George Sand was the most celebrated female French novelist of the 19th century, also famous as an early feminist and for her many love affairs.
Early life of George Sand
French writer George Sand was born Amandine Aurore Lucile Dupin, in Paris on July 1, 1804. She grew in Nohant, in a family estate there. It was a small village in central France. She married when she was 18 but grew bored with her husband. At 27-years-old, she went to live in Paris with her two children.
In Paris, she started writing novels to make her living, taking her pen name George Sand from the writer Jules Sandeau, with whom she lived for a time. Her other lovers included the poet Alfred de Musset and the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin. Her way of living shocked the Parisian society, as she wore men's clothes and sometimes smoked cigars, something untoward to do for women of the time.
George Sand the Novelist and Feminist
Her first novel, Indiana, was published when she was 28-years-old and it was an immediate success. As well as her next works, Sand used them to attack marriage and the church, and to argue for the right of women to lead independent lives.
During the 1840s she argued for equality and radical political ideas, and she supported a failed revolution in France in 1848. She returned to her home in Nohant, where she wrote successful novels about rural life portraying ordinary country people.
George Sand the Playwright
She wrote many plays. Her first, Cosima, was performed when she was 36-years-old. It was followed by many others. Her long autobiography, The Story of My Life, tells of her childhood and reflects on the political events of her time. Two of her last books, both called Tales of a Grandmother, are collections of stories she wrote mainly for her grandchildren.
George Sand died in Nohant at the age of 71, June 8, 1876.
A Quote from George Sand:
"One is happy as a result of one's own efforts, once one knows the necessary ingredients of happiness — simple tastes, a certain degree of courage, self denial to a point, love of work, and, above all, a clear conscience. Happiness is no vague dream, of that I now feel certain."
Works by George Sand
- Indiana, 1832
- Lelia, 1833
- Cosima, 1840, play
- Consuelo, 1842
- The Countess of Rudolstadt, 1843
- Jeanne, 1843
- The Haunted Marsh, 1848
- Little Fadette, 1848
- The Story of My Life, 1854-1855
- Tales of a Grandmother, 1872 / 1876
Sources:
- Goring, Rosemary, Ed. Larousse Dictionary of Writers. New York: Larousse, 1994.
- McGovern, Una, Ed. Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers / Harrap Publishers, 2002.
- Payne, Tom. The A-Z of Great Writers. London: Carlton, 1997.
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