45 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 1: had been brainstorming for a thing about people described as muses, 46 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: and there was the yeah for a whole separate thing, 47 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: and I was like, gosh, she's been on my list forever, 48 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:43,320 Speaker 1: although I I had already started an episode on her. 49 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:45,480 Speaker 1: You know how I'll do that. I'll start an episode, 50 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 1: write a few hundred to a thousand words, and then 51 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:50,799 Speaker 1: be like, I'm gonna move on to something else for 52 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:53,399 Speaker 1: a little while, and then that episode sort of wits 53 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:55,960 Speaker 1: in its germination stage until I come back around on it. 54 00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:00,239 Speaker 1: So in terms of what we're actually talking about today, 55 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:03,680 Speaker 1: we'll start at the beginning, as we often do. Almanty 56 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:07,800 Speaker 1: Lucille roor Dupin was born on July first of eighteen 57 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 1: and four in Paris, and her family and friends normally 58 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 1: called her Aurora. Her father, Maurice Dupin, was an officer 59 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:17,960 Speaker 1: in the French Army serving under Napoleon, and her mother 60 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,320 Speaker 1: was Sophie de la Borde, who was a bird seller's daughter. 61 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:24,480 Speaker 1: Bird selling as a profession just kind of delights me 62 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: a little bit here. Uh. Sophie and Maurice had been 63 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: together for several years before Aurora was born, but they 64 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 1: only got married a month before her birth. The two 65 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,560 Speaker 1: of them already had children, both with other people and together. 66 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 1: Maurice refused to acknowledge his son from a prior relationship. 67 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:46,880 Speaker 1: That was, although Maurice's mother made sure that the boy 68 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 1: and his own mother were provided for and moved them 69 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 1: into a house in the family property. Sophie had a 70 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: daughter from a previous relationship named Caroline Dillaboard, and the 71 00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:00,480 Speaker 1: children that Sophie and Maurice had together before Aura had 72 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:02,880 Speaker 1: all died in infancy, so there were a lot of 73 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: members of this family, but also in the terms of 74 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 1: two of them together. Aurora was the first surviving child correct, 75 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: and just before or turned four, her parents had another child, 76 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 1: this time a son named August Louis and Agost Louis 77 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:20,680 Speaker 1: was born in Madrid, as Sophie had traveled to Spain 78 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:24,240 Speaker 1: to be with Maurice, that was where Napoleon had stationed him, 79 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: and then they all went back to France shortly after 80 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: Aroora's birthday. That was a trip that took them through 81 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:33,560 Speaker 1: rural France during brutal famine, and it was something the 82 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:37,600 Speaker 1: images of that trip really stuck with Aurora vividly for years. 83 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:41,160 Speaker 1: The baby, August Louis died on September eight of eight 84 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 1: o eight, that was just shy of three months old. 85 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 1: Maurice had an accident and died eight days later after 86 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: falling off a horse, and then not long after that, 87 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:53,520 Speaker 1: Sophie had to relinquish custody of aroor to her grandmother 88 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 1: because she just wasn't able to provide for her. Aurora 89 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:00,560 Speaker 1: then spent most of her childhood Innant in central of France, 90 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:03,200 Speaker 1: and this was her family's home, and she spent a 91 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:06,159 Speaker 1: lot of time there on the family estate with her grandmother. 92 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:09,479 Speaker 1: Sophie did not leave her daughter's life though, even though 93 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,200 Speaker 1: she had relinquished custody. She still would spend time at 94 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:15,279 Speaker 1: Nuance at the chateau each summer, and Aurora would also 95 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:18,280 Speaker 1: sometimes travel to Paris for visits with her mother as well. 96 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 1: So Roora spent her formative years in this idyllic rural 97 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:25,279 Speaker 1: environment of Nant and that's I believe to have informed 98 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:28,599 Speaker 1: a lot of her writing. She was tutored by a 99 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:32,479 Speaker 1: man named Jean Francois Dishart as a child. That was 100 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:34,680 Speaker 1: the same person who had educated her father, and he 101 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 1: was something of an eccentric, So she got a little 102 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:41,600 Speaker 1: haphazard sort of an education. It probably wouldn't qualify as 103 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:44,640 Speaker 1: a formal education in any sense of the phrase. She 104 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 1: also had lessons alongside her half brother, although it was 105 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: unclear to the children exactly what their relationship was to 106 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: each other for quite some time. Yeah, they're reading about 107 00:05:55,080 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: uh Jean. His involvement in her life is sometimes was 108 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,159 Speaker 1: glossed over in this weird sort of way about what 109 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: a weird education she got. I read one thing that 110 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 1: suggested that he started dressing her in boys clothes because 111 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:11,200 Speaker 1: that just made more sense to him to have a 112 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:13,080 Speaker 1: pupil that was dressed as a boy, because he was 113 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:15,680 Speaker 1: only used to educating boys. I don't know if there's 114 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:19,480 Speaker 1: any actual value in that information or fact to it, um, 115 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:23,400 Speaker 1: but it is pretty widely accepted that whatever education she 116 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:28,120 Speaker 1: got from him was a little bit cookie um. And 117 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:30,760 Speaker 1: as she reached her early teenage years or or started 118 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 1: as many kids do, to rebel. Her grandmother was very 119 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 1: old fashioned and she expected ladylike behavior and that was 120 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,200 Speaker 1: simply not in a Roor's nature. So the child started 121 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:43,680 Speaker 1: telling her grandmother that was she wanted to do was 122 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:46,560 Speaker 1: going to Paris and live with her mother. I feel 123 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:48,599 Speaker 1: like this is the tale as old as time, right, Like, 124 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:51,480 Speaker 1: you're not my real mom. I'm gonna go where so 125 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,799 Speaker 1: I can be me not so much. Yeah. So there's 126 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:58,920 Speaker 1: some speculation that Aroora's mother, Sophie, may have supported herself 127 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:01,160 Speaker 1: with sex work when she was a teenager after her 128 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:05,119 Speaker 1: parents had both died, and it seems that grandmother chose 129 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:09,680 Speaker 1: this moment to tell Aurora about her mother's alleged profession 130 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: in the midst of this rebellion, presumably as a way 131 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: to try to shame or scare her into obedience. And 132 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 1: the end result of all this conflict, because or Or 133 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:21,320 Speaker 1: still was not going to be happy staying at home, 134 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:24,120 Speaker 1: was that at the age of thirteen, she was sent 135 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:26,520 Speaker 1: to a convent in Paris to live with the English 136 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: Augustinian Sisters, and shifting from country life to being immerged 137 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:34,200 Speaker 1: wholly in a religious environment in the city had a 138 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:38,120 Speaker 1: very profound effect on the teenager. She became deeply interested 139 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: in mysticism during this time. But though she seemed very 140 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:44,640 Speaker 1: very happy at the convent and even considered becoming a 141 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:47,920 Speaker 1: nun herself, that was a little too far for what 142 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:50,120 Speaker 1: her grandmother had in mind, and so her grandmother brought 143 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: her back to Noah. Just a couple of years later, 144 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:56,720 Speaker 1: when she was seventeen, Aurora inherited the family estate. After 145 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:00,760 Speaker 1: her grandmother died, Sophie came back to retrieve teenage daughter 146 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:03,200 Speaker 1: brought her back to Paris, but at that point Aurora 147 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:06,640 Speaker 1: was really not interested in answering to her mother, so 148 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:09,440 Speaker 1: she got married because she thought that was going to 149 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:12,720 Speaker 1: offer her some more independence. This is another story that 150 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:15,800 Speaker 1: I feel like comes up in all kinds of modern tales, 151 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:18,960 Speaker 1: and I'm like, George sam did this before anybody else. 152 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:21,360 Speaker 1: I'm sure there were other people that did it before her. 153 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 1: But she got married to a man named Kasimir du 154 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:28,640 Speaker 1: Devon on September seventeenth of eight, and the couple were 155 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 1: married in Paris, but they moved to Noon to settle down, 156 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:34,439 Speaker 1: and du Devon was nine years older than a Roar. 157 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:36,600 Speaker 1: He was the son of a baron who was born 158 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:39,120 Speaker 1: out of wedlock, but he was acknowledged by his father 159 00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:42,920 Speaker 1: so in marrying him, Aroor became the Baroness du Devon. 160 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:46,080 Speaker 1: The couple had a child in June following their wedding. 161 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:48,560 Speaker 1: This is the son they named Maurice, and for the 162 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 1: next year they traveled, eventually settling in Paris at the 163 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:55,520 Speaker 1: end of eighteen four. They kept traveling a great deal though, 164 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:58,920 Speaker 1: including going back to Know What for extended visits, and 165 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:01,320 Speaker 1: initially it kind of seems like Ror was trying to 166 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:03,840 Speaker 1: make the best out of this marriage, but over time 167 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:06,920 Speaker 1: she grew restless and unsatisfied in her life with dud Devon, 168 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:09,520 Speaker 1: and she started to exhibit signs of what we would 169 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:14,079 Speaker 1: probably categorize this depression today. Kazimir was a poor match 170 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 1: for her for a number of reasons. Roor was a 171 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:19,800 Speaker 1: devout reader and the stories that she read made her 172 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 1: long for more than her domestic life. Kasimir was not 173 00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:26,480 Speaker 1: that he was not so much into the life of 174 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:29,400 Speaker 1: the mind, and he tended to find solace with other 175 00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:32,400 Speaker 1: romantic interests that he found less complicated than his wife, 176 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:36,080 Speaker 1: including their housemaids. And this kind of seems like one 177 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:38,199 Speaker 1: of those cases where a couple with an age gap 178 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: gets married because initially the older partner seems cool to 179 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:44,240 Speaker 1: the younger partner, but as the younger partner matures, it 180 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:47,720 Speaker 1: turns out that they grow beyond that older partner, because 181 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:49,920 Speaker 1: she was pretty done with him within a few years 182 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:54,559 Speaker 1: in they were traveling in the Pyrenees and Aurora met 183 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: a young judge named Jean Pierre Aurelian Disas, and the 184 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 1: two of them were immediately attracted to one another, but 185 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 1: he was engaged. He said that he found his fiance 186 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:10,240 Speaker 1: beautiful but dull, and Aurora, who was smart and insightful, 187 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 1: was just fascinating to him. The two of them exchanged 188 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:16,959 Speaker 1: love letters over the next five years and what's often 189 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:20,760 Speaker 1: described as a passionate but platonic love, although there is 190 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:26,600 Speaker 1: debate about whether the platonic part was really true. Yeah, 191 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:30,240 Speaker 1: we don't know. This experience of having such an intense 192 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:33,840 Speaker 1: connection to someone made it abundantly clear to Roora that 193 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:37,160 Speaker 1: her marriage by comparison would never offer her the same 194 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:42,000 Speaker 1: kind of excitement or be very fulfilling, and she told 195 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:45,400 Speaker 1: Casimir about her affection for just says and that they 196 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:48,319 Speaker 1: needed to figure out some sort of way to make 197 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:52,120 Speaker 1: their household livable. In eighty six, a man named Stefan 198 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:55,800 Speaker 1: Jason de Grass reentered Aurora's life, and he had been 199 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:58,960 Speaker 1: a tutor of hers earlier on, but when the two 200 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:03,160 Speaker 1: of them became re acquainted, this intense attraction between them 201 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:06,880 Speaker 1: led to a physical relationship. He was probably the father 202 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:10,640 Speaker 1: of Aurora's daughter, Solage, who was born in September of eighteen. 203 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:14,920 Speaker 1: In the year after her daughter was born, Aurora began writing. 204 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:18,840 Speaker 1: In earnest She penned a travel memoir La Marne That's 205 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:22,800 Speaker 1: the Godmother during this time, as well as his Tuil Deva, 206 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:25,640 Speaker 1: which is story of a dreamer. That particular book was 207 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:29,280 Speaker 1: never finished. In the summer of eighteen thirty, Aurora met 208 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:32,200 Speaker 1: another man, this one seven years younger than she was, 209 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 1: who would really catalyze a significant life change that the 210 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:39,160 Speaker 1: then year old Aurora had really been longing for. This 211 00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:42,360 Speaker 1: was Jules Sando, who was an aspiring writer, and the 212 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:45,560 Speaker 1: two of them soon became romantically involved. I feel like 213 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:48,000 Speaker 1: that phrase the two of them soon became romantically involved, 214 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:51,320 Speaker 1: can just be repeated so many times throughout this episode. Uh, 215 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:54,320 Speaker 1: this is a really significant turning point though for Aroor. 216 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:56,400 Speaker 1: So we were gonna pause here for a quick sponsor 217 00:11:56,480 --> 00:12:05,360 Speaker 1: break before we get into how her life changed. In 218 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: early Roor moved to Paris with Jules Sando, leaving behind 219 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:13,000 Speaker 1: her husband and her home. She had made an arrangement 220 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:15,840 Speaker 1: with Kasimir regarding this move, though that arrangement was not 221 00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:19,640 Speaker 1: arrived at in a particularly amicable fashion. The dude of 222 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:22,640 Speaker 1: all household had as Aroora became more and more restless, 223 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:26,560 Speaker 1: become a place of persistent strife. Husband and wife argued 224 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:29,400 Speaker 1: constantly and they only ever seemed to be happy in 225 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:34,160 Speaker 1: relationships with people outside the marriage. So in eighteen thirty one, 226 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:36,800 Speaker 1: the decision was made that a Roar would spend half 227 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:39,559 Speaker 1: of each year in Paris, switching out with life at 228 00:12:39,559 --> 00:12:43,120 Speaker 1: Noan every three months, and during a Roor's times in Paris, 229 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:46,520 Speaker 1: the children were split up, so her toddler daughter Solange 230 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:49,600 Speaker 1: would stay in no Long with Kasimir and Maurice. Their 231 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:52,599 Speaker 1: son was cared for by a tutor. Aurora started to 232 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:56,520 Speaker 1: more seriously focus on writing in Paris, now writing under 233 00:12:56,559 --> 00:13:00,880 Speaker 1: the pseudonym Jules Sand or sometimes just Jason. That work 234 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:04,120 Speaker 1: was published in La Figaro, which is a periodical run 235 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:08,280 Speaker 1: by Ari Latouche, who would become one of Aroora's closest friends. 236 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:11,560 Speaker 1: Latouche and you'll sometimes see his name as de la 237 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:14,600 Speaker 1: Touche basically asked Aurora to write these satirical pieces as 238 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:17,240 Speaker 1: a freelancer, and that marked the beginning of her professional 239 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:21,160 Speaker 1: career as a writer. There's ongoing debate about these pieces. 240 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:24,880 Speaker 1: They are generally believed to be collaborations between Aurora and 241 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:29,200 Speaker 1: Jules Sando, but it's unclear about exactly how much of 242 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:33,200 Speaker 1: them contributed. Yeah, how much either of them wrote of 243 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:37,679 Speaker 1: any of those pieces will probably be debated forever. And 244 00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:39,760 Speaker 1: this is also the period of her life when Aurora 245 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:42,720 Speaker 1: began wearing men's wear, and she would write of this 246 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:45,559 Speaker 1: shift in her attire later quote, I had a century 247 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:48,880 Speaker 1: box coat made of rough gray cloth, with trousers and 248 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:51,640 Speaker 1: a waistcoat to match, with a gray hat and a 249 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:54,920 Speaker 1: huge cravat of woolen material. I looked exactly like a 250 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:58,840 Speaker 1: first year student. So this was scandalous to some people, 251 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:01,280 Speaker 1: but it's also more important to note that it was 252 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:04,439 Speaker 1: flat out illegal. Women in Paris were supposed to get 253 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:07,200 Speaker 1: a permit to wear men's clothing. That was a law 254 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:10,720 Speaker 1: that had been issued in eighteen hundred. If a woman 255 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:14,000 Speaker 1: could prove that she needed to dress in men's wear 256 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:16,439 Speaker 1: for a medical reason, she could get a permit to 257 00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:19,480 Speaker 1: do it, but Aurora and a handful of other women 258 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:21,680 Speaker 1: did it without a permit. They didn't try to get 259 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:24,160 Speaker 1: a permit, they wore whatever they wanted without much in 260 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:27,360 Speaker 1: the way of real consequences. That law was actually still 261 00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:33,160 Speaker 1: on the books in Paris, not really enforced though until ten. Yeah. 262 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:36,920 Speaker 1: If you look back at articles, they're like, finally women 263 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:39,520 Speaker 1: can wear pants, which they're writing as a joke, because 264 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:42,160 Speaker 1: of course people had been wearing pants forever um. And 265 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:44,520 Speaker 1: this was a time when it seemed that Aurora was 266 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:47,000 Speaker 1: truly defining the woman that she wanted to be, and 267 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:51,840 Speaker 1: she was establishing her unique identity. She wasn't necessarily wearing 268 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:54,440 Speaker 1: men's clothes to cause a stir. She found them more 269 00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:58,240 Speaker 1: practical and more comfortable than wearing dresses. But she did 270 00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 1: also enjoy seeing the different way she was treated when 271 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:04,480 Speaker 1: she was wearing men's wear. Her figure was not especially curvy, 272 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:07,840 Speaker 1: so she was sometimes mistaken for a man, and that 273 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:11,080 Speaker 1: was something which she seemed to quite enjoy, particularly when 274 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:14,200 Speaker 1: she could reveal to the confused observer that in fact, 275 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:17,200 Speaker 1: she was a woman. She wrote a first novel called 276 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:19,840 Speaker 1: Indiana at the end of eighteen thirty one that was 277 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:22,920 Speaker 1: published in May of eighteen thirty two under her new 278 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:27,120 Speaker 1: pen name, which was George Sound. Eventually she grew tired 279 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:30,320 Speaker 1: of Jules Sundo. She broke off their relationship and moved 280 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:33,720 Speaker 1: into a new apartment nearby. Her daughter, Solange moved in 281 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:35,840 Speaker 1: with her. Yeah that point, Solange was a little bit 282 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:38,400 Speaker 1: older than her her toddler age, and she would have 283 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:42,200 Speaker 1: needed more constant attention, so it worked out just fine. 284 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:46,680 Speaker 1: Indiana is not surprisingly a story about a woman dissatisfied 285 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:50,480 Speaker 1: with her marriage. She longs for passion and adoration, and 286 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:52,920 Speaker 1: in that quest she puts her faith in the wrong man. 287 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 1: Uh spoiler alert. This is one of those classic tropes 288 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:57,880 Speaker 1: where the right man was in front of her the 289 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:01,840 Speaker 1: whole time, and the two do eventually end up together. 290 00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 1: And this novel was an instant success. This is when 291 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:10,200 Speaker 1: Aurora became famous and became publicly known as George Shun, 292 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 1: so we're gonna change over to addressing her by that name. Initially, 293 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:16,960 Speaker 1: she chose a pen name because she wanted people to 294 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:20,120 Speaker 1: appreciate the writing rather than marvel at the fact that 295 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:22,800 Speaker 1: a woman had written it. But soon it was really 296 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:25,880 Speaker 1: common knowledge that this was written by a woman and 297 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:27,600 Speaker 1: she just kind of rolled with it. Yeah. I have 298 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:30,520 Speaker 1: to wonder if her like constant love of revealing, like 299 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:33,480 Speaker 1: in fact, I am not a student but a woman. Uh, 300 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:37,480 Speaker 1: didn't help, you know, kind of dissipate any anonymity she 301 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:41,000 Speaker 1: had been hoping for. Uh. Indiana was quickly followed by 302 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:44,440 Speaker 1: another novel of Volenteine in November of that same year, 303 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:46,880 Speaker 1: and at that point, George was kind of the it 304 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:49,480 Speaker 1: writer in Paris. So keep in mind that this is 305 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:52,640 Speaker 1: a time when novels were sort of equivalent to film 306 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:55,960 Speaker 1: or television today in terms of their prominence's entertainment. So 307 00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:59,960 Speaker 1: she became something of an overnight celebrity following Indiana's publication. 308 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:03,120 Speaker 1: The Volentine of this novel is the story is heroin 309 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:05,800 Speaker 1: and she's an aristocrat who falls in love with a 310 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:08,880 Speaker 1: poor farmer. In addition to the theme of true love 311 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:12,240 Speaker 1: that can never be actualized because of a class disparity, 312 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:15,040 Speaker 1: this book also serves as a feminist critique of the 313 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:20,560 Speaker 1: poor standards of education for women. Volentine is prepared only 314 00:17:20,600 --> 00:17:23,280 Speaker 1: to be a wife and nothing more, and even if 315 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:25,720 Speaker 1: she were to end up with her farmer love, she 316 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:28,480 Speaker 1: would not be prepared well for the rigors of that 317 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:31,719 Speaker 1: kind of a life. In early eighteen thirty three, George 318 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:34,359 Speaker 1: song had a brief romantic relationship with a woman, and 319 00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:37,199 Speaker 1: this was the actress Marie d'Or val. This was a 320 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:40,280 Speaker 1: heavy time for songd. Newly famous and free from the 321 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:42,840 Speaker 1: domestic life that she had fled, she really had her 322 00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:46,000 Speaker 1: pick of suitors. Eighteen thirties three was also the year 323 00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:49,400 Speaker 1: that George published her third novel, Lalia, and not long 324 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:53,320 Speaker 1: after she began her relationship with Dorval, Songed met fellow 325 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:56,919 Speaker 1: writer Alfred D. Muse, who also became her lover and 326 00:17:57,040 --> 00:17:59,280 Speaker 1: with whom she had an on again, off again romance 327 00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:02,680 Speaker 1: that would I will any fiction. Lalia gave readers a 328 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:06,240 Speaker 1: heroine who was a lot like Sound herself, an iconoclass 329 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:10,280 Speaker 1: who did not care about societal convention. The titular character 330 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:13,399 Speaker 1: finds happiness neither with her many love affairs nor in 331 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:17,399 Speaker 1: being celibate. When Lalia tells her courtisan sister of this 332 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:20,879 Speaker 1: whole situation, the sister suggests that Lalia should become a 333 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:25,399 Speaker 1: courtisan herself. This catalyzes a plot that involves a poet 334 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:28,400 Speaker 1: who's in love with Lalia, whose life falls apart after 335 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:31,440 Speaker 1: she tries to seduce him and then betrays him. I 336 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:34,640 Speaker 1: have not read this book. It sounds very complicated to me. Uh. 337 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:38,119 Speaker 1: Lalia was also panned by the press. Yeah, uh and 338 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:42,520 Speaker 1: again uh. In some ways she is pulling from her 339 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:45,600 Speaker 1: own life and her various relationships, Like it is not 340 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:48,359 Speaker 1: a surprise that at a time when she has met 341 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:51,320 Speaker 1: a Fred the mouse, with whom she had a very 342 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:55,560 Speaker 1: volatile relationship, uh, that she was also writing about these 343 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:59,600 Speaker 1: sort of complicated romantic matters. Um. The end of eighteen 344 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:02,400 Speaker 1: thirties three in the beginning of eighteen thirty four were 345 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:06,320 Speaker 1: very chaotic and fraught. George and Musse decided to go 346 00:19:06,359 --> 00:19:09,760 Speaker 1: away to Italy, but that trip turned very sour. And 347 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:14,240 Speaker 1: this really sounds like a telenovella plot. Things went completely awry. 348 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:19,040 Speaker 1: First when George got dysentery. Muse then began having episodes 349 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:21,960 Speaker 1: of delirium because it turned out he had typhoid fever. 350 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:26,639 Speaker 1: Then George began an affair with the Italian doctor who 351 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:30,399 Speaker 1: came to treat Muse. His name was Luigi Pagello. And 352 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:33,359 Speaker 1: when Muse recovered enough to return to Paris, saw And 353 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:36,240 Speaker 1: decided that she would stay behind in Venice with her 354 00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:40,639 Speaker 1: new beloved doctor. Three months after Mus returned to Paris, 355 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:43,760 Speaker 1: Yours also felt as though she could go back to France, 356 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:46,840 Speaker 1: particularly to see her children, so in June of eighteen 357 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:49,439 Speaker 1: thirty four, she left Italy for Paris. She brought the 358 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:53,439 Speaker 1: doctor with her, but not long after getting there, George 359 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:55,879 Speaker 1: split up with him to return to Muse. Although the 360 00:19:55,960 --> 00:20:00,359 Speaker 1: reunion lasted less than a month. Um. I certain would 361 00:20:00,359 --> 00:20:03,560 Speaker 1: not recommend it as a piece of historical information. But 362 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:06,239 Speaker 1: if you have ever seen or have not seen the 363 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:09,119 Speaker 1: movie Impromptu, which is about Georg Sound, in which the 364 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:14,240 Speaker 1: incomparable Judy Davis plays George Um, Mandy Patinkin plays Muse, 365 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:19,040 Speaker 1: and he is spectacular UM, you get a sense of 366 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:21,119 Speaker 1: all of their levels of drama when the two of 367 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:24,840 Speaker 1: them are together on screen. Throughout all of this drama. 368 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:28,280 Speaker 1: Though in her personal life, Sound was writing and publishing. 369 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:31,639 Speaker 1: She published a series of stories in the literary magazine 370 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:35,280 Speaker 1: Ruvoue de du Mond during her turbulent eighteen thirty four, 371 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:39,320 Speaker 1: including Leon Leoni and Jacques, and at the beginning of 372 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:43,080 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty five, Sound and Muse reunited one last time, 373 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:47,040 Speaker 1: but their relationship was completely over by March of that year. 374 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:51,440 Speaker 1: Post muse, George began seeing a lawyer in Noel named 375 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:55,320 Speaker 1: Louis Michele. The next big event and George Sand's life 376 00:20:55,359 --> 00:21:00,399 Speaker 1: was finally legally separating herself from Kasimir dude Von. This 377 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:04,639 Speaker 1: was a significant legal battle. Her lawyer Paramore could not 378 00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:08,119 Speaker 1: continue their relationship. He was married. He did not wish 379 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:11,240 Speaker 1: to disrupt his life with a long term affair, but 380 00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:15,280 Speaker 1: he did manage George's legal separation before they split up, 381 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:20,359 Speaker 1: getting significant judgment wins for her. In July eight thirty six, 382 00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:24,000 Speaker 1: the separation, although it was not a divorce, was finally settled. 383 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:28,160 Speaker 1: The two key aspects of the legal decision that her 384 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:32,200 Speaker 1: lawyer Louis Michelle had fought for, where that a George 385 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:35,480 Speaker 1: got custody of the children and be her chateau and 386 00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 1: property in no Want reverted entirely back to her. Her 387 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:41,840 Speaker 1: son Maurice would have been thirteen at this point and 388 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:44,840 Speaker 1: Solange was seven on the verge of turning eight. And 389 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:47,159 Speaker 1: once she had married dud Devon, he had become the 390 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:50,480 Speaker 1: controller of the family finances, so she had been given 391 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:53,600 Speaker 1: an allowance out of what was rightfully her own inheritance, 392 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:57,280 Speaker 1: so that was what she was seeking to to reverse 393 00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:01,160 Speaker 1: at this point. Even after the separation, Psalm did provide 394 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:05,160 Speaker 1: her husband with an annual income. Around this time, Son 395 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:09,720 Speaker 1: met previous podcast subject Franz List and his paramour, Marie Dougoux. 396 00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:13,040 Speaker 1: Franz and Marie traveled to No Want to Visit Sound 397 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:15,560 Speaker 1: twice in eighteen thirty seven, and it was through this 398 00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:19,080 Speaker 1: friendship that George met the man she's most often associated with, 399 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:21,200 Speaker 1: who we referenced back at the top of the show, 400 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:28,000 Speaker 1: Frederic Chopin. The friendship with Marie in particular, would disintegrate 401 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:30,639 Speaker 1: in time. It was revealed to George that she had 402 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 1: been gossiping about her and generally scheming against her. Son 403 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:38,840 Speaker 1: eventually wrote, quote, your understanding of friendship is different than mine. 404 00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:41,919 Speaker 1: You just won't give up being a beautiful and witty 405 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:45,680 Speaker 1: woman who slaughters and smashes all the others. And while 406 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:49,760 Speaker 1: Sam was instantly taken with Chopin when she met him, 407 00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:53,120 Speaker 1: largely because of his musical skill, that interest was not 408 00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:56,640 Speaker 1: initially reciprocated. In a letter that he wrote to family, 409 00:22:56,760 --> 00:23:01,560 Speaker 1: Chopin wrote something about her repels me, But by May 410 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:04,359 Speaker 1: of eighteen thirty eight, the two were lovers. They stayed 411 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:07,880 Speaker 1: together for nine years and both of them were incredibly 412 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:11,280 Speaker 1: productive during their romance. It's kind of considered like their 413 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:15,000 Speaker 1: golden period for both of them as creators. Their relationship 414 00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:18,920 Speaker 1: was perplexing to their friends. At first. Chopin was quiet 415 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:22,880 Speaker 1: and reserved, with delicate health. He was the polar opposite 416 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:26,560 Speaker 1: of George, who lived however, she wished and was unafraid 417 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:30,040 Speaker 1: of just about everything. There were whispers and their social 418 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:32,840 Speaker 1: circle that the match might take a toll on Chopin, 419 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:36,000 Speaker 1: who was perceived to be pretty fragile, and during their 420 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:39,480 Speaker 1: first winter together, she took him along with her two children, 421 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:43,159 Speaker 1: to ma Yorka to stay in a monastery. The weather 422 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:47,320 Speaker 1: and the meager accommodations there were really rough on the composer. 423 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:51,800 Speaker 1: He coughed up blood throughout this whole stay. After that debacle, 424 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:55,760 Speaker 1: they returned to Neat, where George fawn over Frederick and 425 00:23:56,119 --> 00:23:59,440 Speaker 1: nursed him back to health. In addition to Chopin, Saul's 426 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:02,320 Speaker 1: friendship with List and Dagou connected her to many of 427 00:24:02,359 --> 00:24:05,879 Speaker 1: Europe's most popular writers and artists. Many of those people 428 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:08,800 Speaker 1: spent time with her at the Chateau in Noan, including 429 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:12,360 Speaker 1: Honore de Balzac and Eugene Delacroix, who employed her son 430 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:15,240 Speaker 1: Maurice as an apprentice for a time. In April of 431 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:18,080 Speaker 1: eighteen forty, your Son tried her hand at a different 432 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:20,399 Speaker 1: kind of writing, which was theater, and this did not 433 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:24,280 Speaker 1: go so well. Her play Cosima, which was also titled 434 00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:28,280 Speaker 1: Lahan Daan Lamore, Hate and Love, was a flop. In 435 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:31,639 Speaker 1: eighteen forty one, Song found herself in a battle with 436 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:34,520 Speaker 1: the leadership of the Review de d Mond over her 437 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,399 Speaker 1: new novel Horace. The periodicals editor had no wish to 438 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:41,480 Speaker 1: publish this work, and this led to your Song developing 439 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:45,919 Speaker 1: her own literary periodical, Review and Dependents, in which Pierre 440 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:49,600 Speaker 1: LaRue and Louis Viardot were her partners. This offered her 441 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:52,200 Speaker 1: a vehicle to publish her own work whenever she wanted 442 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:55,840 Speaker 1: and as she saw fit. She had an increasing interest 443 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:59,040 Speaker 1: in political matters at this point, and so George Son 444 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,560 Speaker 1: was inspired at in eighteen forty four to start another periodical. 445 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:06,480 Speaker 1: While Law Review Independant was an outlet for her romantic 446 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:10,000 Speaker 1: literary work, her second paper, Leclearra, which is The Scout, 447 00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:13,239 Speaker 1: gave her a place to print her increasingly political and 448 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:17,959 Speaker 1: particularly socialist writing. In eighteen forty seven, after nine years together, 449 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:22,480 Speaker 1: a permanent rift formed between Song and Chopin. In February 450 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:25,000 Speaker 1: of that year, Song and her daughter Solange sat for 451 00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:29,359 Speaker 1: sculptor August Clesigner, and Solange and the sculptor fell madly 452 00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:32,800 Speaker 1: in love. This was a little bit complicated because Solange 453 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:35,760 Speaker 1: was engaged to someone else, but she broke off that 454 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:40,360 Speaker 1: relationship to Mary Cleisigner three months after meeting him. Two 455 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:43,879 Speaker 1: months after the wedding, which George had not really supported, 456 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:46,800 Speaker 1: the writer got into a huge fight over money with 457 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:50,000 Speaker 1: her daughter and her new son in law. Clesigner pulled 458 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:53,040 Speaker 1: a gun and threatened Sound. In the midst of this 459 00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:56,880 Speaker 1: high tension family conflict. It was Solange and not George 460 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:00,920 Speaker 1: the Chopin ultimately sided with. He broke up with son 461 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:05,600 Speaker 1: by letter, and that's sans version. At least Chopin had 462 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:08,199 Speaker 1: come to think of Solange as his own daughter and 463 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:10,320 Speaker 1: he was not willing to cut her out of his life. 464 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:13,320 Speaker 1: When the composer and the writer did see each other 465 00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:16,160 Speaker 1: again the year after their breakup, that's kind of written 466 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:18,640 Speaker 1: about as though they kind of ran into each other accidentally. 467 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:22,160 Speaker 1: Chopin gave George the news that Solange had given birth 468 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:24,959 Speaker 1: to a daughter that was to be the last time 469 00:26:25,119 --> 00:26:28,399 Speaker 1: that Psalm and Chopin saw each other. Chopin died on 470 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:35,040 Speaker 1: October of tuberculosis. Claus and j actually cast his death mask, 471 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:39,520 Speaker 1: and George Song did not attend Chopin's funeral. Many people 472 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:42,280 Speaker 1: actually blamed her for his death, even though his health 473 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:46,040 Speaker 1: improved considerably during his time at Noan after that first 474 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:50,960 Speaker 1: slightly disastrous winter. Psalm did, however, later reconcile with her daughter. 475 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:54,960 Speaker 1: Next we will talk about George Son's life after Chopin, 476 00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:57,360 Speaker 1: But first we're going to pause for a word from 477 00:26:57,359 --> 00:26:59,919 Speaker 1: one of our sponsors, because we could not do this 478 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:11,119 Speaker 1: show without them. The wave of revolutions that began in 479 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:14,520 Speaker 1: France in February eighty eight led to the overthrow of 480 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:17,440 Speaker 1: King Louis Philippe and the rise of the Second Republic. 481 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:21,240 Speaker 1: The Second Republic, which Song believed would be closely aligned 482 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:24,280 Speaker 1: with her own personal ideals, drew her back to Paris, 483 00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:28,520 Speaker 1: and she started another new periodical there, La Cause, The 484 00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:30,840 Speaker 1: Cause of the People. She also wrote for a number 485 00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:33,800 Speaker 1: of other socialist papers during that time. But in the 486 00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:37,240 Speaker 1: months after the overthrow of the monarchy, it became clear 487 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:39,320 Speaker 1: that the new government of France was a lot more 488 00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:42,439 Speaker 1: conservative than san had hoped it would be. She was 489 00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:45,160 Speaker 1: completely disillusioned by this turn of events, and she went 490 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:47,080 Speaker 1: back to a lot, where she spent most of her 491 00:27:47,119 --> 00:27:49,960 Speaker 1: time for the rest of her life. The rustic short 492 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:53,400 Speaker 1: novel Francois le Champi was published in eighteen forty eight. 493 00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:55,760 Speaker 1: It is the story of a champi that is a 494 00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:59,080 Speaker 1: nickname that translates literally to little mushroom, but in this 495 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:02,560 Speaker 1: context here first to a country orphan. This book was 496 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:05,359 Speaker 1: very popular, and in eighteen forty nine it was staged 497 00:28:05,359 --> 00:28:08,560 Speaker 1: as a play at the Odeon Theater in Paris, and, 498 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:12,520 Speaker 1: unlike her earlier foray into theater, Sawn met with great success, 499 00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:16,240 Speaker 1: with Francois on the stage. For Christmas. In eighteen forty nine, 500 00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:21,840 Speaker 1: sans Son Maurice invited his friend Alexandra Monceux to noat. Manceux, 501 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:25,160 Speaker 1: who was an engraver, moved into the chateau permanently as 502 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:29,320 Speaker 1: George's companion, and for the next two years they greeted 503 00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:31,679 Speaker 1: an assortment of visitors and know what, they put on 504 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:34,880 Speaker 1: shows in the parlor theater there. In eighteen fifty two, 505 00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:38,239 Speaker 1: after Napoleon the Third came to power, George used her 506 00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:41,560 Speaker 1: considerable influence to broke her pardons from the new emperor 507 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:45,720 Speaker 1: for many of his political opponents. She continued to advocate 508 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:48,840 Speaker 1: politically with the Buonaparte family on behalf of peasants and 509 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:51,800 Speaker 1: the working class, and as a consequence, she actually became 510 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:54,880 Speaker 1: pretty good friends with Prince Jerome Napoleon, the cousin of 511 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:59,720 Speaker 1: Napoleon the Third. In eighteen fifty four, George's autobiography is 512 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:03,960 Speaker 1: ar dem Vi began publishing an installments in the journal 513 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:07,800 Speaker 1: La Press. The story of her life spooled out over 514 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:10,840 Speaker 1: the course of a hundred and thirty eight installments, and 515 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:13,600 Speaker 1: then it was published and its entirety in book form 516 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:17,000 Speaker 1: over the course of twenty volumes, which gives you a 517 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:21,320 Speaker 1: sense of why we're not mentioning all of the individual details. 518 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:25,480 Speaker 1: As she approached her fifties, George wanted to ensure that 519 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:28,400 Speaker 1: her family would be taken care of long term after 520 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:30,960 Speaker 1: her death, and she began to work on selling the 521 00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:34,160 Speaker 1: rights to future publication royalties for her work in an 522 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:38,000 Speaker 1: effort to secure financial stability for the family. Family life 523 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:42,400 Speaker 1: itself remained complex. In eighteen fifty three, Solange had entrusted 524 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:45,080 Speaker 1: George with the care of her second daughter, Jeanne, who 525 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:48,080 Speaker 1: went by Ninni, and as the marriage between Solange and 526 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 1: her sculpture husband broke down, Pleasant showed up at Noel 527 00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:55,280 Speaker 1: to take the child from Palmd, catalyzing a custody battle 528 00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:58,440 Speaker 1: over the five year old and those. Palm was able 529 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:01,320 Speaker 1: to get custody of Nini after a months long legal fight. 530 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:05,440 Speaker 1: The child contracted scarlet fever soon after and died in 531 00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:09,600 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty five. Suns, who had continued to write prolifically 532 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:12,760 Speaker 1: throughout all of these personal dramas, signed a ten book 533 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:16,320 Speaker 1: deal with Hashett three years later. She also made up 534 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:19,520 Speaker 1: with Francois Bouleaux, who was the editor at Revue de 535 00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:22,800 Speaker 1: du Monts that she had fallen out with years earlier. 536 00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:26,640 Speaker 1: The literary magazine once again started publishing her work, starting 537 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:29,320 Speaker 1: with Lome de la NAIs or The Snowman in eighteen 538 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:32,120 Speaker 1: fifty eight. In eighteen fifty nine, Sun set off a 539 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:35,840 Speaker 1: minor literary war when she published l a Louis That's 540 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:39,360 Speaker 1: Her and Him in Installments and This was a fictionalized 541 00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:42,480 Speaker 1: version of her romance with Alfred de Muse years earlier. 542 00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:46,400 Speaker 1: Muse had died two years prior to Sun's story coming out. 543 00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:49,719 Speaker 1: Keep in mind this whole thing was more than twenty 544 00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:53,200 Speaker 1: years after their relationship, and Muse had had his say 545 00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:55,920 Speaker 1: when he published his version of their story in eighteen 546 00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:59,480 Speaker 1: thirty six. But just the same, Saul's story earned the 547 00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:02,800 Speaker 1: ire of Muse's brother, who wrote his own book titled 548 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:06,760 Speaker 1: Louis a l and once again represented his brother's side 549 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:10,680 Speaker 1: of the story. Despite the skirmish over her past romance 550 00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:14,280 Speaker 1: in eighteen fifty nine, Song remained a celebrity and a success. 551 00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:16,560 Speaker 1: At the end of that year, one of the first 552 00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:21,360 Speaker 1: celebrity licensed luxury since was created. That was Oh De 553 00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:25,000 Speaker 1: George sand for the Body and for the Hanky. Yet 554 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:28,680 Speaker 1: another illustrious writer was still to step into George's life, 555 00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:31,760 Speaker 1: and that was Gustave Flaubert. The two men in eighteen 556 00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:35,320 Speaker 1: sixty while Sond was visiting Paris, later became friends and 557 00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:39,400 Speaker 1: went on to exchange letters for years. This is perhaps 558 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:43,120 Speaker 1: a surprising friendship since Flaubert's work Madame Bovary, which came 559 00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:46,120 Speaker 1: out in eighteen fifty six, seemed to mock the very 560 00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:49,200 Speaker 1: sort of woman George Sond writes about in her books, 561 00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:53,880 Speaker 1: and indeed presented herself as Song like her heroine's was 562 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:57,560 Speaker 1: obsessed with romance, with emotions, with the search for passion, 563 00:31:58,080 --> 00:31:59,840 Speaker 1: and if you have read Madame Bovarie, you know that 564 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:03,520 Speaker 1: emmab Ovary is ultimately consumed by those very behaviors, and 565 00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:06,600 Speaker 1: it is not always terribly flattering of her. Um. We 566 00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:10,400 Speaker 1: should note that the interpretation of Flaubert's intent had been 567 00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:13,720 Speaker 1: argued since the book's publication, and that quote the of 568 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:18,120 Speaker 1: Oftensey attributed to him Madame Bovari Smoi might indicate that 569 00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:21,840 Speaker 1: he was perhaps less condescending about romanticism than it might 570 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:24,920 Speaker 1: appear at first glance. Regardless of the writers seem to 571 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:28,720 Speaker 1: adore each other, despite the obviously different points of view 572 00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:33,080 Speaker 1: that were represented in their correspondence. Flaubert refers to Song 573 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:36,920 Speaker 1: as dear Master. At one point, as they debated politics. 574 00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:39,840 Speaker 1: He wrote quote, ah, dear good master, if you could 575 00:32:39,840 --> 00:32:43,320 Speaker 1: only hate, that is what you lack hate. In spite 576 00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:45,880 Speaker 1: of your great sphinx eyes, you have seen the world 577 00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:50,000 Speaker 1: through a golden color. Their letters, which you can read online, 578 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:54,400 Speaker 1: are absolutely darling. Some of them are u uh. It's 579 00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:57,960 Speaker 1: a very playful and sweet correspondence. It kind of reminds 580 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,440 Speaker 1: me of the text that you might send to you 581 00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:02,760 Speaker 1: know your your best friend, and back and forth the 582 00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:05,760 Speaker 1: two of them tease and chastise each other, and at 583 00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:08,479 Speaker 1: one point in eighteen sixty six, Flobeart suggests that if 584 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:11,640 Speaker 1: they stopped joking in their letters, Song will become instantly 585 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:13,840 Speaker 1: bored with him. And they often just seem to be 586 00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:16,400 Speaker 1: trying to figure out times when their schedules intersect so 587 00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:19,240 Speaker 1: that they can have dinner together. But it's all peppered 588 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:22,720 Speaker 1: throughout discussions of the human soul and the afterlife and 589 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:24,880 Speaker 1: the nature of art. And as I said, it's a 590 00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:28,720 Speaker 1: very charming read. In eighteen sixty one, Yours and Solange 591 00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:33,480 Speaker 1: had another falling out. This time George accused Solange of 592 00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:37,120 Speaker 1: basically allowing a man to pay to keep her. The 593 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:40,200 Speaker 1: two women had continued to butt heads over money, and 594 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:43,720 Speaker 1: Solange had confided her financial problems to her mother. She 595 00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:47,240 Speaker 1: got a less than cordial reply by letter that read, 596 00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:49,760 Speaker 1: in part quote, you should live simply or learn to 597 00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:53,240 Speaker 1: work to anything anyone ever says to you. You reply 598 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:57,440 Speaker 1: that it's impossible. My only advice is this, Both privation 599 00:33:57,560 --> 00:34:01,280 Speaker 1: and work require a strong will. And you say, how boring. 600 00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:03,880 Speaker 1: I've got nothing more to say. As a result, of 601 00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:09,120 Speaker 1: these disagreements, the two women did not speak for four years. Yeah, 602 00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:15,800 Speaker 1: they classic mother and daughter conflict relationship. George's son Maurice, 603 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:19,320 Speaker 1: also had some sort of falling out with Alexandle Monceaux, 604 00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:23,480 Speaker 1: that is, his his friend who had become George Soon's 605 00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:26,520 Speaker 1: companion and lover, and he asked that his former friend 606 00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:30,360 Speaker 1: leave noan And it is unclear why this ultimatum was given. 607 00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:33,680 Speaker 1: It is possible that Maurice, who had married in eighteen 608 00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:37,120 Speaker 1: sixty two, suddenly saw Manceu as a freeloader in his 609 00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:40,439 Speaker 1: mother's world. But we have to give Monceux his due. 610 00:34:40,840 --> 00:34:45,080 Speaker 1: He was absolutely devoted to George. So many men had 611 00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:47,960 Speaker 1: fallen in love with her during her life, but Manceux 612 00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:50,719 Speaker 1: supported her in ways that few people ever experience in 613 00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:54,759 Speaker 1: a partner. Son was a constant and prolific writer. She 614 00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:58,480 Speaker 1: turned out twenty pages a day every day. Because the 615 00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:02,000 Speaker 1: chateau had constant tests that had needs and cost money, 616 00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:05,600 Speaker 1: and because she paid allowances to her children and rented 617 00:35:05,640 --> 00:35:08,640 Speaker 1: places in Paris, she just needed a constant stream of income, 618 00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:11,440 Speaker 1: so she wrote even when a party went on at 619 00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:14,560 Speaker 1: the chateau until the wee hours. She would then write 620 00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:17,959 Speaker 1: and write until sunrise, and when she would sit down 621 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:20,920 Speaker 1: for a long session, Manceu would bring her everything she 622 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:24,240 Speaker 1: might need, her paper and her ink, her cigarette, papers 623 00:35:24,239 --> 00:35:28,040 Speaker 1: and tobacco, any refreshments she might need. He actually purchased 624 00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:30,839 Speaker 1: a small cottage nearby for them to escape to when 625 00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:33,400 Speaker 1: the chateau got too crowded with guests for her to 626 00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:36,319 Speaker 1: be able to write. In short, he enabled her to 627 00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:40,359 Speaker 1: continue her career uninterrupted in the years that they were together. Yeah, 628 00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:44,520 Speaker 1: he wasn't like so supportive, Like it's like when everybody 629 00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:48,000 Speaker 1: dreams of in a partner that supports him and keeps 630 00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:50,880 Speaker 1: them going and unconditionally loves them. He was there for 631 00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:54,120 Speaker 1: all of them. So when Maurice insisted that Manceu had 632 00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:57,960 Speaker 1: to leave Noan, that is exactly what happened, and George 633 00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:00,960 Speaker 1: Sand left with him, and after they traveled for a bit, 634 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:05,080 Speaker 1: the pair landed in Palizeau, just outside of Paris. Manceux 635 00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:07,799 Speaker 1: died of tuberculosis a year later, but it would be 636 00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:10,840 Speaker 1: two more years before George Sand would return to Noon. 637 00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:14,160 Speaker 1: The last ten years of her life were a mix 638 00:36:14,320 --> 00:36:16,800 Speaker 1: of the life that she loved so much at Noant 639 00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:20,960 Speaker 1: and travel and politics. She criticized both the radical Paris 640 00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:24,120 Speaker 1: Commune government which ruled for several months in eighteen seventy one, 641 00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:27,200 Speaker 1: and the toppling of that government. Because of the violent 642 00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:30,520 Speaker 1: and bloody conflict that took place, She and her family 643 00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:34,040 Speaker 1: fled Noant briefly due to a smallpox scare, and she 644 00:36:34,239 --> 00:36:37,840 Speaker 1: entertained loads of visitors at the chateau. As always, she 645 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:41,879 Speaker 1: still wrote constantly along with all of that. At sixty nine, 646 00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:45,520 Speaker 1: she wrote Continent Dune Grandmere Tales of a Grandmother. In 647 00:36:45,600 --> 00:36:48,680 Speaker 1: late eighteen seventy five, Sawn organized all of her work 648 00:36:48,760 --> 00:36:51,400 Speaker 1: so it could be published as a complete collection, and 649 00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:54,600 Speaker 1: she wrote a preface for it. Soon thereafter, she started 650 00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:58,040 Speaker 1: work on a new novel, aut Been Fury. She died 651 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:01,120 Speaker 1: on June eighth, eighteen seventy six, just a few weeks 652 00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:04,680 Speaker 1: shy of her seventy second birthday. In her lifetime, Sound 653 00:37:04,719 --> 00:37:07,640 Speaker 1: wrote more than fifty novels, more than a dozen play 654 00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:13,480 Speaker 1: her extensive autobiography, and innumerable pamphlets, essays, and letters. In 655 00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:17,280 Speaker 1: eighteen forty four, Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote a poem titled 656 00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:21,640 Speaker 1: to George Song, a recognition and celebration of the controversial 657 00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:24,680 Speaker 1: writer's ability to carve out her own exceptional life that 658 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:29,800 Speaker 1: defied gender norms. Here's how that poem reads, Thou, large 659 00:37:29,880 --> 00:37:34,160 Speaker 1: brained woman and large hearted man, self called George Song, 660 00:37:34,280 --> 00:37:38,480 Speaker 1: whose soul amid the lions of thy tumultuous senses, moans 661 00:37:38,640 --> 00:37:43,120 Speaker 1: defiance and answers roar for roar as spirits can. I 662 00:37:43,239 --> 00:37:47,520 Speaker 1: would some mild, miraculous thunder ran above the applauded circus 663 00:37:47,520 --> 00:37:51,040 Speaker 1: and appliance of thine own nobler nature's strength and science, 664 00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:55,399 Speaker 1: drawing two pinions, white as wings of swan from thy 665 00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:59,359 Speaker 1: strong shoulders to amaze the place with holier light, that 666 00:37:59,440 --> 00:38:03,359 Speaker 1: Thou to woman's claim and man's might join, besides the 667 00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:07,879 Speaker 1: angel's grace of a pure genius, sanctified from blame, till 668 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:11,719 Speaker 1: child and maiden pressed to thine, embraced to kiss upon 669 00:38:11,800 --> 00:38:15,640 Speaker 1: thy lips a stainless fame. Oh is your song, And 670 00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:21,400 Speaker 1: I love you so much. To her, um, it's funny 671 00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:25,920 Speaker 1: because I don't um super love her novels. Sure, this 672 00:38:26,120 --> 00:38:29,239 Speaker 1: is not my jam, but I love her as a 673 00:38:29,320 --> 00:38:33,160 Speaker 1: person and her biography. I think she's kind of fabulous 674 00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:36,520 Speaker 1: in the way that you know, saucy woman who sets 675 00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:39,799 Speaker 1: out to make her own life very much outside of 676 00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:44,799 Speaker 1: the norms of societal Morey's that is pretty fun. And 677 00:38:45,080 --> 00:38:47,719 Speaker 1: uh yeah, I can't say I would I would want 678 00:38:47,760 --> 00:38:51,480 Speaker 1: her romantic life. That sounds exhausting, but you know, she's 679 00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:54,080 Speaker 1: still very fun. Yeah. There are moments that I'm like, 680 00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:56,760 Speaker 1: that sounds like a lot of fun, and other moments 681 00:38:56,800 --> 00:39:00,439 Speaker 1: that I'm like, Okay, I'm tired now, right the light down. 682 00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:03,560 Speaker 1: I mean, I love the idea, like, oh, that's another 683 00:39:03,600 --> 00:39:06,040 Speaker 1: good time travel thing. I would love the chance to 684 00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:08,799 Speaker 1: visit Noah and like hang out. It's some of her 685 00:39:08,840 --> 00:39:11,799 Speaker 1: epic like perpetual parties that seemed to be going on 686 00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:15,279 Speaker 1: there with lots of interesting, fun, smart people. Right. Can 687 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:17,480 Speaker 1: I just hang out at Noah with Delia for a while? 688 00:39:17,719 --> 00:39:21,080 Speaker 1: That sounds great. I have some listener mail that is 689 00:39:21,120 --> 00:39:24,480 Speaker 1: not about George Song, but it's sort of about another 690 00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:27,160 Speaker 1: woman that I'm a fan of in history. This is 691 00:39:27,200 --> 00:39:30,480 Speaker 1: from our listener Blaze, and she writes, high Holly and Tracy. 692 00:39:30,520 --> 00:39:32,319 Speaker 1: I was in a thrift store in a small town 693 00:39:32,320 --> 00:39:34,960 Speaker 1: in northern New Mexico recently, and I came across the 694 00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:38,880 Speaker 1: enclosed postcards related to Queen Victoria and her clothing. I thought, you, 695 00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:42,040 Speaker 1: especially Hollywood enjoy them, so I'm sending them along. I've 696 00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:44,080 Speaker 1: never been to London, but I'm glad someone none of 697 00:39:44,160 --> 00:39:46,200 Speaker 1: us have ever met went to the Museum of London 698 00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:49,040 Speaker 1: and bought postcards that they never managed to send. I 699 00:39:49,080 --> 00:39:52,200 Speaker 1: hope you also enjoy this card from the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. 700 00:39:52,320 --> 00:39:54,799 Speaker 1: Balloons are a big deal in New Mexico. Thanks for 701 00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:57,080 Speaker 1: all your hard work and sharing history with the masses. 702 00:39:57,400 --> 00:40:00,160 Speaker 1: I've been listening to the show since and you, in 703 00:40:00,160 --> 00:40:02,800 Speaker 1: the previous hosts have helped me through some really lonely times. 704 00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:06,240 Speaker 1: I appreciate you all the best. Blaze. That's so cool, Blaze, 705 00:40:06,239 --> 00:40:09,480 Speaker 1: thank you so much. There um beautiful pictures there are 706 00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:14,560 Speaker 1: of Queen Victoria, uh, some of her later in life 707 00:40:14,840 --> 00:40:18,640 Speaker 1: garments that were on display at the Museum of London 708 00:40:18,680 --> 00:40:23,680 Speaker 1: at some point in time. Her Jubilee portrait, which I love. 709 00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:27,239 Speaker 1: Some bonnets from the era. They are the only known 710 00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:30,839 Speaker 1: examples of Queen Victoria's bonnets before eighteen sixty one, which 711 00:40:30,880 --> 00:40:33,160 Speaker 1: are beautiful. One of them has a beautiful rose bread 712 00:40:33,320 --> 00:40:36,800 Speaker 1: or rose ribbon trim. Anyway, I love these, of course 713 00:40:36,840 --> 00:40:40,320 Speaker 1: because Uh, thank you so much, Blaze for sending those. 714 00:40:40,480 --> 00:40:42,759 Speaker 1: Those are awesome. If you would like to write to us, 715 00:40:42,800 --> 00:40:44,759 Speaker 1: you can do so at History Podcast at i heart 716 00:40:44,840 --> 00:40:47,160 Speaker 1: radio dot com. You can also find us everywhere on 717 00:40:47,200 --> 00:40:49,719 Speaker 1: social media as Missed in History. If you would like 718 00:40:49,760 --> 00:40:51,920 Speaker 1: to subscribe to the show that Sounds Just Grand, you 719 00:40:51,920 --> 00:40:53,839 Speaker 1: can do that on the I heart radio app, an 720 00:40:53,840 --> 00:41:01,400 Speaker 1: Apple podcast, or wherever it is you listen. Stuff you 721 00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:03,600 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class is a production of I heart 722 00:41:03,680 --> 00:41:07,000 Speaker 1: Radio's How Stuff Works. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, 723 00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:10,279 Speaker 1: visit the heart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 724 00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:11,600 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.