Marie D Agoult

Marie D'Agoult/Daniel Stern (1805-1876): The only love affair that produced children (Blandine, Cosima, Daniel). He met her in 1832, through mutual friend Abbé de Lammenais. Became lovers around 1834, though d’Agoult still stayed with her family. At the end of that year, her daughter Louise took ill and died. She went into a deep depression, which Liszt attempted to help by sending her Sand’s Lélia. She had already been separated from her husband, and by March 1835, d’Agoult was pregnant. The two left Paris for Switzerland in May of that year. Took a trip to Italy in 1837 as an established couple. Also visited George Sand at her home. Both Blandine and Cosima were quietly born out of the country under fabricated birth certificates. 1838, Suttoni claims is the beginning of the end of their relationship (on happy terms, anyway). Daniel was born in May 1839, in November of that year Liszt would embark on a series of performance tours throughout Europe.22 Touring and absences led to the final end of their relationship in 1844. She then took up the name Daniel Stern, became a journalist and writer (including one novel, Nélida, that is a “fictional” account of her relationship with Liszt). Involved in writing about politics in later life

Marie's life 1805-1832

Marie D’Agoult: The Rebel Countess by Richard Bolster
Born in December 30, 1805

  • Born Marie de Flavigny, in Frankfurt, Germany
  • Her German mother was named Maria, and she came from a family of prominent bankers. She had been previously married to her father’s business partner (who was 17 years older than her) and had a daughter with him. He died early on, and by the time she was 24 she met Alexandre she was already a widow.
  • Marie’s father, Alexandre de Flavigny, was a French Aristocrat who came to Germany in exile.
  • He had been first a page at Versailles and later a lieutenant in the artillery.
  • In attempt to keep Maria and Alexandre apart, Maria’s family attempted to have Alexandre expelled from the country. She visited him in prison, in his cell for an extended amount of time, so she would have to marry him or face dishonor.
  • They were wed in September 1797 in Switzerland and moved to Vienna.
  • They had a son in 1799 named Maurice.
  • Marie and Maurice spoke French to their father and German to their mother, making them fluent in both languages.
  • After the revolution, the family returned to France in 1809
  • On 28 May 1810, a house was purchased near the village of Monnaie for two hundred thousand francs, which is more than a million dollars today.
  • Marie was originally baptized Lutheran but converted to Catholicism at a young age because it made more sense living in France.
  • From 1815-1816 she attended boarding school, where she met Goethe. For the next two years her father educated her. She was also trained in the social graces.
  • “Music was her favorite activity” She played at her mother’s stein piano (black keyboard)
  • She studied with Johann Hummel
  • She wrote a few pieces, inspired by the poems of Heinrich Heine
  • It was not until adolescence that Marie found about her sister, who had married Clemens Brentano. They were married for four year before divorcing.
  • Her father died in 1819 in their home and spoke to Marie on his deathbed saying, “I am glad you are having fun. As for me. I am in pain.”
  • After her father’s death, she and her mother moved back to Frankfurt.
  • In Frankfurt Marie frequently attended the opera, seeing Glück, Spontini, and Mozart.
  • During her time in Frankfurt she met the famous French writer, Chateaubriand.
  • After Frankfurt she returned to boarding school, this time at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Paris.
  • Special accommodations were made for Marie including, her own room and a piano.
  • “She quickly made a new friend named Fanny de Larochefoucauld, who had had similar social experiences and who found it hard to adapt to convent life.” 46
  • She played the organ in chapel and directed the children’s singing
  • She also sang solo cantatas and drew deep satisfaction from the combination of musical and religious feeling.
  • Marie was taken away from the convent in 1822 for fear of her wanting to become a nun, which is not unlike Liszt’s own experience.
  • Leaving the Convent also marked Marie’s entrance into society.
  • Three groups of society: old aristocracy, new nobility created by Napolean and high finance.
  • Around this time Madame de Flavigny made her home into a salon.
  • She hosted many “soirées dansantes” with piano, violin and clarinets performing.
  • Marie and Madame de Flavigny regularly attended operas and balls but also concerts in private homes.
  • One of the artists she heard most frequently was Rossini.
  • In the world of literature she was inspired by Madame Staël, Madame de Duras and the poetess Delphine Gay.
  • Delphine Gay married published Emile de Girardin, who eventually fell in love with Marie d’Agoult.
  • Her first suitor was a diplomat named Lagarde. He was too afraid to ask for her hand in case of denial.
  • While she was advised fresh and air and exercise to cure melancholia, she found refuge in literature and studying English. Her first creative writing exercise was with her friend Lucille. They wrote back and forth in English from the point of view of fictional characters.
  • “Six months earlier her friend Fanny had become the Comtesse de Montault.
  • She was introduced to Charles d’Agoult by Madame de La Trémoile and her husband
  • Charles d’Agout had been a soldier in Napoleon’s army and a battle wound left him with a limp.
  • He was 36 in 1826
  • They were apparently different in stature and disposition, which may be why they could never get along.
  • According to this author, both Charles and Marie took responsibility for their failed marriage.
  • They married on May 16, 1826. The next year she had her first daughter, Louise.
  • Charles and Marie were involved in politics and Marie was presented at court.
  • As a member of the court she began friendships with the higher circle of the salons, informing herself about the issues of the time.
  • After the fall of Charles X she lost her position of the court but she did not seem upset by it
  • Her second daughter, Claire was born on August 10, 1830.
  • After the collapse of the regime, many popular salons were closed including Madame de Duras, Madame de Montcalm, and Madame de La Trémoille. She still attended the salon of Madame d’Apponyi.
  • Home life became difficult, she didn’t get along with her husband or her sister-in-law and her mother did not get along with Charles either.
  • Her depression worsened when she heard of the death of her half-sister.
  • After she recovered from her depression she began to have her salon
  • She purchased a country estate near Paris, making it a popular summer salon.
  • There were readings of works by Eugene Scribé but the focus was on music.
  • Her own talent was still well known.
  • “Charles d’Agout recalled an evening during which Rossini heard her perform the overture of his opera Semiramis with such virtuosity that he declared it the best performance since its writing.”
  • She put on concerts with the new music of Berlioz, Chopin, and Schubert.
  • This is also when she began hosting Liszt.

Marie's life 1833-1839

Marie d’Agoult and Liszt

Map 1835-1840

Timeline (summarized from Selected Letters, Williams and The Life of Marie d’Agoult alias Daniel Stern, Stock-Morton)

1832:

  • D’Agoult was 27, Liszt 21 when they met in December 1832/January 1833 (but no later than 1 Feb. 1833 because de Vayer died - according to Williams) at a musical gathering hosted by the Marquise de Vayer (?)

1834:

  • She invited him to her salon several times before he accepted, which resulted in a series of afternoon conversations and the beginnings of their affair; secrecy.
  • His letters become less formal, more discussion of his desire for Marie and love. He begins to give her, and himself, nicknames in his letters. Near constant discussion of literature.
  • Liszt experienced emotional mood-swings about their future together, at times hopeful, and at other times contemplating giving it all up for a religious life.
  • Presumably they began to discuss elopement sometime in 1834 (considering it would happen in May 1835); “the great plan” mysteriously mentioned in a July 1834 letter.
  • Liszt sends her Sand’s Lélia (about a woman who demands a fulfilled marriage - perhaps a message?).
  • September: Liszt goes to stay with Lammenais.
  • December: d’Agoult’s daughter, Louise, falls ill and dies, Marie descends into a deep depression. She would not see Liszt until 1835.

1835:

  • Liszt and d’Agoult are reunited in March. She realizes she is pregnant in some weeks after this. There is no more discussion about elopement - they begin to make plans to meet in Switzerland.
  • Lammenais attempts to stop the elopement a few days before she leaves Paris, begging her on his knees to think of her remaining child (Claire) and her mother; possibly at the request of Liszt, or Marie’s brother; it is not clear who actually knew of the pregnancy besides Marie and Liszt. It seems unlikely that Liszt wanted to end the affair, if the tone of his letters during 1835-6 is any indication - he appears just as in love with her as ever.
  • On 26 May d’Agoult leaves her husband by telling him in a letter: “Your name will never leave my lips except pronounced with the respect and esteem that are due to your character; as for me, as concerns the world which will cover me with scorn, I ask of you only silence” (Stock-Morton 31). Two days later she leaves for Basel, Switzerland (Liszt arrives on 4 June).
  • Marie’s mother was upset by the elopement, wanted to take Marie away to Frankfurt, questioned Liszt - if he was such a good Christian, how could he “influence her daughter to turn her back on her mother’s affection?” (Stock-Morton 33).
  • Beginning in June, they travel throughout Switzerland for five weeks (like a honeymoon): the Rhine Falls at Schaffhausen, Lake Constance, St. Gallen, Lake Walenstadt, Einsiedeln, Goldau, Weggis, Brunnen, Gletsch, Bex.
  • In July, they move into an apartment in Geneva. After settling in Geneva, Liszt performed, Marie set up a salon in their home - attendees included Sismonde de Sismondi (historian) and Adolphe Pictet (philologist); kept up her own personal education by reading and discussion.
  • Blandine-Rachel Liszt is born in Geneva on 18 December. Blandine’s birth certificate gives a false name for Marie, because if Blandine had been declared Marie’s daughter, she would have been legally Marie’s husband’s child (Cosima and Daniel were also born under false mother names) - all three children were Liszt’s alone in law. Blandine sent to a nurse, common practice among the aristocracy until children were ready for “mother’s education” (Stock-Morton 38).

1836:

  • Spring: Liszt leaves for concert tour in S. France, Marie stays behind in Geneva with Puzzi. She appeared to have complained about his touring, though they needed the money, for he said to her in a letter: “It is my only fortune, my only title, my unique possesion… My reputation as an artist is precious beyond all; is it not a jewel that pleases you?” (Stock-Morton 39).
  • Liszt also goes to Paris, where he asks Marie’s brother for access to her dowry (which they get, even though that is not required by law). She does not write him for awhile when he was in Paris, after he told her that he had seen Princess Belgiojoso.
  • In the summer, Liszt and d’Agoult holiday in Veyrier and Monnetier (France).
  • September: They travel by mule through the mountains (Chamonix to Fribourg) with George Sand, her children, Major Pictet, and Hermann Cohen (Puzzi). On the trip, Marie is described as cold, trying to discuss philosophy when the rest of them were playing around.
  • The couple gets an apartment in Paris in October, sharing a salon with George Sand (it is during this time that Sand meets Chopin).

1837:

  • D’Agoult spends February with Sand at Nohant (Sand’s home), Liszt joins towards the end of the month.
  • In Paris, an observation by Sand’s lover (pre-Chopin) writer Charles Didier: “She [Marie] is a noble creature and very unhappy… I find their present relationship puzzling, and rather think they are deliberately acting, that their affair is in its last gasp” (Stock-Morton 48). Already, in 1837, their relationship appears strained.
  • They both return to Nohant from May-July.
  • August: They travel to Italy, stopping on the way at Chambéry, Saint-Point to see Lamartine, and at the Grande Chartreuse. After arriving mid-August in Baveno (Lake Maggiore), they spend time at Lake Como and then in Milan.
  • The couple spends September and October at Bellagio.
  • Francesca Gaetana Cosima Liszt is born in Como on 24 December. This caused a minor crisis with Marie’s husband, as he feared that Claire’s inheritance may be in danger; Marie assures him that she has every intention to keep her illegitimate children disconnected from the Count.

1838:

  • Liszt and d’Agoult head to Venice in March. He leaves in April for Vienna.
  • D’Agoult remains in Venice, ill and unhappy at his absence. Her friendship with Sand diminishes, ends rather sourly as Marie mocks Sand’s newest lover (though she does not know this at the time), and Sand stops writing to her.
  • At one point during their separation, a doctor writes to Liszt in concern for Marie’s health, to which he replies (or sent before receiving the doctor’s note, it is not clear) that the doctor should bring her to Vienna; in any case, she is enraged by his apparent disregard for her well-being.
  • They write back and forth, he claims to want to see her, to return to Venice, but excuses pepper his letters - he has another concert, the coach can’t be hired, delays, etc.
  • Liszt returns to Venice in May. Around this time they argue, and she calls him “Don Juan parvenu [an upstart Don Juan]” (Stock-Morton 61), implying his suspected infidelity in Vienna.
  • They begin to discuss separation; not an end to the relationship, though - that she should return to Paris with the children and consider a career in writing; that he should be free to go on concert tours without being tied to her.
  • During the summer, they stay in Genoa and Lugano.
  • By mid-October, they are in Florence. Marie is pregnant with Daniel, so Liszt stays with her, but discussing the ring she had given him: “I feel a strange pleasure in thus abandoning to chance that sad and terrible sign of our union. Twenty times a day I think about going to get it and I don’t do anything.” (Stock-Morton 63).

1839:

  • The couple is joined by their three-year-old daughter, Blandine, in Florence in January.
  • They travel through Pisa to Rome, arriving early February.
  • On 2 May, Daniel Henricus Franciscus Joseph Liszt is born in Rome.
  • Liszt and d’Agoult visit Tivoli in June. Later that month, Liszt, d’Agoult, and Blandine move into the Villa Massimiliana near Lucca.
  • In the early fall, they stay at San Rossore near Pisa.
  • October: Marie takes Blandine and heads to Paris, picking up Cosima on the way. The two children begin to live with Anna Liszt.

1840:

  • Marie re-establishes her salon in Paris: her guests were mostly male, and many were suitors, including Emile Girardin (French politician). Liszt was suspected of being unfaithful at the time with Camille Pleyel.
  • In January Marie asks Liszt if she can be unfaithful (!). He replies: “You ask me for permission to be unfaithful! Dear Marie, you name no names, but I assume it is Bulwer [Henry Lytton Bulwer, diplomat]. It matters little… If it is a need, or a pleasure, or simply a distraction to talk to me about Bulwer, do so; I shall be pleased and flattered. If not, I shall never say a word about him.” (Selected Letters 130). Williams believes that it is evident in Marie’s letters that she was not serious about taking Bulwer as a lover, and that he is calling her bluff.
  • The couple is reunited in May, in Meaux. They return to Paris together soon after. Liszt leaves again in the same month for London.
  • Some evidence that Marie may be paranoid (for good reason?) about Liszt’s encounters with other women: “I dined yesterday at Lady Blessington’s [an aristocrat and author admired by the couple], who is definitely one of my supporters here. I like her pretty well (not physically, of course)…” (Letters 139)
  • Marie meets Liszt in London in June. She returns to Paris after Lady Blessington supposedly makes scathing remarks about her to Liszt.
  • His letters become less affectionate in that he no longer signs with phrases such as, “Love me as I love you” or “A thousand kisses on your archangel’s brow…” Now he simply says “Adieu”; his language gets a bit more flowery in 1841, but it is not as consistent.
  • Liszt goes on an extensive concert tour, pausing to meet d’Agoult at Fontainebleau sometime in October-early November. when Marie returns to Paris to excess attention from Girardin, she tells Liszt - possibly to make him jealous?

1841:

  • Liszt and d’Agoult vacation in Nonnenwerth (island in the Rhine) in August-early November.

1843:

  • Liszt, d’Agoult, and all three children vacation again in Nonnenwerth. This would be their last holiday together.

1844:

  • In April, the couple splits for good, Marie initiates. They go back and forth in April, begin to argue about the schooling and living situation of the girls, and stop speaking for awhile.
  • Possibly starting in 1834? Marie ghostwrites articles for Liszt (his ideas, her writing and some of her ideas); called “Lettre d’un bachelier ès musique” (Letter from a bachelor of music) written over the next few years and appearing in several periodicals. She published under Liszt’s name in the Gazette Musicale (1835).

Marie's life 1839-1876

  • In 1839 Marie and Liszt parted (made permanent when Liszt started dallying with a dancer) (Watson 206)
    • The separation was also a result of more deep-seated issues: a difference in the temperments (melancholy vs. sanguine) between the two, and Marie's idolization and attempted monopolization of Liszt
    • Nevertheless, Marie always looked back at her time with Liszt as a magnificent dream
  • After resettling in Paris at last, Marie continued her literary efforts, rather than occupy herself with frivolous societal gatherings (Watson 208)
    • In 1839 she met Delphine Gay, and Delphine's publisher husband Émile de Girardin
    • In general Marie's writings were colored by her feminist views and past experiences with Liszt
  • Following her Liszt liason, Marie sought some solace in the presence of George Sand (Watson 212)
    • The two had a rather rocky relationship, in part because the idealistic, Romantic Marie disagreed with the light-hearted, physical Sand over the nature of love
    • For many years after 1839 Sand refused to speak to Marie, but towards the end of their lives the two were reconciled
    • Throughout this time Marie continued to be impressed with Sand's literary achievements (it was Sand who initially encouraged Marie to pursue a literary path)
    • Sand characterized Marie as "an unhappy woman"
  • Marie and Liszt maintained a correspondence; Liszt was eager to read (and critique) Marie's literary works, and even congratulated her on the publication of Nélida (Bolster 207)
  • Marie also grew close to Lamartine (though he himself tried to keep some distance), especially during the events of the 1848 revolution
  • Speaking of Revolution, after returning from a life with Liszt Marie grew increasingly isolated from the aristocracy and the Catholic church, and closer to the artistic class (Bolster 209)
  • In March 1851 Marie moved into a small house near the Arc de Triomphe
    • Upon her parents' deaths, Marie's conniving brother had managed to get away with most of the family fortune, leaving her somewhat strained of means (a measly few hundred thousand francs)
  • Marie hosted a politically-oriented salon for those opposed to Louis-Napoleon (they had a lot to talk about after 1851!)
  • In 1854 Blandine and Cosima returned to Marie so that the latter could give them a social education (Daniel soon followed) (Bolster 227)
    • Liszt however sought to distance the children from their mother (as he had done many times during the past)
    • In 1855 the family separated: Cosima went to Berlin and married von Bülow, Daniel to Austria to enter law school, and Blandine to Paris to find a husband (though she didn’t live with her mother, as this would restrict Marie’s capability to host social activities)
    • Marie later took Blandine on a trip to Italy, where the latter met and fell in love with Émile Ollivier
        • Olliver’s attempts to keep Marie at arm’s length from Blandine and himself naturally provoked some anger
  • During the winter of 1857-58 Marie suffered from a serious bout of depression, likely caused by the imminent demolition of her Paris house, but more so the increasing distance between herself and her children (Bolster 233)
  • In May 1858 Marie traveled to Zurich, where she met Wagner
  • In 1859 Daniel died in Berlin at the age of 20 of tuberculosis
    • Marie didn’t get to see him, and Liszt arrived at the last moment
    • Following his death Marie once again fell into a deep depression
  • In the 1860s Marie encountered or continued to correspond with a number of literary, educated women, including Emma Herwegh, Hortense Allart, Juliette Lamber, and Louise Ackerman (Bolster 240-1)
  • In 1861 Marie met Liszt for the first time in years, at a Parisian production of Tannhäuser
  • In 1862 Blandine died after giving birth to a baby boy at the age of 24 (prompting another mental attack)
  • Marie was staying out in the countryside during the disastrous Franco-Prussian War (1870), and was rather unsurprised at the German victory
    • With the reestablishment of the Republic Marie returned to Paris (living temporarily with Claire)
    • Marie’s democratic, proletarian politics were now seen as less threatening than when she published History of the Revolution of 1848 (Bolster 248)
  • Maurice de Flavigny, Marie’s brother (the one who cared most about personal advancement, and who took most of the family fortune) died of cholera in October, 1873
  • In 1875 Charles d’Agoult died
  • On March 6, 1876 Marie died and was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery

The literary efforts of Marie d'Agoult

  • General information about her works and life found in A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge ed. George Ripley and Charles A. Dana, 1869
  • Found on Google books
  • Her entry in this “dictionary” also states “At the present time, her Salon has become one of the most fashionable and agreeable centres of attraction in Paris.”

One of her earliest publications was a commentary on Victor Hugo's Les Chants du crepuscule in S'Europe Centrale. This article was left unsigned.

some info about her early writing life, found in chapter 3 of "Eve's Proud Descendants" by Walton

  • Unhappy with her marriage to the Count d'agoult, she turned to romantic fiction
    • A quote by Marie, related by Walton (perhaps from her memoirs?): "In a sort of frenzy I plunged into the reading of novels: Werther, Rene, Adolphe, Manfred, Faust, that in exciting my feelings, inoculated me with a poetic and unhealthy disgust with life."
  • Reading, and the "disgust with life" was apparently what pushed her towards feelings of disgust with her caste society and a dual love of both Romance stories and political histories. She wrote on all three topics.
  • Woa! did you know she tried to kill herself in 1832, and had to stay in a mental institution? according to Walton at least, p 53

Nelida

  • written by D’agoult first appeared in the Paris Revue independante in 1846.
  • published under the pseudonym Daniel Stern p112
  • was actually quite successful, and was even translated into spanish
  • The characters Nelida and Guermann represent D’agoult and Liszt resprectively
  • Guermann is a portrait of Liszt in the 30s and 40s
  • after its publication, Liszt wrote to Wittgenstein “The character of Guermann is a stupid invention p. 125
  • Newman suggests that the book reveals her to be sefl-conscious, since she praises the character Nelida as unbelievably beautiful, intelligent, and virtuous
  • the book makes a big deal about the disparity in their social classes – Guermann is a painter here. It constantly refers to his “plebian birth” p. 126
  • Newman says the book focuses a lot on Parisian society’s scorn of caste crossing relationships and makes Nelida’s sufferings seem very courageous
  • she had to give up an important place in society to be with him
  • at the same time, it criticizes society for placing rich-born citizens in a position of superiority
  • Guermann opens Nelida’s eyes to the reality of life in the lower classes
    • quote from Nelida – in Newman’s book: “She had no idea of the bitterness of the condition of those whose superior talents, lofty instincts and refined manners have not sufficed to shelter them from need, and who, instead of being able to give themselves up to the noble ambitions that haunt them, see themselves forced to bow beneath the yoke of a mean labour that barely secures their existence. These thoughts came to her for the first time when she entered Guermann’s apartment – this man who, she knew, adored her, and to whom her heart secretly awarded the palm of genius. She recalled his words: ‘I had to become an artist while remaining an aritsan’" (128)
  • clearly, d’Agoult is sympathetic to Liszt’s struggle to raise the status of the artist/musician. Here’s another quote, this time from “Guermann” : "We are pariahs,” Guerman says to Nelida later, “society, in its superb disdain, treats us as vile artisans who trade in a block of marble or a few yards of painted canvas; it is convinced that our supreme ambition ought to be simply to win the praise of grands seigneurs blasés and to amuse their nerve-ridden wives. I am aware that when they have paid for the work of our hands – which of these heartless creatures ever imagines that there is in it the inspiration of the soul? – when they have thrown us our wages, they turn away from us as from beings of a lower order … Art is great, art is holy, art is immortal. The artist is the first, the noblest among men, for to him it has been given to feel more intensely and to express more powerfully than any other the invisible presence of God in creation. He exercises a priesthood that is august although it is outraged.” (128)
  • as Guermann’s success grows, he becomes dazzled by the aristocratic life, while Nelida becomes disgusted by it.
  • on the whole, the book renounces Liszt, points to his presence in society as a sham, and is apparently quite viscious about it.
  • also paints Liszt as EXTREMELY egotistic.
  • Newman, in comparing Liszt’s letters to those letters in the book between the two main characters, find that they are nearly word-for-word copies of their letters in real life.

About Valentia

  • Walton, in chapter three of "Eve's descendants" suggests that the novel is, like Nelida, autobiographical fiction
  • It is the story of a young woman, married to a man she hates who has an affair with a younger man. Obvious, I think
  • The character Valentia is tormented by feelings of shame and humiliation because her husband drugged and raped her on their wedding night.
  • apparently Valentia often imagines physically harming her husband.

This stuff is from the article “Franz Liszt – Author despite Himself: The History of a Mystification" by Emile Haraszti and John A. Gutman

  • They say that it is obvious today that the many articles from 1836 – 1840 that appeared in the Revue et Gazette musicale de Paris were signed by Liszt, but actually written by D’agoult.
    • one such article is titled “Lettres d’un Bachelier-es-musique
    • another is “De la situation des artistes et de leur condition dans la société”
    • about the “Lettres d’un Bachelier,” the Pariser Zeitung in 1838, declared Comtesse d’Agoult to be the author p494
      • d’Agoult also insinuates this in her memoirs
  • in George Sand’s Horace, apparently everyone recognized that the character Madame de Chailly, described as having artificial mind, nobility and beauty, was a portrait of d’Agoult.
  • wrote memoirs
  • was a writer before Liszt, even carrying trunks of papers around on her honeymoon

About Lettres Républicaines in Esquisses morales et politiques, from Eve's Proud Descendants: Four Women Writers and Republican Politics in Nineteenth Century France by Walton, 2000

  • published 1848
  • intended audience was political leaders and members of bourgeosisie
  • each letter was addressed to differend political leaders such as the Prince de Joinville, Lamennais, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, General Cavaignac and Lamartine.
  • seems to regard herself as one of the “workers of Paris”
  • a quote “why don’t I say it to you freely, in comradely fashion, and without pulling any punches? The electoral success for which you congratulate yourselves is not, in my opinion, of a nature to give you any real power, and the tactics you used on this occasion, in spite of their apparent success, far from helping you achieve your end, have only distanced you from it, as I see it.”
  • often judged leaders, describing their appearance, characteristics, and strengths andweaknesses in politics
  • however, she didn’t try to point fingers in her writing, but seemed to be trying to report on the facts and assess the situation

some more stuff, from The Life of Marie d'Aboult, Alias Daniel Stern by Stock-Morton
-also wrote as a music critic, for example, published an article on Meyerbeer's religious songs, p97
-starts writing articles with her pen name Daniel Stern, for the first time in 1841
-became a journalist - of sorts
-was a journalist of sorts - gathered information mostly through salon gossip
-her Essay on Liberty contains a plea for equal education for both sexes.