Anatole

VASARRI, F.

2022-01-01

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Abstract

Published in 1815, Anatole is the best-known novel by Sophie Gay (1776-1852). In Paris, towards the end of the Ancien Régime, Anatole and Valentine love each other from a distance, since Anatole has a secret that prevents him from getting married. This obstacle is physical, but it involves the spheres of gender, sexuality and society. Anatole therefore raises the questions of obstacle and exclusion well before the fictions of impotence of the French Restoration, and implies a reflection on the relationships of the masculine and the feminine in post-revolutionary France. Our basic text is the revised and corrected second edition of the novel (1822), which was never included in subsequent reprints. The dossier includes a detailed analysis of the text, notes and a list of variants.