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Literature / Angelique (Golon)
aka: Angelique

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Angélique is a series of romantic-melodramatic historical adventure novels written by "Sergeanne Golon" (a pseudonym for the co-writers, married couple Anne and Serge Golon), from the late 1950s onward. It follows the titular heroine's life and loves in Louis XIV-era France and further afield; Angélique has been described as "ravishing and indeed oft-ravished"...

The book series was first adapted into five films directed by Bernard Borderie and starring Michèle Mercier, from 1964 to 1968. A more recent version starring Nora Arnezeder in the role of Angélique came out in 2013.


The series contains the following tropes:

  • Anachronism Stew: The arrival of the wealthy, handsome and seductive Persian ambassador in Paris happens in the early 1670s, about 40 years earlier than its Real Life version.
  • Animal Motifs: Philippe is famous for his wolf-hunting ability. Naturally, he's an antisocial, savage person.
  • Byronic Hero: Angélique is a rare female example. She's considered ambitious, ruthless, and mysterious...often by the same characters who find her captivating.
  • Deliberate Values Dissonance: The more compassionate characters feel sympathetic toward abused wives, but everyone ignores the law's part in enabling such abuse. In their view it's entirely expected that a husband should have total control over his wife, and if the husband a woman gets happens to be abusive — well, she's just unlucky. It's not a big enough problem that the authorities should get involved.
  • Commonality Connection: When Angélique converses with Baktiari, a Persian diplomat, she finds that many things are different in his country- but not politicians. For example, he immediately recognizes what she means by a ruler's "favorite [consort]".
  • Determinator: Angélique. Nothing gets her down for long — not the death of her husband(s), not being reduced to abject poverty, not being kidnapped. She craves success, especially when she can rub it in the faces of her rivals.
  • Fiction 500: By the time of his (first) downfall in 1660, Joffrey had amassed so much gold that he was far richer than King Louis XIV himself.
  • One True Love: Angélique has loved many men before and after Joffrey, but they're nothing in comparison to him. When she finds out that Joffrey's still alive, she immediately and unrepentantly abandons a king's love to run off in search of him.
  • Renaissance Man: Count Joffrey de Peyrac note  is thoroughly trained as a geologist, chemist, architect, engineer, sailor, naval architect, Master Swordsman, musician, businessman, explorer, warrior, weapons designer ...and this is only the beginning, as he studies carefully each art or science he ever happens to stumble upon.
  • When You Coming Home, Dad?: Angélique is absent for most of her children's lives, sometimes not seeing them for months at a time. She frames it as keeping them prosperous.


Alternative Title(s): Angelique

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