The Siege of Paris, the Global Pandemic, and Possibility – Paula Butterfield

One of the benefits of reading historical fiction is that we can apply what we learn from history to our lives today. This talk will compare the plight of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 crisis. By looking at the issues Berthe Morisot, the protagonist of La Luministe, faced during the German Siege of Paris—deprivation, illness, and, ultimately, transformation—we can explore how to look at dark times as precursors to possibilities. Just three years after the seige, the Impressionists held their first exhibition in 1874. Berthe Morisot went on to an internationally successful career. Following her example, perhaps we, too, can come out of our third trimester of this pandemic reborn.

Paula Butterfield