Madeleine and Comte de Vaudrec

Madeleine wanted to be an equal partner in a marriage. With Forrestier and Georges she could work unofficially as a journalist. She would be financially comfortable with Vaudrec but unsatisfied. Also, maybe the age difference (30-40+ years?) was too much, even in era when it wasn't unusual for women to marry much older men.

i didnt understand anything about Madeleine's character. its never explained in book why she was doing what she was doing. in case of every other character we had their motivations, desires and feelings explained to us but very little information about Madeleine. i am wondering why author made it that way

it seemed that she orchestrated everything that happened in book. if not her and her knowledge of articles to write, journal wouldnt have gotten famous, that played the role in deceiving public about war in Africa, which made possible money making scenario. also she helped George from the begging, she introduced and told him about De Marelle, told him about Suzanne and her mother. its like she planned everything but didnt get enough closure. just felt something was missing about her character from the book

so in her case we have to deduce everything for ourselves so thats my interpretation of her: she was poor as a child. so she acquired some skills that helped her to make friends and contacts very easily with powerful people. also she was clever so she understood how politics worked. so she used all this knowledge and channeled it as writing articles in journal. but she needed constant flow of intel so she had to stay promiscuous. her information finding capability was her only card that gave her power so she had to always use it to stay sharp i guess. and also thats how she self-actualized herself so she couldnt say no to that. so any scenario that would have involved her not doing her work anymore was not an option for her. her work required weak spouse that have given her that kind of freedom and also published articles for her

in any case George didnt care about that madeleine's passion, his only way of climbing the ladder was through other marriage so thats what he did eventually. and most amazing is that Madeleine seemed to know this and she even helped him to do this with mother and daughter. in the end, i know George was our main character but for me Madeleine is far more interesting character because of her role in the book and of her skills. and its shame that we got so little actual information about her