Madame de Sévigné, a 17th-century French aristocrat, was an iconic literary figure in France thanks to her prolific letters — most of which were addressed to her daughter, but became public during her lifetime. Sévigné’s daughter often read the letters aloud, whether alone or in company. Her mother knew this, and so crafted many of her missives with public performance in mind. Her writing was vivid and witty, and so the letters were copied and circulated in high society. Her subjects were wide-ranging and often humorous. Her views on marriage, for example, were succinct: “Matrimony is a very dangerous disorder; I had rather drink.” But she was also profound. “There is no real evil in life, except great pain,” she once wrote to her daughter. “All the rest is merely imaginary, and depends on the light in which we view things.”
