gave her access to venues usually barred to women, even to those of her social standing. Thus, she occasionally traded her dress for a frock coat and a wool tie, and to complete the look, she cut her hair shoulder-length, and wore a felt hat. Whatever she had chosen in the name of convenience would soon become a trend.
She also openly displayed her love relationship with Jules Sandeau. Together, they began a career as journalists at Le Figaro, and a collaboration on a first novel, Rose et Blanche (1831), published under the pseudonym of J. Sand. The success of the novel called for a second work, which Sand produced with her most famous novel, Indiana, in May 1832. Jules Sandeau, inclined to modesty, didn't feel comfortable accepting a collaboration, and the name was changed to G. Sand, or from Jules Sand to George Sand—the name that she would adopt for the remainder of her life.
The idea of using a man’s pseudonym also became a trend as other female authors of the time followed in her footsteps, and some still do today.
Sand was one of the most prolific writers of her times, with more than seventy novels to her
credit, fifty volumes of various
works including news, stories and plays inspired by the romance and turmoil that marked her life. She fervently defended the right to passion for women and opposed oppression. In the literary world, the talents of this female writer brought accolades from distinguished authors, including Sainte-Beuve and Chateaubriand, though, she had her detractors, too; Baudelaire, for example, found her vulgar.
Sand authored literary criticism and political texts, along with essays and works establishing her socialist position. She sided with the poor and working class as well as women's rights, and even started her own newspaper. This allowed her to publish her own views on politics.
She lived her life with the same fervor, and therefore her reputation came into question many times. Her men’s clothing, her smoking tobacco in public, her open affairs, these behaviors were exceptional for a woman of the early and mid-19th century, when social codes — especially in the upper classes — were of the utmost importance. As a result, Sand had to relinquish some of the privileges pertaining to her title of baroness.
Her much publicized romantic affairs with a series of artists, including the composers Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt, her legal separation attorney Michel de Bourges, the writer Alfred de Musset, among many others, and even an intimate friendship with actress Marie Dorval, which led to widespread rumors of a lesbian affair, added to the scandal.
But, she lived up to her own motto: "There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved."
However, there was one thing that she wasn’t, an activist, unlike Flora Tristan. Born in Paris April 7, 1803 (only a year earlier than Sand), Tristan died in
Bordeaux November 14, 1844.
Flore-Celestine-Therèse
-Henriette Tristan-Moscoso (her full name) had a lot in common with Sand. Though, the difference of upbringings—Tristan was from the lower class—caused Tristan to be less known as a writer and more as the activist. She did not benefit from the social advantage and entourage that came with Sand’s upper class status. But Tristan contributed as much, if not more, to the likes of Wollstonecraft, to the progress of women’s rights. Both Sand and Tristan started on a similar pathway.
Each married to escape something: Sand, her mother, and Tristan, poverty. The failure of their marriage, which for both of them had only represented another form of societal slavery, brought them to decry the institution of marriage itself. Sand left her husband, taking her children with her, and became a writer. Tristan left her marriage and her children, and joined movements defending women’s rights and the civil rights of the working class. That was where the similarities in circumstances ended. Their views on women's roles and rights were dramatically different.
If they were inclined to acknowledge each other's contributions to the women's
Jules Laure, Portrait of Flora Tristan, Lithography, 1847. PD.
George Sand dressed as a man. Unknown year and unknown credit. PD.
38 | Ceres Magazine | Spring 2016