George Sand - feminism before it was cool

One of the highlights of these two weeks for me, was the study and homestead visit of one of the most prolific and successful French female authors of the 19th century - George Sand. She lived during a time where women were not granted any independant standing in society, and consequently, athough she came from a wealthy family and inherited a sizeable property, all of her belongings were immediately transferred to her husband whom she married at a very young age and with whom she became very unhappy, very quickly. An avid reader, painter and musician, she turned to writing as a means of expression, and after meeting some of the young Paris literary circle of the time, began to publish novels under the male pseudonym. We read her first, very successful novel, Indiana.

During the years that followed, she managed to achieve complete emancipation - legal separation from her husband, the sole custody and raising of her two children and ownership of her family homestead in Nohant - east of Tours. It was this estate that we visited, including a spectacular garden and private family cemetery where she is buried. She had a series of very passionate affairs with other artists of the time, including, Frédéric Chopin which ended badly after many years together. She maintained friendships with such luminaries as authors Balzac, Gustav Flaubert and painter Eugène Delacroix.

It was intoxicating being inside this house which has been restored its original condition, with original furnishing, artworks and literary manuscripts, because her last descendant passed away a "short" while ago in the 1960s. I was impressed with not only Sand's literary genius, but all that she was able to accomplish as a women during this period. And what love affairs she had!! The letters that were written by her and to her are some of the most passionate and moving in all of French literature.

And if this immersion into Sand's life wasn't enough to take my breath away, there was a Chopin concert on the grounds later that afternoon that we attended. Three soloists treated us to some of his best works. I am planning to include George Sand in a future literature course. I was only remotely acquainted with her before this trip and am now smitten.