COLETTE AND MARRIAGE
A THESIS
SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF ATLANTA UNIVERSITY
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS
BY
EDTIA MARGARET GRAHAM
DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH
ATLANTA, GEORGIA-
AUGUST 1945 ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I. INTRODUCTION 1
IT. THE LIFE 0^ COLETTE: ITS INFLUENCE ON HER VIEWS OF MARRIAGE ' 5
III. MARRIAGE IN THE JOINTLY WRITTEN NOVELS 12
IV. MARRIAGE IN THE NOVELS WRITTEN BY COLETTE ALONE 22
V. CONCLUSION 56
BIBLIOGRAPHY 58 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Through the centuriee, the women of France have assumed a noteworthy
position in their development of the literary culture of their country. The names of some of them are not to he forgotten. There are, for example,
Mademoiselle de la Scudery, Madame de La Fayette, Madame de Eevigne’, Madame
de Staël, and George Sand.
The feminine offering to contemporary literature is not so great as
that of past centuries; however, the few works that have been produced
equal in value and significance the contributions of former years. The
productions of Madame Sidonie Cabrielle Colette Goudeket receive that dis¬
tinction and, in certain regards, the author herself is considered a
veritable phenomenon in the history of feminine literature.
As one of the women geniuses of France, Colette (the non de plume of
Madame Goudeket) has written many sensational, yet informative and charming¬
ly written novels based chiefly on the relations, both physical and legal,
existing between men and vvomen of French society. Marriage is a universal
topic upon which all feminine reason may theorize, and when one forms a
reading acquaintance with a woman who has expressed many individualistic
views on the subject, one seeks to discover the causes of her idées and
the philosophy that has resulted. In addition to the fact that Colette is
part Negro, her views on marriage and her position in contemporary French
literature serve as sufficient incentives for the subject that has been
chosen.
It is hoped that this study will serve to broaden one's knowledge of
contemporary literary productions done by a woman of another nation, and to
1 2 give some insight on how and what she thinks.
By a careful comparative study of seventeen of her novels, the writer has attempted to discover Colette's ideas on marriage as she expressed them through her character portrayals and conversations.
The views of Colette on marital relationships when she wrote alone will be discussed in the fourth chapter of this study. The third chapter will be devoted to a discussion of marital ideas found in the words of
Colette and her writer husband, Tilly.
In order to comprehend and appreciate the production of any author, it is necessary to have a knowledge of all that goes to form an individual personality. To acquaint the reader with such influences in the life of
Colette will be the task in the following chapter, Chapter Two. CHAPTER TI
THE LIFE OF COLETTE:
ITS INFERENCE ON HER VIEWS OF MARRIAGE
In the life of a writer, there ere to be found certain underlying- influences that have attained positions of primary importance. To a
casual reader these influences maty pass unnoticed; yet, they are too impor¬
tant to be overlooked. This is true in the case of Colette, whose ideas have been shaped by many seemingly unimportant factors. The chief concern of this chapter is to discover what these factors ere and to acquaint the
reader with them. These influences will serve to form an intelligent
sympathetic attitude toward the philosophies that Colette has created.
Saint-Sauveur - en-P\iisaye, the tiny corner of a forest located between
Eurfrundy and Nivernais, was the scene of Colette's birth in 1873.^ On the mention of Burgundy end Nivernais, immediately there comes to mind the pic¬
ture of s region where warm streams, "des bons vins" and forests filled
with flowers and frisky but friendly animals predominate. It was in such
an atmosphere as this that Sidonie Gebrielle Colette romped through her
/ childhood in "Emile-like" innocence:
Colette est, §» tout cas, une paysanne. La cite n'a pu lui faire oublier le d$ut et l'odeur de la terre. La grande ville et l'amour de l'art ont seulement développe les ressources de cette riche sensualité. Colette est restee foncièrement bourguignonne et son oeuvre est, comme l'ancienne terre des ducs de Bourgogne, d'une qualité a la fois savoureuse et robuste.^
Authors disagree on the date of her birth. Irene Cornwell in Contem¬ porary French Fiction gives January 28, 1873, while Regis Michaud in, Vingtième Siecle grives June 28, 1873. 2 / Pierre Brodin, Les Ecrivains Français de l'entre- deux guerres (Montréal, 1942), p. 126.
3 4
"Adoring her family, her old home, animals, end all forms of nature, she lived in an atmosphere of love."^
A true daughter of nature, Colette has filled her works with her first impressions of animalistic freedom, unbounded imagination and natural instincts as gained from her experiences in the foresty region of Feint-
Sauveur.
Obviously one encounters slight difficulty in selecting Colette's
first influence, her natal town.
Immediate family relationships are always important; later, we shall discover how Colette was affected by them. But, if the ancestral lineage is
subjected to close examination, there too may one discover important factors
that have served as a basis for the formation of unusual characteristics.
Colette's family history is particularly interesting. Her grandfather was a quadroon, and Colette has not hesitated to refer to this fact when the occasion demanded, even though she exhibits no pronounced characteristics of
the Negro race. She has sympathetically introduced Negro characters in
several of her books, e. g. Hes Apprentissages, Prisons et Paradis, and
Ces Plaisirs. However, it is in La Nelson de Claudine that Colette tells
her readers something of the character and personality of her grandfather.
Tu vois comme il est laid, Virfet-cheri? Eh Men, les femmes se pendaient toutes 'a lui—
Elle leva son de vers le daguerréotype accroché su mur, le daguerréotype que j'enferme maintenant dans un tiroir, et qui recèle, sous sontain d'argent, le portrait en b^ste d'un "homme de couleur"—quateron, je crois, — haut cravate de blanc, l'oeil p^le et méprisant, le nez long au-dessus de la lippe nègre qui lui valut son surnom.*-
•^Milton H. Stansbury, French Novelists of Today (Philadelphia, 19F3), p. 102.
^Colette, La Vs Ison de Cl:. Mine. (Paris, 1922), p. 82. 5
(He was sumamed "Le Gorille")
Certainly in America and even in France there are few prominent women who would refer to such a branch of the family tree. But Colette has inherited
the unusual qualities of pride and boldness. Always an individualist, she
has consistently shunned the ordinary.
In the immediate family relationship there is usually one member who
receives more recognition as a background influence. Tith Colette this
recognition is accorded her mother. "It is to her that Colette's pen
returns most often in affectionate respect."^ Colette's mother, herself
the daughter of the aforementioned, was a woman of unusual intelligence and
originality. Deftly, Saintsbury has taken a passage from Le. Naissance du
■Tour, translated it and with the addition of some of his own opinions, has
said of this remarkable womans
Glimpses of Colette's mother reveal her making mittens for real puppies, foregoing a trip in ordér to see her cactus bloom, cherishing a wounded but destructive caterpillar, protecting the spider which spins its web above her bed and descends nightly into her bowl of chocolate. It is tempting to dwell on the features of this delightful woman, not only because as one of the principal figures in La Maison de Claudine, La Naissance du Jour, and Sido (her mother's nickname), she was the inspira¬ tion for some of Colette's finest work, but because the daughter inherited many of the mother's engaging traits. To the maternal strain in her blood Colette owes her domestic instincts, her love of everything that grows and lives, her spirit of inde¬ pendence, and her warm charity. Doubtless, even in the shaping of her sex-life, Colette's mother-complex played its part.
Colette inherited her unusual intelligence and striking originality
from a most remarkable mother who had done her job well. Is the same to
be said of the paternal guidance that Colette received?
Hilton H. Stansbury, French Novelists of Today (Philadelphia, 1925), p. 102.
^Ibid., pp. 102-104. 6
Colette’s father was a lovable person, full of fun and tricks, indulgent and a casual writer in both prose and verse.^ A retired army captain under Napoleon Til, he had "laisse en Italie sa jambe gauche coupée
/ \ O en haut de la cuisse l'annee 1359, a Velegano.As an unfortunate result of her father's fool-hardiness, the family suffered financial ruin and it became necessary to soil the furniture. After this upheaval the Colette
family lived with the author's brother at Chatillon - Colieny, in a house
* very different from the spacious home they had been forced to leave. If
Colette's father had any role to play in the shaping of his daughter's
ideas it was decidedly unfavorable. The hurt at the loss of young Colette's
favorite haunts went deeper than expected. With this loss she associated
the name of father. As a result, the pictures that she gives of her father
are not sympathetic in the least. She paints him as being extermely un¬
thoughtful, especially in relation to her mother:
(Her mother says of her newly-acquired husband)
Il se tenait devant moi, les bras charges, aussi fier et aussi maladroit qu'un très grand chien qui porte dans sa gueule une petite pantoufle. Et j'ai bien compris que, pour lui, ses cadeaux n'avaient figure de mortier ni de chale. Cétaient "des cadeaux," des i / * cher loin; c'était dernier — pou qui pleurait ^
Colette was not able to forgive her father for this deficiency in his
personality. Perhaps this is only one of many possible reasons why Colette
paints most of her male characters as veritable weaklings, physically sound
^Regis Michaud, Vingtième Siècle (New York, 1955), p. 62.
^Pierre Brodin, op. cit., p. 127.
^Irene Cornwell, Contemporary French Fiction (New York, 1940), p. 5.
^Colette, LE Maison de Claudine (Paris, 1922), p. 21 7 but so morally illi labile Colette bas written two or three books in which the maternal influence definitely predominates, practically ell of her works show her negative attitude toward the members of the stronger sex.
The education that Colette received had its limited contribution to make in determining her views:
/ t , Colette attended the Ecole Primaire Elémentaire at Saint- Sauveur, bringing to the school the manners and habits of her brother’s friends; the little girls henceforth called each other by their family names and each carried in her pocket a bag of marbles. At Saint-Sauveur the child’s remarkable ability in composition kept her from failing her final exami¬ nations
Claudine Na Paris gives a glimpse of her activities at the smell board¬ ing school that she attended. She was never nest and orderly like the other girls and she proved a constant problem to the Sisters. Her one task was to hem her garments in a straight line, a job she thoroughly detested and incidentally, never mastered. Most of all she enjoyed her tramps
through the woods in search of the first violets of spring and the pleasant hours spent among the books of her father's library.
Colette had little lose for a formal education. Possessing the natural
ability to write, she had no need for figures and the like; yet, it is
impossible to find that she suffered any serious difficulties because of a
lack of education. Nature and impromptu reading were the most personal yet
impressive teachers that she could have chosen.
On the natural calendar of events in the life of a woman, there is
always the place for marriage. Colette must have realized this for she had
three such unions:
Cette enfant de la terre, sensuelle et rêveuse, enthousiaste
^■Irene Cornwell, op. cit., p. ?. 8
et complexe avait tout juste vinpt ans quand elle épousa cet individu d'un autre monde, cet homme des lettres truculent, ce libertin un peu trop adroit, qui avait quatorze ans de plus qu’elle et qui s'appelait Henry Gauthiers- Villa rs.^-
In 189H, they settled in Paris where Colette was immediately introduced
to a mad round of parties, salons, night clubs, and bohemian circles.^
This abrupt transition was quite difficult for the untamed and startled
fledgling that she was, and poor Colette never conformed to her husband's
conception of a thorough woman of the world:
La jeune femme attrapa de nombreuses migraines et commit de nombreuses fautes d'etiquette. Mais elle devint bientôt une mine d'or pour son mari.^
Gauthiers-Villars alias Maugis, alias Willy, was himself a well known
art critic and writer. With his encouragement and close cooperation,
Colette bemen writing her reminiscences of Saint-Sauveur, known today as
the books of the "Claudine" series.
If one is to judge the character of Willy by the influence that he
exerted over Colette in the books she wrote in collaboration with him, it
is not difficult to describe him as being absolutely tactless, morally
abnormal, unscrupulous, and certainly no suitable match for s personality
such as the one Colette possessed.
When he divorced and left her penniless in 1906, Colette already en-
jo7/ed a literary reputation.'^ "Henry Gauthiers-Villars nevertheless
deserves more credit than Colette gives him, for he revealed her to herself
^Pierre Drodin, op. cit., p. 128.
%ilton H. Saintsbury, op. cit., p. 104.
5Ibid.
^Pierre Rrodin, op. cit., p. 128.
^Irene Cornwell, op. cit., p. 4. 9 and to the public."*"
.After the divorce she entered the theater as a dancer.*- ïïer experien¬ ces in that profession furnished her v/ith abundant material to be found in several of her novels, written after Filly was no longer her collaborator.
The year 1914 brought the date of Colette's second marriage.®
V. Henry de Jouvenal seemed to have nothing in common with Colette's first husband, Gsutbiers-Villars, but the given name Henry. There was a daughter by this marriage who later served as the original of Eel-Gazou in La fa ison de Claudine.^
This union ended with a divorce, immediately after which she resumed her maiden name. Having no particular love for solitude, she married
M. Maurice Goudeket on April third, 1935.^ This was her last attempt to replace her first great disillusionment in love.
It is difficult to decide how far Colette's attitude is biased by her own marital experiences, but it is obvious that they have exerted consider¬ able influence in the formation of her views as expressed in her novels.
Housekeeper, dancer, devoted mother, the old maid with the cat, the voluptuary, and * member of the Belgian Academy, have been Colette's roles both ns a woman and as a writer.
1Ibid.
^Maurice E. Coindreau, Contes et Nouvelles du temps present (New York, 1941), p. 312. 5 / '"Regis Michaud, op. clt., p. 65.
4Ibid. 5 Irene Cornwell, op. cit., p. 4.
-#■ She was never accepted by the French Academy, but on April 3, 1956, she was made a member of the Belgian Academy. 10
Her works cover a period of forty years. The '’Claudine" series began her literary career in 1900 with Claudine a l'ecole. Among the most important works that followed there are:
Claudine a Paris (1901)
Claudine en Menace (1902)
Claudine s*en va (1903) \ Les Vrilles de la Vigne (1908)
L’Invenue Libertine (1909)
La Vagabonde (1910)
L'Entrave (1913)
L’Envers du Music Hell (1913)
Mitsou (1919)
Chéri (1920)
La Maison de Claudine (1922)
La Fin de Chéri (1926)
Le. Naissance du Jour (1928)
Prisons et Paradis (1932)
Ces Plaisirs (1932)
La Chatte (1933)
Duo (1934)
Bach relates its own story and each illustrates the strikingly unique style of Colette. ïïnioue because "no definite literary ancestors have been found for her. Her style must be traced to her sensitive temperament, the continued unconventional!tv of her life and her interest in other arts than writing."'*' Michaud says:
Irene Cornwell, op. cit., p. 8. 11
Through ingenuity, candor, end a sensitive responsiveness to nature, as well as through a feeling of poetic optimism, Colette has restored to French prose the classical standards of clear unsophisticated beauty. TTiat French woman, since the days of Madame de Sevigne knew how to use the French language as Mme. Colette?*-
And now to recapitulate, the background influences that played major roles in forming Colette’s opinions; first in importance is the story of her marriage with special emphasis placed on her first husband, Henry
Gauthiers—Millars, the "inveterate msn-about-town und pleasure seeker;^ second, her natal town of Saint-Sauveur where she lived a life of simplicity
/ and Ifeile-like innocence; third, life with the Colette family emphasizing the maternal influence; and fourth, the unconventional yet adequate educa¬ tion that she received.
In order to comprehend thoroughly the chapters that follow, a knowledge of these influences is important if we are to form a sympathetic and tolerant attitude toward her philosophies.
\legis Michaud, op. cit., p. 64. 2 Milton H. Stansbury, op. cit., p. 104. CHAPTER III
MARRIAGE IN THE JOINTLY WRITTEN NOVELS
w,e have seen in Chapter Two that the Colette-^illy marriage was to he short-lived; thus we need hardly expect this union to produce a happy picture of marriage. We are to find in Chapter Three that the Claudine-
Renaud menage described by Colette and Willy in their jointly written novels, is characterized by a futile struggle for success. While it would be an overstatement to suggest that the two marriages are parallel, still there is some kind of relationship. When the one ends and the other begins is difficult to decide; nevertheless, we are able to apprehend the common factors that prevented the two marriages from ending happily.
In the books of the * Claudine series, the love life of Claudine is told from its beginning (young love) to its end (divorce). It is from these stories by Colette and Willy that definite ideas are to be formulated of marriages. It must be remembered that the novels of the Claudine series were written to be sold; they were sensational and appealed to the tastes of the ordinary reader.
If, however, one will dismiss the idee that Claudine and Willy desired to be shocking, one may discover a reasonable philosophy of marriage that the two attempted to formulete. Before the problems of marriage are discussed, suppose we briefly study the events of Claudine's early love life—events closely related to the formation of her love ideas.
A type of "mal de la jeunesse" roost- effectively»- describes Claudine's early love. She was acquainted with love in its natural state. To her,
*Claudine \ l'ecole (1900), Claudine a Paris (1901), Claudine en Menace (1902), Claudine s'en va (1903).
12 15 love was to be bestowed just as easily es one grants friendship. Uhen
Claudine left her family environment in order to enter school, she wes et the age when more ma taire affections begin to appear. Away from, maternal guidance, child of nature that she was, Claudine was neither able to control nor direct her developing emotions. Surrounded by companions of her own sex, she chose Clare, her classmate, as the object of her ardent affections.
Upon leaving school Claudine went to Paris where she met Marcel, an extreme¬ ly handsome but meticulous young man of her own age. Almost normal boy¬ friend—girl-friend relations were established, but they did not progress normally, for Marcel had a friend, Charles, of whom Claudine was very jealous. Emotionally confused and impatient, she analyzed her sentiments and drew this conclusion:
Peüh! Ce n'est pas que je m'ennuie, mais je ne suis pas contente. N'allez pas croire que je sois amoureuse de Marcel, Non. Il m'inspire de la defiance, de l'interet, un peu de tendresse.meprisante et physiquement, l'envie de le toucher. C'est caî 9 That was the only acknowledgement that Claudine could grant Marcel— inspiration of distrust, interest and physical tenderness. Though she was unassuming, natural and inexperienced in the science of love, Claudine could sense true emotions. She made this practical analysis after the school doctor lightly kissed her on the cheek:
Docteur Duterte, vous etes jusqu'ici le seul homme qui ait ose m'embrasser, et sur le coin de la bouche encore. Vous m'avez donne chaud et vous m'avez fait peur: est-ce là tout grand, de l'homme qui m'emmenera\ definitivement?*/ * * O
Claudine had submitted herself to a test. She had discovered her
^Willy, Claudine a Paris (Paris, 1901), p. 162.
2Ibid., p. 59. 14 ability to sense sexual emotions and she knew that she possessed decided
tastes in the choice of a male companion. Certainly he must be no Marcel.
Tiercel's father, Renaud, seemed to be that choice. He was several years
her senior; nevertheless he was the disturbing element that made her "coeur
se hâte, tâche d1 égaler en vitesse, le tic tac de ma petite montre—puis
s'arrête et repart en faisant Fourni"^ ïïpon learning that Renaud had several
mistresses, Claudine became quite perturbed. In relationships of that type
Claudine realized that the man remains free. There are no laws or bonds
that restrain his actions; he is his own master. On the other hand, in
marriage there are certain conventions that must be followed. These conven¬
tions are restraining in nature, and Claudine was dubious as to whether
Renaud would consent to any trespasses into his freedom; therefore she
soliloquizes:
Je ne veux pas non plus'être sa femme, et pour tranquilliser me conscience irritable, eh bienl - je serai sa maitressel^
(The above citation is an example of the sensationalism found in the
"Claudine" series). For Claudine the principal objective of a union was
not marrie ce, family, and a sharing of common interests, but a selfish
attraction-union of two people based almost wholly upon the pleasure of
sexual relationships. However, Renaud knew from experience the standards
of living both social end moral. Refusing to accept this proposition from
a young girl whom he respected and loved, he went through the proper
motions of a proposal. Incidentally end surprisingly the auestion of dowry
was scarcely considered. To one who is acquainted with French culture and
^lîilly, Claudine \ Paris (Paris, 1901), p. 24?.
2Ibid., p. 306. 15 customs this fact Is unusual, for in France the matter of dowry is often all-important. The young girl knows that at her birth, the father sets aside e considerable sum of money to be used only in the event of her marriage. Ofttimes the dowry is the force of attraction that allures the husband rather than the charms of the young lady. Too, this sum provides the necessities of a trousseau, wedding, and other essentials a marriege.
Yet Colette and Willy introduced only once the matter of dowry. Perhaps it is due to the fact that dowry has lessened in importance within the last decade or two. The conversation which follows occurred between Claudine and her father after Renaud had asked for Claudine’s hand in marriage:
Papa, est-ce que j'ai une dot? Qu’est-ce que ce peut te f ? Tiens, tu es admirable! On m'a demandes en marriage hier, £a peut recommencer demain. Tl n'y a que le premier refus qui co'ûte. Tu sais, les demandes, c'ect l'histoire des fourmis et du pot de confitures: attend il en vient une, il en vient trois mille.1
The two were married and the expected consequence followed. Claudine had carried into this union her one-sided idea of companionship; Renaud had contributed his maturity and his tendency toward infidelity.
Willy and Colette have set the stage and lowered the background drops.
How will the characters act? How will their behavior influence the future?
We are already aware that the marriage of Claudine and Benaud was contracted solely on the basis of sex. A continued examination into the married life of Claudine and Renaud reveals many other realities. For example, a marriage has too insecure a foundation when its members are not chronologically suited. Renaud lives in constant fear of failing to please
Claudine. For this reason, he is never at complete ease in her presence
■^ÏÏilly, Claudine a Paris (Paris, 1901), p. 266. 16 and nat'urally seeks outside pleasures.
Too, with Claudine, she had plunged head-first into a situation with which she was not too well acquainted due to her youth:
L’etet de mariage n'est-il point fait pour moi? Je devrais pourtant m’y habituer.^
Che felt herself inferior to Renaud. In spite of the lack of false modesty, there were small but important functions to which Claudine could not condition herself. "Pourquoi? je n’ai pas su pourquoi1"^ So she compromised:
Parfois, je cherche à me persuader que peut-etre l'amour est trop neuf pour moi.3
And she attempted to appease her own confusion in true feminine fashion with the statement:
Après tout, Renaud n'a que ce qu'il mérite. Il n'avait qu'a nepa.s m' epouser.4
Because of her youth, Claudine became restless. Che was unable to decide whether she must return home or visit her old school chums. Claudine reached the conclusion that a husband was not enough to occupy her time.
"J'ai besoin de bien plus que d'un mari, moi.Remembering that it is et
this point that a couple begins to plan for children, one expected Claudine
to begin the proper preparations, but the idea never suggested itself to her. Perhaps this was because of her negative attitude toward children:
^illy, Claudine en Menage (Paris, 1902), p. 100.
gIbld., p. 16.
SIbid., p. 22.
Ibid., p. 100.
5Willy, Claudine a Paris (Paris, 1901), p. 256. 17
Et quel est le monsieur qui m'inspirera d'en commettre avec lui?^-
Instead she attempted to solve her problem by recommencing her old habits.
Thus ensued the infamous Rezi affair.
Up to this point, Claudine and Renaud have illustrated the manner in which sex and age prevent happy marriages. That is to be said of the two problems commonly considered of major importance—jealousy and adultery?
As Colette-’filly would have us see it, the green-eyed monster end that age-old problem of adultery constitute two main problems of marriage. In such unions as typified by that of Claudine end Renaud, jealousy is ever present. The following conversation between the two shows to what extent jealousy was important to them:
Au restaurant l'autre soir, il souriait a une dineuse solitaire, dont la minceur brune et les beaux yeux maquillés se tournaient volontiers vers lui. Vous la connaissez? Qui? la danse? Non, cherie. **ais comme elle a un joli silhouette, ne trouve - tu pas? C'est jgour cela seulement que vous la regardez? Bien sur, ma petite fille. Cela ne te choque pas, j'espere’ Non-ds. Mais—je ne suis pas contente qu'elle vous sourie.
Claudine was jealous to the extent that she did not appreciate her husband's glances toward another woman. Claudine exhibited few open signs
of jealousy. Only when she was no longer able to withhold that emotion did
she allow it to take possession of her. On the other hand Renaud showed
even fewer signs of jealousy. True to sex, Claudine desired that Renaud
exhibit a Selfish interest toward her to a small degree. It would serve
to inflate her ego If nothing else:
kfillv, Claudins a Paris (Paris, 1901), p. 52.
%illy, Claudine en Rename (Paris, 1902), pp. 22-25. 18
Avoue, ma Claudine, que je ne suie pas un mari trop jaloux? (and Claudine thinks) Pas assez hélssl C'est cela que j'eusse du lui repondre et que je ms contente de penser.-l-
Colette-Willy recognized the presence of adultery in social practices.
One of their characters said the following on adultery after she had unintentionally intruded \ipon one of her friends:
L'horreuri l'horreurl Fst-ce cela, l'adultere, et faut—il croire que ce qu'ils faisaient ressemble'a l'amour? La caresse monotone et breve d'Alain me salissait moins que ceci, et, Pieu merci, si je devais choisir—mais je ne veux pas choisir.^
From the above citation one is not to believe that the horrified reac¬ tion is the only attitude that they assumed toward adultery; it was rather an attitude of moralizing. They demonstrated that infidelity was an habitual action. For example, Renaud had carried into this union his inherent weakness toward women. The fact that he possessed a lemsl mate to whom he owed protection, honor, and devotion did not alter his attitude toward the other women in his life. As a natural outarowth one is prepared for the later actions in the direction of divorce that Claudine took. Tn the meantime, she remained at home, often under lock and key, while her husband spent days away and offered no explanation on his return. Along with sex and age there may now be added jealousy and adultery as problems
that prevent happy marriages.
As Colette and Willy have shown in their works, temporary separation
is not a satisfactory situation for women. Memories are not so easily
erased from a woman's mind after she has accustomed herself to a husband's
1 Ibid.t p. 186.
%illy, Claudine s'en va (Paris, 1903), p. 234. 19 domination:
Il B toujours si bien su ce que je devais faire, que me voici, sans lui, comme un inutile joujou—mécanique dont on a perdu le clef.l
TJpon finding herself slone, she is not only a "useless, mechanical toy" but she is stripped of her illusions:
Çu'y rêverai-je à present, dépouillée de me peur, de ma resignation, et de l’ombre même de l'amour? C’est une chose extraordinaire qu'une créature aussi faible que moi, aussi penchante vers tout appui moral et physique, se trouve seule, on ne sait comment, sans en périr aussitôt comme un volubilis désenlacé. Peut-être qu’on ne finit pas ainsi—si vite.^
Temporary separation is a dangling state of existence and entirely unsatis¬ factory for a woman.
With such negative attitudes toward separation, one would logically surmise that the matter of divorce is omitted entirely. Defying logic and the philosophy that "les femmes libres ne sont pas des femmes,"® if freedom
is the only alternative there should be freedom.
The following counsel on divorce that Claudine gives her friend Annie, reveals the long process of cure, blame, rehabilitation, and the anticipa¬ tion of a normal life that a divorced woman experiences:
Il ne vous rattrapera pas. Tu moins, pas tout de suite. Vous verrez avant lui des gens déplaisants, qui tripoteront des papiers, puis ce sera le divorce, la blâme sur Annie, et la liberté— ^ La liberté—est-ce très lourd, Claudine? Est-ce bien difficile c manier? Ou bien sera-ce une grande joie, le cage ouverte, toute la terre a moi?— Non, Annie, pas si vite Peut-être jamais— Vous portesræ longtemps la marque de la chaîne— Je crains— le Rencontre. Vous le recontrerez, l'homme qui n'a pas
^Tilly, Claudine s'en va (Paris, 1905), p. 5.
£Ibld., p. £43.
'“Willy, Claudine a Paris (Paris, 1901), p. £96. 20
croise encore votre chemin— C'est juste, c'est inévitable. Seulement, Annie, sachez bien le reconnaître, ne vous trompez pas, car il a des caricatures, il a, entre vous et lui, tous ceux qu'il faut franchir, ou écarter— Claudine, — si je vieillis sans le rencontrer? Allez toujours! Tl vous attend de l'autre cote de la vie!1
Life for the divorcee assumes surprising futility. There ensues the search for new cities, new faces; an incertitude for the morrow and an attempt to create a new philosophy of life:
Levant moi, c'est le trouble à. venir. Cue je ne sache rien de demain, que nul pressentiment ne m'avertisse Claudine m'en a trop dit déjà! Je veux esperer et craindre que des pays se trouvent où tout est nouveau, des villes dont le nom seul vous retient, des ciels sous lesquels une 'âme étrangère se substitue a la vître— ne trouverai-je pas, sur toute la grande terre, un \ peu près de paradis pour une petite créature comme moi?2
And on this pla intive note concerning the future, the yet-to-come remains unveiled. Divorce, with its problems of the future ends the vicious cycle of an unhappy union.
To summarize the views as revealed in the novels of •rfilly and Colette, they believe that:
1. P marriage based on sex alone is not destined for a long life.
2. The a<*e of the two should be nearly equal for the sake of common interests end possible adjustments.
5. Jealousy end adultery are considered as major factors in preventing happy marriages.
4. A woman should find temporary separation from her hus¬ band on entirely unsatisfactory situation and should never allow such a condition to occur. The wife should seek o divorce rather than live in a denglinv state of existence.
5. For a woman a divorce represents freedom and a struggle
■%illy, Claudine s'en va (Paris, 1905), pp. 515-514.
2Ibid., p. 518. 21
for adjustment to a solitary life.
If one attempts to follow too closely and without analysis the example of marriage as is shown by the Willy-Colette novels, no happy marriages are possible; yet, if one adopts the positive codes that they suggest, happi¬ ness is attainable. Nevertheless, humanity does not follow the prescribed code of living but diligently pursues the example rule. Therefore, a doubt may arise as to whether the Willy-Colette novels have been entirely clear in prescribing a workable code for happy unions. This doubt can be justifiably removed only by submitting for close inspection the ideas and philosophies that Colette was able to convey when she wrote alone. CHAPTER IV
MARRIAGE IN THE NOVELS WRITTEN BY COLETTE ALONE
Since 1908, Colette has signed her works alone. One may not truly say that her productions since that year ere entirely divorced from the influence that 'filly has exerted. His job has been thorough, the bond restraining her individuality has been powerful. Nevertheless, it is not infrequent that one discovers a new Colette who has broken away from this restraining influence and has created original thoughts. These thoughts unveil more of the unsophistication of the writer; core of the paternal guidance she received as a child in Saint-Sauveur. A^ter her story of marriage is told and the products of her thinking generalized, will one find
Colette's attitudes toward marriage yet Willy-like or will they contain more of the Colette who writes as she alone thinks?
The total story of love follows a logical sequence: early love
(adolescent), love beyond adolescence, marriage and, if necessary, divorce.
Following this sequence early love is described as a type of "mal de la jeunesse" in Chapter Three, but in the works of Colette, early love is based more on imagination, instinct, and impulse; she gives an excellent example of her theory in L'Ingénue Libertine. Minne is her heroine, naive but full of romantic ideas and possessing a most vivid imagination. For example,
Finne believes that there is a handsome, young French bandit who is searching for her, that when he locates her, he will sweep her up into his arms and carry her away to his hideout where they will live happily ever after.
Believing this so firmly the young girl slips away from home one evening when she imagines that she sees her hero (Le Frisé) leaning against a lamp post beneath her window, f/inne even refuses to accept the impulsive but tender affections of Antoine because of her faith in the eventual appearance
22 23 of Le Frisé.
Contrary to the Colette-Willy novels Colette now describes an early
love based upon a natural attraction between sexês allowing, at the same
time, e new principle of imagination and romanticism to have full play. As
a natural consequence Ninne almost allows her child-like imagination to ruin her marriage. She has become a beautiful woman, adventurous and curious.
Though she is married to Antoine, a most devoted husband, she imagines that happiness for her does not rest in a life with him. In an attempt to find
that happiness she forms short, unsatisfactory liaisons with several men
among whom are a French baron, an interne, an Italian nobleman, and an old
family friend, Maugis. Maugis ends her attempted search for happiness by
paternally spurning her advances. His parting advice to Finne is to
"retrouver Antoine." Like Candide she discovers that happiness lies in her
own back yard and she finds a life of perfect companionship and lasting
pleasure with her husband. Here Colette teaches the impracticability of
imagination, even though a carry-over from childhood, in a marriage.
Absent in the Colette-Willv novels but holding a position of consider¬
able consequence in the Colette books is maternal counsel. Though an
individualist, the author is conventional enough to include in her works
pre-marital education as received through maternal counsel and guidance.
The mother of Ninet-Cheri (La Naissance ,du Jour) gives a philosophy that
teaches successful living with one's self and with others. The story is
told in the following manners one day in lste spring as fv’inet-Cheri and
her mother are sitting in their warden, a friend, Vine. Saint-Albon, rushes
over to Minet-Cheri's mother to engage in a whispered conversation with her.
As the whispering continues there are frequent exclamations of "No," "Oh,"
and blushes on the part of both the listener and the whisperer. Aloud, 24
Mine. Ssint-Albon asks, "Whet would you do in her place?" Minet*s mother becomes very thoughtful and with her eyes on her daughter, speaks as follows
Ce que je ferais? Je dirai \ ma fille: "Emporte ton faix, ma fille, non pas loin de moi, mais loin de cet homme, et ne le revois plus! Ou bien, si la vilaine envoie t'en tient encore, retrouve-le la nuit, dans le pavillon- cache-le, ton plaisir honteux. Mais ne laisse pas cet homme, au prend jour, passer le seuil de la maison, car il a été capable de te prendre dans l'ombre, sans les feriêtres de tes parents endormis. Pecher et t'en mordre les doigts, pocher, puis chasser l'indigne, ce n'est pas la bonté irreparable.
Che continues by saying that if s young women marries a dishonest man, unhappiness is inevitable and life is hopeless:
Ton malheur commence au moment oh. tu acceptes d'etre la femme d'un malhonnête homme, ta faute est d'espérer qu'il ' / a O peut te rendre un foyer, l'homme qui t'a detoumee du tien.
The entire responsibility, however, for a happy union does not rest upon the wife; her duty is only part of the whole. The husband has his portion to perform. Realizing that in many marriages, it is the woman who gives up more of her own personality, her own habits for the sake of a successful union, Colette judges that there should be a type of marital education for him. Unfortunately however, this education does not occur while he is under home guidance, but it is often left to him to acquire this knowledge through the experience that he sustains as a husband and through his own wiser judgment. For example, he learns patience while the reconditioning process of his wife occurs. In L'Ingénue Libertine Antoine shows that he is willing to go far beyond the half-way mark in compromising and in being patient. That exemplifies a most remarkable quality in him for, in general, men possess the ability to be patient and to compromise only to a certain
^La Maison de Claudine (Paris, 1922), pp. 157-158.
£Ibid., p. 158. 25 degree. Colette believes further that there is a balance to be achieved in the husband’s role, a lack of which makes for unhappiness:
L'amour d'Antoine ignore la supercherie comme la moderation. Sa tendresse le fait trop tendre, et trop gaie sa gaieté, et trop soucieux son souci. Peut-£tre n'y a-t-il pas d'autres barrières, entre elle et lui, que ce besoin—d'etre sincere et sans détour?^-
Having given a foundation upon which to build a successful union, i. e., one, a natural attitude toward love and, two, a pre-marital education of both husband and wife, Colette now turns her attention to concrete examples of unhappy unions.
.Just as her former novels reveal, Colette believes that the unhappy marriage is caused chiefly by betrayals and jealousy. She has written several instructive books that show the importance of some of these evils in the destruction of marital bliss. This realization results in clear, explicit warnings to married couples. For example, in Duo she tells the story of a woman who is unfaithful only once. This act of adultery is not known to her husband until a year later, when to her it has become an insignificant memory:
Je ne sais pas ce que tu m'as diti Je m'en fiche, de ce que tu m'as dit'. Mais je sais parfaitement que si, parceque j’ai couche, une fois dans ma vie, avec un autre homme que toi, tu dois empoisonner notre existence a tous deux, j’aime mieux m’en aller tout de suite!2
Consequently, she cannot understand Michel's grotesque and tragic reactions to the incident, but he is unable to forgive his wife:
Tu ne comprendras jamais ce que c'est qu'un homme qui aime, ni l'idee qu'un homme se fait de la trahison ®
-ki'Ingenue Libertine (Paris, 1909), pp. 150-151.
2 DUO (Paris, 1934), p. 36.
5Ibid., p. 68. 26
After an eight-day struggle with his emotions, he speaks to himself saying that "il a mis tous ses oeufs dans le même panier"-*- and commits suicide.
It is not until then that his wife realizes the extent of the wound she has inflicted. Colette has pictured the reactions of a sincere husband who expected fidelity from his wife in return for his protection.
On the other hand, Colette portrays in Chéri end Le Fin de Chéri, the story of a husband's infidelity. Chéri is young, physically beautiful, and possesses a compelling charm. He meets one of his mother's friends, Lea, who is still seductive in spite of the fact that she is over fifty end there results a liaison that lasts for seven years. After this interim,
Lea is confronted with the specter of old age and is obliged to relinquish
Cheri in marriage to a rich youns? girl, but Cheri does not give hirself completely to married life. Returned from his honeymoon, he realizes that his former mistress is the only woman he can ever love. He visits Léa and renews his former habits of living. To the reactions of his wife, he says only:
Je suis parti perce que_ je suis parti. Le petite est tr^s gentille, il n'y a rien eu.^
Edm^e, Chari's wife, is quiet and of a nature that anticipates only the best in man. She knows that Chéri is only partially fulfilling his duty as a husband:
Il consultait peu sa jeune femme, bien qu'il fit parade, pour elle, de son autorité et qu'il prêt soin de masquer, à l'occasion, son incertitude par des ordres brefs.
1Ibid.. p. 153.
^Çherl (Paris, 1920), p. 165.
?Ibld.. p. 91. 27
Disillusioned, she devotes herself entirely to the establishment of a hospital for the wounded war victims. Chéri becomes jealous and concludes that he is too old for his wife. On the other hand, he is too young for his mistress. Seven more years pass. Lea is now over sixty and Chéri is in his early thirties. A chance mention of her name revives his dormant passion and he goes to visit his old mistress. Arriving at the apartment he sees an old woman, fat and grey, sitting at her desk. He surmises that the old woman is a visitor but it is Lea herself. She has finished with sex and coquetry and has settled down to the comfortable peacefulness of old ape. Cheri has neither mistress nor wife and without further motive for existence he calmly presses a revolver to his head.
Both stories end tragically, proving that unfaithfulness not only breaks up marriage but often results in death.
In L’Ingenue Libertine, which we have already studied in another connec¬ tion, there is a story of infidelity that ends happily. Minne is consistent¬ ly unfaithful and bases her actions on the idea that she is unhappy with her husband. Actually she does not allow her marriage to have a fair opportunity for success; she is too restless and impatient. Like most young married women, Hinne expects to discover somethine unusual, something heretofore hidden in a marital relationship. Unlike most young women she is thoroughly determined to find it. During the period that her search is in progress,
Mnne’s husband suffers miserably. He even employs a detective to follow his wife and report her actions to him. Feminine intuition reveals to her the presence of a follower and she immediately suspects the action of her husband. Realizing that Antoine loves her, Mnne forgives him and dons the role of faithful wife. Due to Antoine this union ended happily because of his willingness to suppress his desires and emotions until his wife can 28 understand and appreciate him as a husband.
Colette bed been divorced just one year when she wrote L1Ingenue
Libertine and it was not until 1914 that she re-married. Contrary to the old adage "time heals all wounds," time played the opposite with her. One year after her divorce, she was willing to describe a marriage based on its possibilities as we have found in L*Ingenue Libertine, but two years after her divorce fo\ind her growing more disillusioned and bitter.
Illustrating her bitterness and disillusionment, Colette has written
La Vagabonde (1910) and its sequel, L * Entrave (1913). Fer heroine, Renée, tells this story: Renee wants no more of marriage; she is completely cured of it. For example, four years of a solitary existence taught her the full import of what it means to be defenseless and alone. The opportunity is all the more tempting when & new love enters her life. She almost decides to marry but at the last moment the old fear and doubt flare up, causing her to say: "je me sens toute usee, et comme incapable de reprendre l’habi¬ tude de l'amour, et effarée d'&voir encore a souffrir à lui."^ Rather than be dominated by a master and bound to a narrow, pompous existence, she prefers to remain the lonely vagabond. Three years later she is still alone. At Nice she sights the young man whom she almost married, accom¬ panied by his young wife and little child; she trembles. It is neither for love nor for chagrin that she trembles but because he humiliates her with his sir of having made a fortune wrhile she has nothing to show him ex.cept a tailored suit, a pretty hat, end a changed coiffure. There are no regrets for not having married; rather she prefers liaisons, although she
•k.s Vagabonde (Paris, 1910), p. 315.
Hilton H. Stansbury, op. clt., p. 107. 29 resents the price paid for them—her freedom.
With a few exceptions Colette has no happy unions to describe in the works that follow. She prefers to teach from the unpleasant events of life.
To return to the sequence of the love cycle, early love, matured love, and marriage with its problems of infidelity and betrayals have been dis¬ cussed. Another major cause for dissensions between members of s marriere union is jealousy. In the Colette-Willy novels there is an emotional type of jealousy described that comesfrom ordinary husband-wife situations but
Colette alone has shown that jealousy may arise from unusual circumstances that, et first glance, seem trivial. She has shown her beliefs in Le
Chatte which is the unusual story of a struggle between a wife and s cat for the leading place in the love of a man. There exists a queer relation¬ ship between Alain and Saka, his cat. Vfhen he marries he finds it difficult to accept the companionship of his wife, Camille, who becomes very jealous and attempts to kill the cat. Later Camille justifies her action with this statements
Mais tuer ce qui la gene ou qui la fait souffrir, c’est la première idée qui vient à une femme, surtout à une femme jalouse. C’est normal.
Then A-lain discovers this, he decides that he has no need for a wife who attempts to kill his cat and that he is bored with married life:
Il favorisait de toutes see forces le retour des songes anciens, qua la fatigue amoureuse avait désagr^ges.^
He takes his pet and returns home to his mother.
1La Chatte (Paris, 1935), p. 156.
2Ibid., p. 104. 30
ïïp to this point Colette has given her bases for happy marriages: if the two possess a normal attitude toward love and, if pre-merriege education is taught -both, happy marriages are possible. She has also said, as in the Colette-Willy novels, that jealousy and betrayals are most responsible for an unhappy union. Whet does Colette say of children, divorce, and life for the divorcee?
The author still possesses the negative attitude toward children. In
La Naissance du Jour she herself, speaks of the maternal instinct:
"l*instinct maternal est une autre grande banalité.Her female characters seem never to have time for children:
Un bel enfant— j’avoue que je n'y ai jamais pensé. Je n'avais pas le temps.2
Too, they resent the long period of interference that accompanies the
raising of a family. If there are children, they only serve as little
savages whose main pastime is to torment the very souls of their mothers.
This little story from Les Vrilles de La. Virne illustrates the ability of
children to fill that capacity: A mother has carried her two little
children to the seashore where they might play on the beach and bathe in
the warm waves of the ocean. The young mother, shaded by an umbrella,
soon forgets her charges as she becomes deeply engrossed in a mystery novel.
Her peace is suddenly broken by a shout from her son saying that his little
sister has drowned. Startled and frantic, the mother begins a search for
her daughter whom she eventually finds calmly digging under a tun of sand.
When she scolds her son and promises punishment he answers slyly that he
had no desire to tease her but that when he could not see his sister he
■*~Lc Naissance du Jour (Paris, 1928), p. 22.
^La Vagabonde (Paris, 1910), p. 213. 51 thought her drowned. "Consternée les wains jointes, elle contemple son gros petit gsrgon, par-dessus 1*abîme qui séparé une grande personne civilise'e d'un petit enfant sauvage."^
In a conversation between several dancers ss they awaited their cues,
Colette had one of them say the following on maternity:
il n'y a rien qui "dépuré" le sang comme un accouchement. C'est un renouvellement complet, on a un teint après! J'ai des amies qui passent leur vie a se purger, K se droguer, a se coller des choses sur la figure moi, au lieu de £a, je me fais faire un enfant, c'est bien plus sain!^
Again displaying her individuality Colette expresses her negative attitude toward children. This shows that for her, children did not gain their true importance and function in a méritai union even though she had one daughter of her own.
The final stage in the marriage cycle is divorce. There is the same idea of divorce in the Colette novels as one finds in those published by the team; however, the dramatic element is more subdued. Colette shows more rationalism. She surmises that there is a possibility of s happy future life for the divorcee but believes that it is she who always receives the brunt of that criticism made of the divorcee. She has Benée to say the following in La Vagabonde:
Lors de notre divorce, on ne fut pas loin de me donner tous les torts, pour innocenter le "beau Taillendy," coupable seulement de plaire et de trahir.^
Divorce becomes an instrument of liberation freeing those whose presence is unbearable to each other:
•^Les Vrilles de la Vigne (Paris, 1908), p. 158.
2Ibid., pp. 170-171.
*La Vagabonde (Paris, 1910), p. 58. 32
Tu m'éblouiras avec tout ce que tu sauras tirer d'un; "J'en si assez!" Le divorce, d'abord. Bu haut d'un divorce honorable entre tous, tu contempleras ta vie future, modeste, certes, mais sans reproche.-*-
Life after the divorce becomes a tiny cycle consisting of two repeating
stages: divorce, marriage:
Or, depuis que je vis seule, il a fallu vivre d'sbord, divorcer ensuite, et puis continuer à vivre.2
There is no need for tears or regrets. An intelligent woman has at her
command an ability to readjust that sets ss a stabilizer even if it is no more then this:
Berne habitudes m'ont donné le pouvoir de retenir mes pleurs; celle de cacher ma pensee, et celle de noircir mes cils su mascaro 3
Divorce gives freedom but it takes away the reason for living. A divorce
grants too much leisure time during which the divorcee can think of freedom;
often she becomes listless and desires a new life.
Renefe, as the divorcee in L'Entrave, expresses that idea in this manner: after three years of a solitary'- life, still skeptical of love and
lonely, Renée finally consents to a liaison with a handsome young man,
Jean. She does not want sentiment to enter their union in any way but she
soon discovers that she has gradually fallen in love with him. Jean, at
this point, has become tired of his mistress and tries to escape. Realizing
that a life without him is aimless Renee wins him back, but she is no longer
free:
\ Il me semble, a le voir s'élancer sur la vie, qu'il a pris
•^Prisons et Paradis (Peris, 1932), p. 239.
^La Vagabonde (Paris, 1912), p. 19.
5Ibid., p. 26. BE piece, qu’il est l'avide vagabond et que je le regarde, a jamais amarree
She is not emotional in her decision but reasons that it is up to her to make the most of a possibly pleasant life.
TJp to this point, what is to be said of Colette's ideas on the situation of marriage? Are they favorable, or unfavorable; tolerant or intolerant’ She answers these questions when she says:
Le mariage, c'est pour la femme une domesticité consentie, douloureuse, humiliée; le mariage, "c'est noue-moi me cravate, prépare-moi un lavement, veille a ma cfotelette, subis ma mauvaise humeur et ses trahisons." Il fallait dire amour et non mariage.2
For the husband Colette makes these concessions; first, he is the stronger of the two:
Car c'est sur cette face d'homme que parlent tous les caractères de la ruse, de la puissance un peu brutale, d'une faiblesse assez séduisante pour tout obtenir c'est lui, enfin, a n'en pas douter, c'est lui plus fort.^
Second, in spite of his physical and emotional superiority, he is not master of his home:
Le seul bruit de maître qu'un homme fasse dans une maison, c'est quand il est encore sur le palier, le fStonement de sa clef a 1'entree de la serrure.^
Colette had a younger brother who, as a child, passed his entire day having imaginary funerals and burials and composing epitaphs to be placed on the tombstones at the head of each mound. In an amusing conversation
•*~L'Entrave (Paris, 1915), p. 110.
^La Vagabonde (Paris, 1910), p. £08.
^L*Entrave (Paris, 1915), p. 27.
4Ces Plaisirs (Paris, 1952), p. 27. 54 between the boy and his sister he described an epitaph, recently composed, to her. He unconsciously stated an accepted universal truth on marriages, whether they be good or bad:
Il était tambour de ville mais, dans sa maison, il rempaillait les chaises. C’était un gros type—peuh—pas bien intéressant. Il buvait et il battait se femme. Alors, pourquoi, lui as-tu mis "bon pere, bon epoux" sur son epitaphe? Brceque £a se met quand les gens sont mariés.^
In e comparison of the early and later ideas of Colette, there is a marked display of maturity in her viewpoints. One discovers in her later works many instances where she has attempted to rationalize rather than accept only one solution to a problem. Too, "necessity is the mother of
invention." Without Willy as a support, Colette has had to think alone.
She has had to substantiate each statement that she has made if for no other
reason than possible criticism from her readers. Last, Colette has had more
experiences upon which to base her philosophies, more concrete illustrations
from which to draw material for her portraits and examples.
In addition she possessed a more normal attitude toward marriage. Away
from the Willy-influence, Colette has allowed more of her characterizations, more of her impulsive nature, and more of her pure imagination to permeate
the atmosphere of her compositions. Unlike the Colette-Willy works, there
are fewer sensational ideas of love, sex, or marriage to be found, but her
theories are based on real experiences that she had as she lived her own
married life, as she travelled and met unusual personalities and she danced
in the music halls of France as told in L*Envers du r-"usic-Holl, Mitsou,
and Les Vrilles de la Vigne.
•^La Raison de Claudine (Paris, 1952), p. 75. 55
Colette made an excellent attempt to inject more of her own personality into her novels; yet one must realize that first impressions are not easily erased or altered. Nevertheless, the author was successful in showing that she was fully capable of establishing a reputation for herself as a writer.
Now to reiterate Colette's views on marriage as set forth in her novels and pointed out in this chapter, Colette has shown how a normal attitude toward love aids in establishing happy marriages. She attaches importance to pre-marital education for both husband and wife. The young woman obtains this education through the careful counsel of her mother. Just as in the team novels, Colette believes that an unhappy union may be caused by jealousy and betrayals. For her, divorce is a liberator and it is the woman who receives the blame for it. Contrary to the Colette-Willy works,
Colette believes that a divorcee is able to live a modestly pleassnt life.
Colette is also convinced that marriage is the domestication of a woman and only if she is of the domestic type is marriage the perfect situation for her. CHAPTER XT
CONCLUSION
As we have followed Colette's stories of love end marriage, we have discovered an evolution of ideas controlled by her natal environment, family influences, education, end merits! experiences. The evolution, influenced by her individualistic approaches, has had both negative end positive tendencies. On the one hand, we find that her conception of young love has developed from one of an abnormal attraction to one of a natural and ordinary relationship, a change that results in an alteration of her criteria for marital peace. No longer is her emphasis upon the practice of abnormality in attitude or chronological equality, but rather upon a normal acceptance of sex relations and the advantage of pre-merital educa¬ tion for both husband and wife.
On the other hand, as the young author matured through education and experiences she developed a negative attitude toward marriages. Jealousy, infidelity, end utter distrust in the future became important topics in her works, and children maintained no major position in the lives of her married couples.
Though Colette's first role as wife resulted in disillusionment and divorce, she has made two other attempts thus showing her desire to dis¬ cover enjoyment in true husband companionship. Nevertheless, her first impression has been a lasting impression,and one is therefore sympathetic and tolerant when her characters assume an indifferent attitude toward marital relationships. Paradoxically,however, Colette has attempted to create a philosophy "comme il faut" and, in part, this accounts for the code of ethics she suggests by showing the unpleasant events in life.
56 37
That which has made her works her own is the manner in which she has handled her subjects and ideas i. e., her tact, proportions, discretion, and puritanism in style as André* Gide has written in his Journal. M. Gide recognizes ber talent as a writer but he is fully cognizant of the under¬ lying Willy-effects present in her productions.
He says after having read Mes Apprentissages, the last book of Colette up to 1939:
Lu le dernier livre de Colette avec un interet très vif. Il y s là bien plus que don: une sorte de génie très particulièrement féminin et une grande intelligence. Quel choix, quelle ordonnance, quelles heureuses proportions, dans un récit en apparence si débride! Quel tact parfait, quelle courtoise discrétion dans la confidence—pas un trait qui ne porte et qui ne se retienne, trace comme au hassard, comme en se jouant, nais avec un art subtil, accompli. Jfei c&toyé, frôle sans cesse cette société que peint Colette et que je reconnais ici, factice, frelstee, hideuse, et contre laquelle fort heureusement, un reste inconscient de puritanisme me mettait en garde. Il ne me parsut point que Colette, malgré toute sa supériorité, n'en ait été quelque peu contaminée.^
Colette has rightfully fulfilled her position as a. veritable phenomenon
in the history of feminine literature, and her story of marriage has been
equally as phenomenal as her literary career.
■^Anrire/ Gide, Journal 1889-1939 (Bruges, 1939), p. 1245 BIBLIOGRAPHY
PRINCIPAL SOURCES1
Willv et Colette Willy. Claud.ine à Peris. Paris: Librairie Paul Ollendroff, 1901.
Willy. Claudine en Menage. Paris: Société P. V. Mercure de France, 1902.
Willy et Colette Willy. Claudine g*en Va. Paris: Librairie Paul Ollendorff, 1903.
Colette. Les Vrilles de la Vigne. Paris: T. Ferenczi Et Fils, 1908.
Colett.8. L'Ingénue Libertine. Paris: Albin Michel, 1909.
Colette. La Vagabonde. Paris: Albin Michel, 1910.
Colette. L'Entrave. Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard, 1913.
Colette. L'Envers du Music-Hall. Paris: J. Ferenczi Et Fils, 1913.
Colette. Mitsou ou Comment l'Esprit vient aux Filles. Paris: Arthème Fayard and Cie, 1919.
Colette. Chdri. Paris: Calmann-Davy, 1920.
Colette. La Maison de Claudine. Paris: Ferencsi Et Fils. 1928.
Colette. Prisons et Paradis. Paris: J. Ferenczi Et Fils, 1932.
Colette. Le Chatte. Paris: -J. Ferenczi Et Fils. 1933.
Colette. Duo. Paris: J. Ferenczi Et Fils, 1934.
SECONDARY SOURCES
Brod.in, Pierre. Les Ecrivains Français Le L'Entre-feux-Guerres. Montreal: Editions Bernard Valiquette, 1942.
Coindreau, Maurice Edgar and Loy, J. Robert. Contes Et Nouvelles Pu Temps Present. New York: ïîeynal end Hitchcock, 1941.
Cornwell, Irene. Contemporary French Fiction. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1940.
listed Chronologically.
58 59
Gide, Andrei Jonrna 1, 1889-1959. Bruges: Sainte Catherine, 1959. i'ichsud, Regis. Vingtième Siècle. N en York: Harpers and Brothers, 1955.
Stansbury, Vilton H. French Novelists of Today. Philadelphie: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1955.