A Passion for Paris: Romanticism and Romance in the City of Light by David Downie

Author:David Downie [Downie, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781250080370
Google: OfvdBAAAQBAJ
Amazon: B00OO3NWA4
Published: 2015-04-28T00:00:00+00:00

Marie Dorval dreaming of George, Victor, Alfred or …

Sensuous without being seamy, Lélia is still among Sand’s most popular books, a key to understanding the French psyche. In it, the author-heroine’s quest for tenderness extends to the physical act of lovemaking, a reminder of Adèle Hugo’s unlikely choice of the toadlike but gentle Sainte-Beuve as her lover.

Reenter Sainte-Beuve, a platonic admirer of Sand and privileged resident of the Luxembourg Garden, as matchmaker. Though busy pursuing Adèle and avoiding Victor, he found time to organize social gatherings and make introductions. He knew just the fellow for George—or so he thought.

If you walk around the sunny southern loop of the Luxembourg heading for the turn-of-the-century gingerbread gatehouse, when you pass the orchard of espaliered apples and botanical contortions, pause to glance right. Rising above the dreamy lawn and flower parterres next to the luxuriant yew tree is a stone bust of a plump, contented-looking middle-aged man. His head is round, thatched by patchy hair, his nose is shaped like a baby’s boot, and a mischievous smile curls his thin lips Mona Lisa–style. A loosely tied foulard now green with moss lends an artistic air but cannot hide the double chin of the hedonist. Quasimodo? This is the author of Volupté?

It’s an irony of fate that behind Sainte-Beuve is the Belle Époque white marble monument called The Happy Family—a nearly naked young couple, their child, and a kid, meaning a young goat. For many years when I passed the homewrecker Sainte-Beuve’s bust I wondered why he seemed so pleased with himself; then I discovered his victory over Victor and understood. He’d charmed chilly Adèle, unseating awe-inspiring Olympio, whom he redubbed “the Cyclops.” Now he would extricate Sand from weepy Sandeau and the notorious Dorval’s clutches.

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