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 the winter they first lived in the Rue Pigalle. George Sand used to
receive Pierre Leroux, Louis Blanc, Edgar Quinet, Etienne Arago, and
many other men. Chopin, who was not very intellectual, felt ill at
ease amongst all these literary men, these reformers, arguers and
speechifiers. In 1842, they emigrated to the Square d'Orleans. There
was a sort of little colony established there, consisting of Alexandre
Dumas, Dantan the caricaturist, the Viardots, Zimmermann, and the wife
of the Spanish consul, Madame Marliani, who had attracted them all
there. They took their meals together. It was a regular phalinstery, and
Chopin had very elegant tastes!
We must give George Sand credit for looking after him with admirable
devotion. She certainly went on nursing her "invalid," or her "dear
skeleton," as she called him, but her infatuation had been over for a
long time. The absolute contrast of two natures may be attractive at
first, but the attraction does not last, and, when the first enthusiasm
is over, the logical consequence is that they become disunited. This was
what Liszt said in rather an odd but energetic way. He points out all
that there was "intolerably incompatible, diametrically opposite and
secretly antipathetic between two natures which seemed to have been
mutually drawn to each other by a sudden and superficial attraction,
for the sake of repulsing each other later on with all the force of
inexpressible sorrow and boredom." Illness had embittered Chopin's
character. George Sand used to say that "when he was angry he was
terrifying." He was very intelligent, too, and delighted in quizzing
people for whom he did not care. Solange and Maurice were now older, and
this made the situation somewhat delicate. Chopin, too, had a mania
for meddling with family matters. He quarrelled one day with Maurice.
Another day George Sand was annoyed with her son-in-law Clesinger and
with her daughter Solange, and Chopin took their side. This was the
cause of their quarrel; it was the last drop that made the cup of
bitterness overflow.
The following is a fragment of a letter which George Sand sent to
Grzymala, in 1847: "For seven years I have lived with him as a virgin.
If any woman on earth could inspire him with absolute confidence, I am
certainly that woman, but he has never understood. I know, too, that
many people accuse me of having worn him out with my violent sensuality,
and others accuse me of having driven him to despair by my freaks.
I believe you know how much truth there is in all this. He himself
complains to me that I am killing him by the privations I insist upon,
and I feel certain that I should kill him by acting otherwise."(29)
(29) Communicated by M. Rocheblave.
It has been said that when Chopin was at Nohant he had a village girl
there as his mistress. We do not care to discuss the truth of this
statement.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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