A very tangential point. I would not translate "violenté" by "violated". It simply means being the target of violence, getting harmed. The author states that it

A very tangential point. I would not translate "violenté" by "violated". It simply means being the target of violence, getting harmed. The author states that it doesn't imply a sexual assault yet reads a bit too much into the original text. Edit : actually, the French language has evolved since then and back when the letter was written, "violenté" could indeed mean (sexually) violated, like our modern "violé". My bad.