The Voyeur in Repose, or the Voyeur in Action
The Voyeur in Repose, or the Voyeur in Action is a romantic comedy novel by the English writer Elizabeth Gaskell, written in 1876 as a satire on the French Revolution, about a woman named Violette who was seduced by a soldier during the French Revolution and seduced by a soldier who had to escape his own disgrace during the French Revolution. Gaskell’s treatment of the situation in her novel, as well as the depiction of the French Revolution itself, is based upon two contemporary French histories, La France des cahiers de doléances by Émile Auguste de Gérard, and Histoire de la Révolution française. The novel is also noted for its historical inaccuracy.
Plot introduction
A woman named Violette is seduced by a soldier during the revolutionary era. Because the soldier, one of the most highly regarded men in the French army, was involved with a woman, he had a lot of bad blood. Violette was seduced by him and became pregnant out of it. After being told that it was possible for the new queen to have an illegitimate child, his wife, Louise, decided to give him a present of a diamond engagement ring in addition to a large pension. Louise had him arrested and spent almost all his fortune to keep him in prison; the prisoner was later released. After Violette is told that she will never see her child, she resolves to avenge herself, and decides to use the revolution as a means to do so. She takes a large quantity of poison for the purpose of killing her husband. She was also going to kill herself but was stopped by Madame Dubois, the Queen’s physician, a woman whom she trusted and loved.
During the course of the novel, the two women are confronted by the revolutionaries and are forced to flee to Brussels to be safe. After their arrival, Madame Dubois discovers the ring she gave to the soldier and is taken aback by the fact that it is hers. The novel also features a number of other characters from the book. Madame Dubois’s first meeting with Violette occurred after the novel was written and it was based on the actual events of 1871, when she treated the imprisoned soldier, who was the author’s father
