SOURCE: “Forays into Fiction: Delphine,” in Germaine de Staël Revisited, Twayne Publishers, 1994, pp. 64-76.

In the following excerpt, Besser surveys the story, theme, and critical reception of Delphine.

Staël's two principal novels were to earn her spectacular success. Her first full-length work of fiction, and her only experiment with the epistolary form,¹ was the hugely popular Delphine. Recapitulating themes touched on in her short stories, Delphine has a well-developed if convoluted plot, presents a number of sharply defined characters, exemplifies social criticism at its most daring, and marks Staël's emergence as a best-selling writer. The book's conception dates from April 1800. Staël began writing that summer, as she apprised Adélaïde de Pastoret on 9 June 1800: “I am writing a novel … and preparing for a literary career. Contrary to the usual sequence, I started with generalities and have now embarked on a work of the...