Corinne, or Italy

Abstract

Germaine de Stael (1766-1817) was one of the most important women of letters of her own or any time. This translation of her best-known novel, Corinne (1807), is the first English translation in nearly a hundred years and restores its reputation in the mainstream of literary history. The volume includes an introduction by Avriel Goldberger, as well as explanatory notes and a chronology. Corinne, or Italy is a tragic tale of love between an Italian woman of genius and an English lord. It is concerned with such themes as the right to free love, the capacity of women for genius, the glorification of Italy and its art and architecture, the celebration of freedom, and the relationships among climate, geopgraphy, political institutions, and art. It is full of such romantic themes as dark women vs fair ladies, tainted versus pure lives, genius versus domestic virtues. Corinne stands at the center of nascent Romanticism and virtually bursts free of its neoclassical trappings to express these themes. It was written at a transitional point in the development of the French novel, and has greatly influenced the genre not only in France, but also in England and the United States.

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