The theme of solitude in Louise Colet’s poetry

Abstract

The aim of the research is to provide a typological description of Louise Colet’s poetry by addressing the theme of solitude, which is of paramount importance to the poetess. Based on an analysis of works on this theme across all her poetic collections, the article identifies the most characteristic features of Colet’s poetic world as well as significant aspects of her poetics. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that, for the first time, the poetess’s oeuvre is examined through a specifically poetological lens with the goal of incorporating it into the typology of the French “minor Romantics”. Furthermore, the study is conducted relying on a central, representative theme (thesaurus-based selection), which allows for the exclusion of peripheral material (dedications, political texts) and thus prevents the “blurring” of the results’ distinctness. As a result of the study, it was established that Louise Colet’s poetry represents a formation largely characteristic of the late Romantic era, in which the features of Romantic and Realistic methods are intertwined, with a noticeable predominance of the latter. Regarding the modality of the works, many are distinguished by a significant gender emphasis (first-person lyrics highlight a characteristically female perspective on phenomena, while portrait poems and epics primarily depict female characters). In purely technical terms, Colet’s poetry is not innovative, but in its basic parameters, it is consistent with the average standards for poetic texts of the Romantic era.

Research materials

1. Banville T. Idylles prussiennes. P., 1871.
2. Baudelaire Ch. Les Fleurs du mal. P.: Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, 1857.
3. Colet L. Ce qui est dans le cœur des femmes. P.: Librairie nouvelle, 1852.
4. Colet L. Ce qu'on rêve en aimant. P.: Librairie nouvelle, 1854.
5. Colet L. Fleurs du Midi. P.: Librairie de Dumont, 1836.
6. Colet L. Le poëme de la femme: 1-er récit. La paysanne. P.: Perrotin, 1853.
7. Colet L. Les chants des vaincus. P.: A. René et Cie, 1846.
8. Colet L. Panserosa. P., 1840.
9. Lamartine A. de. Méditations poétiques. P.: Hachette, 1922.
10. Les petits poètes du XVIIIe siècle: J.-B. Rousseau, Lefranc de Pompignan, Houdar de la Motte, Bernis, Piron, Saint-Lambert, Thomas, Gresset, Dorat, Lebrun-Écouchard, Gilbert, Roucher, Parny, Delille: morceaux choisis. P.: La Renaissance du livre; J. Gillequin, 1910.
11. Mallarmé S. Poésies. P.: Nouvelle Revue Française, 1914.

References

1. Гаспаров М. Л. Фет безглагольный. Композиция пространства, чувства и слова // Гаспаров М. Л. Избранные статьи. М.: Новое литературное обозрение, 1995.
2. Женетт Ж. Фигуры: в 2 т. М.: Изд-во им. Сабашниковых, 1998. Т. 1.
3. Луков В. А. Тезаурусный подход // Знание. Понимание. Умение. 2018. № 3. https://doi.org/10.17805/zpu.2018.3.23
4. Флобер Г. О литературе, искусстве, писательском труде: письма, статьи: в 2 т. М.: Художественная литература, 1984. Т. 1.
5. Boutin A., Paliyenko A. M. Nineteenth-Century French Women Poets: An Exceptional Legacy // Women in French Studies. 2002. Special Issue.
6. Carton H. Histoire des femmes écrivains de la France. P., 1886.
7. Clébert J.-P. La Muse. P.: Presses de la Renaissance, 1986.
8. Du Plessix Gray F. “Mon cher volcan” ou La vie passionnée de Louise Colet. P., 1995.
9. Du Plessix Gray F. Rage and Fire: A Life of Louise Colet, Pioneer Feminist, Literary Star, Flaubert's Muse. N. Y. – L. – Toronto – Sydney – Tokyo − Singapore: Simon & Schuster, 1994.
10. Enfield D. E. A Lady of the Salons. The Story of Louise Colet. L., 1926.
11. Mestral Combremont J. de. La Belle Madame Colet. Une déesse des romantiques. P.: Fontemoing et Cie, S. a. [1913].
12. Mirecourt E de. Louise Colet. P., 1857.
13. Poyet T. Louise Colet, “écriture féminine” et codification du féminin // Sociopoétiques. 2019. № 4.
14. Sabatier R. Histoire de la poésie française: 6 t. P., 1976. T. 5.1. Les Romantismes.
15. Schapira M.-C. Peut-on encore lire “La servante” de Louise Colet? // Femmes de lettres au XIX siècle. Autour de Louise Colet. Lyon: Presses universitaires, 1982.
16. Ségur P. de. Une muse. Mme Louise Colet // La Revue hebdomadaire. 1910. Т. 3. № 10. Р.
17. Stoebner E. A. Femmes de lettres feministes et l’evolution du rapport homme – femme: Louise Colet, George Sand, Colette, Simone de Beauvoir. Sweet Briar: Sweet Briar College, 1987.
18. Vebret J. Flaubert et Louise Colet. P.: Écriture, DL, 2021.

Author information

About this article

Publication history

• Received: December 12, 2025.
• Published: January 19, 2026.

Keywords

• Луиза Коле
• французская романтическая поэзия
• тема одиночества
• гендерный аспект
• типология романтиков второго ряда
• Louise Colet
• French Romantic poetry
• theme of solitude
• gender aspect
• typology of second-tier Romantics

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)
© 2026 Gramota Publishing, LLC

User license

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)