“Justifier Voltaire” Staël’s reassessing of polemical writing

Voltaire is traditionally considered a counter-model for Staël: the famous denunciation of “persiflage” in De l’Allemagne confirms to what point the author of Candide represents not only a philosophy far away from Staël’s values and principles, but also a taste for controversy that she cannot approve for ethical reasons. The question, though, might be trickier because Staël, always questioning Voltaire, thinks controversy rather than she blames it.