Colette was married three times in all. Her first husband was the author known as "Willy"—real name Henry Gauthier-Villars—whom she married in 1893. Henry greatly encouraged a reluctant Colette to pursue a career as a writer. Indeed, Colette later said that she wouldn't have been a writer had it not been for Henry.
Henry was very much a man of the world, a notorious rake and libertine, who introduced Colette into the world of the avant-garde. Despite his unconventional attitude to art, ideas, and sexual relationships, Henry was perfectly conventional in the control he exercised over his wife and her burgeoning literary career, as a husband would've been expected to do at that time. As Colette was a free spirit, it was almost inevitable that the marriage wouldn't last, and she formally separated from her first husband in 1906, four years before their divorce was finalized.
Despite dabbling in a number of lesbian relationships, Colette married again, this time to another Henry, Henry de Jouvenal, a newspaper editor. The marriage lasted twelve years, during which time Henry indulged in a number of extra-marital affairs, and Colette conducted an illicit liaison of her own with her stepson.
Soon after the collapse of her second marriage, it was third time lucky for Colette as she married Maurice Godeket, with whom she spent the rest of her life. After the Nazis occupied Europe, Godeket, who was Jewish, was arrested by the Gestapo, but fortunately released after the German Ambassador's French wife interceded on his behalf. Nevertheless, Colette and her husband lived in constant fear of a late-night knock at the door so long as the Germans occupied Paris.
Perhaps as a way of avoiding trouble, Colette contributed articles to a number of pro-Nazi newspapers during this time. Despite this unfortunate collaboration with the cultural and political agencies of Nazi Germany, her reputation as one of France's most gifted writers remained undimmed in the post-war period, and when she died in 1954, she was given a state funeral, the first French woman of letters to be granted such an honor.
Wednesday, August 7, 2019
Did Colette remarry?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
What is the theme of the chapter Lead?
Primo Levi's complex probing of the Holocaust, including his survival of Auschwitz and pre- and post-war life, is organized around indiv...
-
The statement "Development policy needs to be about poor people, not just poor countries," carries a lot of baggage. Let's dis...
-
Bacteria are single-celled microorganisms that thrive in diverse environments (such as the ocean, the soil, and the human body). Various bac...
-
Note that these events are not in chronological order. The story is told by the narrator, looking back upon her life. The first notable even...
-
It seems most likely you are asking about Michael Halliday's theories of language. He argues children have seven main functions they use...
-
The tension between the three world orders after World War II (1939–1945) manifested itself in territorial, economic, military, ideologic...
-
Under common law, any hotel, inn, or other hospitality establishment has a duty to exercise "reasonable care" for the safety an...
-
James is very unhappy on a number of occasions throughout the story, but he's especially unhappy with his life situation as the story be...
No comments:
Post a Comment