Paul and Virginia (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Regency Romance ClassicBy Bernardin de Saint-Pierre
Length5h 15m
About this audiobook
Set on the luxuriant Île de France (Mauritius), Paul and Virginia (1788) narrates the innocent upbringing and tragic love of two children raised outside the corruptions of European society. Its prose blends pastoral idyll, sentimental fiction, and philosophical romance, translating Rousseauian ideals of natural virtue into an exotic colonial landscape. Yet beneath its limpid simplicity lies a meditation on class, religion, empire, and the destructive intrusion of social convention upon instinctive goodness, making the novella a key work of late Enlightenment sensibility and pre-Romantic feeling. Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, a French engineer, traveler, and disciple of Rousseau, drew directly on his years in the Indian Ocean and his suspicion of metropolitan artificiality. His scientific curiosity about nature, moral critique of inequality, and fascination with providential design all shape the book's vivid botany, spiritual atmosphere, and opposition between natural affection and civilized vanity. Readers interested in the origins of Romanticism, colonial pastoral, or the literature of feeling will find Paul and Virginia both historically revealing and emotionally forceful. Its pathos may be unmistakably eighteenth-century, but its questions about innocence, social constraint, and the ethics of civilization remain deeply resonant.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes.
- The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists.
- A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing.
- A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings.
- Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.0 (23)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon
GenreLiterary Classics, General Fiction
Length5 hrs 15 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateMar 11, 2022
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Marianela (Annotated)
6Paul and Virginia (pt. 2)
2Introduction
7Analysis
3Synopsis
8Reflection
4Historical Context
9Memorable Quotes
5Paul and Virginia (pt. 1)
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
These Precious DaysAnn Patchett11h 14m4.5 (45.2K)$29 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m4.6 (9.3K)$18 · $0.00
The Complete Histories / History Plays of William Shakespeare (Annotated)William Shakespeare29h 42m4.6 (2.3K)$1.99 · $0.00
Braving the TruthRachel Held Evans11h 31m4.7 (359)$29 · $0.00
The Old Man and the Sea (Annotated)Ernest Hemingway4h 27m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
Twelfth Night (The Unabridged Play) + The Classic Biography (Annotated)William Shakespeare, Sidney Lee16h 38m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
Henry V (The Play, Historical Background and Analysis of the Character in the Play)William Shakespeare, William Hazlitt8h 40m4.6 (1.3K)$1 · $0.00
H. P. LOVECRAFT Ultimate Collection: Novellas, Short Stories, Poetry & Essays (Annotated)H. P. Lovecraft12h 28m4.6 (2.3K)$2 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 54m4.5 (10.6K)$2 · $0.00
TORAH - Bilingual Edition: English/Hebrew (Annotated)Max Margolis, JPS28h 26m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
Betty Crocker picture cooky bookBetty Crocker, Inc. General Mills2h 13m4.5 (6.5K)$1 · $0.00
The Complete Tales of Beatrix PotterBeatrix Potter3h 36m4.5 (75K)$3 · $0.00
Crime and Punishment (The Unabridged Garnett Translation) (Annotated)Fyodor Dostoevsky24h 25m4.5 (15.4K)$1.99 · $0.00
The North American IndianEdward S. Curtis, Frederick Webb Hodge6h4.5 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Picture of Dorian Gray: The Uncensored 13 Chapter Version + The Revised 20 Chapter Version (Annotated)Oscar Wilde16h 12m4.5 (2.8K)$1.99 · $0.00
Grimoire Of The Everyday WitchIsadora Lys / Virginia Santos5h 35m4.5 (3.9K)$9 · $0.00
Winnie-the-PoohAlan Alexander Milne2h 52m4.5 (401.1K)$3 · $0.00
Sitting PrettyRebekah Taussig7h 33m4.5 (18.9K)$26 · $0.00
The Poetic Edda & The Prose EddaSnorri Sturluson, Saemund Sigfusson9h 34m4.5 (4K)$1 · $0.00
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
Something Like LoveBeverly Jenkins10h 21m4.6 (2.7K)$29 · $0.00
Black History CollectionFrederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois27h 9m4.6 (2.6K)$18 · $0.00
The Old Man and the Sea (Annotated)Ernest Hemingway4h 27m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
White HotIlona Andrews13h 18m4.5 (136.9K)$5 · $0.00
The Ghost by the Billabong (The Matilda Saga, #5)Jackie French14h 58m4.6 (773)$33 · $0.00
Cast in BloodMichelle Sagara16h 35m4.6 (607)$33 · $0.00
The Captain Blood Trilogy (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini29h 20m4.6 (1K)$3 · $0.00
Ship of the Line (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith11h 13m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
The George Orwell CollectionGeorge Orwell24h 46m4.5 (14.4K)$12 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 38m4.5 (9.2K)$2 · $0.00
Driving ForceElle James4h 58m4.6 (407)$20 · $0.00
When God Calls the HeartBrian Bird, Michelle Cox3h 24m4.6 (439)$10 · $0.00
Five Little IndiansMichelle Good10h 34m4.5 (64.5K)$29 · $0.00
Lolth's WarriorR. A. Salvatore13h 20m4.6 (2.4K)$33 · $0.00
The Things We Cannot SayKelly Rimmer13h 48m4.5 (359.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du BoisHonoree Fanonne Jeffers29h 49m4.5 (58K)$8 · $0.00
You may also like
RuthElizabeth Gaskell18h 35m4.0 (13.2K)$2 · $0.00
Love and Freindship and other Early WorksJane Austen3h 33m3.7 (12.1K)$3.50 · $0.00
Anne of Green Gables: Anne Shirley Series, Unabridged (Annotated)Lucy Maud Montgomery12h 54m4.4 (975.5K)$1.99 · $0.00
Anne's House of DreamsLucy Maud Montgomery8h 38m4.3 (136.6K)$1.20 · $0.00
The White PeacockD. H. Lawrence14h 9m3.5 (1.5K)$2.30
The Complete Little Women SeriesLouisa May Alcott43h 4m4.5 (14.6K)$2 · $0.00
Tess of the D'urbervillesThomas Hardy17h 4m4.0 (610.2K)$1 · $0.00
First Love and Other StoriesIvan Turgenev4h 5m4.3 (2.6K)$6 · $0.00
The Complete Works of Guy De Maupassant (A Bilingual Edition) (Annotated)Guy de Maupassant232h 38m4.5 (2.3K)$1.99 · $0.00
Katherine Mansfield: Complete WorksKatherine Mansfield85h 31m4.3 (306)$1 · $0.00
Salted with FireGeorge MacDonald7h 16m4.3 (359)$1 · $0.00
KholstomerLeo Tolstoy1h 9m4.1 (1.8K)$2.30
Anne of Green Gables + Anne of Avonlea + Anne of the Island (Annotated)Lucy Maud Montgomery31h4.6 (6.6K)$2 · $0.00
Pierre & Luce (Annotated)Romain Rolland3h 59m3.9 (10.8K)$0.99 · $0.00
The Complete Novels of Lucy Maud MontgomeryLucy Maud Montgomery202h 58m4.6 (108.2K)$1 · $0.00
The Awakening and Selected Short StoriesKate Chopin7h 44m4.0 (17.3K)$17
Washington SquareHenry James7h 9m3.8 (32K)$2.30
The Torrents of SpringIvan Sergeevich Turgenev9h 28m4.0 (6.8K)$2.30 · $0.00
Always Forever MaybeAnica Mrose Rissi6h 15m3.5 (1.9K)$24 · $0.00
The WoodlandersThomas Hardy15h 2m4.1 (16.1K)$2.30 · $0.00