In The Marquise, George Sand reacts against the tradition of the libertine novels of the 19th century by making the Marquise the narrator of the story, thus giving her control of the action. Sand deconstructs the myth of the seducer by making Lelio, the hero, the subject of the Marquise's desire. Pauline's two female protagonists represent diametrically opposed 19th-century female roles. Pauline is trapped by the bourgeois strictures of the time, while her friend, Laurence, an actress and intellectual, is independent both financially and emotionally.