Episode Summary
Executive Summary: This episode of Stuff You Missed in History Class traces Colette’s early life and the scandalous first half of her adulthood: her upbringing, marriage to older journalist Willy, exploitation as a ghostwriter, public sexual and gender nonconformity, affairs with women including Missy de Morny, and her gradual move toward independence as a writer and performer. The hosts stress both Colette’s brilliance and the troubling power dynamics around her relationships.
Main Topics: Colette’s childhood and family background (Priority: 5/5): The episode opens with Colette’s 1873 birth in rural Burgundy, her mixed ancestry, her parents’ financial decline, and the unconventional but contradictory influence of her mother, who encouraged freedom but still expected marriage and family. Marriage to Willy and loss of autonomy (Priority: 5/5): At 16 Colette met journalist Henri Gauthier-Villars (Willy), married him at 20, and entered a controlling relationship marked by age disparity, financial dependence, and later allegations of sexual coercion. Ghostwriting, the Claudine series, and exploitation (Priority: 5/5): Willy used ghostwriters and marketed Colette’s Claudine material under his own name, building a profitable brand while Colette received little or no credit or money for the work she actually wrote. Queer relationships and gender performance (Priority: 4/5): Colette’s affairs with women, especially Georgie Raoul-Duval and Missy de Morny, are presented as central to her public scandal and to her exploration of identity, dress, and performance beyond rigid gender norms. Stage career and public scandal (Priority: 4/5): Colette moved into mime and stage performance, culminating in the notorious 1907 Moulin Rouge pantomime with Missy, which provoked outrage because of its erotic lesbian imagery and gender transgression. Separation, divorce, and literary independence (Priority: 5/5): The episode follows Colette’s legal separation from Willy, his sale of Claudine rights without her knowledge, and her increasing independence through writing, dance training, and new relationships. Relationship with Henri de Jouvenel and motherhood (Priority: 4/5): The first half ends with Colette’s affair and marriage to journalist Henri de Jouvenel, the birth of their daughter, and her conflicted, emotionally distant approach to motherhood and aging.
Key Arguments: Colette was both a self-mythologizing public figure and a serious writer whose life and fiction were deliberately intertwined, making her difficult to pin down biographically. Some relationships that were scandalous in Colette’s era would now be understood as abusive or non-consensual, especially the age-gap and power-imbalanced dynamics with Willy. Willy benefited enormously from Colette’s labor, using her writing to build a commercial brand while withholding credit and income from her. Colette’s sexual relationships with women were not just sensational gossip; they were part of her artistic and personal development and connected to broader queer/trans history. Her performance choices, clothing, and self-presentation functioned as acts of gender nonconformity and social rebellion. Despite her eventual status as a French cultural icon, the episode emphasizes how often Colette’s freedom came at the cost of exploitation, instability, and public humiliation.
Data Points: Birth date: January 28, 1873 - Colette was born Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette on this date in Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye, Burgundy. Age at meeting Willy: 16 - Colette met Henri Gauthier-Villars in 1889 when she was 16 and he was 30. Age at marriage: 20 - Colette married Willy on May 15, 1893. Willy’s age at marriage: 35 - Willy was 35 when he married Colette. Year Claudine à l’École published: 1900 - Colette’s first Claudine novel was published under Willy’s name. Year legal separation of property began: 1905 - Colette and Willy entered a séparation de biens to protect assets and debts. Year Moulin Rouge pantomime: 1907 - Colette and Missy performed their notorious erotic pantomime at the Moulin Rouge on January 3, 1907. Year copyright sale discovered: 1909 - Colette learned Willy had sold the Claudine copyrights without telling her. Year Colette moved in with Henri de Jouvenel: 1911 - Her relationship with Willy and Missy had ended by this point. Marriage to Henri de Jouvenel: December 18, 1912 - Colette married Henri after his wife agreed to a divorce. Daughter’s birth: July 3, 1913 - Colette’s daughter, Colette Renée de Jouvenel, was born then. Length of relationship with Missy: About 1905–1912 - The episode states their relationship lasted until about 1912. Duration of Colette and Willy’s marriage: 1893–early 20th century divorce period - Their marriage ended after a highly public, lawsuit-filled separation and divorce.
Pivotal Quotes: "I have discovered an astonishing young girl. Do you know who she is? She is exactly me before my marriage." — Colette: Colette describing her identification with Claudine and the autobiographical roots of her first major novel. "an impulsive child without any moral feeling." — Missy de Morny: Missy’s letter to Willy describing 33-year-old Colette during their overlapping relationship period. "the only person she could count on in the world was herself." — Colette's mother: Advice Colette received amid the public unraveling of her marriage and legal disputes.
Implications: The episode reframes Colette as both a literary innovator and a figure shaped by coercive relationships, gender rebellion, and self-fashioned celebrity. It invites listeners to separate myth from evidence and reconsider how we judge historical “scandal.”