PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 Travels with Henriette-Sylvie de Molière: A Virtual Journey through Seventeenth-Century France P OLLY T. M ANGERSON D E P AUL U NIVERSITY (C HICAGO , IL) In the final pages of her novel Mémoires de la vie de Henriette-Sylvie de Molière (1671-1674), author Madame de Villedieu (née Marie-Catherine Desjardins, 1640-1683) chooses to end her eponymous heroine’s story in a very unexpected place. Henriette-Sylvie de Molière, who has heretofore lived a life of travel and adventure, and who has spent the majority of her adulthood trying to avoid confinement, ultimately finds contentment within the secluded space of a convent in Cologne. Henriette-Sylvie is gregarious and seductive, and she has charmed and enraged both men and women alike as she has journeyed from one end of France to the other. The reader is surprised to discover that this pathological thrill-seeker would seek peace in the solitude of a convent. Yet Henriette-Sylvie writes to her benefactor “Votre Altesse” that she intends to stay there indefinitely: Je me trouve en état de mener une vie tranquille et assez aisée, dans quelque condition que je veuille choisir. Mais, Madame, si je continue dans l’humeur où je suis, je n’en prendrais jamais d’autre que celle où je suis. Je la trouve douce, le couvent ne me paraît plus ce qu’il m’avait paru dans une vue éloignée, et je pourrais dire qu’il ne manquerait rien au repos de mon esprit. (262-63) Over the course of her adventures, Henriette-Sylvie has been persistently harassed by jealous lovers, rumormongers, and people who would wish her harm. Now, she finally has an opportunity to rest and reflect in a space where she feels safe. Although modern-day scholars of Villedieu’s works have questioned the sincerity of Henriette-Sylvie’s decision to remain in the convent (Kuizenga 256, Wise 142, Woskinsky 189), it is undeniable that this period of seclusion plays a crucial role in this character’s development, for it is from this small space that she picks up the pen and begins to write. Polly T. Mangerson PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 404 Alone, within four stone walls, Henriette-Sylvie de Molière brings her story to life for her readers. This closing convent image would seem utterly foreign to today’s university-level students, were it not for the events of the past two years. The COVID-19 pandemic forced people across the globe into isolation, and our bustling lives were suddenly confined to the space of four walls and a screen. We retreated into our homes in order to remain safe from the threat of the virus raging outside. As a result, our society has become familiar with solitude and with the range of emotions that accompany it: some people feel the need to escape, while others may be at a point in their lives where, like Henriette-Sylvie, they crave rest and reflection. This is only one of the ways in which Villedieu’s text can still resonate with a modern audience almost 350 years after its publication. The present study examines the application of the Mémoires de la vie de Henriette-Sylvie de Molière within the context of an online university course. First, I provide a rationale for teaching this particular novel to 21 st -century students. Next, I discuss several methods by which the Mémoires can be adapted for virtual course delivery. Finally, I present outcomes based on the results of an initial iteration of a French language and literature seminar designed around the Mémoires. By sharing this pedagogical experiment with my colleagues, I hope to highlight the potential of Villedieu’s text as an avenue to provide a robust, holistic, student-centered experience about seventeenth-century France. Furthermore, my study demonstrates how this text can be explored in such a way that it complements the increasing (and sometimes necessary) demand for technology-enhanced teaching and learning. RATIONALE — Why teach this text in the 21 st century? As dix-septièmistes, we are all well aware of the incomparable richness of literature that our century has to offer our students. This wealth of authors, genres, and movements can present a unique challenge to the 17 th century scholars who seek to communicate their research in their teaching. We must condense so much material into a semester or quarter, and many of us must also consider that our students are still learning French as a second language. In order to ensure student success, we have to narrow our focus and choose a limited number of texts. The difficulty of primary text selection becomes all the more problematic for professors in smaller university French programs, as they may only get an opportunity to teach in their specialty once every few years. It is tempting to over-load our syllabi out of good intentions to deliver a well-rounded course experience that captures Travels with Henriette-Sylvie de Molière PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 405 the spirit of le grand siècle. I have found that building a course around the framework of Villedieu’s pseudo-autobiographical novel offers a creative solution to this problem. Perhaps the most obvious reason that the Mémoires is an ideal text for 21 st -century students is because of the singularity of its author. This novel represents the production of a professional female writer, a woman well ahead of her time. Scholars of Madame de Villedieu have noted how extraordinary it was that she managed to earn her living by her pen (DeJean 130, Goldsmith 111, Kuizenga 251, Lalande 15), and that she had “the audacity to sign her works” (Klein 87) whereas her contemporaries such as Mme de Lafayette published anonymously. Villedieu was the first woman to have her play Le Favori commissioned to be performed before Louis XIV at Versailles in 1665 (Lalande 232), and the first female author to obtain a royal pension in 1676 (Démoris 35). These statistics alone set her apart as a pioneer in Early Modern women’s writing. Moreover, Villedieu was a versatile writer: over the course of her 20-year career, she published a prolific and diverse corpus of works that included theatre, nouvelles, and novels. Since she depended on writing for her livelihood, her books had to sell, and so her works reflect the tastes and sensibilities of her readers (Gethner NP, Wise 143). Furthermore, Villedieu’s voice is unique because she drew liberally upon personal experience to compose her fiction (Goldsmith 111, Kuizenga 251-53, Lalande 22). The storyline of the Mémoires contains several episodes that mirror events in the author’s own life. For example, Henriette-Sylvie’s tempestuous, on-again, off-again relationship with her straying lover the Comte d’Englesac bears a strong resemblance to Villedieu’s volatile relationship with Antoine de Boësset de Villedieu. The latter had sold their private love letters to the publisher Claude Barbin (which appeared in 1668 without the author’s consent under the title Lettres et billets galants): Henriette-Sylvie de Molière suffers a similar misfortune in the fifth letter of the Mémoires (Démoris 192-93). Like her protagonist, Madame de Villedieu was a “notorious woman” (DeJean 130) who was plagued by scandal because of her unconventional lifestyle. The quasi-autobiographical elements of this text encourage students to develop a connection with this strong female author as well as with her lively fictional alter-ego. In addition to weaving anecdotes from her own life into her literary creations, Madame de Villedieu cleverly incorporates real people and events from the 17 th century into the Mémoires. Some of these references are as simple as a coincidental name: for example, Henriette-Sylvie’s adopted surname of Molière was not chosen at random (Villedieu was friends with Louis XIV’s royal playwright, and his troupe had performed her plays at the Polly T. Mangerson PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 406 Hôtel de Bourgogne). Early in Henriette-Sylvie’s adventures, she escapes over the garden wall of a convent in Avignon by climbing on the back of a mysterious man named Fouquet. Regardless of this character’s true identity, readers at the time would have immediately associated him with Louis XIV’s disgraced minister of finance. Villedieu’s strategy to attract a cultivated 17 th century readership can now serve as an important resource for the 21 st century professor. The Mémoires’ numerous references to historical people, places, and events naturally facilitate an interdisciplinary study of le grand siècle that transcends literary study and broadens the scope of the text. Faith Beasley argues in the introduction to the volume Teaching Seventeenthand Eighteenth-Century French Women Writers that this feminine perspective on written history is critical to our understanding of the past: Women were not historians in the traditional sense until the twentieth century, and thus could not shape the discourse or vision of the past as directly as their male counterparts. Women did seek, however, to inscribe their experience onto the historical record, and studying their works forces students to question how the past is constructed, by whom, and for what purposes. (4) As we know, many American universities are encouraging interdisciplinary approaches to foreign language literature, in order to develop a wider range of transferrable skills and attract a larger student base. Through a close and contextualized reading of the Mémoires, today’s students are invited to explore history, geography, culture, and society, all while developing the critical thinking skills that are an essential component of literary analysis. Another aspect of the Mémoires that makes it interesting to teach is its hybrid genre, which Donna Kuizenga describes as “a complex creation. Neither autobiography, nor novel, nor memoirs, nor epistolary novel, the text is rather one that has something of all these genres” (147). The book is organized into six first-person letters, all of similar length (32-42 pages), which create manageable parcels for weekly reading assignments, especially when the students are learners of French. The Mémoires also contains elements of the Spanish picaresque novel, which Garrido Ardila defines as a “fictitious autobiography of the main character, commonly narrated in the first person. The text is addressed to either a narratee or an explicit reader…the protagonist tells his or her life in order to explain how they came to find themselves in a particular situation” (14). Francis Assaf first made the connection between the picaresque genre and Villedieu’s Mémoires in his groundbreaking article Mme de Villedieu et le picaresque au féminin (1987). For Assaf, another essential characteristic of the picaresque is frequent travel (361). Like a pícaro, Henriette-Sylvie de Molière travels Travels with Henriette-Sylvie de Molière PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 407 constantly and cyclically in search of security as well as entertainment, from the South of France to Paris, Belgium, Grenoble and beyond. This perpetual movement becomes an asset for the modern-day professor, because it allows them to cover a lot of ground (literally and figuratively) while conducting an in-depth analysis of a single literary text. Finally, the Mémoires address many themes with which 21 st -century university students can identify. For example, in today’s social-mediaobsessed culture, people follow “influencers” to learn about trends in fashion, lifestyle, and entertainment. Through reading the Mémoires, students learn that Henriette-Sylvie de Molière was the original influencer, and that she managed to attain quite a following without an Instagram account. Stories of her adventures (and rumors of her scandalous exploits) traveled around Europe with greater velocity than she did! Furthermore, because people in high society loved to gossip about her, Henriette-Sylvie was frequently the victim of bullying, and she was constantly having to defend her reputation - she was fighting back against “fake news” before the term even existed. She also navigates many toxic relationships during her life - not only with lovers, but also with family members and friends. Most importantly, this text offers a unique perspective on gender and sexuality, because the protagonist is arguably both bisexual and genderfluid. Several times over the course of the novel, when Henriette-Sylvie is trying to escape persecution or travel unnoticed, she dresses in men’s clothing. This travestissement is not purely practical, but also pleasant: she feels comfortable and confident as a man, and she openly enjoys seducing women (DeJean 133, Kuizenga 152, Wise 141). Such themes allow students to develop a deeper connection with this text and with the time period as they discover that, in many ways, the 17 th -century was not so different after all. METHODS This section describes the methods that were used to approach and present the Mémoires to university-level students in an online asynchronous format, and it is divided into three sub-headings. “Preparing to Travel” focuses on activities that were conducted prior to reading, “Navigating the Text” discusses the ways in which students interacted with the Mémoires, and “Making Pit Stops along the Way” explains how the storyline of Villedieu’s novel is expanded to include historical, geographical, and cultural presentations. Polly T. Mangerson PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 408 I. Preparing to Travel In order for the students to understand and appreciate this text in a virtual setting, contextualization is essential. As such, the first several modules of this course experiment were primarily devoted to situating the Mémoires within its historical and cultural contexts in preparation for reading. For example, the students collaborated remotely to construct a timeline of notable seventeenth-century authors and their major works, with each student contributing a different writer to a shared Google document. This exercise allowed them to see how Madame de Villedieu’s works fit into the overall literary production of le grand siècle. Once they identified where she figured into the 17 th -century canon, we narrowed the scope to focus on Villedieu’s life and works. Students read and discussed her audacious sonnet “Jouissance” (1859) along with Perry Gethner’s biographical entry in The Literary Encyclopedia, and then they submitted their own short biographies in French to demonstrate their understanding. Finally, to bring Madame de Villedieu’s life in contact with their own (and to prepare them for the love/ hate story of Henriette-Sylvie and the Comte d’Englesac), students were asked to share a song on our course website that represented the relationship between Antoine de Boësset and Marie-Catherine Desjardins. This exercise yielded a variety of results in multiple languages, from classics like “Non, je ne regrette rien” by Edith Piaf and “Heart of Glass” by Blondie to pop hits like “Hot N Cold” by Katy Perry and “Est-ce que tu m’aimes? ” by Maître Gims. This activity got students laughing, listening, comparing, sharing, and furiously exchanging emojis, memes, and YouTube video links on our VoiceThread platform. They were engaged, and it was time to open the Mémoires. II. Navigating the Text As we have all discovered during the experience of COVID-19-era teaching, online courses require a substantial amount of independent work on the part of the student. In order to equip students to read the Mémoires on their own, each “Lettre” was accompanied by a document that contained a detailed French-English vocabulary list and a series of 10-14 comprehension questions (see Appendix). These straightforward questions were designed as a roadmap to help students anticipate and follow the main storyline and events of each letter, and everyone was instructed to review all questions and study the vocabulary prior to reading. Once students submitted their comprehension questions for each module, they were directed to a small-group discussion board with 4-5 other classmates (these groups changed every week to foster community). Here they encountered Travels with Henriette-Sylvie de Molière PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 409 more challenging, open-ended questions, which required them to use textual evidence to support their answers. To encourage original responses, these discussion boards were set up so that students had to post their own threads before they could see the contributions of their group members. They also had to read their classmates’ posts and write at least one reply. This exercise provided them with the opportunity to engage with their peers and learn from other people’s interpretations of the text. Both of these weekly assignments (the comprehension questions and the discussion board) were considered as informal writing, and were graded on completion and quality of content rather than on grammatical accuracy. Informal writing was balanced by a formal writing assignment (4-5 page midterm essay) that was assigned halfway through the reading of the Mémoires. This distinction between informal and formal writing is crucial to the success of an online asynchronous course in which the majority of student discussion and exchange about the text takes place in written form. If these students were in a physical classroom space, discussing the text in a small group, such conversations would not be graded like written work. Finally, the reading of the Mémoires was paired with secondary sources in both French and English to encourage critical thinking and promote discussion about the text. Each week, students read either a journal article or book chapter/ excerpt by scholars such as Jean-Marie Apostolidès, Francis Assaf, Joan DeJean, Perry Gethner, Elizabeth Goldsmith, Donna Kuizenga, Margaret Wise, and Barbara Woshinsky. III. Making Pit Stops along the Way As was previously stated in the Rationale above, one of the most unique aspects about the Mémoires is that this book sheds light on numerous nonliterary aspects of 17 th -century France, and thereby allows the instructor to cultivate an interdisciplinary learning environment. Student presentations can provide an ideal vehicle for such extra-textual explorations. At the beginning of the course, students chose a presentation date and topic from a shared Google Doc that was divided into four primary categories - People, Places, Events, and Themes. The presentations were scheduled to complement the reading of the Mémoires, so that students could “follow” Henriette- Sylvie in her adventures. Sample presentation topics are listed below: Polly T. Mangerson PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 410 PEOPLE PLACES EVENTS THEMES Nicolas Fouquet La Reine Mère (Anne d’Autriche) Louis XIV Hugues de Lionne Jacques Vallée Des Barreaux Montpellier Avignon Paris Bruxelles Grenoble Les Bains de Bourbon- L’archambault Lyon L’entrée royale du 20 août 1660 Les Plaisirs de L’Île enchantée (1664) La Bataille des Quatre Jours (1666) La Guerre de Dévolution (1667-68) Le couvent au XVII e siècle Le travestissement La magie et la superstition As the subjects in this table indicate, Henriette-Sylvie’s adventures align with some of the major events of Louis XIV’s reign. For example, she attends the Fête des Plaisirs de L’île enchantée at Versailles as a guest (disguised as the Prince of Salmes), and marvels at the royal splendor: “Cela n’était-il pas vraiment royal, Madame, et Votre Altesse n’a-t-elle pas pris plaisir à ce récit? ...à mon gré, la plus belle chose et l’entreprise la plus digne d’un grand monarque” (Démoris 97). Villedieu’s description of this spectacle takes up only three pages of the Mémoires, but it forges a path for further study. Through their classmate’s presentation (which can be uploaded and recorded via VoiceThread or a similar asynchronous A/ V platform), students learn about the premiere of Molière’s Tartuffe and the political significance of this event. In Lettre 4, Henriette-Sylvie and the Marquise de Séville follow the Queen and court north to visit recently conquered territories during the War of Devolution. The narrator apologizes to her reader that she does not understand warfare: “C’est dommage que ce n’est pas une personne qui sache la guerre, qui écrive cette relation” (Démoris 153). But Henriette-Sylvie’s lack of knowledge becomes an opportunity to dive into Louis XIV’s military endeavors, as well as to get an idea of broader European politics during the time period. This is one of many brief episodes in Henriette-Sylvie’s adventures that can naturally segue into larger discussions about the history and culture of the French 17 th century. Another example occurs in Lettre 3 of the Mémoires, when Henriette-Sylvie recounts a scandalous encounter with two noblewomen who were practicing black magic to create potions (Démoris 130-131). In the first iteration of this course, the student who presented on the theme of “la magie et la superstition au XVII e siècle” elaborated on the subject by including the Affair of the Poisons, much to the delight of her classmates. In the fifth Travels with Henriette-Sylvie de Molière PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 411 letter, while Henriette-Sylvie is traveling incognito from Lyon back to Paris via water taxi, she meets the “fameux Desbarreaux” whose reputation perhaps rivaled her own: “J’avais fort entendu parler de cet homme, et je mourais d’envie de le connaître; je me plaçai auprès de lui et fis ce qu’il me fut possible pour le mettre en humeur de parler” (194). Henriette-Sylvie is somewhat disappointed to discover that the first juicy story with which this infamous libertine poet chooses to entertain his fellow passengers is an embellished version of her own adventures. For the instructor and students, however, learning about the real poet Jacques Vallée, Sieur des Barreaux (1599-1673) can give students a glimpse into the literary and cultural movement of le libertinage érudit. I assigned three to five presentations for each weekly module, depending on how many topics of interest corresponded with our reading of the Mémoires. The presentations were recorded asynchronously using the VoiceThread application, and all students had the option for a live instructor consultation prior to sharing their work with the class. In order to ensure that all students watched all presentations, each student presenter was required to submit at least three comprehension questions for their classmates. These questions were compiled into a document that was submitted at the end of each module as part of the weekly participation grade. In our final online discussion board (in which students reflected on most useful and most challenging aspects of the class), the majority of the students cited these presentations as their favorite activity, because they were able to expand their general knowledge of the 17 th century while reading the primary text: J’ai apprécié de relier HSDM à ce que nous avons appris lors des présentations sur la société française du XVII e siècle. Le livre aurait été beaucoup moins intéressant et significatif si nous n’avions pas eu le contexte fourni par les présentations. J’apprécie également le fait que les présentations aient été structurées dans un ordre cohérent avec le livre. OUTCOMES In order to demonstrate the knowledge the students had gained over the course of our ten-week journey into 17 th -century France, they were offered a choice among four final project options. Since this course was exploratory in nature, I wanted to observe which options were the most popular and which ones produced the best results. Furthermore, since the students were working on their own and I wanted the project to be meaningful and enjoyable for each of them, I did not find it problematic for them to complete different assignments. The first of these options was a traditional Polly T. Mangerson PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 412 8-10 page literary analysis on a topic of their choice related to the Mémoires. This assignment, which was mandatory for all graduate students taking the course, required students to incorporate scholarly research from a bibliography that was available on our course website (these sources are also listed in the Works Cited page of this study). A few undergraduate students who had advanced French proficiency also chose this option, but the majority of the class opted for a more creative approach. The second final project option was to write the first pages of an original “Septième lettre” to “Votre Altesse,” narrated by Henriette-Sylvie. This assignment was inspired by the arguable fin en ouverture of the Mémoires: although Henriette-Sylvie expresses her contentment with her life in the convent at Cologne, scholars such as Mary Rowan have observed that each time the pícara is confined to a small space, she is inevitably propelled towards subsequent adventures. Barbara Woshinsky predicts: “Although in her ‘present state of mind’ she finds convent life ‘sweet,’ her options and the convent door are left open. If Sylvie’s ‘humeur’ should change again as it had in the past, Sylvie might walk out that door—and add a sequel to her memoirs” (189). Students who chose to begin this seventh letter were challenged to treat this activity as an exercice de style. Could they adopt the language, expressions, and personality of Villedieu’s heroine in a way that convincingly continues her story? This was a very popular choice because the students had developed an emotional attachment to Henriette-Sylvie. The results of this exercise, however, were less successful than anticipated, because students’ ideas of Henriette-Sylvie’s future adventures were not very vraisemblable in that they did not seem to consider her disenchanted state of mind at the end of the Mémoires. Most of the seventh letters involved a new suitor who appears in Cologne, which was a logical choice, but the students seemed to channel the bubbly narrator from earlier in the novel rather than the world-weary traveler from the end of the sixth letter. The third final project option was another epistolary assignment, only this time students were instructed to write a letter to “Votre Altesse” from the point of view of another character in the story to explain their role in Henriette-Sylvie’s adventures. Students had fun giving voices to other characters, particularly the antagonists—the tenacious Marquis de Birague, the unfaithful Comte d’Englesac, and his meddling mother the Comtesse were popular choices. This exercise was more successful than the seventh letter because it did not carry the pressure of total invention, but rather allowed students to demonstrate in a creative way how well they had understood the events of the Mémoires. In future iterations, I plan to incorporate this activity earlier in the course as a mid-term assessment, Travels with Henriette-Sylvie de Molière PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 413 since students do not have to have finished the entire novel in order to complete it. The fourth and final option for the student project is what inspired me to share this experiment with my fellow dix-septièmistes. Due to the picaresque aspect of the Mémoires, I wanted to design an assessment that could focus on Henriette-Sylvie’s travels. Furthermore, to develop students’ technological literacy in the interest of building transferrable skills, I wanted to incorporate digital mapping into the course. With the help of instructional technology specialists at my institution, I was able to identify a free online resource to support this vision. Students who chose this option used https: / / storymap.knightlab.com/ to create an interactive map of Henriette-Sylvie’s adventures. For every point they marked on their maps, they also had to include a text comment in French about what Henriette- Sylvie did there, who she met, what was happening, etc. The platform also allowed for insertion of images and video links. I set a minimum requirement of 20 points on the map, and one ambitious student (who insisted on tracking Henriette-Sylvie’s entire journey through the novel) logged an impressive 39 points, beginning at Montpellier and ending with a question mark at Cologne. This project truly embraced the breadth and scope of the course—geographically, historically, culturally—and allowed the students to visualize how much ground Villedieu’s protagonist had covered during her adventures, as well as the cyclical nature of her travels. It also permitted them to elaborate on certain points that were of interest to them, so that they could develop a more personal connection with 17 th century France. For example, one student included modern video clips in French from the Office de Tourisme of each town Henriette-Sylvie visited. Several students shied away from this project because of the additional technology (and because it was definitely the most work of the four options), but the students who completed this project option clearly demonstrated a mastery of this multi-faceted text. In future iterations of the course, il n’y aura plus de choix, all undergraduate students will complete this mapping assignment as a souvenir of their travels with Henriette-Sylvie de Molière. CONCLUSION The most remarkable outcome of this pedagogical experiment was that students were able to succeed in this course without ever leaving their homes or setting foot in a classroom. Furthermore, because the first iteration was taught shortly before the outbreak of COVID-19, we did not have access to synchronous Zoom sessions, nor did the students ever see me Polly T. Mangerson PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 414 or each other in person. In closing, just as I have always believed that Henriette-Sylvie de Molière will eventually leave the convent and make her way back into the world, I believe that the study of Villedieu’s novel has the potential to grow and develop as we start to emerge from the seclusion of the pandemic and find our classrooms once again. If the Mémoires were able to bring 17 th -century France alive for American university students in a fully remote course format, imagine how much more engaging our exchanges could be when we can be within four walls together instead of alone. Looking ahead even further, perhaps this virtual journey will one day be reimagined as a Study Abroad experience so that students can physically trace Henriette-Sylvie’s footsteps through 17 th -century France. WORKS CITED Assaf, Francis. « Mme de Villedieu et le picaresque au féminin. » In Actes de Wake Forest. Ed. Milorad R. Margitic et Byron R. Wells. Tübingen: Biblio 17, 1987. 361-77. _____. « Henriette-Sylvie, agent et objet du désir. » The French Review 74.3 (2001): 518-26. DeJean, Joan. Tender Geographies: Women and the Origins of the Novel in France. New York: Columbia University Press, 1991. Garrido Ardila, J.A. The Picaresque Novel in Western Literature: From the Sixteenth Century to the Neopicaresque. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Gethner, Perry. “Marie-Catherine de Villedieu.” In The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 January 2016. Goldsmith, Elizabeth C. “Message, écriture et diffusion épistolaire dans Le Portefeuille et les Mémoires de la vie de Henriette-Sylvie de Molière.” In Madame de Villedieu Romancière: nouvelles perspectives de recherche. Ed. Edwige Keller- Rahbé. Lyon: Presses Universitaires de Lyon, 2004. 271-81. _____. Publishing Women’s Life Stories in France, 1646-1720. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2001. _____. “Secret Writing, Public Reading: Madame de Villedieu’s Lettres et billets gallants.” In A Labor of Love: Critical Reflections on the writings of Marie- Catherine Desjardins (Mme de Villedieu). Ed. Roxanne Decker Lalande. London: Associated University Presses, 2000. 111-161. Klein, Nancy D. “Inscribing the Feminine in Seventeenth-Century Narratives: The Case of Madame de Villedieu.” In A Labor of Love: Critical Reflections on the writings of Marie-Catherine Desjardins (Mme de Villedieu). Ed. Roxanne Decker Lalande. London: Associated University Presses, 2000. 87-110. Kuizenga, Donna. “The Play of Pleasure and the Pleasure of Play in the Mémoires de la vie de Henriette-Sylvie de Molière.” In A Labor of Love: Critical Reflections on the writings of Marie-Catherine Desjardins (Mme de Villedieu). Ed. Roxanne Decker Lalande. London: Associated University Presses, 2000. 147-161. Travels with Henriette-Sylvie de Molière PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 415 _____. “Villedieu and Manley: Teaching Early Modern Pseudo-Autobiographies.” In Teaching Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Women Writers. Ed. Faith Beasley. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 2011. 250-57. Lalande, Roxanne Decker. “Writing Straight from the Heart.” In A Labor of Love: Critical Reflections on the writings of Marie-Catherine Desjardins (Mme de Villedieu). Ed. Roxanne Decker Lalande. London: Associated University Presses, 2000. 15-27. Mangerson, Polly T. “Les Aventures ou mémoires de la vie de Henriette-Sylvie de Molière.” In The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 January 2017. Rowan, Mary. “Patterns of Enclosure and Escape in the Prose Fiction of Madame de Villedieu.” In Actes de Wake Forest. Ed. Milorad R. Margitić et Byron R. Wells. Tübingen: Biblio 17, 1987. 379-92. Villedieu, Madame de. Mémoires de la vie de Henriette-Sylvie de Molière. Ed. René Démoris. Paris: Editions Desjonquères, 2003. Wise, Margaret P. “Villedieu’s Transvestite Text: the Literary Economy of Gender and Genre in Les Mémoires de la vie de Henriette-Sylvie de Molière.” In A Labor of Love: Critical Reflections on the writings of Marie-Catherine Desjardins (Mme de Villedieu). Ed. Roxanne Decker Lalande. London: Associated University Presses, 2000. 131-46. Woshinsky, Barbara R. Imagining Women’s Conventual Spaces in France, 1600-1800: The Cloister Disclosed. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2010. Polly T. Mangerson PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 416 APPENDIX Reading Comprehension Questions with French-English Vocabulary Lists for Mémoires de la vie de Henriette-Sylvie de Molière (ed. René Démoris, 2003) I. Première partie (p. 43-76) VOCABULAIRE accabler - to overwhelm médisance (f.) - badmouthing accoucher - to give birth mépris (m.) - disdain arçon (m.) de selle - saddle horn métairie (f.) - tenant farm assoupir - to abate ôter - to take something away badiner - to banter ouïr - to hear baiser (m.) - kiss plaindre - to pity berceau (m.) - cradle reculé - remote bois (m.) - wood, forest régaler - to entertain cabinet (m.) - private [office] space ruelle (f.) - salon calomnie (f.) - slander, defamation salut (m.) - salvation chaloupe (f.) - rowboat sanglier (m.) - wild boar chasse (f.) - hunting s’écarter - to move away from chemin (m.) - path, way s’évanouir - to faint demeurer - to live in, stay se courber - to bend over dénier (m.) - day’s wages se farder - to wear makeup deuil (m.) - mourning se pencher - to lean écuyer (m) - squire soupçon (m.) - suspicion effaroucher - to frighten, alarm source (f.) - natural spring embraser - to inflame sûreté (f.) - safety enchérir - to increase the value tirer [sur quelqu’un] - to shoot enlever - to kidnap treille (f.) - climbing vine ensevelir - to bury veuf (m.) / veuve (f.) - widow épargner - to spare espion (m.) - spy étancher - to staunch (blood flow) éventail (m.) - fan feindre - to pretend, fake folâtre - frisky, playful habile - clever hameau (m.) - cottage Travels with Henriette-Sylvie de Molière PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 417 QUESTIONS DE COMPRÉHENSION 1. Pourquoi est-ce que Henriette-Sylvie de Molière (HSDM) écrit une lettre à ‘Votre Altesse’ ? Quel est son objectif ? (43) 2. En quoi la naissance de HSDM a-t-elle été extraordinaire ? (44-45) 3. Quel est le rôle du Duc de Candale dans l’enfance de HSDM ? (46) 4. Comment est-ce que l’infidélité de Mme de Molière retombe sur sa fille adoptive ? (47-48) 5. Qu’est-ce que HSDM doit faire pour se sauver du viol ? (48-50) 6. Qui est le marquis de Birague, et comment est-ce qu’il s’implique à la vie de HSDM ? (52) 7. Quelle est la première impression du comte d’Englesac ? (56) 8. Qu’est-ce que le comte d’Englesac fait pour attirer l’attention de HSDM, et afin de pouvoir lui parler tout seul ? (58-60) 9. Quelle est la prédiction de la religieuse ? (63) 10. Comment est-ce que Fouquet facilite l’évasion de HSDM et la religieuse du couvent d’Avignon ? Pourquoi le fait-il ? (65-67) 11. Pourquoi est-ce que HSDM ne peut pas rester chez la présidente de... à Toulouse ? (69-70) 12. La Marquise de Séville vient de très loin pour chercher HSDM. Pourquoi ? Quelle est la réaction de ces deux femmes lorsqu’elles se voient pour la première fois ? (71-75) Polly T. Mangerson PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 418 II. Seconde partie (p. 77-109) VOCABULAIRE aboyer - to bark se vanter - to brag, boast à bride abattue - at breakneck speed témérité (f.) - boldness asile (f.) - refuge veille (f.) - the day before berger (m.) - shepherd bévue (f.) - blunder, ‘faux pas’ billet (m.) - love note bougie (f.) - candle bourreau (m.) - executioner commode (adj.) - convenient carrosse (m.) - horse-drawn carriage chatouiller - to tickle convier - to invite cuirasse (f.) - armor défaillance (f.) - failure, misstep dégager - to release échantillon (m.) - tidbit, morsel éclater - to explode écu (m.) - unit of money égarement (m.) - straying enfermer - to lock away enjoué/ e - cheerful épée (f.) - sword estocade (f.) - death blow étincelant/ e - sparking étourdi/ e - absentminded fleurette (f) - flirtation, seduction gâter - to spoil, ruin gelée (f.) - frost gué (m.) - ford insensé/ e - foolish, out of one’s mind jouir [de] - to enjoy, benefit from nier - to deny piège (m.) - trap pierreries (f.) - gemstones raillerie (f.) - mockery s’épouvanter - to panic Travels with Henriette-Sylvie de Molière PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 419 QUESTIONS DE COMPRÉHENSION 1. Qui devient le mari de HSDM à Bruxelles ? Pourquoi est-ce qu’elle accepte de l’épouser ? (78-79) 2. Comment est-ce que le comte d’Englesac réussit à revoir Henriette-Sylvie à Bruxelles ? Quelle est la réaction de HSDM ? (79-80) 3. Décrivez l’évolution de la relation entre HSDM et le Marquis de Menèze après l’intervention du comte d’Englesac dans leur vie quotidienne. (82-86) 4. Par quel(s) chemin(s) et sous quel(s) déguisement(s) est-ce que HSDM et sa domestique Mérinville regagnent la France ? (86-87) 5. Résumez l’aventure avec la dame mystérieuse à cheval. Pourquoi était-elle aussi déguisée ? Pour qui prenait-elle HSDM ? (88-90) 6. Quel vieil ami est-ce que HSDM revoit lors de son installation dans la maison bourgeoise à Paris ? En quoi est-ce que leurs retrouvailles sont bizarres ? (91- 93) 7. Pourquoi est-ce qu’Henriette-Sylvie décide de garder son déguisement jusqu’à la Cour ? (94) 8. En tant que ‘prince étranger’, HSDM reçoit une invitation à la fête des Plaisirs de l’Île enchantée à Versailles. Quels aspects de cet événement semble-t-elle apprécier le plus ? (95-96) 9. Qu’est-ce qui se passe lors de la comédie de la Princesse d’Élide ? (97-98) 10. Comment est-ce que l’arrivée inattendue du comte d’Englesac aide à tirer HSDM d’une situation embarrassante ? Quel ‘service’ est-ce qu’il lui rend ? (100-103) 11. Quand HSDM doit enfin reprendre ‘l’équipage de son sexe’, quelles sont les conséquences ? (104-106) 12. Quelle nouvelle apporte la Marquise de Séville à la fin de la 2 ème lettre ? Polly T. Mangerson PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 420 III. Troisième partie (p. 110-144) VOCABULAIRE à bon escient - wisely poignarder - to stab accommodement (m.) - compromise redoutable-formidable, impressive acharner - to frantically attempt remuer - to stir up adroit - skillful scabreux/ se - scandalous Amadis (m.) - héros gaulois semer - to sow, spread aposter - to position se noyer - to drown avanie (f.) - snub, slight se précipiter - to speed up, rush baiser ‘tout son saoul’ - to your heart’s content soutane (f.) - priest’s robe brouiller - to argue vague (f.) - wave char (m.) volant - flying chariot vaisseau (m.) - ship charretier (m.) - porter vermillon - bright red chicane (f.) - obstacle, complication vraisemblable - realistic concerté/ e - orchestrated courir le bal - to have a night out on the town curé (m.) - priest dérober - to deprive dévancer - to go ahead of dévineresse (f.) - fortune teller écurie (f.) - stable effronterie (f.) - impudence englouti/ e - swallowed up étouffer - to suffocate être las/ se de - to grow tired of foi (f.) - faith gîte (m.) - temporary lodging jument (f.) - mare lâcheté (f.) - cowardice mât (m.) - ship’s mast maréchal/ e - marshall (office/ title) mensonge (m.) - lie, untruth mutin/ e - mischievous, rebellious naufrage (m.) - shipwreck oisif/ ve - idle, lazy palefrenier (m.) - groom petite vérole (f.) - smallpox philtre (m.) - potion Travels with Henriette-Sylvie de Molière PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 421 QUESTIONS DE COMPRÉHENSION 1. Pourquoi est-ce que HSDM et le comte d’Englesac doivent se séparer avant de pouvoir se marier ? Où vont-ils ? (110-111) 2. Le Marquis de Birague est un sacré saboteur ! Que fait-il pour dérouter les projets de mariage de HDSM et le comte d’Englesac ? Comment est-ce que le comte d’Englesac y répond ? (112-113) 3. Quelle(s) nouvelle(s) précipitent le voyage de HSDM ? (114-115) 4. Décrivez la rivale de HSDM. Quel malheur lui arrive ? (118-120) 5. Pourquoi est-ce que le comte d’Englesac se fâche contre HSDM ? (121-122) 6. Comment se fait-il que HSDM se présente devant la Reine Mère ? (124-126) 7. Décrivez l’expérience de HSDM avec la magie noire. (130-132) 8. Que fait le comte d’Englesac pour se venger des [fausses] infidélités de HSDM ? (133) 9. Pourquoi est-ce que HSDM s’est brouillée avec la Marquise de Séville ? (134) 10. Comment est-ce que le comte d’Englesac ‘meurt’ ? Quelle est la réaction de Henriette-Sylvie ? Que fait-elle pour se soulager ? (134-136) 11. De quels artifices est-ce que le Marquis de Birague se sert pour éliminer le comte de Signac et assurer son propre mariage avec HSDM ? (137-141) 12. La troisième lettre se termine sur une note heureuse. Laquelle ? (142-144) Polly T. Mangerson PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 422 IV. Quatrième partie (p. 145-179) VOCABULAIRE apprivoiser - to tame attendri/ e - touched, moved (emotionally) augure (m.) - omen bivouac (m.) - military encampment démenti (m.) - denial, refutation étroit/ e - close frémir - to tremble honte (f.) - shame languissant/ e - withering, diminished lutin (m.) - goblin, imp étroit/ e - close guet (m.) - lookout menace (f.) - threat pâmer - to swoon poinçon (m.) - pin, brooch remède (m.) - [water] cure sanglot (m) - sob se parer - to adorn oneself sourd/ e - deaf tranchée (f.) - trench (military) vaudeville (m.) - silly comedy Travels with Henriette-Sylvie de Molière PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 423 QUESTIONS DE COMPRÉHENSION 1. Quelle « épouvantable disgrâce » empêche HSDM et le comte d’Englesac d’être heureux ensemble après leurs noces ? (145) 2. Quels anciens amants reviennent sur la scène après avoir appris la mauvaise nouvelle répandue partout par la Comtesse d’Englesac ? (146-147) 3. Quelles sont les réactions de HSDM et du comte d’Englesac à la déclaration d’amour de Signac dans le jardin des simples ? (148-150) 4. Pourquoi est-ce que HSDM quitte Paris ? Où va-t-elle ? (151) 5. Résumez l’aventure avec le « Prince de Portugal. » Pour qui prend-il HSDM ? Qui interrompt leur conversation ? (151-153) 6. Quel service est-ce que le Juif a rendu au comte d’Englesac, et quelle est la preuve que le charme a été rompu ? (154-155) 7. Comment est-ce que le comportement du comte d’Englesac change lors de son installation à Paris avec sa femme ? Qu’est-ce que HSDM fait pour le détourner de ses desseins ? (155-157) 8. En quoi est-ce que l’admiration du Marquis de Castelan devient problématique pour HSDM ? (159-160) 9. Après que le comte d’Englesac a rejoint le parti de sa mère, le procès juridique devient très pénible pour HSDM. De quels crimes est-ce qu’on l’accuse, et qui la soutient ? (162-164) 10. Dans quelle situation ridicule est-ce que HSDM s’implique par accident pendant son séjour à Bourbon ? (166-167) 11. Quand HSDM et le comte d’Englesac arrivent à Grenoble pour la suite de leur procès, ils recommencent à se parler. De quel sujet discutent-ils ? Quel est l’effet de ces conversations sur les époux séparés ? (168-170) 12. Sous quelles circonstances est-ce que HSDM et la Comtesse d’Englesac se réconcilient ? (172-173) 13. Décrivez la ‘vieille tante’ chez qui HDSM reste après la mort de la comtesse. (176) Polly T. Mangerson PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 424 V. Cinquième partie (p. 181-220) VOCABULAIRE aumônier (m.) - chaplain blessure (f.) - wound, injury breuvage (m.) - potion cassette (f.) - lockbox causer - to talk, converse coche d’eau (f.) - water taxi égayer - to cheer up épuiser - to use up, exhaust forclusion (f.) - debarment gageure (f.) - challenge galimatias (m.) - jibberish goguenard - jeering jeu (m.) - gambling legs (m.) - inheritance ouï-dire - hearsay pensionnaire (m/ f.) - resident ragoûtant - appealing rebuté/ e - disgusted by remontrances (f.) - protests vendange (f.) - grape harvest vêture (f.) - ceremony of becoming a nun Travels with Henriette-Sylvie de Molière PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 425 QUESTIONS DE COMPRÉHENSION 1. Quelle est la réaction de HSDM à la vraie mort du comte d’Englesac ? (181) 2. Quelle est la faiblesse du marquis de Monchevreuil, et comment est-ce que cette faiblesse retourne contre les affaires de HSDM à Grenoble ? (182-183) 3. Qu’est-ce que HSDM apprend en arrivant à Lyon ? Où décide-t-elle de loger ? (184) 4. Pourquoi est-ce que HSDM accepte d’entretenir le comte de Tavanes ? (185- 186) 5. Résumez l’histoire du comte de Tavanes - quelle mésaventure amoureuse a-t-il subie ? (187-189) 6. Que fait le chevalier de la Mothe pour agacer HSDM ? Comment est-ce qu’elle réussit à le chasser, et comment est-ce qu’il se venge après ? (190-192) 7. Par quel moyen de transport (et avec qui) est-ce que HSDM voyage de Lyon à Paris ? Pourquoi est-ce qu’elle choisit de se déplacer clandestinement ? (194) 8. Quelles informations surprenantes est-ce que HSDM découvre dans sa conversation avec Desbarreaux ? (194-196) 9. Comment est-ce que la Marquise de Séville meurt ? Quel cadeau est-ce qu’elle laisse à HSDM ? (200) 10. En quoi est-ce que la connaissance de M. Hugues de Lionne devient un avantage pour HSDM ? (201, 210-211) 11. Quel pari est-ce que le comte Deschapelles et le chevalier du Buisson font ensemble au sujet de HSDM ? Qui gagne la gageure, et comment ? (203-206) 12. Que fait HSDM pour embarrasser la « fausse prude » parisienne et quelles sont les conséquences de cette raillerie ? (208-210) 13. Où va HSDM quand elle apprend qu’elle ne sera plus la bienvenue à Bruxelles ? Quels nouveaux amis se fait-elle dans cet endroit ? (215-217) 14. Quelle protection est-ce que l’abbesse de Cologne offre à HSDM ? Pourquoi est-ce qu’elle hésite de l’accepter ? (219-220) Polly T. Mangerson PFSCL XLVIII, 95 (2021) DOI 10.2357/ PFSCL-2021-0029 426 VI. Sixième partie (p. 221-263) VOCABULAIRE avare - miserly lièvre (m.) - hare chanoinesse (f.) - female religious leader mander - to summon chiens pour le courre (m.) - hunting dogs quérir - to fetch, find défunt (m.) - deceased teint (m.) - complexion empressement (m.) - eagerness trêve (f.) - truce gendre (m.) - son-in-law importun/ e - unwelcome, inconvenient légèreté (f.) - frivolity QUESTIONS DE COMPRÉHENSION 1. Qu’est-ce qui empêche la suite du voyage de HSDM et l’abbesse vers le couvent de Cologne ? Où sont-elles restées en attendant de reprendre la route ? (221-222) 2. De quelles libertés profitent les religieuses flamandes ? (222-223) 3. Comment se fait-il que l’héritier des biens de la Marquise de Séville vienne à Maubeuge ? Pourquoi est-ce qu’il décide d’y rester ? (223-228) 4. HSDM prend quelques pages pour raconter les mésaventures amoureuses de son amie l’abbesse de Cologne. De quelles tromperies est-ce que cette pauvre femme a été victime ? Quelle est l’importance de cette histoire dans la situation actuelle de Henriette-Sylvie ? (230-235) 5. Comment la vraie identité de HSDM est-elle révélée à ses deux nouveaux amants (le marquis et Dom Pedre) ? (240) 6. Que fait Dom Pedre pour aider HSDM et l’abbesse ? Pourquoi est-ce que cette solution devient problématique ? (242-244) 7. Comment est-ce que HSDM réussit à quitter le château malgré la surveillance constante des domestiques de Dom Pedre ? Où va-t-elle ? (247-249) 8. Quand le marquis (l’héritier de la Marquise de Séville) fait une visite inattendue à la maison où se cachait HSDM et Angélique, que fait-elle pour éviter d’être vue ? (254-255) 9. Comment est-ce que le marquis se rachète du tort qu’il avait fait à HSDM dans le passé ? Quels services est-ce qu’il lui promet ? (256-259) 10. Où finit l’histoire, et quelle est l’attitude de HSDM en terminant sa dernière lettre ? (262-263)