George Sand et Jules Sandeau : la naissance de Marianna

Abstract

Jules Sandeau published Marianna in 1839. Critics agree that it portrays George Sand. But the writer was also present in other works by the novelist, as if her memory haunted him. In Marianna, the image is more complete and successful. The novel's three main characters are Georges Bussy, Marianna, and Henry, Bussy's young friend who falls in love with the young woman when Bussy abandons him. Marianna gives in to this love, but eventually grows tired of it and regrets the lost happiness of her home. She leaves Henry but cannot regain what she has abandoned. All she has left is solitude, and she regrets having brought Henry unhappiness. Through this novel, Jules Sandeau critiques the exaggerations of Romanticism and shows the ravages of passion.