George Sand’s novella La Mare au diable (1846) counts among her most read, most anthologized, and most enduring works. With François le Champi (1847) and La Petite Fadette (1848), it is one of three so-called rustic or pastoral novels (romans champêtres) written at a time of political upheaval leading to the Revolution of 1848, but set in an indefinite time among peasants of the Berry region in central France where Sand grew up. The novella’s continued appeal among young and old, school children and scholars hinges on the range of interpretations it can elicit from political to apolitical and from progressive to conservative. Whereas some of Sand’s contemporaries, Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve i…
1081 words
Citation: Boutin, Aimée. "La Mare au Diable". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 August 2015 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35647, accessed 01 May 2024.]
