Évariste de Lansac, Valentine's fiancé, is a greedy character who pursues marriage for land and wealth.
However, while marriage between Valentine and Benedict would be based on genuine love, it is also forbidden by their class differences.
She is able to draw, sing, and dance, but does not have knowledge of the world beyond what would prepare her for a domestic life as a wife.
In the Revue de Romans, an 1839 reviewer of the novel noted Sand's unique use of the romance genre.
"Valentine is the work of a woman author who depicts in this novel, and with unexpected vigor for this often-silly genre of writing, the trials and tribulations of a woman whom society has condemned to waste away her days in a place whether neither the people nor their ages are varied, and neither love nor affection are easily obtained; in short, it is a hyperbolic critique of the institution of marriage, but it is a charming work of great interest and poetry."