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Article: Jean-Marie Le Pen and the French paradox. (Foreign Affairs).(retrospective view of French politics)
- Article from:
- Quadrant
- Article date:
- July 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Quadrant Magazine Company, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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LAST YEAR the great French film-maker Eric Rohmer released his latest film, L'Anglaise et le Duc (The Lady and the Duke in anglophone countries). Set in Revolutionary France, it is based on the diaries of a Scottish woman named Grace Elliott (she was known as "English" by the French of the time, who then as now rather gallingly make little difference between the inhabitants of the Isles).
Grace Elliott, an intelligent, spirited woman, was for a time the mistress of the infamous Duke of Orleans, cousin of Louis XVI. This liberal, revolutionary grand seigneur signed the warrant for his own cousin's execution, thus exemplifying in one hideous gesture the fratricidal ...