Yes, A is for Angelique, the series of novels by Sergeanne Golon (actually a husband-and-wife team: Serge did the research, Anne the writing) set in seventeenth-century France and, later on, the New World, following Angelique de Sance de Monteloup from rags to riches to rags to riches to rags…and so on. No man, no king and no sultan can resist the green-eyed, tawny-haired Angelique and she goes through men and marriages like a hot knife through butter. Some feminism is thrown into the mix: when times are tough, Angelique starts her own business, at one point owning a chain of chocolate shops. She can be predatory, manipulative, ruthless, but she is also a loving mother and an exceptionally devoted wife. As my 1961 paperback of the first book, The Marquise of the Angels, put it, Angelique was ‘half angel, half devil, wholly woman!’
When it came time to turn these books into movies, who could be found to portray this icon? First to be approached was Brigitte Bardot, then at the height of her fame and beauty, but she turned the role down. According to her autobiography, Initiales BB, when on location in Mexico, she came to regret it:
I have always loved to read, I can’t live without books, they’re an alter ego, a means of escape into dreams, illusions. Amongst all the rubbish I had packed was the Angelique series. Without even glancing at it, I had refused to film the adaptation. I could have kicked myself! That will teach me to make hasty final decisions. It’s a fault I have had all my life, and this combination of laziness, indifference and insouciance has played me more than one trick…I threw myself body and soul into the thriling adventures of the amazing Angelique, who was duly played in a masterful fashion by Michele Mercier.
Brigitte Bardot, Initiales BB: memoires, Editions Grasset & Fasquelle, 1996.
Michele Mercier played Angelique in five films and became as famous as Bardot as a result of the Angelique films, but she was more completely identified with that one role. Her latest volume of autobiography is entitled Je Ne Suis Pas Angelique [I am not Angelique].
It’s hard to say which of BB or MM would have made the better Angelique – they are both extremely beautiful, feminine, charismatic and very good at looking sulky. But it’s interesting that BB’s most famous film, And God Created Woman (1956), starred her in an ingenue role, whereas MM made her name in the role of the more mature Angelique.
Review of Angelique, Marquise des Anges [Angelique, Marquise of the Angels] (1964 film)
Stills from Angelique, Marquise des Anges [Angelique, Marquise of the Angels] (1964 film)
Review of Merveilleuse Angelique [Wonderful Angelique] (1965 film)
Review of Angelique et le Roy [Angelique and the King] (1966 film) – plus a Youtube clip which, if you haven’t read the book, requires some explanation despite the subtitles. What has happened is that Madame de Montespan, Louis XIV’s powerful mistress, fearing that he is falling in love with Angelique, has got her maid, Mlle Desoeillets, to get Angelique’s maid to put out a nightie for her which is impregnated with poison and will kill on contact. The leaves the maid is holding are meant to protect her from contact with the nightie. But Angelique has survived a lot by this point and she is more than equal to the occasion. Incidentally, her costume is completely wrong – this is supposed to be the 1670s, but those sleeves are 18th century and in fact the whole dress is very 18th century in cut.
Stills from Angelique et le Roy [Angelique and the King] (1966 film)
Review of Indomptable Angelique [Untameable Angelique] (1967 film)
Review of Angelique et le Sultan [Angelique and the Sultan] (1968)
Stills from Angelique et le Sultan [Angelique and the Sultan] (1968 film)
The Angelique books, still in print in many countries, have now helped three generations of girls to grow up. Is she a positive role model? I’d say overwhelmingly yes. No matter what life threw at her – and she had to deal with everything from rape to a trial to bereavement to bankruptcy – she picked herself up, dusted herself down and set off to climb her next mountain. She was superb at getting whatever it was she wanted. The rollicking plot may not be realistic, but Angelique’s determination and courage always are.
Unfortunately the official Angelique site seems to have gone offline, but there is a tribute site, Brigitte Collet’s Monteloup, which has a wonderful collection of book covers.
This post was brought to you by Historical Tapestry’s Alphabet in Historical Fiction Challenge. Read HT’s review of Angelique here.
