INTRODUCTION VU

as follows: 1831-1840; 1840-1848; 1848-1860; 1860- 1876. As to content, they are thus descxibed: i^, novels showîng the influence of the current Romanticism, attackîng conventîonal socîety and bewaîlîng the wrongs of woman, particularly the slavery of marriage, thus reflectîng her own unhappy expérience; 2®, novels of the sociological type, written under the influence of the extrême socialistîc reformers and philosophers, who found her useful as a mouthpiece for their doctrines; 3°, taies of country and peasant life; 4°, novels of manners.

Ail her work is markedly idealistic. She read Rousseau eagerly in her youth, and his influence can be seen in much of her work. A list of her novels would be far too long to give. It must suffice to mention an example from each class. In the first is Indiana; in the second Constcelo; in the third La Petite Fadette; in the fourth. Le Marquis de Villemer, AU her novels are notable for the beauty and natural simplicity of their style and language. Unlike Balzac, who struggled ail his life to master a good literary style and never succeeded, George Sand always had an inborn taste, a feeling for style, that makes her novels a delight to read. Her vocabulary, except when she is using rustic expressions in her peasant storîes, is not very extensive, being in this respect very différent from that of Balzac, whose works the foreigner must read, dictionary in hand. Her method of writing without any definîte planning of her work of ten causes her to hâve

Vm INTRODUCTION

trouble în bringîng her stories to an end. She does not know when to stop, and the endîng îs frequently like that of some of Molîère's comédies, forced rather than logical.

After the appearance of some of her earîîer works attacking mamage and society, and settîng forth the doctrine that passions are a proper guide for conduct, she was accused of being immoral, and of having a bad influence on the young. She is said to hâve replied that her books must not be taken too seriously; that they were intended primarily to amuse. There is no reason to suppose that she was not sincère in thîs statement. Though she does advocate ail sorts of reforms and indulge in the telling of much xmconventional conduct, and though many of her women are decidedly emandpated, it is safe to say that she did not expect people to realize her dreams. An idealist does not always expect his visions to come true. The ease with which she flits frôm subject to subject, from hobby to hobby, seems proof enough that she did not always take herself seriously as an agitator.

The Marquis de VUlemer was published in 1864. It is a love story pure and simple, without spécial purpose, having its setting in the best society of the latter days of the July monarchy, and combining with rare skill pictures of aristocrat and peasant. This skill she owes to her mixed parentage and éducation. She is at home in either class, in strong contrast to the plebeian Balzac, who flounders helplessly when he ventures into