1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,279 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. It's been 4 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:20,439 Speaker 1: a few years since we had some kind of love 5 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 1: story leading up to Valentine's to Day. I know this 6 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:26,159 Speaker 1: is coming out a little earlier than Valentine's Day. We 7 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: had a little schedule switchery, but I felt like doing 8 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:33,960 Speaker 1: some kind of love story something this year, and I 9 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:39,880 Speaker 1: chose French author Collette. Love, passion and desire and pleasure 10 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 1: all running themes and her work and in her life, 11 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 1: and that life was seen as really scandalous and even notorious, 12 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:52,839 Speaker 1: especially in her younger years. Uh. This this turned out 13 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: to have a lot more mess than I knew. There 14 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:57,440 Speaker 1: was gonna be some mess, but there was more more 15 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:00,160 Speaker 1: mess than I really was expecting by the time of 16 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: her death. Though Collette was regarded as a national icon 17 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:07,039 Speaker 1: in France, they could be really tricky to sort out 18 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:11,399 Speaker 1: some of the details, though, because she intentionally incorporated her 19 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 1: life into her fiction, to the point that there's some 20 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:19,080 Speaker 1: widely repeated tidbits that are found in her books but 21 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:23,600 Speaker 1: really contradict things that she actually told people about her life. 22 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: And while her writing really suggested that people, especially women, 23 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:31,920 Speaker 1: should just be free to live their lives as their 24 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 1: very full, authentic selves, she also had a curated persona, 25 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:41,440 Speaker 1: so maybe having that persona was her unique self. It's 26 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:44,959 Speaker 1: hard to tell sometimes though, like was this her true 27 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: feeling or was this the public self she was presenting 28 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:52,160 Speaker 1: to people. While I was working on this, I alternately 29 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: found things that made me go, wow, you were amazing 30 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 1: and I love you, Collette, and then other parts that 31 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 1: made me go, wow, you are horrible. Some of the 32 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:05,360 Speaker 1: things that really scandalized French society during Collette's lifetime are 33 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:10,240 Speaker 1: commonplace and even mostly accepted today, but parts of it 34 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:14,080 Speaker 1: are more troubling now than they were then. So during 35 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:17,079 Speaker 1: this two parter, we're gonna be talking about some relationships 36 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:19,800 Speaker 1: that may have been eyebrow raising at the time, but 37 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:23,360 Speaker 1: they weren't necessarily criminal today, though if we were talking 38 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 1: about the same relationships, we would probably be describing them 39 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,960 Speaker 1: more as sexual abuse or rape than as a relationship. 40 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:36,359 Speaker 1: So Collette was born Sidney Gabriel Collette on January eighteen 41 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:39,560 Speaker 1: seventy three in Saint Severan Puis, which is in the 42 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:43,760 Speaker 1: Burgundy region of France. If Burgundy is conjuring up images 43 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 1: of wine and beautiful vineyards, that is not what this 44 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: part of Burgundy was like. It was nicknamed the Poor 45 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: Burgundy because it was mostly home to woods, ravines, and 46 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: impoverished farms. Her father was Jules Colette, who had been 47 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: an officer and one of the French light infantry regiments 48 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,760 Speaker 1: known as the Zuave, which included a lot of soldiers 49 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:08,960 Speaker 1: from northern Africa. One of his legs had been amputated 50 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: after he was struck by a cannonball during the Wars 51 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,959 Speaker 1: of Italian Independence, and he had been awarded the Quadi 52 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: Ger and also granted a post as a tax inspector. 53 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:22,880 Speaker 1: Colette's mother, Sidony, was descended in part from a slaveholding 54 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:26,240 Speaker 1: family who lived in the French colony of Martinique. She 55 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:31,519 Speaker 1: had some African ancestry through her grandfather, Robert Landois. Colette 56 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: knew about her ancestry, and some sources describe it as 57 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:38,920 Speaker 1: a source of pride for her, but surviving letters really 58 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:42,120 Speaker 1: don't come across that way, both in her descriptions of 59 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: how she imagined her ancestors in the Caribbean and at 60 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,280 Speaker 1: one point her description of it in a letter as quote, 61 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:53,880 Speaker 1: a stain of black in my blood. Colette's mother, Sidney, 62 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: was already married when she met Jules Colette, and it 63 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:01,280 Speaker 1: was rumored that her second child was father by Jules 64 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 1: rather than by her husband. Jules and Sydney got married 65 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 1: eleven months after her first husband's unexpected death. Jules and 66 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:13,040 Speaker 1: Sydney then had two children together. The second of those 67 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: children was Collette, so she was the youngest of a 68 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:20,919 Speaker 1: sibling and two other half siblings. Her family called her Gabrie, 69 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:23,599 Speaker 1: and one of her mother's pet names for her translated 70 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:28,120 Speaker 1: to golden sunshine. Before Colette was born, her family had 71 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 1: been pretty well off, especially compared to most of the 72 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: other people where they were living. Sidney and her older 73 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: two children had inherited a significant amount of money and 74 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: property from her late first husband, but Sidny and Jules 75 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:45,240 Speaker 1: did not manage that fortune very well. A lot of 76 00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:48,240 Speaker 1: their wealth was in land that Jules really didn't know 77 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:50,360 Speaker 1: how to manage, and he seems to have made some 78 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:54,039 Speaker 1: pretty bad investments into things like farm equipment that really 79 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:58,840 Speaker 1: didn't return a profit. Sidny and Jules also both liked 80 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:02,640 Speaker 1: luxury and had some very expensive tastes and hobbies, and 81 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 1: they taught their children to appreciate things like food and wine. 82 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: Jules also had a love of science that led him 83 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 1: to buying lots of intricate instruments. Collette's childhood seems to 84 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 1: have been mostly happy, though Sidney was an avid gardener. 85 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:21,919 Speaker 1: Collette described her mother as truly coming alive in the garden. 86 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: She taught her children to love nature and plants. They 87 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:30,039 Speaker 1: had lots of pets, and Collette always really really loved 88 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:33,080 Speaker 1: and had a deep affinity for animals. There was also 89 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:35,840 Speaker 1: a library that the children could access without a lot 90 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:38,159 Speaker 1: of restrictions. There were only a few books in there 91 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:41,920 Speaker 1: that they were not allowed to read. Collette stressed that 92 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:45,240 Speaker 1: she was not a bookish child, though she loved to 93 00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:47,520 Speaker 1: be outdoors. She loved to be in the garden and 94 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:52,920 Speaker 1: in the woods. The families dwindling income eventually affected Colette 95 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:56,760 Speaker 1: and her siblings, though, when her half sister Juliet married 96 00:05:56,760 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 1: a doctor in eighteen eighty five, Jules had to borrow 97 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 1: money for her dowry, something that he should have been 98 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:05,719 Speaker 1: able to do out of Juliet's inheritance from her father, 99 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:09,640 Speaker 1: and this led to a whole bunch of suspicion on 100 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:12,359 Speaker 1: the part of Juliet's new in laws, who wanted to 101 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:17,320 Speaker 1: basically audit the Collette family's finances. Collette attended a local 102 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:19,599 Speaker 1: public school, and once she was old enough to go 103 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:23,120 Speaker 1: to a boarding school as her siblings had done, there 104 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:26,280 Speaker 1: just wasn't enough money to send her, and also her 105 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,880 Speaker 1: mother really didn't want to part with her. The family's 106 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: lack of funds also made it unlikely that they could 107 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 1: find a suitable husband for Collette, and marriage was the 108 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:41,280 Speaker 1: expected and really only acceptable path for a young woman 109 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:44,359 Speaker 1: of her class. This was really one of the many 110 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: contradictions in Colette's life. In a lot of ways, Sudany 111 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 1: was unconventional and really ahead of her time. She was 112 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:54,720 Speaker 1: an atheist and raised her children to believe that they 113 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:58,000 Speaker 1: were special, and she really didn't expect them to conform 114 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: to the Catholic social standards of the community they were 115 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:05,919 Speaker 1: living in. She absolutely, though, expected them to get married 116 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:09,720 Speaker 1: and have families. Colette's parents had been selling off their 117 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 1: farmland to cover expenses and debts, and as she entered 118 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 1: her teens, the land and the money were almost entirely gone. 119 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:21,080 Speaker 1: They were living almost exclusively on a pension Jules had 120 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:24,440 Speaker 1: earned with his military service and with his family's lifestyle, 121 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 1: that just wasn't enough. Eventually they had to move in 122 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:31,640 Speaker 1: with Colette's half brother, who had become a doctor. So 123 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:35,640 Speaker 1: when Colette started showing an obvious attraction to one of 124 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:40,000 Speaker 1: the family's social connections, her parents were relieved, in spite 125 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: of this man's reputation as a philanderer and the huge 126 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:47,360 Speaker 1: gap in their ages. This man was Alre Galtier Villar, 127 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:50,960 Speaker 1: also known as Vali, who was a journalist in a 128 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:54,360 Speaker 1: music critic. They met in eight nine, when Colette was 129 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:59,600 Speaker 1: sixteen and really was thirty. Colette was immediately infatuated, but 130 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:03,120 Speaker 1: we did not return her affections. At first, he was 131 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 1: involved with a married woman named jermin Serva. Willie described 132 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:12,280 Speaker 1: German as his first great love. Eventually, Willie and Germaine 133 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: had a son together named Jacques, at which point her 134 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:20,400 Speaker 1: husband divorced her, and then Willie legally recognized his child. Um. 135 00:08:20,440 --> 00:08:22,960 Speaker 1: I will note that I've heard people pronounce his name 136 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:25,960 Speaker 1: as the English name Willie, and then also as like 137 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 1: more of a French vally. Sort of depends on who's talking. 138 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:34,760 Speaker 1: I think his relationship with Colette, though, seems to have 139 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 1: started after Germaine died suddenly in At that point, Jacques 140 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 1: was only two. He asked Colette's parents to help him 141 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:47,079 Speaker 1: find a wet nurse, and then Colette was sometimes called 142 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:50,960 Speaker 1: on so basically babysit this little boy. There are some 143 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:55,760 Speaker 1: things that are really unclear about Wally's relationship with Colette. 144 00:08:56,280 --> 00:08:58,920 Speaker 1: As we said earlier, to her family, it was a 145 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: huge relief because she didn't really have any other prospects 146 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:06,000 Speaker 1: for a marriage. But his family was a different story. 147 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:09,560 Speaker 1: They saw Colette's lack of dowry and her family's financial 148 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:14,720 Speaker 1: situation as a problem. While Collette was deeply in love 149 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:18,840 Speaker 1: with Willie, his letters from this period don't really suggest 150 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:21,760 Speaker 1: that he felt the same way. He was really grief 151 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:25,800 Speaker 1: stricken over Germaine's death. It's possible that there was some 152 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:29,560 Speaker 1: kind of bigger scandal lurking that he was hoping to 153 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:35,440 Speaker 1: avoid by marrying Colette. According to her third husband's second 154 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:38,720 Speaker 1: wife much later in her life, Colette told him that 155 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:43,319 Speaker 1: Wally had raped her before their marriage, But various correspondence 156 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:47,360 Speaker 1: about these marriage arrangements really don't suggest that something like 157 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:51,959 Speaker 1: that was like motivating her parents into essentially blackmailing him 158 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:55,840 Speaker 1: into marrying her, but Willie and Colette were married on 159 00:09:55,920 --> 00:10:00,480 Speaker 1: May fifte when she was twenty and he was third five. 160 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:03,920 Speaker 1: The couple moved to Paris, and Willie sent Jacques to 161 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:08,199 Speaker 1: be raised by a grandmother. After the wedding, Willie's family 162 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:11,079 Speaker 1: cut him out of his position in the family publishing 163 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:16,040 Speaker 1: business and reduced his income Outside of her fiction, Collette 164 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:19,640 Speaker 1: didn't leave a lot of documentation about the first year 165 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:22,760 Speaker 1: of their marriage. She wrote letters to her mother, but 166 00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 1: those letters were destroyed after her mother's death. In later years, though, 167 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 1: she said this was one of the most unhappy periods 168 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:32,120 Speaker 1: of her life and we will talk about it more 169 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:44,840 Speaker 1: after a sponsor break. In a lot of ways, Collette 170 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:47,640 Speaker 1: didn't conform to what was expected of girls and young 171 00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:50,400 Speaker 1: women at the end of the nineteenth century, especially in 172 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:53,840 Speaker 1: the area where she grew up. She had started going 173 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:57,440 Speaker 1: only by Colette while still in school, like a lot 174 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:00,280 Speaker 1: of boys called each other only by their last name Aims. 175 00:11:00,679 --> 00:11:03,280 Speaker 1: She had encouraged her school friends to start doing the same. 176 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:07,959 Speaker 1: She had idolized her unconventional mother and had been a 177 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:11,079 Speaker 1: lot more interested in rambling in the outdoors than learning 178 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:14,640 Speaker 1: all the domestic skills involved with keeping a home. She 179 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:18,280 Speaker 1: was lively and curious and personable, but she wasn't seen 180 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:23,280 Speaker 1: as particularly feminine. But when she arrived in Paris with Willie, 181 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:26,760 Speaker 1: she didn't really fit in there either. She dressed and 182 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:29,760 Speaker 1: acted like someone from the country. She wore her hair 183 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:32,959 Speaker 1: in two very, very long braids, and while a lot 184 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:36,520 Speaker 1: of people commented on how beautiful her hair was, this 185 00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:39,320 Speaker 1: style also made her look like a little girl, and 186 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:42,520 Speaker 1: this was kind of a theme in Collette's life. She 187 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:45,120 Speaker 1: did not want to get old, and she did everything 188 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:47,959 Speaker 1: that she could to put off aging. But she also 189 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:51,480 Speaker 1: seems to have intentionally made herself look even younger than 190 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:55,480 Speaker 1: she was during her relationship with Willie, because she knew 191 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:59,320 Speaker 1: he liked younger women, and she was constantly out in 192 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:03,000 Speaker 1: public among people whose habits and Moray's were not at all, 193 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:06,640 Speaker 1: which she was used to. Since Wally was a theater critic, 194 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:10,080 Speaker 1: he was expected to go to pretty much every performance 195 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:13,400 Speaker 1: and cultural event that there was. She was expected to 196 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:15,000 Speaker 1: go with him a lot of the time, and at 197 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:18,439 Speaker 1: the same time, he was very controlling of her. He 198 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:21,880 Speaker 1: was stingy with his money. He refused to give Collette 199 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:24,439 Speaker 1: an allowance that she might have used to like update 200 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:28,040 Speaker 1: her style and wardrobe to more fit in with the society. 201 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:30,440 Speaker 1: He would buy things for her to wear, but not 202 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:33,760 Speaker 1: necessarily things that she liked. It all, she started to 203 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:37,640 Speaker 1: make friends, but she still felt really lonely. Then, in 204 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:41,880 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety four, Collette got an anonymous letter, and this 205 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:44,760 Speaker 1: letter told her where she could go if she wanted 206 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:48,960 Speaker 1: to catch her husband with another woman. She went, and 207 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:53,240 Speaker 1: she did catch him, and she was devastated. Soon after this, 208 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:56,520 Speaker 1: she became seriously ill and it took her months to recover. 209 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:01,000 Speaker 1: Some accounts interpret this illness as a psycho logical breakdown, 210 00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:05,080 Speaker 1: but others describe something that involved more of a lingering fever. 211 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:09,040 Speaker 1: Although really had his byline on a lot of writing, 212 00:13:09,559 --> 00:13:12,280 Speaker 1: a lot of that writing had been done by other people. 213 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:16,400 Speaker 1: Sometimes he's described as having an army of ghost writers 214 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:19,800 Speaker 1: or running a ghostwriting factory. Some of his writers were 215 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:22,480 Speaker 1: at the start of their careers. Others were a lot 216 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:26,040 Speaker 1: more prominent and just needed the money. He was really 217 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:29,480 Speaker 1: good at marketing and especially self promotion, and that meant 218 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:33,200 Speaker 1: that somebody writing stuff that he was taking credit for 219 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:36,400 Speaker 1: could potentially make a lot of money doing so so. 220 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:39,679 Speaker 1: For some people that felt worth it even though they 221 00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:43,319 Speaker 1: weren't actually getting credit for their own work. In he 222 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:46,480 Speaker 1: started using that army of ghost writers to turn out fiction. 223 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:51,080 Speaker 1: Most accounts say that really suggested that Collette write down 224 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:54,000 Speaker 1: the story she had been telling about her days at school, 225 00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:58,559 Speaker 1: maybe with some extra salacious details, and then turn them 226 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:02,080 Speaker 1: into a book. At some points, Collette also said this 227 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:04,920 Speaker 1: whole thing was her idea, and that at first Willie 228 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:09,040 Speaker 1: was dismissive of it. Whoever's idea it was. She did 229 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:12,000 Speaker 1: ultimately write a book, although Willie didn't do anything with 230 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:14,560 Speaker 1: it at first, but he circled back to it a 231 00:14:14,559 --> 00:14:17,520 Speaker 1: few years later, and the result was Collette's first book, 232 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:21,800 Speaker 1: Claudine alecl or Claudine at School, which was published in 233 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:25,320 Speaker 1: nineteen hundred. This is a coming of age story about 234 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:28,600 Speaker 1: fifteen year old Claudine in her last year at a 235 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:31,680 Speaker 1: village day school. Written in the form of a diary. 236 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:36,640 Speaker 1: There is a love triangle involving Claudine and the headmistress's 237 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:41,160 Speaker 1: young assistant Amy, and the school's much older headmistress herself. 238 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:44,160 Speaker 1: Sometimes this is described as one of the first y 239 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:48,680 Speaker 1: A novels, and Claudine is sometimes called the first teenage protagonist. 240 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:52,880 Speaker 1: Of course, there have always been people between the ages 241 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:56,600 Speaker 1: of thirteen and nineteen, but the idea that teenagers were 242 00:14:56,640 --> 00:15:00,680 Speaker 1: a particular group with common aspects to their personalities development 243 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:04,760 Speaker 1: had not really been established yet. And Claudine has a 244 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:08,080 Speaker 1: lot of the traits that are often associated with teenagers today, 245 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:14,040 Speaker 1: including being impulsive, brash, rebellious, and sexually curious. And Collette 246 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:17,840 Speaker 1: definitely saw herself in this character and wrote to a friend, quote, 247 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:21,480 Speaker 1: I have discovered an astonishing young girl. Do you know 248 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:26,200 Speaker 1: who she is? She is exactly me before my marriage. 249 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:30,240 Speaker 1: This isn't generally regarded as Collette's greatest book, but its 250 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:33,200 Speaker 1: first lines give kind of a glimpse into how her 251 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:36,360 Speaker 1: writing could be really evocative, sometimes without using a lot 252 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:40,040 Speaker 1: of words translated into English, they read quote, my name 253 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:42,880 Speaker 1: is Claudine. I live in Montoni. I was born there 254 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:47,640 Speaker 1: in four I shall probably not die there. Collette had 255 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:51,280 Speaker 1: already published some articles under her own name, but Claudine 256 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:54,440 Speaker 1: at School came out with Willie listed as its author. 257 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:58,600 Speaker 1: Most write ups and biopics frame this as Willie stealing 258 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:01,600 Speaker 1: credit for Colette's work with out her consent, but she 259 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:05,200 Speaker 1: also described this as a mutual decision motivated in part 260 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:08,360 Speaker 1: by concerns that if this tid leading book was published 261 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 1: under her name, it could damage the reputation of her 262 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 1: half brother, who had just married the daughter of a viscount. Yeah, 263 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:19,000 Speaker 1: that half brother also had the lingering suspicion of who 264 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:22,200 Speaker 1: his father had been, So it was like, and then also, 265 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:25,600 Speaker 1: if he turns out to have a scandalous sister, how's 266 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:29,920 Speaker 1: that going to go. Regardless of whose decision this was 267 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:34,920 Speaker 1: or what exactly motivated it, though really definitely exploited Colette's 268 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:38,400 Speaker 1: work as a writer. At first, Claudine at School didn't 269 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:40,760 Speaker 1: sell very well, but that changed after he got some 270 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:44,560 Speaker 1: prominent friends to write favorable reviews of it. Then it 271 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:47,600 Speaker 1: became a bestseller, in the first in a series, with 272 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:51,720 Speaker 1: many of Claudine's adventures mirroring parts of Colette's own life. 273 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:55,520 Speaker 1: For those of the people around her, Claudine also became 274 00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:59,440 Speaker 1: something of a brand. They were Claudine perfumes and Claudine soaps, 275 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:04,560 Speaker 1: and Claudeing cigars, Clauding collars for clothing, on and on. 276 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:07,879 Speaker 1: But Colette got none of the money for this. It 277 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:11,240 Speaker 1: all went to Willie, even as the fact that Colette 278 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:14,200 Speaker 1: had really written these books became sort of an open secret. 279 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:17,920 Speaker 1: Realie only started giving her a regular allowance after one 280 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:20,600 Speaker 1: of the Claudine books was made into a play, which 281 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:24,480 Speaker 1: turned the franchise into an even bigger money maker. He 282 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:27,199 Speaker 1: also bought her a manner in the country known as 283 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 1: Lement Boucon. He would also walk around with Colette on 284 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:34,359 Speaker 1: one arm and Polaire, who portrayed Claudine in the play, 285 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:38,840 Speaker 1: on the other, calling the two women his twins. There 286 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:42,320 Speaker 1: are also a lot of descriptions of Walie pushing Colette 287 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:45,159 Speaker 1: to crank out more and more writing, even to the 288 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:48,520 Speaker 1: point of locking her in her room when she wasn't 289 00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:51,439 Speaker 1: being productive enough. Even though this does show up in 290 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:54,880 Speaker 1: her fiction, Colette herself described being locked in her room 291 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:58,000 Speaker 1: only at the country house, and at her own request, 292 00:17:58,119 --> 00:18:02,359 Speaker 1: because she was having trouble forcussing there. As the Claudine 293 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:05,919 Speaker 1: series was being published, Colette was also making changes to 294 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:09,000 Speaker 1: her life. When she was about thirty, she cut her 295 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:11,439 Speaker 1: hair short, much to the shock and dismay of some 296 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:16,080 Speaker 1: of her family. She started wearing clothing that was more androgynous. 297 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:19,719 Speaker 1: She worked out using exercise equipment, first installed in their 298 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:23,919 Speaker 1: Paris apartment and then at lemn Boucon. Today, it probably 299 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:26,600 Speaker 1: wouldn't strike people as all that unusual for someone to 300 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:29,080 Speaker 1: routinely work out in a home gym if they had 301 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:31,679 Speaker 1: the money in the space for one. But at the 302 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:34,600 Speaker 1: time the exercises she did as part of her routine 303 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:38,800 Speaker 1: were done almost exclusively by athletes, not by regular folks 304 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:41,680 Speaker 1: just trying to change the shape of their bodies. And 305 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:45,800 Speaker 1: Colette also started having affairs of her own, something that 306 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:48,680 Speaker 1: we Lely knew about and even seemed to encourage, as 307 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:52,640 Speaker 1: well as encouraging her to incorporate those affairs into her writing. 308 00:18:53,359 --> 00:18:57,200 Speaker 1: These relationships were with other women. Collette thought Wally found 309 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:00,400 Speaker 1: this unthreatening in a way that he really would if 310 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:04,880 Speaker 1: she were seeing another man. At one point, Walie and 311 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:07,960 Speaker 1: Colette were both having an affair with a woman named 312 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:12,080 Speaker 1: Jersey Raoul Duval, although Collette did not know at first 313 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:16,760 Speaker 1: that really was also involved with her. Eventually Collette found out, 314 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:19,840 Speaker 1: and so did Georgie's husband, who tried to buy and 315 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:23,280 Speaker 1: destroy the entire stock of the book that Colette wrote 316 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:27,760 Speaker 1: about this. Really still owned the copyright to that book, though, 317 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:31,240 Speaker 1: which was published in English as Claudine married, so he 318 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:33,840 Speaker 1: just took it to another publisher had it done over 319 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:37,840 Speaker 1: just after the third Claudine book came out, Collette had 320 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:41,960 Speaker 1: a brief relationship with Natalie Clifford Barney, an American writer 321 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:45,040 Speaker 1: who had moved to Paris and hosted a woman only salon. 322 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:49,880 Speaker 1: Many of its attendees were lesbian or bisexual, including past 323 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:55,040 Speaker 1: podcast subjects Gertrude Stein and Marie Laurence Some. Barney herself 324 00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:59,520 Speaker 1: was famously openly lesbian at a time when homosexuality was 325 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:04,040 Speaker 1: heavily stigmatized. She and Colette were still friends after their 326 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:07,479 Speaker 1: romantic relationship ended, and Collette was part of this circle 327 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:10,160 Speaker 1: for most of the rest of her life. I feel 328 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:12,480 Speaker 1: like every time Natalie Barney comes up on the show, 329 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:17,080 Speaker 1: it's like the probably she should be here. She's like 330 00:20:17,119 --> 00:20:20,280 Speaker 1: a historical nexus point because a lot of people's stories 331 00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:24,720 Speaker 1: passed through her salon, for sure. As Colette was writing 332 00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:27,760 Speaker 1: the later Claudine books, she was also starting to think 333 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:32,760 Speaker 1: about leaving her husband. He influenced her as a writer 334 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:35,280 Speaker 1: in a lot of ways. It also is clear he 335 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:38,600 Speaker 1: was not great to her as a spouse and partner. 336 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:44,440 Speaker 1: She published Dialogue, Debit or Creature Conversations under the name 337 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:47,600 Speaker 1: Colette Really in nineteen four, and for the first time 338 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:50,480 Speaker 1: the money from the book's sale went to her rather 339 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:53,400 Speaker 1: than to her husband. This is a book of Colette's 340 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:56,560 Speaker 1: own thoughts, as told through a series of conversations between 341 00:20:56,600 --> 00:20:59,400 Speaker 1: a cat and a dog. Knowing that she would also 342 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:03,399 Speaker 1: need some other source of income, she started taking dance 343 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,600 Speaker 1: lessons with the help of a friend, actor and mime 344 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:11,439 Speaker 1: George Wegg, with the intent of starting a career on stage. 345 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:16,320 Speaker 1: The following year, Collette and Willie started a separacion debien, 346 00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:19,800 Speaker 1: or a legal division of their property, although this wasn't 347 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:24,359 Speaker 1: really connected to their relationship as husband and wife. Even 348 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:27,679 Speaker 1: though Collette had made her husband a lot of money 349 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:30,760 Speaker 1: through her books and the plays that were adapted from them, 350 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:33,320 Speaker 1: he was just terrible at managing it, and he spent 351 00:21:33,359 --> 00:21:37,240 Speaker 1: money lavishly. She was in debt as well, but not 352 00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:41,280 Speaker 1: to the same extent, and this separation meant that neither 353 00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:44,080 Speaker 1: of them could be held responsible for the other's debts, 354 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:47,880 Speaker 1: and that Willie could funnel royalties through Collette to protect 355 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:52,160 Speaker 1: them from debt collectors. Also in nineteen o five, Collette 356 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:55,280 Speaker 1: met Missy de Morney, whose father was the Duke of 357 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:59,199 Speaker 1: Morney and whose uncle was Napoleon the Third. Missy was 358 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:02,720 Speaker 1: also known as uncle Max and used Yussum, which is 359 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:05,960 Speaker 1: Missy spelled backward, as a stage name. We'll get into 360 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:18,480 Speaker 1: their relationship after a sponsor break. Missy de Morny was 361 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:22,080 Speaker 1: a famous or maybe infamous figure around Paris in the 362 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:26,560 Speaker 1: early twentieth century. Missy had been married to Jacques Godar, 363 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:29,520 Speaker 1: the sixth Marquis de Bouff, from eighteen eighty one to 364 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:34,040 Speaker 1: nine o three. Some accounts described Goddar as gay and 365 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:37,080 Speaker 1: suggest that this marriage was mostly meant as kind of 366 00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:40,800 Speaker 1: a cover for him. I was really not able to 367 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:44,119 Speaker 1: find much information about him at all, though, and some 368 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:46,920 Speaker 1: of the details about their marriage that were in other 369 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:51,600 Speaker 1: sources kind of seemed to contradict that idea. Some things 370 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:55,760 Speaker 1: aren't totally clear about Missy either. Some of this infamy 371 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:58,480 Speaker 1: came from the fact that Missy wore suits and trousers 372 00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:02,359 Speaker 1: and had short hair and a masculine demeanor. It was 373 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:05,960 Speaker 1: illegal for anyone but men to wear pants, so Missy 374 00:23:06,119 --> 00:23:08,080 Speaker 1: was only able to get away with this thanks to 375 00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:13,000 Speaker 1: a combination of wealth and status. Some people today interpret 376 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:16,760 Speaker 1: Missy as a transman and use he him pronouns for them, 377 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:20,280 Speaker 1: and others interpret as a lesbian who liked to cross 378 00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:24,640 Speaker 1: dress or defy gender norms. Collette seems to have used 379 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:28,320 Speaker 1: feminine forms of address in her letters to Missy, but 380 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:31,760 Speaker 1: also used Missy as an inspiration for both male and 381 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:36,720 Speaker 1: female characters. I really wish I had more information about Missy. 382 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:42,000 Speaker 1: I only know of one full book length biography that's 383 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:46,080 Speaker 1: in French, out of print and more than twenty years old. 384 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:49,280 Speaker 1: So even if I had it and could read French 385 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:51,960 Speaker 1: well enough to read it, which I really don't think 386 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,480 Speaker 1: that I can, a lot has changed about how we 387 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:58,320 Speaker 1: think and talk about gender since that book was published. 388 00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:01,520 Speaker 1: So while I can say just really confidently that Missy 389 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:05,000 Speaker 1: is part of the umbrella of lgbt Q and specifically 390 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:09,280 Speaker 1: trans history, I'm just less confident about things like which 391 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:13,200 Speaker 1: ones are the right pronouns to use. Normally we default 392 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:16,639 Speaker 1: to what people used for themselves, but I just I 393 00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:19,760 Speaker 1: don't know from my research what that really was. Yeah, 394 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:22,359 Speaker 1: we don't. We don't have a diary of miss Ease, 395 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:25,840 Speaker 1: right not. I mean, if they're if one exists, is 396 00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:29,280 Speaker 1: not something that I was able to get. Colette and 397 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:32,440 Speaker 1: Missy met about a month before Colette and Willie started 398 00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:35,959 Speaker 1: that legal separation of their property. But Colette and Willie 399 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:38,760 Speaker 1: were still living together, and they continued living together for 400 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:42,760 Speaker 1: some time. At one point they all went on a vacation, 401 00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:45,800 Speaker 1: with Colette and Missy staying in one house and Willie 402 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:49,480 Speaker 1: and his new love interest, Meg Villar's staying next door. 403 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:53,800 Speaker 1: During this period, when their lives were overlapping, Missy wrote 404 00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:57,200 Speaker 1: Willie a letter describing thirty three year old Colette as 405 00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:01,919 Speaker 1: quote an impulsive child without any more feeling. Colette and 406 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:05,280 Speaker 1: Missy's relationship with scandalous and started in nineteen o six. 407 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:09,479 Speaker 1: Collette added another scandal by performing as a mime at 408 00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:13,840 Speaker 1: two different theaters. For women, acting was seen as comparable 409 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:17,360 Speaker 1: to sex work, and mime was seen as a particularly 410 00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:21,880 Speaker 1: low brow form of theater, so Collette's choice not only 411 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:24,960 Speaker 1: to go on stage, but also specifically to become a 412 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:28,840 Speaker 1: mime raised a lot of eyebrows, and some of her 413 00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:35,119 Speaker 1: performances were particularly scandalous. On January three, seven, Collette and 414 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:38,960 Speaker 1: Missy performed in a pantomime called revde Jeeped at the 415 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:42,919 Speaker 1: Mulin Rouge, which Missy had co written. In it, Missy 416 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:47,679 Speaker 1: played an archaeologist who opened a sarcophagus which a scantily 417 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:51,679 Speaker 1: dressed Colette emerged from performing a provocative dance before the 418 00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:56,360 Speaker 1: two of them passionately kissed. A lot of descriptions of 419 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,920 Speaker 1: this event make it sound like a riot, just spontaneous 420 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:03,199 Speaker 1: Lee broke out as some in the audience applauded this 421 00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:07,520 Speaker 1: kiss and others jeered and threw things at the stage. Really, 422 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:11,600 Speaker 1: though the Moulin Rouge had promoted this pantomime with the 423 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:15,919 Speaker 1: Dourney name attached, and Missy's brother and ex husband and 424 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:18,520 Speaker 1: many of their friends had all come up to the 425 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:23,480 Speaker 1: theater already outraged, they were trying to disrupt the performance 426 00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:27,000 Speaker 1: as soon as it started. As Missy and Colette resolutely 427 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:30,520 Speaker 1: carried on. Weallye and his future second wife were there 428 00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:34,120 Speaker 1: as well, and members of the audience turned on them. 429 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:38,240 Speaker 1: Although Colette and Missy's relationship lasted until about nineteen twelve, 430 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:42,280 Speaker 1: the scandal surrounding this pantomime made it much harder for 431 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:44,360 Speaker 1: the two of them to be seen together in public. 432 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,400 Speaker 1: Missy even commissioned a pair of trousers with a detachable 433 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:51,960 Speaker 1: skirt to try to avoid being harassed while out in public. 434 00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:56,600 Speaker 1: Colette's next book, La Retreat Sentimental or Retreat from Love, 435 00:26:57,119 --> 00:27:00,359 Speaker 1: was published under the name Colette Whelie in nineteen o seven, 436 00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:03,919 Speaker 1: and it was clearly influenced by the gradual end of 437 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:08,600 Speaker 1: her relationship with Walie, maybe with some wish fulfillment thrown 438 00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:11,720 Speaker 1: in there. It features two of the characters from the 439 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:15,119 Speaker 1: Claudine books, those air Claudine and Annie, living in a 440 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:18,560 Speaker 1: house that was clearly modeled after one that Colette had 441 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:22,440 Speaker 1: lived in with. Really, this is the last Claudine book, 442 00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:26,240 Speaker 1: and in it, Claudine's husband get sick and dies. As 443 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:29,480 Speaker 1: all of this was happening, Willie sold the copyright to 444 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:32,000 Speaker 1: the Claudine books that had been published under his name, 445 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:35,920 Speaker 1: without talking to Colette about it or even telling her 446 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:39,440 Speaker 1: after the deal was done. She didn't discover this until 447 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:44,200 Speaker 1: nine nine, and she was understandably outraged. By that time, 448 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:46,640 Speaker 1: they had been through the final stages of their divorce, 449 00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:49,320 Speaker 1: which they carried out in a very public and drama 450 00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:53,959 Speaker 1: filled way, full of lawsuits and counter suits and published correspondence, 451 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:58,200 Speaker 1: and Colette accusing Willie of having murdered German Serva using 452 00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:02,760 Speaker 1: morphine stolen from her mother. During all of this, Colette's 453 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:05,320 Speaker 1: mother told her that the only person she could count 454 00:28:05,359 --> 00:28:09,639 Speaker 1: on in the world was herself. I kind of feel 455 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:14,000 Speaker 1: like I'm not sure, Collette could necessarily have even counted 456 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:17,600 Speaker 1: on herself with some of the goings on During this 457 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:22,520 Speaker 1: whole period, Colette and Missy moved into a duplex, each 458 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:25,240 Speaker 1: with their own apartments, and they talked to a lawyer 459 00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:29,400 Speaker 1: about naming one another in their wills. They eventually bought 460 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:32,240 Speaker 1: a villa in Brittany known as Rosbin, which they put 461 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:35,919 Speaker 1: in Colette's name, and Missy started refurbishing it. By the 462 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:39,760 Speaker 1: time Missy was finished, though their relationship was essentially over, 463 00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:44,320 Speaker 1: Collett's relationship with Missy was already becoming strained. When they 464 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:47,760 Speaker 1: bought that villa, Collette had caught the attention of a 465 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:52,320 Speaker 1: wealthy young man named Auguste Rio, and both august and 466 00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:56,480 Speaker 1: Missy were jealous of one another, and yet Missy so 467 00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:59,959 Speaker 1: badly wanted to stay with Collette that agost was allowed 468 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:04,240 Speaker 1: to accompany her to Roseven. This became an even bigger 469 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:08,680 Speaker 1: tangle when Colette became interested in Ari de Journelle, who 470 00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:12,640 Speaker 1: was a baron and a high profile political journalist at 471 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:16,200 Speaker 1: the publication Lament, where Colette had gotten a contract as 472 00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:20,920 Speaker 1: a regular columnist. Also, in addition to not exactly being 473 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:23,040 Speaker 1: her boss, but being one of the people in charge 474 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:25,680 Speaker 1: of the publication she was working for. Ari was married, 475 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:29,000 Speaker 1: and one of his former lovers was so outraged by 476 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:32,840 Speaker 1: his relationship with Colette that she threatened Colette's life over it. 477 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:36,880 Speaker 1: Collette moved in with Ari in nineteen eleven, and her 478 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:42,240 Speaker 1: relationships with Missy and August ultimately ended. In nine, Colette's 479 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:46,680 Speaker 1: mother died. As we said earlier, Collette had really idolized Sidonie, 480 00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:50,320 Speaker 1: but she didn't go to the funeral. She was performing 481 00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:52,920 Speaker 1: in a play called The Night Bird, and she continued 482 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:56,680 Speaker 1: on with her scheduled performances. This was not the only 483 00:29:56,720 --> 00:29:59,880 Speaker 1: time Colette missed a funeral. She hated death, and the 484 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:04,600 Speaker 1: funerals that she attended were rare exceptions. Not long after this, 485 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:07,880 Speaker 1: Colette became pregnant, something that she described as an accident 486 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:11,160 Speaker 1: and kept secret for as long as she could. Ari's 487 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:14,400 Speaker 1: wife agreed to a divorce under the idea that that's 488 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:17,040 Speaker 1: what would be best for this child, and Colette and 489 00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:21,280 Speaker 1: Alrea got married on December eighteenth, nineteen twelve. Their daughter, 490 00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:25,480 Speaker 1: Colette renee to Juvenelle, was born on July third, nt 491 00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:30,000 Speaker 1: Colette called her daughter Belle Gazoo and made her a 492 00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:33,560 Speaker 1: character in some of her work, including in La Peche 493 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:36,720 Speaker 1: le Bete, which came out in nineteen sixteen, and she 494 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:39,280 Speaker 1: sometimes wrote about her daughter with a lot of love. 495 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:43,959 Speaker 1: But Colette didn't have much of a relationship with her 496 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:47,480 Speaker 1: daughter at all. She described herself as not having much 497 00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:50,440 Speaker 1: in the way of maternal feeling after giving birth, and 498 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:54,000 Speaker 1: Colette Renee was raised mostly by nanny's and friends before 499 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:58,120 Speaker 1: being sent to boarding school. Often she saw her mother 500 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:01,520 Speaker 1: only once or twice a year. In addition to not 501 00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:04,320 Speaker 1: liking death, I don't know that anybody really likes death, 502 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:07,600 Speaker 1: but Collette seems to have particularly tried to avoid it. 503 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:10,640 Speaker 1: As we said earlier, Collette did not like the idea 504 00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:13,840 Speaker 1: of aging and tried to fight it. She worried that 505 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:16,880 Speaker 1: pregnancy and giving birth would ruin the body that she 506 00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:20,480 Speaker 1: had tried to sculp through her exercise routine, and also 507 00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:22,400 Speaker 1: change it in a way that would mess up her 508 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:26,680 Speaker 1: sex life. She was very relieved when afterward her body 509 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:30,320 Speaker 1: seemed to repair itself, as she told a friend, almost 510 00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:34,760 Speaker 1: by magic. Collette's relationship with her husband took a turn 511 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:37,440 Speaker 1: not long after their daughter was born, and we're going 512 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:40,760 Speaker 1: to get into that in a whole lot more next time. 513 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:45,640 Speaker 1: Before now, Tracy, do you have listener mail? I I 514 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:50,920 Speaker 1: do this listener mail goes back to our episodes on 515 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:54,400 Speaker 1: Irving Berlin and we had talked about how in the 516 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:59,479 Speaker 1: early days of audio recording, a lot of recordings had 517 00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:02,360 Speaker 1: to be record did one at a time until better 518 00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:05,360 Speaker 1: mass production techniques came out, And so we got a 519 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:10,080 Speaker 1: note from Daniel who uh the subject line of this 520 00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:14,560 Speaker 1: email as one performance yielded many hundred cylinders, and the 521 00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:16,280 Speaker 1: body of the email goes on to say they had 522 00:32:16,360 --> 00:32:19,240 Speaker 1: to perform the song repeatedly, but it wasn't as bad 523 00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:22,160 Speaker 1: as you thought. You weren't buying an individual solo performance 524 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:25,480 Speaker 1: on every cylinder. First, they would arrange as many recording 525 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:28,719 Speaker 1: phonographs as possible around the performer, so they could record 526 00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:32,360 Speaker 1: as many first generation originals as possible around ten or 527 00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:37,440 Speaker 1: so more for louder performances like bands. Second very early 528 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:41,080 Speaker 1: on they developed a system called pantographic reproduction, which could 529 00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:44,680 Speaker 1: make up to a hundred copies of each original. In principle, 530 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:47,360 Speaker 1: it was similar to playing it back on one phonograph 531 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:51,520 Speaker 1: while recording the playback on others. Obviously, the system put 532 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:55,080 Speaker 1: a premium on loudness, so performers sang at the top 533 00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:59,080 Speaker 1: of their lungs, bands and orchestras, you specially designed extra 534 00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:02,680 Speaker 1: loud inst months like the stroll violin. None of this 535 00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:06,920 Speaker 1: did anything for sound quality. Popular songs did require the 536 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:09,520 Speaker 1: artists to perform over and over and over again, but 537 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:12,440 Speaker 1: it wasn't one on one. Each performance could create many 538 00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:15,840 Speaker 1: hundreds of cylinders. Since the original set of recordings were 539 00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:19,120 Speaker 1: made from phonographs at different locations in the room, some 540 00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:21,920 Speaker 1: picked up more sound from the right, some from the left, 541 00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:25,800 Speaker 1: and people have been able to identify matching recordings made 542 00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:29,760 Speaker 1: from different positions in the same session and combine them 543 00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:33,120 Speaker 1: to produce stereo sound, although the results I've heard were 544 00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:36,840 Speaker 1: hardly worth the effort. Even from the beginning, one of 545 00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:39,600 Speaker 1: the big advantages of discs was it was easy to 546 00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:42,600 Speaker 1: use a molding process to make copies of discs, but 547 00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:48,280 Speaker 1: by processes for molding cylinders had been developed. UM, thank 548 00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:51,840 Speaker 1: you so much for that email, Daniel, and that information 549 00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:55,040 Speaker 1: that does add a lot more specifics to what he 550 00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:59,920 Speaker 1: had we had described in terms of how these things 551 00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:03,000 Speaker 1: were recorded and the idea that you were, UM, like 552 00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:05,680 Speaker 1: singing as loud as possible to a room full of 553 00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:10,640 Speaker 1: recording devices, I can definitely imagine, uh that might not 554 00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:14,160 Speaker 1: that might not necessarily lead to a performance that had 555 00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:22,759 Speaker 1: as much subtlety as today's recordings can high fidelity. I 556 00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:25,919 Speaker 1: mean also just in general, any time that I need 557 00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:28,960 Speaker 1: to listen, sometimes when we're working on something that's related 558 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:32,160 Speaker 1: to music, I will try to find like old recordings 559 00:34:32,200 --> 00:34:36,040 Speaker 1: of the performer, and a lot of them are really 560 00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:38,480 Speaker 1: hard to listen to just because of the quality of 561 00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:42,520 Speaker 1: the cord recording itself, not just the relative loudness that 562 00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:44,600 Speaker 1: the performer was having to use to make the recording. 563 00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:47,560 Speaker 1: So anyway, if you would like to send us a 564 00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:50,279 Speaker 1: note or at history podcast that I heart radio dot 565 00:34:50,360 --> 00:34:53,319 Speaker 1: com and we're also all over social media and missed 566 00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:56,360 Speaker 1: in History, where you'll find our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, in Instagram, 567 00:34:56,360 --> 00:34:59,080 Speaker 1: and you can subscribe to our show on the I 568 00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:01,799 Speaker 1: heart Radio app or wherever else you'd like to get 569 00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:09,320 Speaker 1: your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class is a 570 00:35:09,360 --> 00:35:12,560 Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from I 571 00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:15,839 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 572 00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:17,960 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.