Corinne; or, Italy (Annotated)

Madame de Staël's Corinne; or, Italy (1807) is at once a sentimental novel, a political meditation, a travelogue, and a manifesto for female genius. Through the tragic story of Corinne, the celebrated poet-improviser of Rome, and her love for the constrained Englishman Oswald, the novel stages a profound conflict between artistic freedom and social convention. Its richly descriptive prose transfor...