I am quite impressed by Arianrhod's ability as a science writer.
So was I, but then unlike you I'm a complete laywoman in this regard, so I'm gratified to hear Arianrhod holds up to you!
Arianrhod clearly likes Voltaire a lot more than Zinsser (this is not hard) and mostly seems to agree with Orieux that they had a rather tempestuous relationship but that both of them were... kind of like that
Yep. As you say, Voltaire clearly had a type. Did Émilie, though? Her men seem to be pretty different from each other. I mean, two we don't actually know whether or not she had affairs with them or was just friends with romantic overtones, i.e. Maupertuis and Richelieu. Then there was The One With The Possible Suicide Attempt, about whom I recall nothing, personality wise. The three we know for sure she was romantically and sexually involved with are her husband, Voltaire and Saint-Lambert. While her marriage was mostly a sensible arrangement, she and her husband seem to have truly liked each other, and I doubt she'd have married him if she hadn't felt at least a tiny bit attracted at the point of marriage (enough to know producing offspring wouldn't be a hardship), so we shouldn't completely ignore him. Anyway, out of all these guys, the only two prone to diva behaviour and ready to argue fiercely were Voltaire and Maupertuis, and if she didn't have an affair with Maupertuis, this leaves Voltaire, while her husband and Saint-Lambert come across as more quietly supportive types. (Richelieu, whether or not they had a fling, clearly never was a serious romance.)
"Catalina": this reminds, not just Arianrhod spells the name like this, so do some other books. But the man in question still was called Lucius Sergius Catilina. There's also the anglisized "Catiline" in the offering. But "Catalina", as far as I know, is the Spanish version of the name Catherine, so who in Voltairian literature started to spell the Roman bad boy this way, I have no idea.
Of course, she may err on the side of liking Voltaire:
LOL, I thought the very same thing when coming across this very description of walking through Paris etc. And I definitely agree on Voltaire's expression, see also the icon. (Also, as I think you observed before: Voltaire is that rare case in the 18th century, someone whose portraits do provide an impression of his personality as it comes across in his writings and history. *g*)
Right?? I was definitely thinking about your icon when I read that line about walking through Paris :)
Hmm, yeah, I don't think Émilie really had a type. I feel like you could make an argument (though not a strong one, given the lack of data) that at least for some of her life, she subscribed to what my best friend (who is a mathematician, and the one I was thinking I should call "the divine geometer") once called the tendency to "pick the smartest guy in the room," which I think is a common inclination among technically-minded het women -- not all, for sure, and it's a trait that gets outgrown to a certain extent, but enough that it wouldn't surprise me to see it in Émilie, let's say. Now, Saint-Lambert doesn't seem to quite fit this mold, but by that time she may have been ready for someone who was a bit different than Voltaire :) (And her husband doesn't either, of course, but I imagine he also probably served as a good counterpoint to Voltaire...)
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Arianrhod - some thoughts on the Émilie section
Date: 2021-04-12 08:05 am (UTC)So was I, but then unlike you I'm a complete laywoman in this regard, so I'm gratified to hear Arianrhod holds up to you!
Arianrhod clearly likes Voltaire a lot more than Zinsser (this is not hard) and mostly seems to agree with Orieux that they had a rather tempestuous relationship but that both of them were... kind of like that
Yep. As you say, Voltaire clearly had a type. Did Émilie, though? Her men seem to be pretty different from each other. I mean, two we don't actually know whether or not she had affairs with them or was just friends with romantic overtones, i.e. Maupertuis and Richelieu. Then there was The One With The Possible Suicide Attempt, about whom I recall nothing, personality wise. The three we know for sure she was romantically and sexually involved with are her husband, Voltaire and Saint-Lambert. While her marriage was mostly a sensible arrangement, she and her husband seem to have truly liked each other, and I doubt she'd have married him if she hadn't felt at least a tiny bit attracted at the point of marriage (enough to know producing offspring wouldn't be a hardship), so we shouldn't completely ignore him. Anyway, out of all these guys, the only two prone to diva behaviour and ready to argue fiercely were Voltaire and Maupertuis, and if she didn't have an affair with Maupertuis, this leaves Voltaire, while her husband and Saint-Lambert come across as more quietly supportive types. (Richelieu, whether or not they had a fling, clearly never was a serious romance.)
"Catalina": this reminds, not just Arianrhod spells the name like this, so do some other books. But the man in question still was called Lucius Sergius Catilina. There's also the anglisized "Catiline" in the offering. But "Catalina", as far as I know, is the Spanish version of the name Catherine, so who in Voltairian literature started to spell the Roman bad boy this way, I have no idea.
Of course, she may err on the side of liking Voltaire:
LOL, I thought the very same thing when coming across this very description of walking through Paris etc. And I definitely agree on Voltaire's expression, see also the icon. (Also, as I think you observed before: Voltaire is that rare case in the 18th century, someone whose portraits do provide an impression of his personality as it comes across in his writings and history. *g*)
Re: Arianrhod - some thoughts on the Émilie section
Date: 2021-04-14 05:12 am (UTC)Hmm, yeah, I don't think Émilie really had a type. I feel like you could make an argument (though not a strong one, given the lack of data) that at least for some of her life, she subscribed to what my best friend (who is a mathematician, and the one I was thinking I should call "the divine geometer") once called the tendency to "pick the smartest guy in the room," which I think is a common inclination among technically-minded het women -- not all, for sure, and it's a trait that gets outgrown to a certain extent, but enough that it wouldn't surprise me to see it in Émilie, let's say. Now, Saint-Lambert doesn't seem to quite fit this mold, but by that time she may have been ready for someone who was a bit different than Voltaire :) (And her husband doesn't either, of course, but I imagine he also probably served as a good counterpoint to Voltaire...)