Abstract: As pairs of names go, Sand and Mérimée bring to mind a particular fiasco that would merit relegation to oblivion if a reading of Mauprat and Lokis, where each offers a variation on La Belle et la Bête, did not reveal the gravity of the misunderstanding. Sand diminishes desire by moralizing, while Mérimée presents an amoral version of the story. Exaltation of feeling versus ironic affirmation of the primacy of instincts: a disagreement connected to the delicate fortune of Rousseau among the Romantics.
