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Childhood And Early Years
Juliette was born on 10 April 1806 in Fougères, the daughter of a tailor and a housemaid. She was orphaned from her mother a few months after birth, and her father the following year, and was raised by her uncle, René Drouet. She was educated in Paris in a religious boarding school. She was a precocious child, having learned to read and write at the age of five; by the time she was ten, Juliette was already proficient in literature and poetry. Around 1825 she became the mistress of sculptor James Pradier, who represented her in a statue symbolizing Strasbourg, at the Place de la Concorde in Paris. They had a daughter together, Claire. On the advice of Pradier, she started an acting career in 1829, initially in Brussels, then in Paris. It was around that time Juliette began using her uncle's surname Drouet.
Life As A Courtesan
Described by those who knew her as independent, impulsive and hot-tempered; she was also regarded by Parisian society as a typical courtesan who dressed splendidly,spent money wildly, and was extremely beautiful. Juliette had limpid,bright eyes; a fine,chiseled nose; a small,crimson mouth; set in an oval face, framed by a mass of blue-black hair.
Victor Hugo
In 1833, while playing the role of Princess Négroni in Lucrèce Borgia (see: Lucrezia Borgia) she met Victor Hugo. She abandoned her theatrical career afterwards to dedicate her life to her lover. Her last stage role was of Lady Jane Grey in Hugo's Marie Tudor. She became Hugo's secretary and travelling companion. For many years she lived a cloistered life, leaving home only in his company. In 1852, she accompanied him in his exile on Jersey, and then in 1855 on Guernsey. She wrote thousands of letters to him throughout her life, which testify to her writing talent according to Henri Troyat who wrote her biography in 1997.
External links
(French) [1]
References
- Simone de Beauvoir, Patrick O'Brian (Translator). The Coming of Age. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-31443-X
- Juliette Drouet, Evelyn Blewer (Editor), Victoria Tietze Larson (Translator). My Beloved Toto: Letters from Juliette Drouet to Victor Hugo 1833-1882. State University of New York Press (June 2006) ISBN 0-7914-6572-1
- Graham Robb, 1999. Victor Hugo: A Biography. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-31899-0
- Henri Troyat, 1997. Juliette Drouet: La prisonnière sur parole. Flammarion. ISBN 2-08-067403-X
