Voltaire and his "divine" Emilia: 15 years of "earthly paradise" with his beloved and muse

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

French writer and philosopher Voltaire contemporaries considered a genius. Aristocrats and kings listened to his thoughts, and his literary works were a great success. Intelligence and talent are certainly important, but Voltaire would not have made a brilliant career if the Marquis du Châtelet had not appeared in his path. This woman became a muse, a lover, a lightning rod for the writer. It was she who held back the impulses of an excessively ardent Voltaire, directing his energy in the right direction.

The beginning of Voltaire's literary career was quite successful. The tragedies he wrote were well received by the society. But satirical poems addressed to a high-ranking official led the overly ardent writer to jail. Later, Voltaire ended up in prison again for the same reason. Freethinking did not allow the writer and philosopher to live in peace. For speaking out about the mighty of this world, Voltaire had to hide from the police.

In 1733 he fled to Lorraine to "sit out" until the passions subside. But one night, when Voltaire was walking not far from his house, people with sticks appeared on his way. He probably would have been beaten, but at that moment a woman on a horse emerged from the darkness. The ill-wishers disappeared. The lady introduced herself as the Marquise du Chatelet. She invited the surprised Voltaire to follow her to the castle of Sirei.

Voltaire settled in the castle with the Marquis, he fell in love with her, called her his muse, and dedicated works. Emilia du Châtelet answered him in return. Voltaire never found out that in exchange for his freedom, the Marquise promised the minister, the keeper of the royal seal, that Voltaire would no longer publish anything that would compromise the government.

Emilia du Châtelet was a very educated lady. She studied natural sciences, was engaged in the translation of scientific works, and among her contemporaries was known as a great original. The marquise was married, but this did not prevent her from having lovers. In the time of Louis XV, such morals were considered the norm. At the time of the first meeting with Voltaire, the Marquise was 27 years old, and the writer was 39.

Surrounded by the care of the marquise, it was in the castle of Sirei that Voltaire wrote a significant part of his works. He loved her and loved everything connected with her. If earlier the writer showed no interest in music, then Emilia's singing delighted him. He was proud when he learned that the works on mathematics of the Marquise were published in authoritative publications.

The marquise reciprocated him: she listened to Voltaire's philosophical reasoning, discussed historical treatises with him. At the same time, it should be noted that Emilia du Châtelet kept a cold mind. She kept her promise to the seal keeper. Not a single work of Voltaire, which could somehow irritate the government, was not published. But this does not mean that there were no such works. It is thanks to the insight of the marquise that many works of the philosopher have survived to this day, which at that time could compromise him. Moreover, in 1746 Voltaire was granted the title of nobility and the place of historiographer at the royal court.

15 years after Voltaire settled in the castle of Cyreus, he learned that his muse was cheating on him with a young military man and mediocre poet, the Marquis Saint-Lambert. The philosopher found out about the unfaithfulness of the Marquise by accident. One day he entered her chambers without warning and saw a young man on her bed. In the heat of anger, Voltaire ran out of the bedroom and went to collect his things. Emily caught up with the emotional writer and used all her feminine charm to hold him back. In the end, the Marquise said: “Admit that now you are unable to continue the regime we have established without prejudice to your health. So is it worth it to be angry that one young officer decided to help you?"

54-year-old Voltaire could not help but admit that in "bed matters" he undoubtedly loses to his 30-year-old rival. Resigned to this, the writer the very next day consulted Saint-Lambert about the marquise's love interests. Voltaire spoke about the situation as follows: “I replaced Richelieu, Saint-Lambert threw me out,” Voltaire admitted. "It's a natural course of events … that's how it goes in this world."

After some time, the Marquis du Chatelet became pregnant. Voltaire helped convince her husband that the unborn child was from him. Emilia was worried that she could not bear childbirth due to her age, but they passed quickly and easily. Unfortunately, the Marquise passed away on the third day due to postpartum fever. The baby, on the other hand, barely outlived its mother.

For Voltaire, the death of his girlfriend, mistress and muse was a strong blow. He rushed around the castle, wrote desperate letters to friends, in which he threatened to part with his life, poisoning himself, or go to a monastery. In a message to the Prussian king, the philosopher suffered: “I have just been present at the death of a friend whom I have loved for many happy years. This terrible death has poisoned my life forever … We are still in Sirei. I cannot leave the house, consecrated by her presence: I melt in tears … I do not know what will become of me, I have lost half of myself, I have lost the soul that was created for me."

After the death of his beloved, Voltaire lived for another 29 years. The philosopher called the time spent with Emilia "earthly paradise".

Voltaire repeated more than once that if the marquis had not met on his life path, he would probably have ended his days in The Bastille is one of the worst prisons in the world.