Madame Considerant’s Masochism and Suicidal Impulses

Madame Considerant probably kept her husband from complete mental collapse during these trying days. Julie Considerant had always been a source of strength and a faithful ally to her husband. Far from hindering his work, she encouraged him in his socialist activities. In 1842, for example, during a political crisis in Paris, she wrote to him declaring:

“Your entire life must be consecrated to the movement and I will hang myself immediately if I cause you to take a false route. . . . The more rugged the path, the more necessary it becomes to take such a path.”

Source: Rondel V. Davidson, "Victor Considérant and the Failure of La Réunion," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 76 (January 1973).