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The first English translation of a pre-Freudian psychological novel. The narrator victimizes women while feeling victimized by his own sensuality
Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve (1804-69), who ruled French letters in the nineteenth century, established biographical analysis as a critical method. His own fictionalized biography was Volupte (1834), translated here for the first time. It is at once a roman a clef, a historical novel, and a pre-Freudian psychological novel. Disguising his relationship with Victor Hugo's wife Adele by setting the novel in the 1790s during the Breton Chouan uprising against Napoleon, he weaves together fictitious and historical personages. His analysis of the narrator's inner psychological state and the love-hate language games of courtship is framed by parallel intrigues in politics and society.
"As a fictional narration in the first person, Volupte recreated the mental conflicts of a youth beset by internal and external forces, with sympathy and authenticity, offering a variety of moods, within a fascinating time and place (post-French Revolution), and a flock of historically interesting characters, who partake in the 'hero's' development.
"The translation, while completely faithful to the original, reads smoothly, elegantly; it captures the style and flavor of its time yet does not sound old-fashioned. It makes available to English readers a unique, little-known novel by an otherwise well-known critic of nineteenth century France." —Jurgrau, Empire State College
Translator's Introduction
Preface
Volupte: The Sensual Man