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Mauprat (Classiques)
Edition enrichie (Préface, notes, dossier, biographie, bibliographie)« Il y avait la branche aînée et la branche cadette des Mauprat. Je suis de la branche aînée. Mon grand-père était ce vieux Tristan de Mauprat qui mangea sa fortune, déshonora son nom, et fut si méchant que sa mémoire est déjà entourée de merveilleux. »À l’aube de la Révolution française, dans une province reculée du Berry, Bernard de Mauprat est élevé dans la violence et la dépravation par son grand-père et ses oncles. Un soir, dans de sinistres circonstances, il fait la connaissance de sa cousine Edmée. Intelligente et volontaire, élevée dans l’esprit des Lumières, elle parvient à prendre son rustre cousin sous son aile. Commence alors un long apprentissage pour Bernard, qui devra s’éduquer et s’amender pour espérer, un jour, devenir digne d’Edmée.
Tout à la fois saisissant portrait de femme, conte philosophique et roman d’éducation, Mauprat marque un tournant résolument socialiste et féministe dans l’œuvre de George Sand.
Préface, notes et dossier de Marie Baudry.
Tout à la fois saisissant portrait de femme, conte philosophique et roman d’éducation, Mauprat marque un tournant résolument socialiste et féministe dans l’œuvre de George Sand.
Préface, notes et dossier de Marie Baudry.
526 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1837
68 people are currently reading
1167 people want to read
About the author
George Sand
2,858 books914 followersAmantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil, best known by her pen name George Sand, was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. One of the most popular writers in Europe in her lifetime, being more renowned than either Victor Hugo or Honoré de Balzac in England in the 1830s and 1840s, Sand is recognised as one of the most notable writers of the European Romantic era. She wrote more than 50 volumes of various works to her credit, including tales, plays and political texts, alongside her 70 novels.
Like her great-grandmother, Louise Dupin, whom she admired, George Sand advocated for women's rights and passion, criticized the institution of marriage, and fought against the prejudices of a conservative society. She was considered scandalous because of her turbulent love life, her adoption of masculine clothing, and her masculine pseudonym.
Like her great-grandmother, Louise Dupin, whom she admired, George Sand advocated for women's rights and passion, criticized the institution of marriage, and fought against the prejudices of a conservative society. She was considered scandalous because of her turbulent love life, her adoption of masculine clothing, and her masculine pseudonym.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews
April 22, 2022
un bon roman dix-neuvièmiste comme george sand sait les faire : plein de philosophie, d’une bonté pure et d’une réflexion peu dissimulée sur la place et le rôle de la femme dans la société comme dans les relations amoureuses. tout au long du roman, c’est la femme qui dirige l’intrigue et les sentiments du conteur romantique, amoureux transi d’une femme qui le surpasse en tous points. il est difficile, malgré cette apparence romanesque pleine d’une dramatique héritée du romantisme, de ne pas percevoir une forme d’ironie dans cette approche des relations humaines et amoureuses : car ce que sand nous dit ici, c’est que les hommes sont aveugles aux sentiments des femmes, qu’ils sont inférieurs à elles et pleins d’une brutale bêtise ; malgré tout, après sept ans d’éducation et de désespoir, peut-être auront-ils une chance d’oser aspirer à l’amour sincère et honnête d’une femme sage et consciente de sa propre valeur.
edmée really said fuck your low-ass standards for men, i’ll only settle for a husband if i survive death
edmée really said fuck your low-ass standards for men, i’ll only settle for a husband if i survive death
July 29, 2009
georges sands pulls out my thirteen year old self who didn't know how to talk to anyone and frequently fell down because of trying to walk while reading. i devour her like caramel corn. some have jane, i have george.
November 22, 2012
Although it is much less popular today and is now confined more to genre fiction, melodrama is still a major literary form today. George Sand (real name: Amandine Lucile Aurore Dupin) was not only one of the great writers of the nineteenth century but perhaps one of the high water marks of melodrama.
Mauprat tells the tale of Bernard Mauprat, a scion of a family of French brigands, called the "hamstringer Mauprats," who saves and falls in love with his second cousin Edmée, who comes from a more respectable branch of the family. Alas, Edmée leads him a merry chase over a period of years -- to such an extent that most 21st century readers would merely dismiss her as a tease. She defends herself eloquently in this in a trial:
As Bernard exclaims in the closing pages of the book, "Oh, woman, woman! ... Thou art a mystery, an abyss, and he who thinks to know thee is totally mad."
Mauprat tells the tale of Bernard Mauprat, a scion of a family of French brigands, called the "hamstringer Mauprats," who saves and falls in love with his second cousin Edmée, who comes from a more respectable branch of the family. Alas, Edmée leads him a merry chase over a period of years -- to such an extent that most 21st century readers would merely dismiss her as a tease. She defends herself eloquently in this in a trial:
Many women think it is no great crime to show a little coquetry with the man they love. Perhaps we have a right to this when we have sacrificed all other men to him. After all, it is a very natural and very innocent ambition to make the man of one's choice feel that one is a soul of some price, that one is worth wooing, and worth a long effort.If it were not for the fact that Sand has created more than a dozen interesting minor characters (most notably Patience, Marcasse, Mme LeBlanc, the monk John Nepomucene, and the American Arthur among them), I would probably have given up finishing the book. But Sand kept me coming back for more, and I admired her skill in this literary genre which is admittedly not my favorite.
As Bernard exclaims in the closing pages of the book, "Oh, woman, woman! ... Thou art a mystery, an abyss, and he who thinks to know thee is totally mad."
November 8, 2012
Reading an author for the first time, whose works are now very much considered classic, can often be daunting. It’s not only that you feel obliged to like or praise his/her work (because it’s a classic), but you also feel wary about your reception, if not understanding, of the author’s narrative style in spite of the numerous reviews, studies and recommendations. Mauprat is my first Sand and so I bore these feelings when I tackled this book. Would she read like Jane Austen? Guy de Maupassant? William Faulkner? Happily, I found Mauprat quite charming. The narrative is lyrical; the prose deep but not unreachable. It has a lasting moral to teach; in fact, it is quite inspirational.
Mauprat is the story of a young man who learns slowly and painfully that regardless of age, gender and social status a person can be “educated” (I use the word in context) - to be the best that he can be. And one need not the best teacher to learn. A wife, a hermit, and a simple priest can give the lessons and guidance that one needs. I quite enjoyed the first 7 or so chapters of the book. The history of the setting and the family of Mauprat was fascinating. But little by little the story became a bit melodramatic, stretched for a tale that is supposed to be a remembrance. I found the love-hate relationship between Edmee and Bernard too much. But the closing chapter was wonderfully done. It contains the core and moving assertions of the tale’s moral objective.
Mauprat is the story of a young man who learns slowly and painfully that regardless of age, gender and social status a person can be “educated” (I use the word in context) - to be the best that he can be. And one need not the best teacher to learn. A wife, a hermit, and a simple priest can give the lessons and guidance that one needs. I quite enjoyed the first 7 or so chapters of the book. The history of the setting and the family of Mauprat was fascinating. But little by little the story became a bit melodramatic, stretched for a tale that is supposed to be a remembrance. I found the love-hate relationship between Edmee and Bernard too much. But the closing chapter was wonderfully done. It contains the core and moving assertions of the tale’s moral objective.
July 31, 2020
Free download available at Project Gutenberg
I made the proofing of this book for Free Literature and Project Gutenberg will publish it.
Quand j'écrivis le roman de Mauprat à Nohant, en 1846, je crois, je venais de plaider en séparation. Le mariage, dont, jusque-là, j'avais combattu les abus, laissant peut-être croire, faute d'avoir suffisamment développé ma pensée, que j'en méconnaissais l'essence, m'apparaissait précisément dans toute la beauté morale de son principe.
À quelque chose malheur est bon, pour qui sait réfléchir: plus je venais de voir combien il est pénible et douloureux d'avoir à rompre de tels liens, plus je sentais que ce qui manque au mariage, ce sont des éléments de bonheur et d'équité d'un ordre trop élevé pour que la société actuelle s'en préoccupe. La société s'efforce, au contraire, de rabaisser cette institution sacrée, en l'assimilant à un contrat d'intérêts matériels; elle l'attaque de tous les côtés à la fois, par l'esprit de ses mœurs, par ses préjugés, par son incrédulité hypocrite.
Tout en faisant un roman, pour m'occuper et me distraire, la pensée me vint de peindre un amour exclusif, éternel, avant, pendant et après le mariage. Je fis donc le héros de mon livre proclamant, à quatre-vingts ans, sa fidélité pour la seule femme qu'il eût aimée.
L'idéal de l'amour est certainement la fidélité éternelle. Les lois morales et religieuses ont voulu consacrer cet idéal; les faits matériels le troublent, les lois civiles sont faites de manière à le rendre souvent impossible ou illusoire; mais ce n'est pas ici le lieu de le prouver. Le roman de Mauprat n'a pas été alourdi par cette préoccupation; seulement, le sentiment qui me pénétrait particulièrement à l'époque où je l'écrivis se résume dans ces paroles de Mauprat vers la fin de l'ouvrage: «Elle fut la seule femme que j'aimai dans toute ma vie; Jamais aucune autre n'attira mon regard et ne connut l'étreinte de ma main.»
GEORGE SAND.
I made the proofing of this book for Free Literature and Project Gutenberg will publish it.
Quand j'écrivis le roman de Mauprat à Nohant, en 1846, je crois, je venais de plaider en séparation. Le mariage, dont, jusque-là, j'avais combattu les abus, laissant peut-être croire, faute d'avoir suffisamment développé ma pensée, que j'en méconnaissais l'essence, m'apparaissait précisément dans toute la beauté morale de son principe.
À quelque chose malheur est bon, pour qui sait réfléchir: plus je venais de voir combien il est pénible et douloureux d'avoir à rompre de tels liens, plus je sentais que ce qui manque au mariage, ce sont des éléments de bonheur et d'équité d'un ordre trop élevé pour que la société actuelle s'en préoccupe. La société s'efforce, au contraire, de rabaisser cette institution sacrée, en l'assimilant à un contrat d'intérêts matériels; elle l'attaque de tous les côtés à la fois, par l'esprit de ses mœurs, par ses préjugés, par son incrédulité hypocrite.
Tout en faisant un roman, pour m'occuper et me distraire, la pensée me vint de peindre un amour exclusif, éternel, avant, pendant et après le mariage. Je fis donc le héros de mon livre proclamant, à quatre-vingts ans, sa fidélité pour la seule femme qu'il eût aimée.
L'idéal de l'amour est certainement la fidélité éternelle. Les lois morales et religieuses ont voulu consacrer cet idéal; les faits matériels le troublent, les lois civiles sont faites de manière à le rendre souvent impossible ou illusoire; mais ce n'est pas ici le lieu de le prouver. Le roman de Mauprat n'a pas été alourdi par cette préoccupation; seulement, le sentiment qui me pénétrait particulièrement à l'époque où je l'écrivis se résume dans ces paroles de Mauprat vers la fin de l'ouvrage: «Elle fut la seule femme que j'aimai dans toute ma vie; Jamais aucune autre n'attira mon regard et ne connut l'étreinte de ma main.»
GEORGE SAND.
Read
March 12, 2024Un conte philosophique sous la forme d'un roman, avec son lot de morales qui reflètent la pensée de l'autrice. Si j'ai aimé ses propos sur l'égalité homme-femme et sur d'autres sujets de société, ses positions quant à l'amour m'ont parue très daté (normal, deux siècles nous séparent). De même, les personnages m'ont laissée au mieux indifférente, au pire, pour les deux protagonistes principaux, agacée. C'est évidemment très subjectif.
Globalement, les engagements de George Sand sont à saluer. Je suis très contente d'avoir lu Mauprat pour me faire une idée du tournant qu'a connu l'autrice. C'était une vraie expérience de lecture et très enrichissant.
Globalement, les engagements de George Sand sont à saluer. Je suis très contente d'avoir lu Mauprat pour me faire une idée du tournant qu'a connu l'autrice. C'était une vraie expérience de lecture et très enrichissant.
April 13, 2016
This is one of the most intriguing and observant and philosophically confounding books I have ever read.
June 18, 2020
When I wanted to get a George Sand novel, I first tried a large county library system. Affluent and historical itself, Chester County (PA) seemed a likely spot for some Sands to be lying about in the backwaters.
There were a dozen books about George Sand, but not a single one of her many novels, plays or memoirs anywhere in the county's collections. Those suburban philistines, I thought righteously! They wanted to know about her love affair with Chopin, but her literary creations were way beyond them.
My apologies. Based on Mauprat, the wisdom of the Chester County readers and their librarians is plain. This book is so tedious and repetitive, it seems to have been written mostly on autopilot between cafes au chocolate. It is like the worst of Stendhal, who wrote at the same time; but devoid of all the things that make him worth reading.
Finished it; she wrapped it up, kinda. I found it tedious, did I say that? Let me say it 10 or 15 more times, to match the Sand style. I would warn any readers tempted to dip into these antiquarian waters to put their clothes back on and go elsewhere. This is not just flat-out bad but also arduous in the extreme getting through the pages.
There were a dozen books about George Sand, but not a single one of her many novels, plays or memoirs anywhere in the county's collections. Those suburban philistines, I thought righteously! They wanted to know about her love affair with Chopin, but her literary creations were way beyond them.
My apologies. Based on Mauprat, the wisdom of the Chester County readers and their librarians is plain. This book is so tedious and repetitive, it seems to have been written mostly on autopilot between cafes au chocolate. It is like the worst of Stendhal, who wrote at the same time; but devoid of all the things that make him worth reading.
Finished it; she wrapped it up, kinda. I found it tedious, did I say that? Let me say it 10 or 15 more times, to match the Sand style. I would warn any readers tempted to dip into these antiquarian waters to put their clothes back on and go elsewhere. This is not just flat-out bad but also arduous in the extreme getting through the pages.
October 4, 2025
Rousseau a fait beaucoup de mal à la société im so sorry de vous le dire l’escouade de #girlies qui me support fidèlement depuis le début ma lecture 💔
Enjoyable snack mais la décennie 1830-1840 doit canaliser ses pulsions lyriques excitées loin de moi 🔪🔪
Résumé fiable https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOf-7G...
Enjoyable snack mais la décennie 1830-1840 doit canaliser ses pulsions lyriques excitées loin de moi 🔪🔪
Résumé fiable https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOf-7G...
October 20, 2025
Няма нищо по-добро от класическо will they, won't they примесен с дидактически и нравствени поучения. Свалям две звезди поради липсата на spice.
Шегата настрана, книгата е доста четивна, но преобладава много мелодрама в нея.
Шегата настрана, книгата е доста четивна, но преобладава много мелодрама в нея.
January 12, 2013
This is a complex novel, looking at themes of love & education & idealism as represented in the relationship between a young man and a young woman, set against the backdrop of 1770s France on the brink of revolution.
It starts a little slowly, which is so absolutely not the fashion in these days of hit-the-ground-running storytelling, but! I absolutely encourage you to persevere, if you choose to read this novel! It is extremely readable and charming.
The broad gist of the story is as follows. Young Bernard Mauprat, raised in late eighteenth-century France by a horde of his uncles who are little better than brigands, encounters the beautiful Edmee under perilous circumstances - that is, perilous for her. He offers to help her to safety - but under a heavy condition, which defines the rest of the book. Uneducated but passionate, Bernard falls madly in love with Edmee and makes no bones about it. But the feelings of the highly-educated Edmee are a more elusive matter. The course of their relationship spreads across several very transformative years: Bernard gains an education & a modicum of emotional refinement, while Edmee wrestles with pride & the conflict betweens her ideals and her feelings.
There are also other storylines, but I'd term them all secondary: they are there (with notes of mystery, Gothic-ness, suspense) to reflect on the central relationship, to highlight or alter or affect Bernard & Edmee's story.
The novel is narrated by an older Bernard looking back on his life. But for the most part it feels like a "standard" first-person point of view - there isn't much intrusion or commentary from the retrospective viewpoint. We get the younger Bernard in all his unadulterated charm: rash, angry, thoughtless, possessive, demanding, passionate, distressed. But, like a good first-person POV, it's such a limited viewpoint on the story - what I wouldn't have given for a glimpse inside Edmee's head sometimes ... although, of course, that would have ruined the suspense of the story. :)
But seriously, trying to triangulate the truth of her side of that nebulous relationship was an absorbing exercise. What a fabulously complex character: a lady of her time, yet so independent of spirit. She loves learning, she's quick-thinking and determined, she won't be imposed on. She is completely as passionate and headstrong as Bernard: except that she's been raised with good manners and conscience, which means that her fervour for life is more focused, more directed. She doesn't take life lying down, & works hard to make herself content in less-than-ideal circumstances. e.g.:
Oh, Edmee. Bernard idolises her as a symbol of perfection, but it's so clear that she is the refined version of him in all his fervent ferocity.
My knowledge of 18th century politics and philosophy is pretty slight. Still, there is enough on the pages for me to see some of the larger patterns behind the story. Bernard's educational transformation (a sort of metaphorical Beast-to-man) under the guidance of the intellectual Edmee springs in part (but not in whole) from the educational ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The reason I say not in whole is because Sand, hallelujah, threw out the bathwater of Rousseau's opinions on female education. Sand herself had a fascinating private life which would encourage the supposition that she supported the feminist movements of the day: interestingly, Wikipedia is asserting the contrary but without reference. Very maddening. However, it's clear she had strong feelings on equality & this comes across heavily in Mauprat. Much of the conflict of Bernard & Edmee's relationship is based on the fact that for a long time they just aren't equals: the uneducated, emotionally-illiterate youth and the educated, reflective lady simply aren't on the level. Another angle on equality are the novel's inclusion of the impending French Revolution, & the ongoing American Revolution: both are brought up in different ways - particularly the former.
With so much for the modern sensibility to cheer for (equal education! women with agency!), the novel's cultural context therefore jarred me more than it might otherwise have done. Inevitably, there are notes of sexism. And I took frustrated issue with the scene which triggers the final, culminatory phase of the novel. It seems to punish Edmee for being so free. I won't describe it - no spoilers! It catalyses a slew of symbolically very important events, which are gripping reading, and I don't suppose there could have been another way to really produce that intense ending. But, since I'd grown to admire Edmee's character a lot (capricious though she often was), it really did bug me. And I acknowledge that not everyone would read it that way: it's just that I read it that way, and can't seem to change my perception. So that's there, and it's jarring.
Still, overall, it's a charming, well-written, thought-provoking, interesting and very readable novel. And by the standards of the mid-nineteenth century, astonishingly liberal with its views on sex roles and gender (despite quibbles). I felt for the characters, I cared for their troubles, I hoped for a happy ending. I'm very glad I read it!
It starts a little slowly, which is so absolutely not the fashion in these days of hit-the-ground-running storytelling, but! I absolutely encourage you to persevere, if you choose to read this novel! It is extremely readable and charming.
The broad gist of the story is as follows. Young Bernard Mauprat, raised in late eighteenth-century France by a horde of his uncles who are little better than brigands, encounters the beautiful Edmee under perilous circumstances - that is, perilous for her. He offers to help her to safety - but under a heavy condition, which defines the rest of the book. Uneducated but passionate, Bernard falls madly in love with Edmee and makes no bones about it. But the feelings of the highly-educated Edmee are a more elusive matter. The course of their relationship spreads across several very transformative years: Bernard gains an education & a modicum of emotional refinement, while Edmee wrestles with pride & the conflict betweens her ideals and her feelings.
There are also other storylines, but I'd term them all secondary: they are there (with notes of mystery, Gothic-ness, suspense) to reflect on the central relationship, to highlight or alter or affect Bernard & Edmee's story.
The novel is narrated by an older Bernard looking back on his life. But for the most part it feels like a "standard" first-person point of view - there isn't much intrusion or commentary from the retrospective viewpoint. We get the younger Bernard in all his unadulterated charm: rash, angry, thoughtless, possessive, demanding, passionate, distressed. But, like a good first-person POV, it's such a limited viewpoint on the story - what I wouldn't have given for a glimpse inside Edmee's head sometimes ... although, of course, that would have ruined the suspense of the story. :)
But seriously, trying to triangulate the truth of her side of that nebulous relationship was an absorbing exercise. What a fabulously complex character: a lady of her time, yet so independent of spirit. She loves learning, she's quick-thinking and determined, she won't be imposed on. She is completely as passionate and headstrong as Bernard: except that she's been raised with good manners and conscience, which means that her fervour for life is more focused, more directed. She doesn't take life lying down, & works hard to make herself content in less-than-ideal circumstances. e.g.:
Edmee was not fond of needlework; her mind was too vigorous to attach much importance to the effect of one shade by the side of another shade, and to the regularity of one stitch laid against another stitch. Besides, the blood flowed swiftly in her veins, and when her mind was not absorbed in intellectual work she needed exercise in the open air. But ever since her father, a prey to the infirmities of old age, had been almost unable to leave his arm-chair, she had refused to leave him for a single moment; and, since she could not always be reading and working her mind, she had felt the necessity of taking up some of those feminine occupations which, as she said, "are the amusements of captivity."
Oh, Edmee. Bernard idolises her as a symbol of perfection, but it's so clear that she is the refined version of him in all his fervent ferocity.
My knowledge of 18th century politics and philosophy is pretty slight. Still, there is enough on the pages for me to see some of the larger patterns behind the story. Bernard's educational transformation (a sort of metaphorical Beast-to-man) under the guidance of the intellectual Edmee springs in part (but not in whole) from the educational ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The reason I say not in whole is because Sand, hallelujah, threw out the bathwater of Rousseau's opinions on female education. Sand herself had a fascinating private life which would encourage the supposition that she supported the feminist movements of the day: interestingly, Wikipedia is asserting the contrary but without reference. Very maddening. However, it's clear she had strong feelings on equality & this comes across heavily in Mauprat. Much of the conflict of Bernard & Edmee's relationship is based on the fact that for a long time they just aren't equals: the uneducated, emotionally-illiterate youth and the educated, reflective lady simply aren't on the level. Another angle on equality are the novel's inclusion of the impending French Revolution, & the ongoing American Revolution: both are brought up in different ways - particularly the former.
With so much for the modern sensibility to cheer for (equal education! women with agency!), the novel's cultural context therefore jarred me more than it might otherwise have done. Inevitably, there are notes of sexism. And I took frustrated issue with the scene which triggers the final, culminatory phase of the novel. It seems to punish Edmee for being so free. I won't describe it - no spoilers! It catalyses a slew of symbolically very important events, which are gripping reading, and I don't suppose there could have been another way to really produce that intense ending. But, since I'd grown to admire Edmee's character a lot (capricious though she often was), it really did bug me. And I acknowledge that not everyone would read it that way: it's just that I read it that way, and can't seem to change my perception. So that's there, and it's jarring.
Still, overall, it's a charming, well-written, thought-provoking, interesting and very readable novel. And by the standards of the mid-nineteenth century, astonishingly liberal with its views on sex roles and gender (despite quibbles). I felt for the characters, I cared for their troubles, I hoped for a happy ending. I'm very glad I read it!
September 1, 2024
Good premise and great first 100 pages, but in my opinion it drags on quite a bit after that. Sand’s moral and philosophical reflections make it more interesting than the plot itself.
January 12, 2025
The seven-year situationship of the "not like other girls" girl (she can read) and the local bad boy with a disturbing childhood (he used to torture people). Also they are cousins...
August 25, 2022
Résumer Mauprat? C’est la terrible l’histoire de deux caractères d’exception auxquels il fallait des amours héroïques. Mais il y a aussi meurtres, horreurs, intrigue, suspens, personnages qui évoluent, Histoire. Le thème principal de ce roman est l’éducation.
Quelle est la part de notre nature et celle de notre éducation en nous, humains? "Il est à croire que nous portons en nous, dès nos premiers ans, le germe des vertus et des vices que l’action de la vie extérieure féconde avec le temps." "Y a-t-il en nous des penchants invincibles, et l’éducation peut-elle les modifier seulement ou les détruire?" George Sand s’est posée beaucoup de questions sur l’éducation et y répond dans ce roman.
Mais il y a beaucoup d’autres sujets dans Mauprat :
Des personnages magnifiques, divers, aux personnalités fortes, nobles, paysans, voyous, violeurs, braves, mous, violents, aimants. Un seul des personnages principaux est féminin. Mais quelle femme! Intelligente, lucide, forte mais aimante. Tous tournent autour d’elle, pour diverses raisons, mais surtout par reconnaissance de son caractère supérieur. "Les hommes s’imaginent que la femme n’a point d’existence par elle-même et qu’elle doit toujours s’absorber en eux, et pourtant ils n’aiment fortement que la femme qui paraît s’élever, par son caractère, au-dessus de la faiblesse et de l’inertie de son sexe."
De la psychologie avant l’heure: "Ce qu’il m’apprit de plus précieux fut de m’habituer à me connaître moi-même et à réfléchir sur mes impressions... On ne change pas l’essence de son être, mais on dirige vers le bien ses facultés diverses; on arrive presque à utiliser ses défauts."
Et encore ardeur républicaine, principe d’égalité et anticléricalisme de la part de Sand qui croyait en Dieu mais pas en l’Église: "Il me parlait de la grande puissance qu’exerce la douceur extérieure jointe à une volonté inébranlable, me citant pour exemple et le bien et le mal dans l’histoire des hommes, surtout la douceur des apôtres et l’hypocrisie des prêtres de toutes les religions."
En passant, dans Mauprat, Edmée dit:
"Je ne souffrirai jamais la tyrannie de l’homme, pas plus la violence d’un amant que le soufflet d’un mari. Sainte Solange, la belle pastoure, se laissa trancher la tête plutôt que de subir le droit du seigneur."
Sainte Solange du Berry est née et morte dans le Berry au 9ème siècle. Elle est une vierge martyre catholique et orthodoxe. Quand elle devint adolescente, Bernard de Gothie, fils du comte de Poitiers, prit de force sur son cheval Solange la bergère. Elle résista et, se débattant les fit tous deux tomber de cheval dans un ruisseau. De colère, il la décapita. La tête invoqua par trois fois le nom de Jésus. Le corps la ramassa et la porta jusqu'à son lieu de naissance, Villemont, où elle fut retrouvée.
Solange est Sainte Patronne du Berry. George Sand aurait-elle pu rêver d’une meilleure Sainte Patronne?
Quelle est la part de notre nature et celle de notre éducation en nous, humains? "Il est à croire que nous portons en nous, dès nos premiers ans, le germe des vertus et des vices que l’action de la vie extérieure féconde avec le temps." "Y a-t-il en nous des penchants invincibles, et l’éducation peut-elle les modifier seulement ou les détruire?" George Sand s’est posée beaucoup de questions sur l’éducation et y répond dans ce roman.
Mais il y a beaucoup d’autres sujets dans Mauprat :
Des personnages magnifiques, divers, aux personnalités fortes, nobles, paysans, voyous, violeurs, braves, mous, violents, aimants. Un seul des personnages principaux est féminin. Mais quelle femme! Intelligente, lucide, forte mais aimante. Tous tournent autour d’elle, pour diverses raisons, mais surtout par reconnaissance de son caractère supérieur. "Les hommes s’imaginent que la femme n’a point d’existence par elle-même et qu’elle doit toujours s’absorber en eux, et pourtant ils n’aiment fortement que la femme qui paraît s’élever, par son caractère, au-dessus de la faiblesse et de l’inertie de son sexe."
De la psychologie avant l’heure: "Ce qu’il m’apprit de plus précieux fut de m’habituer à me connaître moi-même et à réfléchir sur mes impressions... On ne change pas l’essence de son être, mais on dirige vers le bien ses facultés diverses; on arrive presque à utiliser ses défauts."
Et encore ardeur républicaine, principe d’égalité et anticléricalisme de la part de Sand qui croyait en Dieu mais pas en l’Église: "Il me parlait de la grande puissance qu’exerce la douceur extérieure jointe à une volonté inébranlable, me citant pour exemple et le bien et le mal dans l’histoire des hommes, surtout la douceur des apôtres et l’hypocrisie des prêtres de toutes les religions."
En passant, dans Mauprat, Edmée dit:
"Je ne souffrirai jamais la tyrannie de l’homme, pas plus la violence d’un amant que le soufflet d’un mari. Sainte Solange, la belle pastoure, se laissa trancher la tête plutôt que de subir le droit du seigneur."
Sainte Solange du Berry est née et morte dans le Berry au 9ème siècle. Elle est une vierge martyre catholique et orthodoxe. Quand elle devint adolescente, Bernard de Gothie, fils du comte de Poitiers, prit de force sur son cheval Solange la bergère. Elle résista et, se débattant les fit tous deux tomber de cheval dans un ruisseau. De colère, il la décapita. La tête invoqua par trois fois le nom de Jésus. Le corps la ramassa et la porta jusqu'à son lieu de naissance, Villemont, où elle fut retrouvée.
Solange est Sainte Patronne du Berry. George Sand aurait-elle pu rêver d’une meilleure Sainte Patronne?
September 17, 2007
I'm not enjoying this book very much. I got a lot out of the introductory material, but after launching into the novel, I'm finding I have to force myself to read it. My guess is that I'll return this book to the library without finishing it. What is bothering me about the book is that Sand tells us what she wants us to know instead of showing us.
July 5, 2017
Mauprat is, in a sense, an allegory of the last days of feudal France as it yielded to the new ideas brought in by the French Revolution.
El miedo del infierno es la única fe de las almas viles.
Apresuraos de tener un consejero franco, un amigo severo y no querais al que os adula, si no al que os corrige.
El miedo del infierno es la única fe de las almas viles.
Apresuraos de tener un consejero franco, un amigo severo y no querais al que os adula, si no al que os corrige.
March 14, 2025
« ce qu'il y a de certain, c'est que tu aurais fait un détestable mari ; tu m'aurais fait rougir par ton ignorance, tu aurais voulu m'opprimer, et nous nous serions brisés l'un contre l'autre »
déjà posons que la plume de Sand est la plus belle qu'il m'ait été donné de lire, vraiment je crois que je suis partie pour lire beaucoup d'elle.
ensuite Mauprat est présenté avant tout comme un roman d'amour, ce que je conteste!!! on a clairement un roman féministe et d'éducation, un roman sur les relations amoureuses de l'époque et les enjeux socio-politiques qui y étaient liés. c'est de la place de la femme et du rôle de l'homme dont il est question plutôt que d'une histoire de sentiments amoureux (même si, certes, on retrouve beaucoup de scènes de passion et désir). le personnage d'Edmée dirige l'intrigue tout au long du roman en devenant la boussole des actes et décisions de Bernard, le personnage principal, qui a passé les dix-sept premières années de sa vie auprès d'une famille lui pourvoyant une éducation brutale et violente.
le récit de la vie de Bernard Mauprat questionne la place du pardon et de la rédemption, le rapport des autres personnages, de meilleure éducation, vis-à-vis du protagoniste, néant de connaissance, quasi bestial. finalement l'Autre continue de JUGER et de définir Bernard à tous les moments de sa vie et le tumulte dans son rapport à lui-même : comment vivre avec ces deux « personnes » qui existent en lui (l'ancien et le nouveau, le mal et le bien) ?
sand explore la façon dont peut lutter l'homme face à ses prédestinations éducatives et familiales et surtout dans quelle mesure la femme a le droit d'exiger de lui qu'il lutte. Edmée incarne une femme qui décide de sa vie et qui attend une égalité d'éducation et de bienveillance dans son mariage, Edmée est une femme libre ! (c'est là où se place la limite du récit selon moi, la position sociale, mais c'est aussi ce que réclamait Sand dans sa lutte pour le droit des femmes : leur liberté et émancipation).
et le roman se conclue sur la question de la justice réparatrice plutôt que punitive, et plus largement la remise en cause de la société noble et aristocratique qui fait vivre et éprouver les inégalités et les injustices à ceux démunis de cette condition sociale !!!
c'était trop trop bien même si c'était pas parfait, je le recommande mille fois
déjà posons que la plume de Sand est la plus belle qu'il m'ait été donné de lire, vraiment je crois que je suis partie pour lire beaucoup d'elle.
ensuite Mauprat est présenté avant tout comme un roman d'amour, ce que je conteste!!! on a clairement un roman féministe et d'éducation, un roman sur les relations amoureuses de l'époque et les enjeux socio-politiques qui y étaient liés. c'est de la place de la femme et du rôle de l'homme dont il est question plutôt que d'une histoire de sentiments amoureux (même si, certes, on retrouve beaucoup de scènes de passion et désir). le personnage d'Edmée dirige l'intrigue tout au long du roman en devenant la boussole des actes et décisions de Bernard, le personnage principal, qui a passé les dix-sept premières années de sa vie auprès d'une famille lui pourvoyant une éducation brutale et violente.
le récit de la vie de Bernard Mauprat questionne la place du pardon et de la rédemption, le rapport des autres personnages, de meilleure éducation, vis-à-vis du protagoniste, néant de connaissance, quasi bestial. finalement l'Autre continue de JUGER et de définir Bernard à tous les moments de sa vie et le tumulte dans son rapport à lui-même : comment vivre avec ces deux « personnes » qui existent en lui (l'ancien et le nouveau, le mal et le bien) ?
sand explore la façon dont peut lutter l'homme face à ses prédestinations éducatives et familiales et surtout dans quelle mesure la femme a le droit d'exiger de lui qu'il lutte. Edmée incarne une femme qui décide de sa vie et qui attend une égalité d'éducation et de bienveillance dans son mariage, Edmée est une femme libre ! (c'est là où se place la limite du récit selon moi, la position sociale, mais c'est aussi ce que réclamait Sand dans sa lutte pour le droit des femmes : leur liberté et émancipation).
et le roman se conclue sur la question de la justice réparatrice plutôt que punitive, et plus largement la remise en cause de la société noble et aristocratique qui fait vivre et éprouver les inégalités et les injustices à ceux démunis de cette condition sociale !!!
c'était trop trop bien même si c'était pas parfait, je le recommande mille fois
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 30, 2009
Mauprat takes its title from the surname of an extensive family that lives in the French countryside. One branch of the family is noble and fine, the other quite simply, despicable. The main theme is if and how a member from the bad side of the family can change sufficiently to be accepted by the good side.
This is one of my very favorite among George Sand's many novels. Perhaps more than in any other of her works, Sand created a wide potpourri of some negative, but mostly positive male characteristics in this 1836 story, which takes place in her native Berry region of France inp the 1770s. Her message is that even the roughest men can become refined and that the most delicate of heroines can effect a positive change in a man's life and lead him to be worthy of her.
The detestable array of uncles at the infamous château of Roche-Mauprat and a few other characters represent general bad male behavior and the 18th- and 19th-century French society that condoned it. However, a different array of men—from the faithful rat-catcher Marcasse, to the kind, compassionate father figure Hubert Mauprat of Saint-Sévère, to the rustic philosopher Patience to the progressive Abbé Aubert, to the American soldier and intellectual botanist Arthur— are symbols of the kind of idealized males in the more gender-equitable society Sand envisioned for her heroine, Edmée, as well as for herself and her countrywomen.
Central to the theme of Mauprat is the role—whether positive or negative—that all of these male characters play in the development of the attitude and personality of young Bernard Mauprat, who, by the story's end has gone from a 17-year-old ruffian raised by a barrage of barbaric and amoral uncles—the poster boy, if you will, for burgeoning bad male behavior of the era— ¬to a genteel young scholar and military veteran worthy of his cousin Edmée's love. If the early Bernard is a metaphor for the egocentric man and for the society that sustains his character, seven years later, the refined and matured Bernard is a shining ideal of what men can and should become if they are molded not only by the right woman, but also by the politically and socially desirable mentors of their own gender.
The young hero and heroine come from different branches of the Mauprat family. Bernard's grandfather, Tristan Mauprat, dominates a family of seven sons, all unmarried, and all despicably crude and vile. During the 10 years before he met Edmée, Bernard, who lost his mother at age 7, is under the sole influence of this heinous group.
On the younger side of the family is Tristan's cousin, Hubert, Edmée's widowed father, who lives in the nearby Sainte-Sévère estate, and is so loved and respected by the local people that they have given him the nickname of le chevalier.
Edmée swears to the local priest she will never give in to Bernard as long as he remains a ruffian. The eavesdropping Bernard, who now realizes just how odious is his position in Edmée's life, turns and walks away. He makes a resolve to get an education, and assures Edmée the next day that she has nothing more to fear from him. However, Bernard did not hear the whole conversation between Edmée and the abbé. It is not until the end of the novel when the cousins are about to wed that the abbé lets Bernard in on what Edmée told him as they walked further into the woods—that despite her fear of Bernard's roughness and bestial passion, she was madly in love with him.
But Bernard, who does not know Edmée's true feelings, plunges into his lessons with a grim determination to become worthy of her. Patience reiterates the charge for Bernard to became educated, refined and worthy of Edmée. He proves an apt student, but his increased knowlege and awareness provoke in him a new vice—pride. Believing himself of superior intelligence, Bernard become a bavard, stirring up his aging Uncle Hubert with modern political ideals and distressing Edmée.
Bernard serves nobly in the American Revolution during the next six years, and hears only occasionally from Hubert and Edmée. He also falls under the influence of a superb military companion, Arthur, a wise, gentle botanist from Philadephia, who takes off where Patience and the abbé left off in encouraging a fellow male to seek greater knowledge. This "second education" or "social education" from Bernard was equally, if not more, important than the intellectual education offered by the Abbé Aubert and Edmée. Vareille notes that Bernard's training from Arthur lasts six years, whereas the first intellectual training took only two (440).
Further convolutions in the plot lead to a momentary lapse in Bernard's hard-earned self-control, which, in turn, leads to his being framed by one of his evil uncles for the attempted murder of Edmée. There follow exciting scenes of searing courtroom drama. Edmee's testimony in court concerning her silent, but long abiding, love for Bernard, which she had had to keep secret until he was sufficiently educated and refined for her, turns the hearts of the hostile judges.
Bernard's last words to his listeners are his vehement refusal to believe in fatality, and his conviction that training and education can triumph over instinct and genetics. He recommends individualized education geared to each person's particular needs such as that which he received from Edmée. People must correct each other, he says, "en vous aimant beaucoup les uns les autres." (382).
This is one of my very favorite among George Sand's many novels. Perhaps more than in any other of her works, Sand created a wide potpourri of some negative, but mostly positive male characteristics in this 1836 story, which takes place in her native Berry region of France inp the 1770s. Her message is that even the roughest men can become refined and that the most delicate of heroines can effect a positive change in a man's life and lead him to be worthy of her.
The detestable array of uncles at the infamous château of Roche-Mauprat and a few other characters represent general bad male behavior and the 18th- and 19th-century French society that condoned it. However, a different array of men—from the faithful rat-catcher Marcasse, to the kind, compassionate father figure Hubert Mauprat of Saint-Sévère, to the rustic philosopher Patience to the progressive Abbé Aubert, to the American soldier and intellectual botanist Arthur— are symbols of the kind of idealized males in the more gender-equitable society Sand envisioned for her heroine, Edmée, as well as for herself and her countrywomen.
Central to the theme of Mauprat is the role—whether positive or negative—that all of these male characters play in the development of the attitude and personality of young Bernard Mauprat, who, by the story's end has gone from a 17-year-old ruffian raised by a barrage of barbaric and amoral uncles—the poster boy, if you will, for burgeoning bad male behavior of the era— ¬to a genteel young scholar and military veteran worthy of his cousin Edmée's love. If the early Bernard is a metaphor for the egocentric man and for the society that sustains his character, seven years later, the refined and matured Bernard is a shining ideal of what men can and should become if they are molded not only by the right woman, but also by the politically and socially desirable mentors of their own gender.
The young hero and heroine come from different branches of the Mauprat family. Bernard's grandfather, Tristan Mauprat, dominates a family of seven sons, all unmarried, and all despicably crude and vile. During the 10 years before he met Edmée, Bernard, who lost his mother at age 7, is under the sole influence of this heinous group.
On the younger side of the family is Tristan's cousin, Hubert, Edmée's widowed father, who lives in the nearby Sainte-Sévère estate, and is so loved and respected by the local people that they have given him the nickname of le chevalier.
Edmée swears to the local priest she will never give in to Bernard as long as he remains a ruffian. The eavesdropping Bernard, who now realizes just how odious is his position in Edmée's life, turns and walks away. He makes a resolve to get an education, and assures Edmée the next day that she has nothing more to fear from him. However, Bernard did not hear the whole conversation between Edmée and the abbé. It is not until the end of the novel when the cousins are about to wed that the abbé lets Bernard in on what Edmée told him as they walked further into the woods—that despite her fear of Bernard's roughness and bestial passion, she was madly in love with him.
But Bernard, who does not know Edmée's true feelings, plunges into his lessons with a grim determination to become worthy of her. Patience reiterates the charge for Bernard to became educated, refined and worthy of Edmée. He proves an apt student, but his increased knowlege and awareness provoke in him a new vice—pride. Believing himself of superior intelligence, Bernard become a bavard, stirring up his aging Uncle Hubert with modern political ideals and distressing Edmée.
Bernard serves nobly in the American Revolution during the next six years, and hears only occasionally from Hubert and Edmée. He also falls under the influence of a superb military companion, Arthur, a wise, gentle botanist from Philadephia, who takes off where Patience and the abbé left off in encouraging a fellow male to seek greater knowledge. This "second education" or "social education" from Bernard was equally, if not more, important than the intellectual education offered by the Abbé Aubert and Edmée. Vareille notes that Bernard's training from Arthur lasts six years, whereas the first intellectual training took only two (440).
Further convolutions in the plot lead to a momentary lapse in Bernard's hard-earned self-control, which, in turn, leads to his being framed by one of his evil uncles for the attempted murder of Edmée. There follow exciting scenes of searing courtroom drama. Edmee's testimony in court concerning her silent, but long abiding, love for Bernard, which she had had to keep secret until he was sufficiently educated and refined for her, turns the hearts of the hostile judges.
Bernard's last words to his listeners are his vehement refusal to believe in fatality, and his conviction that training and education can triumph over instinct and genetics. He recommends individualized education geared to each person's particular needs such as that which he received from Edmée. People must correct each other, he says, "en vous aimant beaucoup les uns les autres." (382).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 8, 2025
je me sens un peu bernard mauprat dans l âme (rustre qu une femme aimante doit dompter)
October 15, 2019
This "classic" from nineteenth century France has plenty of intense, Romantic melodrama. The setting is the late 18th century. The interesting characters have recurrent fits of passion mainly centering around a tortured relationship. The American and French Revolutions play their parts in the story, especially the American Revolution, which was apparently a favorite in France. We have an interesting picture of France. The author, George Sand, was of course Amandive Dupin, whose intimate relationships included the Polish composer, Frédéric Chopin. She was a playwright and intellectual of the time. She mentions Rousseau more than once, and includes philosophical rumination from all characters. "You must be aware that, in poetic souls, mysticism and doubt often reign side by side." Along with this doubt, at the same time there is a strong sense of a Christian God at work in the novel, again an indication of the time and place where the book was written. In addition to using a male pen name, the author makes the dominant narrator a man, who is telling the story to another male, the book's narrator. The novel's focus is a love story, but the central woman, Edmée, though playing a vital role, is most often heard about rather than heard from. This seems a reflection of the time. The novel sustains a progressive stance, Edmée taking stands for universal equality and the narrator a convincing argument against capital punishment. The copy that I read was translated in 1977 by Stanley Young, a trade paperback with a curious enigmatic cover that I cannot find reproduced on the Internet, and an Introduction raving about George Sand.
September 2, 2010
I often find references to George Sand in other books I'm reading. It seems to be a sort of short-hand to describe a sort of character, like saying that someone is reading Radcliffe. If this is the case, the authors seems to be suggesting that the characters has an extremely high tolerance for boring books, and I think I do have a pretty high tolerance for boring books, but this book was too much for me.
Part of my frustration was Bernard's adolescent obsession for his second cousin, and the cousin's refusal to marry him until he had made himself worthy of her even though she'd loved him in secret for seven years but wouldn't even admit it to him. I disliked Edmee from the first and found her extremely arrogant and I lost respect for Bernard due to his continual fawning on her.
I think this is a case of a book being about morals and sentiments that have just lost their relevance today. For example, the continual reference to rape as shameful to a woman and that no self-respecting man would marry a woman who had been raped. That may have been viewed as the the case when the novel was written, but between that, the unlikable characters, and Bernard's lust for his cousin this book lost me entirely.
George Sand seems like a very interesting person, and I might try one of her other books. Perhaps this one was just a bad one to start with.
Part of my frustration was Bernard's adolescent obsession for his second cousin, and the cousin's refusal to marry him until he had made himself worthy of her even though she'd loved him in secret for seven years but wouldn't even admit it to him. I disliked Edmee from the first and found her extremely arrogant and I lost respect for Bernard due to his continual fawning on her.
I think this is a case of a book being about morals and sentiments that have just lost their relevance today. For example, the continual reference to rape as shameful to a woman and that no self-respecting man would marry a woman who had been raped. That may have been viewed as the the case when the novel was written, but between that, the unlikable characters, and Bernard's lust for his cousin this book lost me entirely.
George Sand seems like a very interesting person, and I might try one of her other books. Perhaps this one was just a bad one to start with.
Read
June 27, 2008un peu trop mélodramatique à mon goût (mon dieu...) "ahhh, je vous aimes trooop que je vous tuerrrais...!!!!!". mais à part ça sa va (ouais, sauf que bien maigre est l'histoire si on l'ampute des moments d'amour torturé en faisant taire les amoureux au supplice...). heureusement, on a échappé à la catastrophe du saint ascète guide spirituel étoupeur de fantaisie et de liberté d'esprit (dieu est si bon, nous devrions tous imiter l'ascète, il est si pieux), ouf! mais bon, George Sand, ce n'est pas n'importe qui! j'ai adorée lire l'histoire de sa vie (Lélia ou la vie de George Sand, par André Maurois) et suis prête à reconnaitre que si je n'ai pas aimée Mauprat, c'est probablement de ma faute. J'ai hâte de lire Lélia, si jamais je parviens à remettre à main dessus!!
December 30, 2020
Je ne peux pas dire que cette première lecture de Sand fut transcendante... si j'ai apprécié l'aspect très "polymorphe" de Mauprat (entre Bildungsroman, roman noir, roman presque chevaleresque, conte philosophique, etc.) cela n'a pas empêché quelques longueurs. Les effusions mélo-dramatiques des deux héros étaient vite agaçantes (ça chouine pas mal comme dans Atala) et l'intrigue finalement assez convenue. Je mesure néanmoins l'intérêt de l'œuvre, sa portée morale et les questionnements philosophiques qui en ressortent.
Read
July 12, 2015Mauprat is the stirring tale of a woman who meets a distant cousin and finds him hot, but not genteel enough to marry. Therefore she dicks around with him for seven years, during which many things happen. But actually she's probably right, she probably shouldn't have married him prior to his years of hardship, which made him less of a dick, even if he was a stone cold fox.
January 21, 2013
One unique book and romantic love story, placed in the heart of Revolutionary France. The events happen with so many interesting obstacles, so much passionate love, which leads the reader to the deep forests of reasons and soul. This book totally deserves to be read, also will be in my memory.
March 4, 2013
This book ranks up with the best I have ever read. I couldn't put it down, filled with life, love, and redemption. The characters are so alive, they resonate, represent us. Read this book, you will not be disappointed.
January 23, 2025
Enfin terminé !!
J’ai trouvé ce roman LONG, je m’attendais à quelque chose de plus palpitant mais ça n’a pas eté le cas.
Au milieu du roman je me suis demandée pourquoi je continuais puis j’ai lu rapidos le dossier du livre et j’ai capté plein de choses que j’avais pas du tout compris!! Notamment tout le msg féministe de Sand, le fait qu’Edmée domine littéralement Bernard tout du long : elle est bien plus intelligente, raisonnée, courageuse et, au fond, bien plus libre que Bernard, malgré qu’elle soit une femme. Toute l’analyse sur le roman de l’obsession masculine est super intéressante.
Donc j’ai continué et j’ai commencé à apprécier ma lecture.
En gros durant tout le roman Bernard est amoureux d’Édmée mais comme tous les hommes il n’est jamais attentif à ce qu’ELLE ressent et il la harcèle. Sauf qu’Edmee connaît sa valeur et attend patiemment qu’il arrive à son niveau…. La fin m’a quand même pas mal touchée et j’ai apprécié les quelques remarques sur l’éducation : « En attendant qu’on ait résolu le problème d’une éducation commune à tous, et cependant appropriée à chacun, attachez-vous à vous corriger les uns les autres. Vous me demandez comment ? Ma réponse sera courte : en vous aimant beaucoup les uns les autres. » 🥰
Bernard is really that man qui tape dans les murs quand il n’a pas ce qu’il veut, et Edmée est vraiment cette go qui n’a aucun défaut. Je comprends qu’elle le cala pas durant tout le roman, téma le neuil qu’est Bernard.
Mais dcp contente de l’avoir lu et malgré la lenteur du récit ça m’a donné envie de lire d’autres livres de Sand cette feministgirl.
J’ai trouvé ce roman LONG, je m’attendais à quelque chose de plus palpitant mais ça n’a pas eté le cas.
Au milieu du roman je me suis demandée pourquoi je continuais puis j’ai lu rapidos le dossier du livre et j’ai capté plein de choses que j’avais pas du tout compris!! Notamment tout le msg féministe de Sand, le fait qu’Edmée domine littéralement Bernard tout du long : elle est bien plus intelligente, raisonnée, courageuse et, au fond, bien plus libre que Bernard, malgré qu’elle soit une femme. Toute l’analyse sur le roman de l’obsession masculine est super intéressante.
Donc j’ai continué et j’ai commencé à apprécier ma lecture.
En gros durant tout le roman Bernard est amoureux d’Édmée mais comme tous les hommes il n’est jamais attentif à ce qu’ELLE ressent et il la harcèle. Sauf qu’Edmee connaît sa valeur et attend patiemment qu’il arrive à son niveau…. La fin m’a quand même pas mal touchée et j’ai apprécié les quelques remarques sur l’éducation : « En attendant qu’on ait résolu le problème d’une éducation commune à tous, et cependant appropriée à chacun, attachez-vous à vous corriger les uns les autres. Vous me demandez comment ? Ma réponse sera courte : en vous aimant beaucoup les uns les autres. » 🥰
Bernard is really that man qui tape dans les murs quand il n’a pas ce qu’il veut, et Edmée est vraiment cette go qui n’a aucun défaut. Je comprends qu’elle le cala pas durant tout le roman, téma le neuil qu’est Bernard.
Mais dcp contente de l’avoir lu et malgré la lenteur du récit ça m’a donné envie de lire d’autres livres de Sand cette feministgirl.
April 19, 2025
Le lecteur trouve chez "Mauprat" les éléments de toute sortes de genres littéraires: le roman cap-et-épée ("Les Trois Mousquetaires" d'Alexandre Dumas) , le roman gothique ("L'italien" d'Ann Radcliffe), le roman d'amour ("La nouvelle Héloïse" de Jean Jacques Rousseau), le roman historique ("La princesse de Clèves" de Madame de La Fayette) , et le polar ("Le mystère de la chambre jaune" de Gaston Leroux. Comme le plupart de lecteurs je crois que "Mauprat" ressemble surtout au bildungsroman "Les Hauts de Hurlevent" d'Emily Brontë. Dans ces deux romans une héroïne vertueuse réussit grâce a des années d'effort à transformer un brute méchant en héros exemplaire.
Aussi, "Mauprat" nous offre aussi une réflexion sur a la révolutionnaire française, l'église catholique et la révolution américaine. Sand cependant est à son mieux quand elle parle des relations de son époque entre les hommes et les femmes. Sand écrit: "Les hommes s'imaginent que la femme n'a pas d'existence par elle-même et qu'elle doit toujours s'absorber en eux, et pourtant ils n'aiment que la femme qui parait s'élever par son caractère, au-dessus de la faiblesse et de l'inertie de son sexe." (p. 186) Les choses ont peu changé depuis 1837 l'année ou "Mauprat" est sorti. Les hommes continuent à regarder la femme de la même manière.
Malheureusement "Mauprat" ne fonctionne pas de tout comme roman. Les bonnes idées de Sand sont très mal servies par son mélange de styles qui ne s'harmonisent pas.
Aussi, "Mauprat" nous offre aussi une réflexion sur a la révolutionnaire française, l'église catholique et la révolution américaine. Sand cependant est à son mieux quand elle parle des relations de son époque entre les hommes et les femmes. Sand écrit: "Les hommes s'imaginent que la femme n'a pas d'existence par elle-même et qu'elle doit toujours s'absorber en eux, et pourtant ils n'aiment que la femme qui parait s'élever par son caractère, au-dessus de la faiblesse et de l'inertie de son sexe." (p. 186) Les choses ont peu changé depuis 1837 l'année ou "Mauprat" est sorti. Les hommes continuent à regarder la femme de la même manière.
Malheureusement "Mauprat" ne fonctionne pas de tout comme roman. Les bonnes idées de Sand sont très mal servies par son mélange de styles qui ne s'harmonisent pas.
December 1, 2024
George Sand's "Mauprat" is a curious mix of melodrama and philosophy. There is plenty of plot and there are characters bursting with emotion, and there is also a sort of consideration of moral, political, and religious ideals and how these are supported or hindered by schools of thought, clerical systems and societal norms. The format of the novel is old Mauprat telling the story of his life to some younger listeners. This type of narration gives, on the one hand, a personal immediacy, but I always end up saying to myself that there is no way someone could remember so many lengthy conversations to be able to repeat them fifty years later as if they were dialog from a play. That is a hang-up I have to just acknowledge and then let go. I did enjoy the book, and now I feel, based upon the timeline of Sand's life at the back of the book, that I should read a biography of Sand, which I suspect will be equally as fascinating as anything she could dish up in her fictional creations.
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