Since getting divorced, having just completed her memoirs, Baroness Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin (previously Baroness Dudevant, successful and notorious writer of sensational romance novels) has been living in Paris under the pseudonym
George Sand. A driven and aggressive woman, who wears men's clothing, Sand has had a string of lovers, regularly discarded when she inevitably becomes bored with them. Her latest amorous pursuit is of the
consumptive and sensitive brilliant composer,
Frédéric Chopin, whose music she admired greatly before meeting him. Sand's friend, Countess
Marie d'Agoult, the mistress of Chopin's friend, renowned composer
Franz Liszt, advises Sand that to win the timid and frail Chopin she must act like a man pursuing a woman; like a woman, Chopin will eventually yield to the stronger personality. Knowing that aggression will repel Chopin, the jealous d'Agoult manipulates to impede a relationship between Chopin and Sand. D'Agoult resents Sand's having avoided the stigma she herself has suffered as Liszt's mistress. Sand meets Chopin in 1836 in the French country house of the Duchess d'Antan, an aspiring
socialite who wishes to create in the provinces a stylish
salon frequented by the artistic elite. To the exasperation of her dim, hunting-obsessed husband, the duchess invites luminaries from Paris, including Chopin, Liszt, the writer
Alfred de Musset, and painter
Eugène Delacroix. Delacroix blatantly seduces the flattered duchess while painting her portrait. Perpetually lacking money, the luminaries accept the invitation to live in luxury without expense while just having to be "brilliant at dinner." Determined to meet Chopin, Sand brazenly invites herself and her children to the house party, unaware that two of her troublesome former lovers are also houseguests, de Musset and novelist
Félicien Mallefille. Mallefille, her children's tutor, also came uninvited in pursuit of Sand. Encountering Sand after a riding accident, the duke is grateful to the "young lad" who performs the unpleasant task of shooting the duke's injured horse, only to subsequently find out that the "lad" was George Sand herself. Sand writes a passionate love letter to the determinedly evasive Chopin, giving it to their mutual friend, d'Agoult, to deliver on her behalf. Tearing off Sand's signature, d'Agoult signs her own name to the letter. Chopin is alarmed, wary of being overwhelmed, particularly by his friend's lover. The duchess so idolizes her illustrious guests that, emulating Sand, she dons her husband's clothes, completely oblivious to her guests' disdain of her fawning over them. Meanwhile, Sand puts on a dress in the colors of the Polish flag to get Chopin's attention. To provide entertainment in "gratitude" to their hosts, the luminaries stage a short play, written by de Musset, satirizing the aristocracy and specifically mocking their hosts. Chopin protests this breach of manners, while a prank instigated by Sand's children causes a fireplace explosion, injuring their hosts and adding injury to insult. Having overstayed their welcome, the guests leave. Maliciously, d'Agoult falsely tells Chopin that Sand has made a wager for money that she can seduce him, making him even more resolved to avoid Sand, particularly after she declares her love to him. In her declaration, Sand recites a phrase from the letter to which d'Agoult signed her name. After buying a copy of Sand's memoir, Chopin finds the phrase from Sand's letter to him in the book, convincing him that Sand wrote the letter and exposing d'Agoult's treachery. Chopin tells the persistent Sand that his weak and failing body is detached from his spirit, resigned to its fate and unfit for an amorous relationship. Sand insists that she will bolster his health and resolve with her strength. Having previously challenged erstwhile rival de Musset to a duel, Mallefille now challenges the bemused Chopin, who faints during the face-off. Grabbing Chopin's pistol, Sand shoots Mallefille, finishing the duel. Ignoring the wounded Mallefille, Sand nurses Chopin back to health, warming their relationship. Ostensibly because d'Agoult brought them together, but vengefully, Sand convinces Chopin to dedicate his
Études to d'Agoult. Inferring by the dedication that d'Agoult has had an affair with Chopin, Liszt quarrels with his mistress. Sand and Chopin depart for convalescence in
Mallorca, relieved to escape the competitive nature of artistic alliances and jealousies in Paris. ==Cast==