They rode drunk on a moonlit night; the headlights of the car crashed into the misty depths of the forest.

Let's slow down, Monica. What a beauty!

They were approaching the turnoff to Bougival. The river lay among the blue islands like a silver plume.

Yes, what a beauty! Monica whispered.

The car stopped. They silently held hands. Their hearts spoke in silence... Lips joined in a kiss. Eternal oath!

They set off. The road to happiness opened before them!

At this time, Ambra with his wife and Viñabo were about to disperse.

Do you know, my dear friend, what all this proves? said the old professor, going up the stairs. - This proves that for a young being, not yet completely spoiled by the social order, modern mores are a terrible, but magnificent school of life. Take a look at our "bachelorette". Having gone through a double upbringing, even after the war, she retained a thirst for independence, which now captures so many women ...

How many of them! said Madame Ambra, “Is that so?” The majority dutifully bear their chains! And, sadly, many do not want to part with them.

Doesn't matter! The chosen ones will carry the crowd along the path of justice and goodness. Let's hope, my friend, for them - they work and will work as equals to us. Is it possible to condemn Monica for going forward in her own way. An unsuccessful step, but still a step towards the future.

Agree, however, that if Blanche hadn't— said Madame Ambra.

Yes, but remember Vigneret too ... When a woman stumbles, it is always the man who is to blame.

The male! Forever a man! Ambra muttered. - Wouldn't it be fairer to say that we are all toys in the hands of higher powers? Joy and sorrow are blind. Only forces control... And we obey them.

Viñabo condescendingly concluded:

Another reason not to condemn Monica. Do you think of manure when you inhale the fragrance of a flower?

Victor Marguerite

Now in our country the name of an outstanding French writer late XIX- In the first half of the 20th century, few people know Victor Margherita, since his books were not republished for a very long time. It was completely different in the 1920s: Marguerite's novels were among the bestsellers, publishers competed with each other, offering readers new editions and new translations. The writer boldly put sharp social issues, actively supported the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe emancipation of women, comprehensively considered the problems of sex, not paying attention to sanctimonious accusations of obscenity. The first part of the trilogy "The Woman on the Road" - the novel "The Bachelorette" (this book was also translated into Russian under the name "Monica Lerbier") earned a particularly high-profile scandalous fame. It seems that for the modern reader, the fascinating novels of Victor Marguerite have not lost their relevance.

Like his older brother Paul, Victor Marguerite was born in Africa, in Algeria (December 1, 1866 in the city of Blida). His father was a military officer and served here in the cavalry. During the wars that France waged in North Africa, he became famous for his skillful command of the troops and personal courage, became national hero and rose to the rank of divisional general. Later, the sons wrote the book “General Marguerite” about their father, which was published in the series “ Famous French". In 1870 the brothers were taken to France to be educated. Paul went to study military school, and Victor was sent to the Lyceum named after Henry IV, famous for high level classical education. Victor studied brilliantly at the Lyceum. special success he achieved in Latin. Once he became the winner of a general competition for an essay in Latin.

Both brothers showed an early inclination towards literary creativity. Paul's name became widely known when he signed the so-called "Manifesto of Five" against the crude naturalism of Émile Zola's novel The Earth. In addition to essays and short stories, the public knew Paul Marguerite as the author of the libretto of pantomimes by the famous artist Deburau. The younger brother Victor made his debut as a poet: already at the age of sixteen he published his first book - a collection of poems "Lilac Branches". On the next year Victor wrote the second book of poems, Song of the Sea.

After graduating from the lyceum, Victor collaborates as a journalist in a huge number of various magazines: Lutetia, Black Cat, ink stains”,“ Independent Review ”,“ Annals ”, etc. During these years he lives with his mother in Sevres, and his soul longs for travel and adventure. North Africa, Maghreb, where he was born and where his father gained fame, attract the young man's romantic nature. By the way, his brother Paul serves there. In 1886, Victor enlisted in spagi - colonial light cavalry - and spent five years in Africa. Heavy, full of dangers, but fascinating military service enriches brothers with knowledge of life and impressions. Here begins their creative community, which lasted almost a quarter of a century: until 1908, almost all the works of Paul and Victor were written in collaboration. Deciding to become a career soldier, Victor in 1891 graduated from a military school in Saumur, received the title junior lieutenant and appointment on the 27th dragoon regiment. However, after five years, he has to retire due to illness. Now he and his brother devote themselves entirely to literature.

Great fame brings them the novel "Crash" - the first volume of the tetralogy "Epoch", dedicated to tragic events Franco-Prussian War 1870–1871. In the future, the historical epic was completed with the novel "Commune".

Possessing a light pen and developed back in school years exemplary literary style, Victor and Paul become prolific novelists: their new books are published almost every year - "New Women", "Royal Garden", " The groundwater”,“ Prism ”, etc. In addition to novels, they write stories, essays (“A Few Ideas”, “Expansion of Divorces”), plays (“Heart and Law”, “Other”, “Our Stages”). Victor also acts as a historian - he writes the popular illustrated book The War of 1870-1871. Later (in last years life) Victor Marguerite will prepare a two-volume study on the history of the League of Nations.

Despite the printed speech against the novel "Earth", the brothers remain supporters of the naturalistic school and write completely in the traditions of naturalism. They are attracted to the unvarnished truth of life. In the novels The New Women (1899) and Marriage and Divorce (1903), they deal seriously with the problem of women's emancipation. The theme of emancipation is especially attractive to Victor, in the future he will develop it independently and devote many novels to it. In this peculiar cycle of novels about women, the first novel to appear in 1907 was The Prostitute. The book was first printed in parts with a continuation on the pages of Le Journal. The interest of the readers was enormous: good books on such a sensitive topic are always doomed to success. However, not every writer decides to take such a step - to touch on "forbidden" topics. Victor Marguerite made up his mind without hesitation. He had glorious predecessors: Edmond Goncourt ("The Maiden Eliza"), Joris-Karl Huysmans ("Martha. The Story of a Prostitute"). Critics, among whom, undoubtedly, there were those who did not approve of the growing interest in the problems of sex, did not dare to openly accuse the writer. Perhaps due to the fact that in these years the authority of Victor Marguerite was unusually high: in 1906 he was elected president of the Society of Writers, and in 1905 he was awarded the officer's cross of the Order of the Legion of Honor (he became a knight of the Order of the Legion of Honor back in 1898 ).

The male! Forever a man! Ambra muttered. - Wouldn't it be fairer to say that we are all toys in the hands of higher powers? Joy and sorrow are blind. Only forces control... And we obey them.

Viñabo condescendingly concluded:

Another reason not to condemn Monica. Do you think of manure when you inhale the fragrance of a flower?

Victor Marguerite

Now in our country the name of the outstanding French writer of the late 19th - first half of the 20th century, Victor Marguerite, is not widely known, since his books have not been republished for a very long time. It was completely different in the 20s: Marguerite's novels were among the bestsellers, publishers competed with each other, offering readers new editions and new translations. The writer boldly raised acute social issues, actively supported the idea of ​​women's emancipation, comprehensively considered the problems of sex, ignoring the sanctimonious accusations of obscenity. The first part of the trilogy "The Woman on the Road" - the novel "The Bachelorette" (this book was also translated into Russian under the name "Monica Lerbier") earned a particularly high-profile scandalous fame. It seems that for the modern reader, the fascinating novels of Victor Marguerite have not lost their relevance.

Like his older brother Paul, Victor Marguerite was born in Africa, in Algeria (December 1, 1866 in the city of Blida). His father was a military officer and served here in the cavalry. During the wars that France waged in North Africa, he became famous for his skillful command of the troops and personal courage, became a national hero and rose to the rank of divisional general. Later, the sons wrote a book about their father, "General Marguerite", which was published in the series "Famous French". In 1870 the brothers were taken to France to be educated. Paul went to study at a military school, and Victor was sent to the Lyceum named after Henry IV, famous for its high level of classical education. Victor studied brilliantly at the Lyceum. He achieved particular success in the Latin language. Once he became the winner of a general competition for an essay in Latin.

Both brothers early showed a penchant for literary creativity. Paul's name became widely known when he signed the so-called "Manifesto of Five" against the crude naturalism of Émile Zola's novel The Earth. In addition to essays and short stories, the public knew Paul Marguerite as the author of the libretto of pantomimes by the famous artist Debureau. The younger brother Victor made his debut as a poet: already at the age of sixteen he published his first book - a collection of poems "Lilac Branches". The following year, Victor wrote a second book of poems, Song of the Sea.

After graduating from the lyceum, Victor collaborates as a journalist in a huge number of various magazines: Lutetia, Black Cat, Ink Stains, Independent Review, Annals, etc. During these years he lives with his mother in Sevres, and the soul longs for travel and adventure. North Africa, the Maghreb, where he was born and where his father won fame, attract the young man's romantic nature. By the way, his brother Paul serves there. In 1886, Victor enlisted in spagi - colonial light cavalry - and spent five years in Africa. The hard, full of dangers, but exciting military service enriches the brothers with knowledge of life and impressions. Here begins their creative community, which lasted almost a quarter of a century: until 1908, almost all the works of Paul and Victor were written in collaboration. Deciding to become a career soldier, Victor in 1891 graduated from a military school in Saumur, received the rank of junior lieutenant and was assigned to the 27th Dragoon Regiment. However, after five years, he has to retire due to illness. Now he and his brother devote themselves entirely to literature.

Great fame brings them the novel "Crash" - the first volume of the tetralogy "Epoch", dedicated to the tragic events of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871. In the future, the historical epic was completed with the novel "Commune".

Possessing a light pen and an exemplary literary style developed back in their school years, Victor and Paul become prolific novelists: their new books are published almost every year - "New Women", "Royal Garden", "Underground Waters", "Prism", etc. In addition to novels, they write short stories, essays ("A Few Ideas", "The Divorce Extension"), plays ("Heart and Law", "The Other", "Our Stage"). Victor also acts as a historian - he writes the popular illustrated book "The War of 1870-1871". In the future (in the last years of his life), Victor Marguerite will prepare a two-volume study on the history of the League of Nations.

Despite the printed speech against the novel "Earth", the brothers remain supporters of the naturalistic school and write quite in the traditions of naturalism. They are attracted to the unvarnished truth of life. In the novels "New Women" (1899), "Marriage and Divorce" (1903), they seriously deal with the problem of women's emancipation. The theme of emancipation is especially attractive to Victor, in the future he will develop it independently and devote many novels to it. In this peculiar cycle of novels about women, the first to appear in 1907 was the novel The Prostitute. The book was first published in parts with a continuation on the pages of Le Journal. The interest of readers was enormous: good books on such a sensitive topic are always doomed to success. However, not every writer decides to take such a step - to touch on "forbidden" topics. Victor Marguerite made up his mind without hesitation. He had glorious predecessors: Edmond Goncourt ("The Maiden Eliza"), Joris-Karl Huysmans ("Martha. The Story of a Prostitute"). Critics, among whom, undoubtedly, there were those who did not approve of the growing interest in the problems of sex, did not dare to openly accuse the writer. Perhaps due to the fact that in these years the authority of Victor Marguerite was unusually high: in 1906 he was elected president of the Society of Writers, and in 1905 he was awarded the officer's cross of the Order of the Legion of Honor (he became a knight of the Order of the Legion of Honor back in 1898 ).

Since we are talking about the awards and honorary titles of the writer, we will immediately say that after leaving the post of president of the Society of Writers in 1908, he was elected honorary president. In addition, Victor Marguerite was president of the Victor Hugo Society and a member of the Académie Goncourt. In the future, he was awarded even more for his merits. a high degree Orders of the Legion of Honor - the commander's cross, but in January 1923 they were deprived of the orders, accusing them of misconduct against honor. The scandalous story broke out because of the new novel by Victor Margerita "The Bachelorette". In this novel, the writer portrayed a young representative high society who leads a free lifestyle. Wealth opens the way for her to any pleasures. Casual sex, wine, drugs - everything is available to her. Monica Lerbier - the heroine of the novel - is frankly immoral, like the society around her. The merciless truth of the novel outraged those who recognized themselves in the characters of the novel. The writer was accused of immorality. To this, Victor Marguerite replied: “I stand for a merciless surgical knife. It’s not words that are immoral, but morals. Instead of throwing Noah’s clothes on vice, which too often turns out to be Arsinoe’s veil, let’s introduce it into custom and law for our girls and mothers (including mothers-girls) all those freedoms that men absurdly and arbitrarily seek to maintain a monopoly. And immediately there will be less promiscuity. The writer resolutely rejected accusations of the opportunistic nature of his work, as if his novel was written for the sake of commercial success, because of money. He replied that he had been developing the theme of women's emancipation for a long time. He had a much sharper and more revealing novel, The Prostitute, which did not cause such heated protests, since it did not affect the interests of the bourgeoisie. "The Bachelorette" outraged the public (and not the entire public, but "moneybags") only because the unattractive lifestyle of the rich was described with photographic accuracy. Anatole France defended the writer, noting that "... in my opinion, the artist in his paintings remained far behind reality." He protested against the decision of the members of the Council of the Legion of Honor to deprive Victor Marguerite of well-deserved awards, recalled that two masterpieces that adorned France, Flaubert's Madame Bovary and Baudelaire's Flowers of Evil, were once persecuted. The book "The Bachelorette" stood in the same row. Victor Marguerite replied:

"Gentlemen of the Council of the Order of the Legion of Honor.

Gracious sovereigns!

I thank you for the honor which, according to the authoritative judgment of Anatole France, the accusation against me does me. So, from now on, all writers - knights of the order must obey the force of arms and discipline. They will now know the consequences of freedom of thought.<…>

I do not want to dispute with you the toy that your synclite distributes in the fashion of government changes or upon reaching seniority, and which you took from me for an offense against your honor. The comedy of this act will indelibly remain with you."

Mention should also be made of the novel Your body belongs to you" (1927), in which the writer defended the right to free, conscious extramarital motherhood.

In the years between the two wars, Victor Marguerite, with all the strength of his authority as a writer and citizen, propagated the ideas of pacifism. He writes a damning nonfiction book " Last war. Criminals", gives speeches "A call to conscience", "Humane fatherland", "Aristide Briand", "War to war", etc. The already mentioned studies "The Failure of the League of Nations (1920–1936)" and dead body. League of Nations (March - September 1936)", written under the impression of the complete inability of the League of Nations to become a guarantor of peace and security on Earth.

Victor Marguerite showed great interest in Soviet Union. In 1936 he wrote an essay "Moscow, new era", and in the last years of his life he worked on the tetralogy "The Birth of a New World." The writer died on March 23, 1942 in the city of Monestier at the age of 76.

V.V. Ermakov.

Current page: 14 (total book has 14 pages)

Victor Marguerite

Now in our country, the name of the outstanding French writer of the late 19th - first half of the 20th century, Victor Marguerite, is not widely known, since his books have not been republished for a very long time. It was completely different in the 1920s: Marguerite's novels were among the bestsellers, publishers competed with each other, offering readers new editions and new translations. The writer boldly raised acute social issues, actively supported the idea of ​​women's emancipation, comprehensively considered the problems of sex, ignoring the sanctimonious accusations of obscenity. The first part of the trilogy "The Woman on the Road" - the novel "The Bachelorette" (this book was also translated into Russian under the name "Monica Lerbier") earned a particularly high-profile scandalous fame. It seems that for the modern reader, the fascinating novels of Victor Marguerite have not lost their relevance.

Like his older brother Paul, Victor Marguerite was born in Africa, in Algeria (December 1, 1866 in the city of Blida). His father was a military officer and served here in the cavalry. During the wars that France waged in North Africa, he became famous for his skillful command of the troops and personal courage, became a national hero and rose to the rank of divisional general. Later, the sons wrote a book about their father, General Marguerite, which was published in the series Famous Frenchmen. In 1870 the brothers were taken to France to be educated. Paul went to study at a military school, and Victor was sent to the Lyceum named after Henry IV, famous for its high level of classical education. Victor studied brilliantly at the Lyceum. He achieved particular success in the Latin language. Once he became the winner of a general competition for an essay in Latin.

Both brothers early showed a penchant for literary creativity. Paul's name became widely known when he signed the so-called "Manifesto of Five" against the crude naturalism of Émile Zola's novel The Earth. In addition to essays and short stories, the public knew Paul Marguerite as the author of the libretto of pantomimes by the famous artist Deburau. The younger brother Victor made his debut as a poet: already at the age of sixteen he published his first book - a collection of poems "Lilac Branches". The following year, Victor wrote a second book of poems, Song of the Sea.

After graduating from the lyceum, Victor collaborates as a journalist in a huge number of various magazines: Lutetia, Black Cat, Ink Stains, Independent Review, Annals, etc. During these years he lives with his mother in Sevres, and the soul longs for travel and adventure. North Africa, the Maghreb, where he was born and where his father won fame, attract the young man's romantic nature. By the way, his brother Paul serves there. In 1886, Victor enlisted in the spagi, the colonial light cavalry, and spent five years in Africa. The hard, full of dangers, but exciting military service enriches the brothers with knowledge of life and impressions. Here begins their creative community, which lasted almost a quarter of a century: until 1908, almost all the works of Paul and Victor were written in collaboration. Deciding to become a career soldier, Victor in 1891 graduated from a military school in Saumur, received the rank of junior lieutenant and was assigned to the 27th Dragoon Regiment. However, after five years, he has to retire due to illness. Now he and his brother devote themselves entirely to literature.

They are best known for their novel The Downfall, the first volume of the Epoch tetralogy, dedicated to the tragic events of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. In the future, the historical epic was completed with the novel "Commune".

Possessing a light pen and an exemplary literary style developed back in their school years, Victor and Paul become prolific novelists: their new books are published almost every year - New Women, Royal Garden, Underground Waters, Prism, etc. In addition to novels, they write short stories, essays ("A Few Ideas", "Divorce Expanding"), plays ("Heart and Law", "The Other", "Our Stage"). Victor also acts as a historian - he writes the popular illustrated book The War of 1870-1871. In the future (in the last years of his life), Victor Marguerite will prepare a two-volume study on the history of the League of Nations.

Despite the printed speech against the novel "Earth", the brothers remain supporters of the naturalistic school and write completely in the traditions of naturalism. They are attracted to the unvarnished truth of life. In the novels The New Women (1899) and Marriage and Divorce (1903), they deal seriously with the problem of women's emancipation. The theme of emancipation is especially attractive to Victor, in the future he will develop it independently and devote many novels to it. In this peculiar cycle of novels about women, the first novel to appear in 1907 was The Prostitute. The book was first printed in parts with a continuation on the pages of Le Journal. The interest of readers was enormous: good books on such a sensitive topic are always doomed to success. However, not every writer decides to take such a step - to touch on "forbidden" topics. Victor Marguerite made up his mind without hesitation. He had glorious predecessors: Edmond Goncourt ("The Maiden Eliza"), Joris-Karl Huysmans ("Martha. The Story of a Prostitute"). Critics, among whom, undoubtedly, there were those who did not approve of the growing interest in the problems of sex, did not dare to openly accuse the writer. Perhaps due to the fact that in these years the authority of Victor Marguerite was unusually high: in 1906 he was elected president of the Society of Writers, and in 1905 he was awarded the officer's cross of the Order of the Legion of Honor (he became a knight of the Order of the Legion of Honor back in 1898 ).

Since we are talking about the awards and honorary titles of the writer, we will immediately say that after leaving the post of president of the Society of Writers in 1908, he was elected honorary president. In addition, Victor Marguerite was president of the Victor Hugo Society and a member of the Académie Goncourt. Later, for his merits, he was awarded an even higher degree of the Order of the Legion of Honor - the commander's cross, but in January 1923 he was deprived of the orders, accusing him of misconduct against honor. The scandalous story broke out because of the new novel by Victor Margerita "The Bachelorette". In this novel, the writer portrayed a young representative of high society who leads a free lifestyle. Wealth opens the way for her to any pleasures. Casual sex, wine, drugs - everything is available to her. Monica Lerbier - the heroine of the novel - is frankly immoral, like the society around her. The merciless truth of the novel outraged those who recognized themselves in the characters of the novel. The writer was accused of immorality. To this, Victor Marguerite replied: “I stand for a merciless surgical knife. It is not words that are immoral, but morals. Instead of throwing Noah's clothes over vice - which too often turns out to be Arsinoe's veil - let us introduce into custom and law for our girls and mothers (including mothers-girls) all those freedoms on which men absurdly and arbitrarily seek to maintain a monopoly . And immediately there will be less promiscuity. The writer resolutely rejected the accusations of the opportunistic nature of his work, as if his novel was written for the sake of commercial success, because of money. He replied that he had been developing the theme of women's emancipation for a long time. He had a much sharper and more revealing novel, The Prostitute, which did not cause such heated protests, since it did not affect the interests of the bourgeoisie. The “Bachelorette” outraged the public (and not the entire public, but the “bags of money”) only because the unattractive lifestyle of the rich was described with photographic accuracy. Anatole France defended the writer, noting that "... in my opinion, the artist in his paintings remained far behind reality." He protested against the decision of the members of the Council of the Legion of Honor to deprive Victor Marguerite of well-deserved awards, recalled that two masterpieces that adorned France, Flaubert's Madame Bovary and Baudelaire's Flowers of Evil, were once persecuted. The book "The Bachelorette" stood in the same row. Victor Marguerite replied:

“To the members of the Council of the Order of the Legion of Honor.

Gracious sovereigns!

I thank you for the honor which, according to the authoritative judgment of Anatole France, the accusation against me does me. So, from now on, all writers - knights of the order must obey the force of arms and discipline. They will now know the consequences of freedom of thought.

I do not want to dispute with you the toy that your synclite distributes in the fashion of government changes or upon reaching seniority, and which you took from me for an offense against your honor. The comedy of this act will indelibly remain with you.

The persecution of the author made the book "The Bachelorette" a wonderful advertisement: for incomplete year Over 150,000 copies of the novel have been sold. The word "garcon" (the original sound of the title of the novel) has become a household word for girls, the collective image of which was Monica Lerbier. The book was immediately filmed (later two more film adaptations appeared - in 1936 and 1957). On the basis of the novel, Victor Marguerite wrote a play of the same name (1928), which ran in theaters with great success. The novel “The Bachelorette” was the first book in the trilogy “Woman on the Road”: in 1923 the second (“Comrade”) appeared, and in 1924 the final (“Creators of the Future. (Four.)”) book.

Mention should also be made of the novel Your Body Belongs to You (1927), in which the writer defended the right to free, conscious extramarital motherhood.

In the years between the two wars, Victor Marguerite, with all the strength of his authority as a writer and citizen, propagated the ideas of pacifism. He writes a damning publicistic book “The Last War. Criminals”, gives speeches “A call to conscience”, “Humane fatherland”, “Aristide Briand”, “War against war”, etc. The already mentioned studies “The Failure of the League of Nations dead body. League of Nations (March - September 1936), written under the impression of the complete inability of the League of Nations to become a guarantor of peace and security on Earth.

Victor Marguerite showed great interest in the Soviet Union. In 1936 he wrote an essay "Moscow, a new era", and in the last years of his life he worked on the tetralogy "The Birth of a New World". The writer died on March 23, 1942 in the city of Monestier at the age of 76.

V.V. Ermakov.

Victor Marguerite(Victor Margueritte, 1866-1942) - French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist and historian, who gained worldwide fame for the scandalous novel The Bachelorette (La Garçonne, 1922).

Son of Division General Jean-Auguste Margueritte and younger brother writer Fields Margherita.

Biography

Born in Algiers. In 1870 his father died heroically at Sedan.

He graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Lycée Henri-IV in Paris.

Start literary activity Margherita dates back to 1883, when he made his debut with a book of poems "The Lilac Branch" ("Brin de lilas").

From 1886 he served in the colonial troops in Africa and Mexico.

In 1891 he entered cavalry school Cadre noir in Saumur.

In 1896, with the rank of lieutenant of the dragoons, he retired, with the intention of devoting himself entirely to literature.

In 1898 he received the Order of the Legion of Honor (will be selected in 1922, in connection with the scandal with the "Bachelorette").

From 1906 to 1908 he was president of the Société des gens de lettres.

From 1896 to 1908 he writes in collaboration with his brother Paul, who publishes them joint works under your own name

In 1907, his first independent novel, The Prostitute (Prostituée; Russian edition - M., 1924), appears. The novel sparked allegations of pornography.

In 1922, the 1st book of the trilogy “The Woman on the Road” (“La femme en chemin”; Russian edition - M., 1925) - “The Bachelorette” (“La garçonne”, Russian translations - “The Bachelor Woman”, Pg., 1924; "Monica Lerbier", M., 1924), which is a huge success and is translated into all languages ​​of the world. Margherita is again accused of pornography, of undermining family foundations and stripped of the Legion of Honor.

In 1926, Victor Marguerite, together with the writer Armand Charpentier (1864-1949), founded the magazine "Evolution" ("Évolution"). This journal, petty-bourgeois-pacifist in direction, pays much attention to our Union, publishing articles by both foreign journalists and Soviet workers about the growth of industrialization and collectivization, about national question in the USSR and many others. others

Marguerite's novel "Your Body Belongs to You" ("Ton corps est à toi", - Russian translation, 1928) also had a great scandalous success.

Margherita's novel "Babylon" (1934) translated N.Ya. Mandelstam(M.: Goslitizdat, 1935).

In 1935, at the invitation of A.Ya. Aroseva visited the Soviet Union.

According to A. Pevzner, the author of an article about the writer in Literary Encyclopedia(V.6, 1932), in his work, Victor Marguerite expresses the ideology of the radical layers of the French petty bourgeoisie. Permanent Topics his numerous works - issues of everyday life and family, issues of gender relations in modern capitalist society.

His novels, such as The Prostitute and The Bachelorette, provide rich everyday material; but this material is given in a raw, unformed form, without proper conclusions. Served in calm, naturalistic tones, it loses its effectiveness, and Marguerite, from an accuser of bourgeois morals, becomes a supplier of "entertaining" reading with a purely sexual content. Seeing all the decay, all the rot and abomination capitalist society, it does not show the reasons for its decomposition. Marguerite considers capitalist society only in everyday terms and switches the class struggle to the struggle of the sexes. Such is his explanation of the causes of prostitution, such is the riot Monica in The Bachelorette, such is self-determination Anniki in "Comrade" ("Le Compagnon", 1923 - Russian. Per. "Sputnik", M., 1925), etc. Marguerite does not reach the end. His rebels eventually return to the path of virtue, and the paths of virtue turn out to be those forms of bourgeois life against which Marguerite initially rebels. Here again, the petty-bourgeois essence of the writer's work is clearly manifested: protesting against capitalist society, in which he cannot find a place for himself, at the same time he cannot get away from it anywhere, since the death of capitalism also means the disappearance of the conditions of petty-bourgeois existence. But even with all their petty-bourgeois limitations, Marguerite's novels hit hard on bourgeois France. He revealed those everyday sores that were carefully hidden.

One of the main works of Marguerite is the novel "Commune" ("La commune"), written by him in 1904 together with his brother Paul Marguerite. The idea of ​​the novel is horror before the war and before those who start it. Such a point of view is characteristic of petty-bourgeois humanism, which opposes pacifism of a purely biological order, i.e., the horror of war as an act of physical destruction of mankind, to a truly revolutionary understanding of war as a form of class struggle. In their novel, the Margherita brothers represent Paris Commune like a "martyr" in the face of the bourgeoisie. This clearly manifests the petty-bourgeois character of the work of the Marguerite brothers: not being able to give a specific, effective, revolutionary program, they were able to see in the world's first proletarian revolution only a symbol of sacrifice.

Marguerite's historical works: "On the edge of the abyss" ("Au bord du gouffre", 1919) and "Criminals" "Les criminels", 1925), show the writer's attitude to imperialist war. Instead of speaking sharply against the war, Marguerite took the intermediate position of the petty bourgeoisie. In "On the Edge of the Abyss" he points to the inability of the government as the cause of the world massacre, and in his later work - "Criminals" - he takes a sentimental-humanistic point of view.

(Russian translations of Victor Margerita's novels were also published in pre-revolutionary times)

• A prostitute. M., 1924.
• Gold. L.: Thought, 1924.
• Bachelor woman [:Bachelorette]. Pg., 1924.
• Monica Lerbier [: Bachelorette]. M.: Mospoligraf, 1924 (and other ed.).
• A woman on the road [: trilogy: "Bachelor Woman", "Satellite", "The Couple"]. M., 1925.
• Your body belongs to you. M., 1928.
• Babylon / Per. N. Khazina . Moscow: Goslitizdat, 1935.