Voltaire in Love

by Nancy Mitford

Book Overview

In 1733, the lovely, intelligent, and married Marquise du Ch'telet commenced her romance with one Fran?ois-Marie Arouet, a philosopher who had made a name for himself as "Voltaire." Mitford deftly and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590175786
• ISBN13: 9781590175781
• Release Date: November 2012
• Publisher: New York Review of Books
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.9" x 5.1" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Voltaire, his brilliant mistress, and the rest of the Enlightenment

Nancy Mitford's Voltaire in Love is an entertaining book, full of historic characters, revealing both their best and worst attributes in politics, society, the arts, and the bedroom. The book is primarily about the long affair between Voltaire and his mistress, Mme. Emilie du Chatelet, which was certainly a meeting of two exceptionally brilliant minds of the Enlightenment. Yet the book really covers the early adult years of Voltaire and does not cover his later successes and fame. Voltaire, a graduate of Louise-le-Grand Jesuit School, was a brilliant but sarcastic student, who became popular with his witty poems and plays. Yet his satire often went to far which on more than one occassion resulted in imprisonment in the Bastile. Like Moliere, Voltaire wrote witty comedy that appealed to the sophisticated upperclasses. Yet early in his career he is forced into exile to London where he wrote plays for Queen Caroline and King George. Gradually his star rose in the French court of Louis XV. Queen Marie Leczinska found him charming and gave him a pension. Louis XV also gave him a pension but was less comfortable with Voltaire than was his wife and his father in law, Stanislas Leczinska, ex-king of Poland. The king's famous mistress, Mme. Jeanne-Antoinette de Pompadour, was an admirer of Voltaire also and there is some evidence that she came to his rescue when he ran afoul of the censors of Louis XV. Thus much of the book is about the highest levels of French society and their impact on the arts, sciences, and humanities. As is the case with many bright and opinionated thinkers, rivalry and jealousy and ambition create the conditions for long lasting enemies. This is the case between Voltaire and Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, a philosopher whom Voltaire seemed to disdain. However Voltaire's primary rivalry was with Abbe Desfontaines. Abbe Desfontaines was found molesting male adolescent chimney sweeps and was sentenced to burn at the stake for sodomy. Voltaire was one of his only allies and Desfontaine was saved. Yet, amazingly, Desfontaine became extremely critical and bitter and vindictive toward Voltaire leading the reader to recognize that no good deed goes unpunished. The attempts of Frederick II of Prussia to lure Voltaire into his court was amazing underhanded strategy. Frederick II, creating a completely male homosexual court, seemed to be obsessed with Voltaire and secretly tried to undermine him in France so that offers to come to Prussia would be more appealing. The book however is primarily about the affair of Voltaire and Emilie du Chatelet. They were quite a pair, both studious and brilliant, who allowed each other ample space to think and create. Voltaire and Emilie both popularized the works of Sir Issac Newton and advanced the fields of science and mathematics. French scholarly society prefered to continue to support Descarte's theories, primarily because he was French, a loyalty that Voltaire saw as standing in the way of rational tho

The book that inspired "A Visit From Voltaire"

The hilarious modern comedy featuring the Ghost of Voltaire returning to the 21st century, "A Visit From Voltaire" Visit from Voltaire, A cites this book as one of the main sources for the period spanning the love affair of Madame de Chatelet and the King of the Englightenment, Voltaire. Another book that updates this information is Passionate Minds by David Boganis,Passionate Minds: The Great Love Affair of the Enlightenment, Featuring the Scientist Emilie du Chatelet, the Poet Voltaire, Sword Fights, Book Burnings, Assorted Kings, but this is the book that hooked me first. And it remains one of the best books to date, despite a few little hitches in her facts, for readability, entertainment and capturing the spirit of Voltaire's middle years. Anybody who reads it will finish with a wonderful understanding of the man's energy, resilience and courage. A must.

Solid biographies::the love story is the backdrop

I couldn't put this book down, and tore through it in a matter of days. Despite being a voracious reader, it's (sadly) seldom that such a book comes along for me. The main draw for me in purchasing this book is being an avid fan of Voltaire. I had wondered just how strongly the "love story" element of the book would play out, as I'd known prior to purchasing this book that all of the intimate correspondence between Voltaire and Emilie has been lost. I'm not a "love story" kind of person, and was hoping this book would provide more of a strong picture into the personalities, foibles, strengths, habits, and routines of Voltaire primarily, and Emilie secondarily. I was not disappointed.If you count yourself a lover of Voltaire -- the man and his writings -- then this book is truly a must-read for you. I've read much of his essays, philosophy, short stories, et cetera, and finally (to my immense delight) feel I "know" the man. The personalities and temperaments of both Voltaire and Emilie were rather as I'd figured they would be, although there were a couple of genuine surprises -- some flattering, some not so flattering.What continues to make me curious is how these two persons defined the word "love"...the dynamics of their relationship and love was interesting, and sometimes confusing, to say the very least. Ah well, I'm speaking of dead persons here. Respect for their personages and for the deceased prohibit me from going further. And besides, after nine years of marriage, I too admit the word "love" has a myriad of nuances.Please enjoy this book! Ecrasez l'infame!

MITFORD-IZED !!!

A real 'Talent To Annoy' Nancy Mitford brings to light a Voltaire that the classic historian normally omits. However, it is to her credit that she superbly presents a view of history thru a man and an era of events in a real sense of humanist expression. Ms. Mitford's social perception of Voltaire is unequaled ! Her attention to detail and it's colourization is incrediable, although perhaps not entirely historically accurate, but why complain at all....especially when her very style of writing just entraces the reader in such a manner that one shall want to read and reread as much as possible any book by Nancy, or for that matter any written work by any of the fascinating Mitford sisters....!

a must for scholars

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the literature and history of an absolutely fascinating time period, the eighteenth century. This work is especially interesting not only, of course, to those who study the life and writings of Voltaire, but also to those, like myself, who study the life of Frederick the Great of Prussia. As usual, Mitford's writing style is intriguing and the reader is provided with unforgettable and very human portrayals of the principals. This book is a real "must" for any student of both literature and history. Enjoy!