So, she might have been every bit as greedy for money as Orieux accuses her as having been, but she doesn't come across as stupid, weak-willed or, for that matter, eager to please.
Just based on the one bio I've read plus the quotes I've seen elsewhere, I have to agree.
Historians have sugggested the young Voltaire was molested at his college by the Jesuit instructors.
They have? Sadly, no source citation for this one from Zinsser. Orieux certainly does not suggest it, though bear in mind he published his biography in 1966. mildred_of_midgard, you've read a more recent Voltaire bio, does this one include this speculation
Nope, I see nothing. I didn't remember it, and I rescanned the passage just now, and nothing.
Judith Zinsser, being molested by your teacher as a school boy is quite a different thing to being "initiated" as a willing partner by whoever. The former is also not saying anything about your eventual orientation.
Omg, I remember commenting on my annoyance with Bodanis over his "Frederick was gay, and Voltaire was not. With a certain amount of deft footwork, he intended to remain that way." Falling victim to a sexually predatory monarch (assuming you see Frederick as that, which I don't see a lot of evidence for, though I suppose it's possible it crossed Voltaire's mind that he might end up being expected to do more than kiss hands) doesn't make you gay!
How's this as a concluding irony: Zinsser rightly points out that we don't have definite proof for Émilie/Maupertuis...And yet she comes up with a whole lot of assumptions here that are based on far less.
Re: Addenda re: Madame Denis in all three books and Voltaire's backstory in Zinsser
Just based on the one bio I've read plus the quotes I've seen elsewhere, I have to agree.
Historians have sugggested the young Voltaire was molested at his college by the Jesuit instructors.
They have? Sadly, no source citation for this one from Zinsser. Orieux certainly does not suggest it, though bear in mind he published his biography in 1966.
Nope, I see nothing. I didn't remember it, and I rescanned the passage just now, and nothing.
Judith Zinsser, being molested by your teacher as a school boy is quite a different thing to being "initiated" as a willing partner by whoever. The former is also not saying anything about your eventual orientation.
Omg, I remember commenting on my annoyance with Bodanis over his "Frederick was gay, and Voltaire was not. With a certain amount of deft footwork, he intended to remain that way." Falling victim to a sexually predatory monarch (assuming you see Frederick as that, which I don't see a lot of evidence for, though I suppose it's possible it crossed Voltaire's mind that he might end up being expected to do more than kiss hands) doesn't make you gay!
How's this as a concluding irony: Zinsser rightly points out that we don't have definite proof for Émilie/Maupertuis...And yet she comes up with a whole lot of assumptions here that are based on far less.
Wow, yeah. When you have an axe to grind...