Alfred de Musset was a French dramatist, poet and novelist. He was born in Paris on 11December 1810 into a family of the nobility and was a bright child, excelling at school. In a letter dated 23 September 1827, Alfred told his classmate Paul Foucher, “je ne voudrais pas écrire ou je voudrais être Shakespeare ou Schiller” (“I don’t want to write, unless I can be Shakespeare or Schiller”) (Lefebvre, 1970, 8). He came close to realizing this ambition: his play

Lorenzaccio

is widely considered to be the French equivalent of one of Shakespeare’s masterpieces.

In his twenties Musset joined a group of young Romantic writers in Paris, known as the “Cénacle”, associated with the review La Muse française. The Cénacle boasted such literary figures as Victor Hugo, Emile

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Citation: McRobert, Sandra. "Alfred de Musset". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 May 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3274, accessed 19 March 2024.]

3274 Alfred de Musset 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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