George Sand: Some Aspects of Her Life and WritingsDoumic, René
General
George Sand: Some Aspects of Her Life and Writings
Doumic, René
Sand, George, 1804-1876; Women novelists, French -- 19th century -- Biography
In George Sand's piece, Moliere was at work with his servant, Laforet,
who could not read, but without whom, it appears, he could not have
written a line. He has not finished his play, the actors have not learnt
their parts, and the king is impatient at being kept waiting. Moliere is
perplexed, and, not knowing what to do, he decides to go to sleep. The
Muse appears to him, styles him "the light of the people," and brings to
him all the ghosts of the great poets before him. AEschylus, Sophocles,
Euripides and Shakespeare all declare to him that, in their time, they
had all worked towards preparing the Revolution of 1848. Moliere then
wakes up, and goes on to the stage to pay his respects to the king. The
king has been changed, though. "I see a king," says Moliere, "but his
name is not Louis XIV. It is the people, the sovereign people. That is a
word I did not know, a word as great as eternity."
We recognize the democrat in all this. _Le Roi_ _attend_ may be
considered as an authentic curiosity of revolutionary art. The newspaper
announced to its readers that subscriptions could be paid in the Rue
Richelieu. Subscribers were probably not forthcoming, as the paper died
a natural death after the third number.
George Sand did much more than this, though.(44) We must not forget that
she was an official publicist in 1848. She had volunteered her
services to Ledru-Rollin, and he had accepted them. "I am as busy as
a statesman," she wrote at this time. "I have already written two
Government circulars."(45)
(44) With regard to George Sand's _role_, see _La Revolution
de_ 1848, by Daniel Stern (Madame d'Agoult).
(45) _Correspondance:_ To Maurice Sand, March 24, 1848.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account