George Sand: biography of the writer. Novels and personal life of Aurora Dupin

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

A rich baroness, born to keep centuries-old traditions, but despised the opinion of society and openly rebelled against its foundations all her life - that was Amandine Aurora Lucille Dupin, who firmly entered world history under the modest pseudonym George Sand.

The prerequisites for such a life position were formed long before the birth of Aurora and were aggravated by the events that occurred in her early childhood.

Noble Ancestors

It just so happened that the mores of the 18th century prescribed representatives of the nobility to marry exclusively with parties worthy in the eyes of the world, and then make countless love affairs on the side. Subsequently, some of the illegitimate offspring were honored with legal recognition. On one of the branches of such an ambiguous family tree, a fresh shoot of the young Amandine Aurora blossomed - this was the real name George Sand, given to her at birth.

Among her great-grandfathers is the King of Poland, who broke up with his mistress Maria-Aurora even before the birth of his son Moritz, but took an active part in his upbringing andcontributed to his career. In turn, Moritz of Saxony had many mistresses, one of whom gave birth to Maria Aurora. However, he was in no hurry to call her his daughter. The girl obtained official recognition only after the death of her father. She married very successfully twice and soon became a widow with a son in her arms and an impressive fortune. It was this son who became the father of the future world-famous writer.

Parents

To the great displeasure of his mother, Maurice Dupin connected his life with a woman of bourgeois origin. Sophie-Victoria Delaborde used to be a dancer and had a bad reputation. For a long time, Maria Aurora refused to recognize this marriage and did not even want to see her grandchildren. Sophie-Victoria bore Maurice two children - Aurora and Auguste. But the boy died of an illness in infancy.

The sudden death of Maurice due to an accident forced the adamant Marie-Aurora to reconsider her attitude towards her little granddaughter, so similar to her son. Dupin decided to raise the girl as a real lady and presented her daughter-in-law with an ultimatum - either she leaves the estate, leaving her mother-in-law in custody, or Aurora remains without an inheritance.

Sophie-Victoria chose the first and went to Paris to arrange her personal life. This gap was a trauma for the little girl. She was only four years old when she lost her father, and now she was also separated from her mother, whom she loved dearly. And although they continued to see each other from time to time, Sophie Victoria did not become for her daughter either a friend, or a protector, or an adviser. So withFrom a young age, Aurora had to learn to rely on herself and make her own decisions.

Youth

When the girl turned 14, her grandmother, as was customary then, sent her to a boarding house at the monastery for training. Here the impressionable Aurora was imbued with an interest in the unknown spiritual world. She had a tenacious mind, and she enthusiastically read the books available in the monastery.

Meanwhile her grandmother had her first stroke. Fearing that in the event of her death, the young heiress would follow in her mother's footsteps, Maria Aurora decides to urgently marry her off and takes her away from the monastery.

However, no matter how young this child was, she strongly opposed marriage of convenience, and soon Maria Aurora abandoned her plans. Since then, George Sand's biography has been written in the vastness of history in her own firm handwriting.

Thus, the sixteen-year-old rich heiress returned to her estate in Nohant, where she spent her time reading books fashionable at that time by Chateaubriand, Pascal, Aristotle and other philosophers.

Young Aurora was very fond of riding. She dressed in men's clothes and took long walks in the vicinity of Nohant. In those days, this was considered outrageous behavior, but the girl did not care about idle gossip.

Individual life

At the age of eighteen, after the death of her grandmother, Aurora married Casimir Dudevant. She failed to build a happy marriage - she and her husband had too different interests. She bore him a son, but after sometime began to make lovers.

In 1831, Aurora moved for another passion, Jules Sando, in Paris. It is he who will become responsible for her pseudonym - George Sand. To support herself in Paris, the lady decides to start a serious literary career.

The first novels - "The Commissioner" and "Rose and Blanche" were written in collaboration with Jules Sando and signed with his name, as noble relatives did not want to see the name Dudevant on the cover of the book. The works were successful, and Aurora decided to try her hand at independent work. And so the novel "Indiana" was born.

Sando refused to accept undeserved laurels. And the publishers, on the contrary, insisted that the book should be sold only with the signature of the author loved by the public. And then Aurora decided to remove one letter from the surname and add a male name. This is how the pseudonym of Aurora Dupin, George Sand, so recognizable today, appeared.

Extravagant habits

Having moved to Paris, the young writer was at first somewhat constrained in her means. Perhaps it was this that originally explained her manner of wearing a man's dress. It was warmer, more comfortable and suited to different occasions. However, later, already being famous and rich, Aurora did not refuse such outfits.

Besides, she soon began to give preference to the pseudonym Georges in personal conversations, instead of the female name Aurora. This spawned a lot of gossip about her sexuality.

Literaryrecognition

From "Indiana" to the last line written, George Sand's novels have consistently garnered mixed reactions from readers. One thing can be said with certainty - they did not leave anyone indifferent. Many admired them, even more criticized them.

The writer raised burning topics on the pages of her books. She wrote about the oppression of women, shackled by outdated social norms. She called to fight and win, which could not but find a response in a society agitated by revolutionary ideas …

Star Romance

The popular writer had many lovers. However, the most famous was a young talented pianist. Frederic Chopin and George Sand lived together for more than nine years. However, this relationship can hardly be called happy. Constantly ill and immersed in his work, Frederick needed a nurse rather than a mistress. And soon Sand began to play for him the role of a caring mother, and not a life partner.

With this alignment, this relationship was doomed. However, according to critics, both Chopin and Sand wrote their best works during their life together.

Literary heritage

The contribution of the industrious writer to literature is hard to overestimate. For several decades of her creative activity, she wrote more than a hundred novels and short stories, a huge number of journalistic articles, compiled a multi-volume autobiography and composed 18 dramas. In addition, more than 18 thousand personalletters from George Sand. Her books are still popular today.

But it's not just the quantity. At the very beginning of her career, Sand independently developed a completely new literary genre - a romantic psychological novel. It is characterized by the fact that it minimizes the number of characters and events, and focuses on the experiences of the characters.

Strong examples of this genre are Consuelo, Countess Rudolstadt, She and He.

Epilogue of life

Georges Sand spent the last 25 years of her life at her estate in Nohant. She continues to write, but the novels that came out from under her pen during this period no longer shine with the fervor and desire for struggle that characterized the works of the 1830s. Age and isolation from secular life make themselves felt.

Sand now writes more about the beauty of rural life, about quiet pastoral love in the bosom of nature. She leaves aside the complex social problems she so loved before and focuses on the small inner world of her characters.

George Sand died in 1876 at the age of 72. By this time, her literary fame had already been firmly established not only in France, but also far beyond its borders. Along with Victor Hugo and Charles Dickens, George Sand is called the greatest humanist of his era. And not without reason, because she was able to carry the ideas of mercy and compassion through all her works.