Jules Verne: The Life Behind the Dream

The year of the French Revolution was also the year that slavery was abolished and also of personal liberation for Verne. He escaped from Nantes to live in Paris (Costello 2). “Many boys have thought of "running away to the sea." Many young intellectuals have thought of refusing well-paid work for the doubtful chance of a literary career. Jules Verne did both” (Evans 1). He first ran away as a boy, but now in Paris he lived as a pauper with one of his best friends. They were so poor that they only had one respectable suit between them, in which they took turns going to parties. On one such occasion Jules met the most famous French authors of his time; Victor Hugo and Alexandra Dumas (Peare 6). Both, had a notable influence on his life, but Dumas took an interest in him and read his works. Dumas encouraged him to pursue a career as a writer. Jules took Dumas' advice but found it difficult without money. For Jules the life of quiet desperation seemed endless and he was almost convinced that he should join some of his friends of the Science Club in their planned expedition to the gold fields of California.

Things began to change for Jules when one of his café buddies announced that he had won the hand of an heiress and wanted Verne to be his best man. Jules had thought that marriage was a death sentence. But had a change of heart, however, when he thought a union with a rich heiress could allow him time to write. He wrote his mother expressing a desire to wed and his desire for wealth. She was very pleased that her son was back on the path that his parents had set for him. She replied quickly with news of an unmarried girl from a wealthy family in Nantes. Jules returned to Nantes and swept her off her feet with the application of some of the more romantic playwright plots of this handsome yet dangerous young poet. Soon they announced their betrothal. During the rehearsal dinner Jules indulged in too much of the fine wine. He offended his future bride and all in the room with a bit of his Parisian bachelor wit. The wedding was called off.

After pursuing other young women, Verne was considered a gold hunter and became depressed. Keeping his word, he left Nantes to attend the wedding of his friend. He knew that this would surely make him more depressed. When the carriage arrived to take him to the wedding he was delightfully surprised by the other passengers. A young widow with two small daughters sat across from him. She was the bride's sister. Jules enjoyed her wit, delicate manner and calm rational mind. It was love at first sight for Verne. Not knowing she was widowed he asked the groom if her husband would soon be joining the party. The groom informed him that her husband had died two years earlier. He was very pleased at the prospect of courting the widow, Honorine, even though neither of them had any money.

The thought of supporting a family concerned Jules. Honorine's brother proposed a business venture as a stock broker. The cost to buy a quarter of the firm was 50,000 francs but he would earn 15,000 francs a year. After much persuasion, Jules convinced his father to give him the money. “In December 1856, Jules entered the office of the Eggly brothers, after depositing a check for 50,000 franc. He was now in a position to marry Honorine” (Becker 5).

They had a quiet wedding and the new family moved into an apartment in Paris. This proved to be the perfect location for Jules. He was only a few blocks from the firm and the library. As a stockbroker, Jules was free to devote many hours a day to his literary dream. After working a few hours each day at the brokerage firm, he would spend the rest of the day at the library reading and writing. During that time there was an explosion of exploration and scientific advancements. Jules had a mind for both.

In the past, Jules had devoted his time to writing plays, none of which lasted more than forty performances. Despite his lack of success, he found his new life was happy, a feeling Jules had never really known. This was a time in his life that Jules found his “plays” drawer was often closed but his “science” drawer was open. He began to imagine a way to make a balloon capable of a long distance flights that would also be easily maneuvered. He drew the blueprint and his brother-in-law, who was a mathematician, checked it for errors. He couldn't find any flaws and encouraged Verne to continue with his invention. He wrote his new idea into his scientific manuscript, A History of Ballooning. He began sending his manuscript to publishers. Jules became discouraged and depressed after receiving several rejection letters and cast his manuscript into the fire and left the room. Honorine recovered his writings and hid them away. When she found her husband she gave him some of his own advice and reminded him that he couldn't give up, he had promised he would be an established writer and a success by the time he was thirty-five. She believed in the then thirty-four year old author, and Jules decided to give it one more try.