<?page no="0"?> BIBLIO 17 Bernard J. Bourque All the Abbé’s Women Power and Misogyny in Seventeenth-Century France, through the Writings of Abbé d’Aubignac <?page no="1"?> All the Abbé’s Women <?page no="2"?> BIBLIO 17 Volume 209 · 2015 Suppléments aux Papers on French Seventeenth Century Literature Collection fondée par Wolfgang Leiner Directeur: Rainer Zaiser Biblio 17 est une série évaluée par un comité de lecture. Biblio 17 is a peer-reviewed series. <?page no="3"?> Bernard J. Bourque All the Abbé’s Women Power and Misogyny in Seventeenth-Century France, through the Writings of Abbé d’Aubignac <?page no="4"?> Bibliographical Information of the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; for detailed bibliographical data please contact http: / / dnb.dnb.de Cover illustration: Trois dames du palais © 2015 Joyce Morrell © 2015 · Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG P.O. 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Internet: www.narr.de E-Mail: info@narr.de Printed in Germany ISSN 1434-6397 ISBN 978-3-8233-6974-5 <?page no="5"?> Contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................7 Introduction Walking a Tightrope ..................................................9 1 Historical Perspective ...........................................................23 I The Salic Law ....................................................................23 II The Powerful Female Trinity ............................................27 III François Hédelin, Abbé d’Aubignac................................36 2 The Tragic Trio: La Pucelle, Cyminde and Zénobie .............47 I The Heroic Woman............................................................47 II The Weaker Sex ................................................................55 III Woman as Sex Symbol.....................................................62 IV The Prerogatives of War and Government ......................69 3 Dangling Mistresses: Dorise, Alminde, Clitie, Uranie and Urselide ................................................................................81 I Autobiography or Fantasy? ...............................................85 II Would-Be Casanova .........................................................93 III All in Good Fun ..............................................................99 IV Gay Instruments............................................................105 4 Women of Virtue: Célimène and Amelonde........................109 I Célimène ......................................................................109 I.1 Communication ............................................................114 I.2 Entertainment ...............................................................125 II Amelonde .....................................................................135 II.1 The Secret Adventures of the Noble Amelonde .............136 II.2 A Not-So-Happy Life ...................................................144 5 The Coquettes .....................................................................147 I Coquetry..........................................................................150 II The Kingdom of Coquetry...............................................152 6 Allegorical Women: Macarise and her Enemies ..................165 I Allegory, Allegory, All is Allegory ...................................169 II The Kingdom of Happiness.............................................171 <?page no="6"?> 6 7 Women Who Behave Badly: the heroines of Corneille’s Sophonisbe, Sertorius and Œdipe........................................179 I The Showdown of the Century..........................................179 II Immodest Women ...........................................................185 III The Salic Law Revisited ................................................193 Conclusion The Hitchcock Presence ..........................................195 Bibliography...............................................................................205 I Works by Abbé d’Aubignac..............................................205 II Primary Texts.................................................................207 III Studies ..........................................................................209 Index ..........................................................................................219 <?page no="7"?> Acknowledgements I wish to thank Joyce Morrell, artist living on Campobello Island, New Brunswick (Canada), for creating the cover illustration, titled Trois dames du palais, specifically for this book. I would like to express my loving gratitude to Sandra for her support and encouragement. This book is dedicated to the memory of my mother. B.J.B. April 2015 <?page no="9"?> Introduction Walking a Tightrope The image of François Hédelin as a tightrope walker is an amusing one, given the abbé’s reputation as a stern and inflexible dramatic theoretician in seventeenth-century France. Nevertheless, it is this comparison that accurately represents abbé d’Aubignac’s philosophical attitude towards the female sex. What is striking about all of Hédelin’s fictional output is that the principal focus of his work is women - women of high political and social standing. One may speculate that the composition of these works is, in part, a manifestation of the abbé’s fantasies about women, however subtle and innocent these notions appear to be. Why then the image of the tightrope walker? D’Aubignac’s attempt to articulate his philosophy about the female sex is very much an intricate balancing act. While he is clearly interested in women, placing them on a pedestal in many of his writings, the abbé imposes limitations on their perceived innate qualities and often embraces the notion of the female as a societal scapegoat. Our book explores how these ideas were influenced by the socio-political conditions of d’Aubignac’s time, resulting in a complex interrelationship between the notions of power and misogyny in the author’s fictional and critical works. The terms “power” and “misogyny”, which are used in the subtitle of this book, must be defined. Let us firstly consider the word “power”. A number of theories with respect to this concept have been put forward over the years. For the seventeenth-century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes, “the Power of a Man (to take it Universally), is his present means, to obtain some future apparent Good”. 1 He defines the concept of natural power as the power that derives from personal qualities, such as physical and intellectual strength, and that of instrumental power as the desire to rule over others in order to acquire more power. Hobbes defines “manners” as “those qualities of mankind that concern their living to- 1 Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, or The Matter, Form & Power of a Commonwealth, Ecclesiastical and Civil, London: A. Crooke, 1651, chapter X, p. 41. <?page no="10"?> 10 gether in peace and unity”, mediating between power and fear. 2 Friedrich Nietzsche’s doctrine of the will to power emphasizes the fundamental human desire to be independent and to dominate. This will, according to Nietzsche, is the fundamental driving force of change in the world. 3 More recently, Michel Foucault points out that power is present at all levels of social relations, that it is the driving force of change in society and in individuals, and that it is productive as well as constraining. 4 Social psychologists John R. P. French and Bertram Raven identify six categories of power: coercive (which uses the threat of force), reward (which involves the concepts of reward and penalty), legitimate (which includes the notion of authority or the acceptance of power exercised by others), referent (which originates from shared beliefs in a group or an affiliation), expert (which is derived from the power of qualifications, talents or skills) and informational (which is based on the concept of the influence of information). 5 Our study will rely most heavily on the concept of legitimate - sometimes called positional - power in the social and political realms of seventeenth-century France. This category of power derives from the acceptance that the holder of a particular position or title has the right to make decisions that direct or influence the course of events or the behaviour of other people. From the ancient Greek word (misogunía), the term “misogyny” is often defined as the hatred or dislike of the female sex, but it is a far more complex notion than that. It is a belief system and a form of prejudice that is manifested in many different ways, some more subtly than others, and practised by both men and women. 6 The charge of misogyny has been leveled at both Aristotle and Plato because of their perceived contempt for women, as well as the limitations they place on 2 Ibid., chapter XI. 3 Cf. Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science, trans. Walter Kaufman, New York: Vintage Books, 1974; Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, ed. Robert Pippin, trans. Adrian Del Caro, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. 4 Cf. Michel Foucault, Power/ Knowledge. Selected Interviews & Other Writings, 1972- 1977, ed. Colin Gordon, New York: Pantheon Books, 1980. 5 Cf. John R. P. French and Bertram Raven, The Bases of Social Power, in Studies in Social Power, ed. D. Cartwright, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1959: 150-167. 6 Michael Flood, Judith Kegan Gardiner, Bob Pease and Keith Pringle, ed., Encyclopedia of Men and Masculinities, New York: Routledge, 2007, p. 443. <?page no="11"?> 11 the female sex. 7 Misogynistic elements have also been found in the mythology of the ancient world and in the stories of the Judeo-Christian tradition. For example, the first woman - Pandora of Greek mythology and Eve of the Old Testament - is blamed for the release of the evils of humanity as a result of the perceived inherent weaknesses of women. 8 Because of the nature of Eve, female sexuality is seen as wicked and is, therefore, the source of Original Sin. The early Christian church counterbalances this view of womanhood with the unattainable ideal of the Virgin Mary, a woman who is with child without having lost her virginity. Misogynistic principles are therefore seen by some as being an integral part of Catholic doctrine. 9 Modern feminist theory broadens the definition of misogyny to include attitudes and behaviours that are interpreted as deriding women as a group. 10 According to this definition, an individual who is interested in women, socially and/ or sexually, may still demonstrate misogynist behaviours by virtue of the limitations he or she places on the female sex. A person may therefore practise phylogeny (the love or fondness of women) and misogyny at the same time. And this is where our abbé d’Aubignac enters the scene. Why focus on François Hédelin for a study on power and misogyny? Firstly, d’Aubignac’s writings were abundant and they spanned across different genres, including plays, novels, dramatic theory and literary criticism. As a playwright, d’Aubignac’s success was hardly something to write home about. Yet his three prose tragedies, all of which focus on powerful women, are revelatory of the interplay between power and misogyny that existed in seventeenth-century France. As a novelist, d’Aubignac’s appeal was equally dismal. Yet, once again, his works in this genre reveal important information about the way in which women were perceived and how that perception was influenced by the sociopolitical conditions of the day. 7 Cf. Cynthia A. Freeland, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Aristotle, University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998; Morag Buchan, Women in Plato’s Political Theory, London: Routledge, 1999. 8 Cf. Jack Holland, Misogyny: The World’s Oldest Prejudice, New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2006. 9 Cf. Vladimir Tumanov, “Mary versus Eve: Paternal Uncertainty and the Christian View of Woman”, Neophilologus: International Journal of Modern and Mediaeval Languages and Literature, 95 (2011): 507-521. 10 Cf. Andrea Nye, Feminism and Modern Philosophy, New York: Routledge, 2004. <?page no="12"?> 12 If the 1660’s can be called d’Aubignac’s “novelist” decade, they can also be identified as the years in which our abbé made costly mistakes, at least with regards to his own reputation, due to his adversarial involvement with Pierre Corneille. Taking on the great dramatist was illadvised. The Querelle de Sophonisbe (quarrel of Sophonisbe), during which d’Aubignac published four essays (1663) that were highly critical not only of Corneille’s work but also of the dramatist himself, resulted in the abbé being “ridiculisé et meurtri, du moins pour la postérité” 11 (ridiculed and wounded, at least for posterity). D’Aubignac referred to Corneille’s defenders as “la Vermine qui rampe aux pieds de cette pénible montagne” (the vermin that slithers at the foot of this hard mountain) and who live off the dramatist “en frippant ses Ouvrages” (by licking his works). In his most vivid metaphor, he compared these lackeys to “ces petits poissons qui s’attachent aux grands et merveilleux montres de la mer pour vivre de leurs excréments” 12 (these small fish which attach themselves to the great and marvellous sea monsters in order to live off their excrement). D’Aubignac’s vindictive nature even led him to edit the work for which he is best known, La Pratique du théâtre (The Whole Art of the Stage), chopping off sections that in the original version of 1657 had heaped abundant praise on France’s successful playwright. The planned new edition was never published, existing today only in manuscript form. 13 D’Aubignac’s critical essays are important to our study, as they provide further insight into the author’s philosophy of women. Our second reason for focussing on d’Aubignac is that he was a man connected with his times. Of course, he was not the only literary personality in seventeenth-century France with social and political connections, but he had as many such associations as others. His 11 Hélène Baby, “Introduction”, in La Pratique du théâtre, ed. Hélène Baby, Paris: Champion, 2001; reprint 2011, p. 16. All references in our book to La Pratique du théâtre are from Baby’s edition. 12 Abbé d’Aubignac, Seconde dissertation sur le poème dramatique en forme de remarques sur la tragédie de M. Corneille intitulée Sertorius, in Nicholas Hammond and Michael Hawcroft, ed., L’Abbé d’Aubignac. Dissertations contre Corneille, Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 1995: 17-68, p. 67. All references in our book to d’Aubignac’s four essays against Corneille are taken from Hammond and Hawcroft’s edition. 13 In her outstanding critical edition of La Pratique du théâtre, Hélène Baby identifies these deleted sections. <?page no="13"?> 13 affiliation with Cardinal Richelieu who, in 1624, had become Louis XIII’s chief minister and who became known for his patronage of the arts, went beyond the mere social formalities associated with being a man of letters. In 1631, Hédelin had been named the private tutor for Richelieu’s nephew, Jean Armand de Maillé-Brézé, who later became duc de Bronzac. His appointment that same year as abbé d’Aubignac was likely due to the favour that he enjoyed with His Eminence. 14 In 1637, at Richelieu’s request, d’Aubignac accompanied the cardinal’s niece, Marie- Madeleine de Vignerot, duchesse d’Aiguillon, in her visit of Loudun’s “possessed” Ursuline nuns. 15 Charles Arnaud asserts: Cette entrée de François Hédelin dans la maison de Richelieu fut l’événement capital de sa vie ; il y noua des relations, y reçut des conseils, y subit des influences qui déterminèrent la direction de ses travaux, et qui, en même temps, développèrent en lui la personnalité et la vanité dont sa première éducation avait déjà tant favorisé l’éclosion. 16 François Hédelin’s entry into the house of Richelieu was the most important event of his life; he cemented relations there, received counsel, experienced influences which determined the direction of his works, and which, at the same time, developed in him the personality and the vanity which his first education had already encouraged. After Richelieu’s nephew received the title of grand maître de la navigation (grand-master of navigation) at the age of seventeen, it appears that d’Aubignac was involved for a time in important matters dealing with naval issues. In Le Roman des lettres, which will be the focus of chapter 3 of our book, we read the following about the abbé: Vous ne savez donc pas, répondit Cleonce, qu’il a travaillé longtemps dans les affaires de la mer, et que sur le fait des armées navales, de la fabrique des vaisseaux, de la clôture et de l’ouverture des ports, et des événements qui suivent les divers 14 Charles Arnaud, Les Théories dramatiques au XVII e siècle : étude sur la vie et les œuvres de l’abbé d’Aubignac, Paris: Alphonse Picard, 1888; reprint, Geneva: Slatkine, 1970, pp. 15-16. 15 The Loudun possessions involved a group of Ursuline nuns who falsely accused Father Urbain Grandier of bewitching them. In 1634, Grandier was found guilty by a Royal Commission appointed by Richelieu and was burned alive at the stake. For an analysis of the events in this alleged case of demonic possessions, see Michel de Certeau’s work The Possession at Loudun, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. 16 Arnaud, p. 16. <?page no="14"?> 14 mouvements de cet élément impitoyable, il a beaucoup de lettres qui sont parties, non seulement de son esprit et de sa main, mais du cabinet des Ministres, et pour des négociations importantes. 17 You are not aware then, answered Cleonce, that he worked for a long time in the affairs of the sea, and that on the matter of naval forces, of the construction of vessels, of the closure and opening of ports, and of events that follow the diverse movements of this merciless element, he has many letters which came not only from his mind and from his hand, but also from the office of ministers, and for important negotiations. Thanks to the young admiral, d’Aubignac was named conseiller du roi (counsellor of the king). 18 In addition, Richelieu had a high regard for d’Aubignac’s judgement in all matters relating to dramatic composition and representation: Quand une pièce lui déplaisait et lui paraissait irrégulière, il chargeait l’abbé de la corriger. C’est ainsi qu’il lui donna « l’ordre exprès » de refaire certaines parties de la Panthée de Tristan, notamment « le quatrième acte et la catastrophe. » Il lui demanda aussi, - faveur plus grande mais plus dangereuse, - d’assister à une répétition générale de Mirame et de donner son avis sur la pièce. 19 When a play displeased him or seemed to be irregular to him, he charged the abbé to correct it. It is thus that he gave him the “express order” to redo certain parts of Panthée by Tristan, notably the “fourth act and the denouement”. He asked him as well - a greater, but more dangerous favour - to attend a general rehearsal of Mirame and to give him his opinion of the play. It was at Richelieu’s request that d’Aubignac began writing La Pratique du théâtre, a work intended to teach the craft of the dramatist. In addition, the cardinal commissioned him to devise a plan for the general reform of theatre in France. The result was the document Projet pour le rétablissement du théâtre français (Project for the Restoration of French Theatre), which outlined measures to improve the physical structure of theatre halls, including decor and seating, as well as to address the problem of unruly spectators and to maintain control of the quality and moral content of plays. 20 17 Abbé d’Aubignac, Le Roman des lettres, Paris: J.-B. Loyson, 1667, p. 493. 18 Cf. Arnaud, p. 24. 19 Ibid., p. 184. 20 In this outline, d’Aubignac dispels the notion that Christians should not attend plays, pointing out that performances are no longer ceremonies in honour of pagan idols, and <?page no="15"?> 15 It was also during this period that d’Aubignac became known for his talents as a preacher: Chaque année sa réputation de prédicateur s’augmente ; les églises le recherchent, et il ne prêche guère deux fois dans le même lieu. 21 Each year his reputation as a preacher increases; churches seek his services, and he hardly preaches twice in the same place. In 1641, he was asked to deliver the funeral oration for the young Louis de Savoie, duc de Nemours, who had died following the siege of Aire-surla-Lys. In 1650, he gave the funeral panegyric in honour of Josias de Rantzau, maréchal de France, and in 1651 that of Charlotte-Marguerite de Montmorency, princesse de Condé. D’Aubignac was also well-known in the literary circles of seventeenth-century France. Boscheron writes of the abbé that in Paris, “le grand monde dans lequel il se trouva tout d’un coup répandu le mit en liaison avec les beaux Esprits de son temps” 22 (the high society in which he now found himself placed him in contact with the cultivated minds of his time). Like other intellectuals, he frequented the literary salon of madame de Rambouillet, 23 the “in” place to be for Parisian fashionable society from 1620 to 1650: Ce fut pendant plus de trente ans le rendez-vous privilégié des gens du monde et des gens de lettres soucieux de politesse et de beau langage. Être admis à fréquenter la « chambre bleue » correspondait à un diplôme de qualité mondaine et intellectuelle à that representations of immoral behaviour on the French stage had been banned by Richelieu. He indicates as well that the infamous reputation of actors, while once true, is no longer the case in seventeenth-century France. D’Aubignac acknowledges that some of the problems impeding the progress of French theatre include the generally bad quality of the acting, the mediocrity of plays created by new playwrights, the imperfections of stage decor and the disorderliness of spectators, particularly among the “jeunes débauchés” (debauched young people). Cf. D’Aubignac, Projet pour le rétablissement du théâtre français, in La Pratique du théâtre, pp. 698-703. 21 Charles Livet, Précieux et précieuses, caractères et mœurs littéraires du XVII e siècle, Paris: H. Welter, 1895; reprint, Cœuvres-et-Valsery: Ressouvenances, 2001, p. 161. 22 Boscheron, “Lettre de Monsieur Boscheron à Monsieur de *** contenant un Abrégé de la vie de l’abbé d’Aubignac et l’Histoire de ses ouvrages”, in Albert-Henri de Sallengre, Mémoires de littérature, 2 volumes, La Haye: Henri de Sauzet, 1716, vol. I, p. 288. 23 Thomas Frederick Crane, “Introduction”, in Thomas Frederick Crane, ed., La Société française au dix-septième siècle, New York: G. P. Putnam’s sons, 1889, p. xxix. <?page no="16"?> 16 la fois ; on y venait donc d’abord pour y être vu, puis on y revenait parce qu’on s’y amusait. 24 It was for more than thirty years the privileged meeting place of the worldly and of men of letters preoccupied with politeness and with elegant speech. To be admitted to the “blue room” corresponded to a diploma in worldly and intellectual quality; people came at first to be seen, then they returned because they enjoyed themselves there. From 1652-1659, d’Aubignac was also a frequent visitor of the salon of Madeleine de Scudéry, which became very popular following the decline of the Hôtel de Rambouillet. 25 He visited the salon of vicomtesse d’Auchy and attended the lectures of Pierre Bourdelot, Louis de l’Esclache, Jacques Rohaut, François de Launay and Henri-Louis Habert de Montmor. 26 The list of d’Aubignac’s friends - some of whom, it must be qualified, later became his foes - is a who’s who of the literary world of seventeenthcentury France. These writers included Antoine Furetière, Madeleine de Scudéry, Georges de Scudéry, Gilles Ménage, Valentin Conrart, Isaac de Benserade, Guillaume Colletet, abbé de Pure, François Ogier, César- Pierre Richelet, Nicolas Boileau, Pierre Corneille and Jean Chapelain. 27 Livet affirms: L’approbation de l’abbé d’Aubignac avait alors grand prix. Il était dans tout l’éclat de sa réputation. Ses amis c’étaient Conrart, Chapelain, d’Ablancourt, Doujat ; il voyait la société qu’ils fréquentaient eux-mêmes, entre autres cette mademoiselle Le Vieux, pour qui Conrart fit maintes fois des vers, et à qui Patru écrivit plusieurs lettres sous le nom d’Olinde. 28 The approval of abbé d’Aubignac was at that point highly valued. He was in the full glory of his reputation. His friends were Conrart, Chapelain, d’Ablancourt, Doujat; he saw the society that they themselves frequented, among them a certain Miss Le Vieux, for whom Conrart many times wrote verses, and to whom Patru wrote several letters under the name of Olinde. 24 François Bruche, ed., Dictionnaire du Grand Siècle, 2 nd edition, Paris: Fayard, 2005, p. 1299. 25 Cf. Faith E. Beasley, Salons, History, and the Creation of Seventeenth-Century France: Mastering Memory, Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2006, pp. 228-248. 26 Cf. Boscheron, vol. I, p. 308. 27 Cf. Arnaud, pp. 34-35. 28 Livet, p. 188. <?page no="17"?> 17 This is not to say that d’Aubignac was universally well-liked by his contemporaries. His reputation was that of a quarrelsome, pedantic author and dramatic critic who did not hesitate to point out the supposed flaws in the works of other writers, but who lacked sufficient literary talent, it was said, to produce great works himself. He engaged in quarrels, either of a literary or personal nature, with Gilles Ménage, Madeleine de Scudéry, abbé de Pure, Pierre Corneille and César-Pierre Richelet. 29 He had a falling out with his publisher Charles de Sercy, referring to him in his Quatrième dissertation as “le dernier des fripons” (the last of the rascals), “un méchant petit Libraire” (a malicious little publisher), “ce petit Hère” (this little, miserable wretch), “ce petit perfide” (this little, perfidious person) and “un pauvre idiot qui ne sait qu’à grande peine écrire son nom, un misérable escroc qui n’est propre qu’à vendre des Almanachs” (a poor idiot who barely knows how to write his own name, a wretched swindler who is only good for selling almanacs). 30 In 1659, Chapelain wrote of d’Aubignac: 29 D’Aubignac’s literary quarrel with Ménage, which began in 1640 and which lasted close to 50 years (yes, even after the abbé’s death), had to do with the duration of the action in Terence’s Heautontimoroumenos; his quarrel with Madeleine de Scudéry originated from an accusation of plagiarism on the part of Scudéry over the 1654 publication of d’Aubignac’s novel Histoire du temps, ou Relation du royaume de Coquetterie; his quarrel with abbé de Pure concerned a passage in La Précieuse ou Le Mystère des ruelles (1656), in the first part of which de Pure had complimented d’Aubignac, incorrectly attributing a novel to Nidhélie, an anagram for Hédelin; his 1663 quarrel with Jean Donneau de Visé and Pierre Corneille, known as the “Quarrel of Sophonisbe”, saw the publication of four essays by d’Aubignac criticizing Corneille and several of his works; his quarrel with César-Pierre Richelet was of a personal nature. Cf. Augustin Irailh, Querelles littéraires, ou mémoires pour servir à l’histoire des révolutions de la République des Lettres, depuis Homère jusqu’à nos jours, 4 volumes, Paris: Durand, 1761; reprint, Geneva: Slatkine, 1967; Livet, pp. 168-177. 30 Abbé d’Aubignac, Quatrième dissertation concernant le poème dramatique : Servant de réponse aux calomnies de M. Corneille, in L’Abbé d’Aubignac. Dissertations contre Corneille: 115-146, pp. 140, 143. D’Aubignac accused Sercy of having allowed Pierre Corneille to take all the remaining copies of the abbé’s essay on Sophonisbe in exchange for copies of Corneille’s translation of L’Imitation de Jésus- Christ by Thomas à Kempis. Cf. Abbé d’Aubignac, Première dissertation concernant le poème dramatique : À Madame la duchesse de R*, in L’Abbé d’Aubignac. Dissertations contre Corneille: 1-16, p. 3. <?page no="18"?> 18 […] c’est bien l’homme le plus emporté et le plus violent dans les siennes [les passions] que vous ayez jamais connu. 31 […] he is certainly the most hot-tempered and most violent man in his passions that you have ever known. Arnaud asserts: « Il a toujours de la bile de reste, » disait Tallemant. Il se querella en effet et se brouilla avec beaucoup de ses amis […]. Quiconque lui refusait les hommages sur lesquels il comptait était relevé aigrement et rageusement. 32 “He always has bile to spare”, Tallemant used to say. He did indeed quarrel and fell out with many of his friends […]. Whoever refused him the tributes on which he counted was bitterly and angrily noted. Livet recounts an incident that took place at the salon of vicomtesse d’Auchy where d’Aubignac delivered a speech against pride which was addressed directly to the comte de Pagan, who was present at the gathering: Un jour, entre autres, en présence du conte de Pagan, il y prononça un discours contre l’orgueil ; c’était s’adresser directement au conte, ingénieur distingué, mais l’homme le plus vain de son siècle. 33 One day, among others, in the presence of the count of Pagan, he delivered a speech against pride; it was addressed directly to the count, a distinguished engineer, but the vainest man of his century. As Livet concludes, this speech “ne manqua pas de susciter contre l’abbé de nouvelles colères et de lui rendre difficiles ses relations avec ses confrères” 34 (did not fail to incite new feelings of anger against the abbé and to make his relationships with his colleagues difficult). D’Aubignac lobbied to be admitted to the Académie française, and when it became 31 Jean Chapelain, letter of 15 May 1659 to Nicolas Heinsius, in Lettres de Jean Chapelain, ed. Ph. Tamizey de Larroque, 2 volumes, Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1880-1883, vol. II, p. 37. Quoted by Baby, “Introduction”, in La Pratique du théâtre, p. 13. 32 Arnaud, pp. 39-40. 33 Livet, pp. 195-196. 34 Ibid., p. 196. <?page no="19"?> 19 evident that admittance in this exclusive club was unlikely to take place, he sought unsuccessfully to have a second academy in Paris - his own - be granted letters patent in order to be recognized as a royal society. 35 While Richelieu was alive, he even had great hopes of becoming the “Directeur, Intendant, ou Grand Maître des Théâtres et des Jeux publics de France” 36 (Director, Intendant or Grand Master of Theatres and Public Games of France), a necessary position, so d’Aubignac argued, in order to ensure the integrity of all aspects of theatrical productions in the country, including the morality depicted in dramatic works and the private lives of female actors. 37 Alas for the abbé, Richelieu died in 1642, effectively halting the would-be Grand Master in his tracks. These “failures” on the part of d’Aubignac did nothing to diminish the large ego which was to characterize him throughout his life. His portrait, which he commissioned by the famous Parisian engraver Gilles Rousselet, was accompanied by the following verses: Il a mille vertus, il connaît les beaux-arts ; Il étoffe l’Envie à ses pieds abattue, 35 Cf. Abbé d’Aubignac, Discours au Roi sur l’établissement d’une seconde académie dans la ville de Paris, Paris: J. du Brueil and Pierre Collet, 1664. 36 D’Aubignac, Projet pour le rétablissement du théâtre français, p. 704. 37 According to d’Aubignac’s Projet pour le rétablissement du théâtre français, the Director, Intendant or Grand Master of Theatres would enforce a declaration by the king prohibiting immoral representations on stage and preventing girls from becoming actresses unless one of their parents were in the company. Widowed actresses would be obliged to remarry within six months following a year of mourning and would not be permitted to perform on stage during that year unless they were already remarried. The Grand Master of Theatres would also oversee the training of young actors, ensuring the quality of performances. The works of experienced playwrights would be screened by the Grand Master only for the purposes of guaranteeing good moral content, whereas those of new dramatists would also be examined for the actual quality of the plays. Stage décor would be overseen by the Grand Master who would hire skilled workers to create appropriate decorations at public expense. To ensure the orderliness of audiences, the king would forbid all pages and lackeys from entering the theatre and would prohibit the carrying of weapons by all spectators, regardless of rank. Two guards would be stationed at the theatre doors. The theatre pits would be raised and filled with fixed seating in order to prevent disorderly conduct on the part of the common people. Finally, the Grand Master would also find a suitable building for a magnificent theatre in Paris, where seating for spectators would be segregated so that people of quality would not have to mingle with the general public and which would have nearby houses in which to lodge two theatre companies. Cf. D’Aubignac, Projet pour le rétablissement du théâtre français, pp. 703-706. <?page no="20"?> 20 Et Rome à son mérite, au siècle des Césars, Au lieu de cette image eût fait une statue. 38 He has a thousand virtues, he knows the fine arts; He attracts Envy humbled at his feet, And Rome in his honour, in the century of the Caesars, Instead of this image would have made a statue. The engraving and the verses were placed at the beginning of d’Aubignac’s novel Macarise, ou la Reine des Îles Fortunées (Macarise, or the Queen of the Fortunate Islands), published in 1664. Charles Livet makes the following perceptive commentary on the abbé’s quarrelsome and vain character: Il combat par besoin, il guerroie par tempérament ; ce qu’il cherche, c’est l’action ; il aime à provoquer pour qu’on lui réponde, à porter des coups pour qu’on lui en rende : ce stimulant lui est nécessaire ; un peu faible, il a besoin d’être excité pour rester toujours en mouvement, comme il l’aime. Ainsi, pourquoi s’attaquer à Corneille, qu’il a tant vanté dans sa Pratique de théâtre ? Pourquoi essayer de faire concurrence à l’Académie ? Pourquoi remonter jusqu’à Homère pour trouver à lutter après être entré tour à tour en lice contre tous ses contemporains ? Ah ! si le temps ne lui avait pas manqué ! Entre Homère et Corneille, aucun ne lui aurait échappé des écrivains intermédiaires. 39 He fights out of necessity, he wages war by temperament; what he searches for is action; he likes to provoke so that he is answered, to strike blows so that others will reciprocate. This stimulation is necessary for him; somewhat weak, he needs to be excited in order to be in continuous movement, which he enjoys. Otherwise, why attack Corneille whom he praised so much in his Pratique du théâtre? Why try to compete against the Academy? Why go all the way back to Homer to find a reason to fight after having quarelled in turn with all of his contemporaries? Oh, if only time had not run out on him! Between Homer and Corneille, none of the writers in between would have escaped his grasp. All this to demonstrate that d’Aubignac was not your run-of-the-mill abbé, exclusively dedicating his life to all things pious. Rather, he was an ambitious and egotistical man of the world, eager to know all the right 38 Cf. Livet, p. 189. The verses are signed “Anchemant”, believed by Tallemant to be a pseudonym for d’Aubignac’s brother (Gédéon Tallemant des Réaux, Historiettes, ed. Mm. Monmerqué, de Chateaugiron and Taschereau, 6 volumes, Paris: A. Levavaseur, 1834-1835, vol. VI, p. 216). 39 Livet, pp. 193-194. <?page no="21"?> 21 people, to become known himself and to exercise power and influence over others. As Arnaud explains, d’Aubignac did not devote himself wholly to religious life primarily because of his penchant for the worldly: Pourquoi cependant ne s’appliqua-t-il pas plus au ministère de la parole, et se réservat-il presque entièrement pour d’autres travaux moins conformes à son caractère sacerdotal et moins avantageux même pour sa vanité littéraire, avide de succès facile et immédiat ? La cause en fut sans doute à « son esprit tout de feu qui se jetait à tout, » mais principalement à sa souplesse et à sa complaisance d’homme de cour et d’homme du monde qui se laissait pousser à tout. 40 Why, however, did he not apply himself more to the ministry of the sermon, and instead devoted himself almost entirely to other work less fitting to his priestly character and less advantageous even for his literary vanity, which was so greedy for easy and immediate success? The reason was no doubt “his mind full of fire which threw itself at everything”, but principally his adaptability and his indulgence as a courtier and as a man of the world, flinging himself at all things. In addition to the rules governing drama, his self-professed area of expertise was the heroic woman and the woman of polite society - how they should behave, how they should be viewed, and where they belong in the whole scheme of things. All of d’Aubignac’s fictional works address these matters in varying degrees, and this is what makes the writings of François Hédelin an appropriate and fruitful choice for our study. Of course, the abbé’s views on women were not the only ones expressed in seventeenth-century France, a time when literary debates about the female sex abounded. Many “feminist” and “anti-feminist” works were published during this time, particularly in the first half of the century. 41 Therefore, our book is necessarily limited in its scope. What is does provide, however, is an examination of attitudes towards women that were in circulation at the time of d’Aubignac. These views, it may be argued, are not extinct today. The study also aims to contribute to the scholarship on d’Aubignac, painting a portrait of the abbé that has not been the focus of previous books. 40 Arnaud, p. 24. 41 Cf. Ian Maclean, Woman Triumphant. Feminism in French Literature 1610-1652, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977, p. 27. Our use of the term “feminist” in the context of seventeenth-century France conforms to Maclean’s definition of “feminism” as “a reassessment in woman’s favour of the relative capacities of the sexes” (Maclean, p. viii). <?page no="22"?> 22 The first chapter of our work is comprised of three parts in which we examine key historical elements that provide a background to our topic: I. The Salic Law; II. The Powerful Female Trinity (dealing with the female regencies of sixteenthand seventeenth-century France); III. François Hédelin, Abbé d’Aubignac (exploring the life of the author himself). An analysis of the tragic heroines of d’Aubignac’s three plays is the focus of the second chapter. The abbé’s remarkable novel Le Roman des lettres, a rich source of information regarding the author’s philosophy and fantasies of the female sex, is discussed in chapter 3. The fourth chapter examines d’Aubignac’s instructional manual Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène and his novel Amelonde, providing examples of both theory and practice regarding the expected behaviour of the women in the abbé’s world. D’Aubignac’s novel Histoire du temps, a satirical depiction of the superficial world of coquetry, is the focus of chapter 5. The next chapter explores the antithesis of the kingdom of coquetry, presented in the abbé’s allegorical novel Macarise, in which the heroine is the embodiment of virtue, but is surrounded by other females who represent deceitfulness, sensuality and superficiality. The final chapter examines the theoretician’s critical views of Pierre Corneille’s heroines in the context of the Quarrel of Sophonisbe. Throughout the book, original quotations in French are followed by English translations. 42 This has been done for two reasons. Firstly, our work is intended to serve scholars of a variety of disciplines. Secondly, although the book is written in English, we believe in the importance of presenting French quotations in the original language so that the reader, according to his or her ability, may have the opportunity to capture the nuances of what is being said. The use of the French guillemets ( « ») and the non-breaking space before two-part punctuation marks (? ! : ; ) has been respected in French quotations. Throughout the book, French titles of nobility (duchesse d’Aiguillon, for example) are presented in the original language without English translation. 42 All the translations are our own. As Raymond Schoder states, “translation is a delicate and complicated process” (The Art and Challenge of Translation, Oak Park, Illinois: Bolchazy-Carducci, 1987, p. vi). It has been our aim to present not only the message of the words being quoted, but also to convey the particular style of the author. <?page no="23"?> 1 Historical Perspective I The Salic Law The association of the terms “power” and “misogyny” in the context of seventeenth-century France necessitates a discussion of an equally weighty term, that of “Salic law”. Everyone has heard of it, but many may not realize that it was not actually a law that specifically banned females from succession to the throne. Milton Waldman accurately describes this notion as “legal fiction”. 1 To begin with, Lex Salica was the entire code of the Salii or Salian Franks, a collection of Germanic tribes that settled on Roman land in areas that are now part of the Netherlands and Belgium. Clovis I (c. 466-511), the first ruler of all the Franks and the first Catholic king to govern Gaul (now France), decided it was time to write down the laws that had previously only been transmitted orally by certain elders: Before the Germanic barbarians entered the Roman Empire they had no written codes of law. As was true in the case of the early Romans, their law was essentially customary law - the traditions or customs of the people handed down by word of mouth from untold generations in the past. Such customs were “kept” in the memories of the community who, when needed, could be called together to “speak the law”. 2 The code included both criminal and civil laws. It specified fines for a variety of offenses, including insults, arson, magic, theft, assault, rape and murder. 3 The important matter for our study is that one of the original 1 Milton Waldman, Joan of Arc, London: Longman, 1935, p. 56. 2 Katherine Fischer Drew, The Laws of the Salian Franks, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011, p. 20. 3 The only crime which explicitly carried the death penalty was that of abduction, committed by a bondsman of the king, of a free woman for the purpose of rape. The following are examples of the fines imposed for other offenses: Title III - If any one steal that bull which rules the herd and never has been yoked, he shall be sentenced to <?page no="24"?> 24 tenets of the Salic law prohibited the inheritance of ancestral land by women: But of Salic land no portion of the inheritance shall come to a woman: but the whole inheritance of the land shall come to the male sex. 4 Around 570 under Chilperic I, a later amendment to this stipulation actually permitted inheritance by a daughter, provided there were no living sons: […] it was pleasing and agreed that if a man had neighbors and after his death sons and daughters remained, as long as there were sons, they should have the land, just as the Salic law provides. And if the sons are already dead, then a daughter may receive the land just as the sons would have done had they lived. 5 It must be clarified that what became the rule of agnatic succession in France did not have its origins in any interpretation or application of the Salic law. The French succession crisis of 1316 was resolved, not by adherence to the Salic law, as is sometimes believed, but rather by the skillful use of political maneuvering on the part of Philippe le Long (Philip the Tall) in order to secure the French crown against the claims of his four-year-old niece Jeanne, daughter of Louis X. 6 John Milton Potter states: 1800 denars, which make 45 shillings. Title XIII - But those who commit rape shall be compelled to pay 2500 denars, which make 63 shillings. Title XV - If any one shall set fire to a house in which men were sleeping, as many freemen as were in it can make complaint before the "Thing" and if any one shall have been burned in it, the incendiary shall be sentenced to 2500 denars, which make 63 shillings. Title XXX - If any one, man or woman, shall have called a woman harlot, and shall not have been able to prove it, he shall be sentenced to 1800 denars, which make 45 shillings. Title XLI - If any one shall have killed a free Frank, or a barbarian living under the Salic law, and it have been proved on him, he shall be sentenced to 8000 denars (Oliver J. Thatcher, ed., The Library of Original Sources, 10 volumes, Honolulu: University Press of the Pacific, 2004, vol. IV, pp. 178-182.) 4 Thatcher, vol. IV, p. 188. 5 Drew, p. 149. 6 When Louis X died in 1316, he left behind a four-year-old daughter Jeanne, from his first marriage, and a pregnant second wife, Clémence de Hongrie. Louis’s brother Philippe acted as regent while France awaited the birth of the child. The arrival of a boy, Jean I, meant that the country now had a new king. Alas, the baby lived for only five days, leaving the four-year-old Jeanne as Louis’s only surviving child. The power <?page no="25"?> 25 Philip V made good his possession of the throne in part because of division and lack of steadfastness amongst his opponents, in part by bribery, in part by the consent of an assembly of notables. 7 A misogynistic precedent was established! Ellie Woodacre asserts: Although the primary reasons for rejecting Jeanne’s claim to the throne had little to do with the fact that she was female, once she had been bypassed, a precedent against female succession was set. 8 This precedent was used to determine the successor of Philippe V in 1322 and that of Charles IV in 1328, both kings having died without leaving any sons. 9 It must be emphasized that much of the discourse that took place in the fourteenth century that attempted to justify the exclusion of women from French royal succession was based on the notion that struggle that ensued resulted in the rejection of the young girl as queen in favour of the succession of Louis’s brother Philippe. Those who advanced the cause of Philippe V did so primarily in order to secure their own power, rather than to adhere to a belief in any doctrine of succession. Cf. George Duby, France in the Middle Ages 987- 1460: from Hugh Capet to Joan of Arc, Oxford: Blackwell, 1993. 7 John Milton Potter, “The Development and Significance of the Salic Law of the French”, The English Historical Review, 52 (1937): 235-253, p. 237. 8 Ellie Woodacre, “Le Roi est mort; Vive la Reine? The girl who should have been Queen of France” [online], <http: / / www.academia.edu/ 176412/ Le_roi_est_mort_Vive_la_reine>, pp. 7-8, accessed on 8 October 2014. 9 When Philippe V died in 1322, he too left no sons, and was succeeded by his brother Charles IV, despite the fact that four daughters of the dead king were, in theory, potential candidates to become monarch. Six years later, a similar situation arose, the crown passing to Charles’s first cousin, Philippe de Valois, due to the absence of living sons. A one-year-old daughter, Marie, was deemed disqualified to succeed, and a wait-and-see game ensued until the sex of Charles’s as yet unborn child was known. The birth of a girl (Blanche) spelled the end of the male line of the House of Capet, and Philippe de Valois was officially crowned King Philippe VI of France. The succession took place despite a challenge from England’s Edward III (1312-1377) who also claimed the French throne. The notion, based on a misogynistic precedent, that women were disqualified from the royal succession was used to reject his claim, a move that would trigger the start of the Hundred Years’ War. Edward’s mother Isabella had been the sister of Charles IV. The English king, it was argued, had no right to the French crown because of disqualification of the female line. Cf. Jean Favier, La Guerre de Cent Ans, Paris: Fayard, 1980. <?page no="26"?> 26 females were simply incapable of ruling. The authority of Aristotle was invoked by the eminent philosopher Nicolas Oresme to claim that the nature of women was incompatible with the responsibilities associated with good government. 10 Other writers such as Evrart de Trémaugon used civil and canon law to point out the inherent evil found in women: For example, he claimed that women were by nature contrary, prone to lie, make false accusations, and do the opposite of what was commanded; he cited the legal prohibitions on their being teachers, priests, or judges. 11 It was not until the fifteenth century that the Salic law officially became a convenient justification to ensure male succession. Convenient, because the clause regarding the inheritance of ancestral property was manipulated in order to include royal succession. 12 The polemical work Pour ce que plusieurs, published in 1464, solidified the French doctrine of the exclusion of women from royal succession based on the Salic law. 13 Ellie Woodacre elegantly summarizes the circumstances that led to the acceptance of the Salic law as a doctrine of succession in France: Being female was possibly the least important factor which prevented Jeanne’s accession, but once one woman was bypassed, the situation snowballed and within 20 10 Cf. Craig Taylor, “The Salic Law, French Queenship, and the Defense of Women in the Late Middle Ages”, French Historical Studies, 29 (2006): 543-564, p. 553. 11 Ibid., pp. 553-554. 12 “The pivotal moment probably occurred around 1413 when Jean de Montreuil added a marginal note to A toute la chevalerie, a polemical treatise supporting the Valois monarchy against the English. Defending the exclusion of women from the royal succession, the royal notaire et secrétaire cited a clause from the chapter “De allodio,” which dictated that men should receive ancestors’ heritage (their landed property, the “terra salica”) and women just personal property. To make this statement apply to the French kingdom, Montreuil inserted the words in regno into an inaccurate transcription of the clause. Thereafter a series of writers employed by the Valois monarchy, all connected with the French royal chancellery, used the Salic Law to defend the exclusion of women from the French royal succession” (Taylor, “The Salic Law, French Queenship, and the Defense of Women in the Late Middle Ages”, pp. 543-544). 13 Ibid., p. 544. Cf. Craig Taylor, “La querelle Anglaise”: diplomatic and legal debate during the Hundred Years’ War, with an edition of the polemical treatise “Pour ce que plusieurs” (1464), DPhil dissertation, Oxford University, 1998. <?page no="27"?> 27 years the idea of female succession went from a viable possibility to an impossible suggestion. 14 No longer was it necessary to justify female exclusion on the controversial notion of male superiority. The Salic law now provided a convenient and unbeatable argument to deny women the opportunity to inherit the French crown without opening up the can of worms that misogynistic arguments inevitably created. II The Powerful Female Trinity The irony of the entrenchment of this law, of course, is that it did not prevent three women in Early Modern France from officially exercising considerable, if not absolute, power in the political arena for over fifty years. After King Henri II (1519-1559) died as a result of a jousting accident, 15 his widow Catherine de’ Medici (1519-1589) was named gouvernante de France (governor of France) on behalf of their ten-yearold son Charles IX (1550-1574). The young king had ascended the throne following the premature death of his fifteen-year-old brother François II (1544-1560) from mastoiditis, an infection that spreads from the middle ear to the air sacs of the skull. François had been king for only seventeen months, with the reins of government really in the hands of the two eldest brothers of the House of Guise, François and Charles, uncles of young François’s spouse, Mary, Queen of Scots. 16 We should not look upon 14 Woodacre, p. 12. 15 “The fatal lance blow was accidentally given during a tournament by Gabriel de Montgomery, Comte de Lorges, captain of the Scotch guard, who had been persuaded against his will to enter the lists with the King. Paré was one of the surgeons in attendance on the King and Vesalius was sent for from Brussels. The King lived eleven days. The surgeons could not find the lance splinters which had penetrated the King's brain although they secured the heads of four criminals that had been beheaded and experimented upon them with a lance in order to ascertain the probable course of the splinters. The lance struck the king above the right eye” (Francis Packard, The Life and Times of Ambroise Paré (1510-1590), New York: Paul B. Hoeber, 1921, p. 58). 16 The Guise brothers had enjoyed considerable power during the reign of King Henri II. Their niece, Mary, Queen of Scots, had been brought to the French court at the age <?page no="28"?> 28 Catherine’s rise to power solely as a result of a twist of fate, however. As soon as she realized that François was on the brink of death, Catherine sought to become regent for the next king, her son Charles IX, by making a deal with Antoine de Bourbon. The latter agreed to renounce his own claim to the regency in return for the release from prison of his rebel brother Louis, prince de Condé. 17 There were even rumours that Catherine had hastened François II’s death by having the royal surgeon administer a poison to the king’s ear, 18 in order to ensure her authority as regent for the new king. However, this conspiracy theory is largely discounted. 19 Although her official capacity as regent ended in 1563, Catherine essentially continued to govern on behalf of her son, who demonstrated little propensity or interest to rule the country, which was now plagued by constant civil and religious upheaval. 20 The degree of her culpability in the events that led to the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre 21 in 1572 is still debated by historians. The traditional view is that she had the king order the murder of the Huguenot leaders, fearing that a violent uprising was being planned in response to the attempted assassination of Gaspard de Coligny, the protestant political and military leader. More recent scholarship tends to place the blame for the initial murders on the king’s of five in order to be promised to the dauphin. Mary’s mother, Marie de Guise, widow of James V of Scotland, acted as regent for the young queen. 17 Louis, prince de Condé, was the military leader of the Huguenots. In 1560, he was arrested for crimes against the king and sentenced to death. His brother, Antoine de Bourbon, as First Prince of the Blood, was considered by many to be the rightful choice as regent to Charles IX. Cf. Robert Jean Knecht, Catherine de' Medici. London: Longman, 1998, p. 72. 18 The royal surgeon was none other than Ambroise Paré, the grandfather of abbé d’Aubignac. We shall address this point in the next section of this chapter. 19 Cf. Packard, p. 63. 20 Cf. Leonie Frieda, Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France, New York: Harper Perennial, 2006. 21 In August 1572, the wedding in Catholic Paris of the Protestant Henri III de Navarre to Charles IX’s sister Marguerite saw the attendance of notable Huguenot leaders, including Gaspard de Coligny. While still in Paris, Coligny was wounded in an assassination attempt. Hearing reports of planned Protestant reprisals, the king ordered the murder of the Huguenot leaders who were still in the capital. The killings set off a chain reaction of mob violence over a period of several weeks that resulted in the massacre of thousands of Protestants in Paris and in the provinces. Coligny himself was killed, and his dead body was thrown out the window of the room where he had been recovering from his previous wounds. Cf. Robert Jean Knecht, The French Religious Wars 1562-1598, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2002. <?page no="29"?> 29 Italian advisers. 22 In any event, the orchestrated plan of targeted assassinations unleashed unrestrained mob violence in Paris and in the provinces over a period of several weeks, the death toll ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 Protestants. Catherine de’ Medici’s reputation as a ruthless and fearsome political figure was cemented. 23 The death of Charles IX in 1574 did not put an end to the queen mother’s vast political power; she continued to enjoy considerable authority during the reign of her third son, Henri III (1551-1589), at first as regent during his brief absence from France, 24 and then as his adviser and chief executive, until her own death in 1589 - a total of 29 years of power. Not bad for a woman in sixteenth-century France where the Salic law was in force! And certainly not bad for someone whom her husband, Henri II, had excluded from any involvement in state affairs during his reign! The second person in our powerful female trinity is another member of the remarkable House of Medici. On 14 May 1610, the second wife 25 of King Henri IV (1553-1610), Marie de’ Medici (1573-1642), found herself named regent for her eight-year-old son Louis XIII (1601-1643). Her husband had been assassinated only hours before, an event, it was rumored, of which the queen had had prior knowledge. 26 It must be noted, however, that the theory of her involvement in the king’s assassination has been largely dismissed by modern scholars. 27 Marie’s rule was extremely 22 Cf. Mack P. Holt, The Duke of Anjou and the Politique Struggle During the Wars of Religion, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002, p. 20. 23 Cf. Mack P. Holt, The French Wars of Religion, 1562-1629, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. 24 Henri had been elected king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1573, but he abandoned that throne in order to accept the French crown upon the death of his brother. 25 Henri IV’s first marriage to Marguerite de Valois, daughter of Catherine de’ Medici, had been annulled. 26 Rumours of Marie de’ Medici’s involvement in her husband’s death originated from the fact that her coronation took place just one day before the assassination. According to the conspiracy theory, one of the queen’s associates, the duc d’Épernon, was behind the assassination plan. Shortly after the assassination, Épernon went to the Parlement to support Marie de’ Medici’s claim to the regency. However, even under torture, the king’s assassin, François Ravaillac, insisted that he had acted alone. Cf. Philippe Erlanger L'Étrange Mort de Henri IV, ou Les Jeux de l’amour de la guerre, Paris: Amiot-Dumont, 1957. 27 Cf. Jean-François Dubost, Marie de Médicis, la reine dévoilée, Paris: Payot, 2009, pp. 304-308. <?page no="30"?> 30 rocky, as the queen was heavily influenced by her self-interested advisers Concino Concini and his wife Leonora Dori Galigaï, her lady-in-waiting. 28 By 1617, with the encouragement of the influential Charles d’Albert, duc de Luynes, the fifteen-year-old Louis XIII decided that he had had enough of his mother’s policies and political intrigues, assuming power in his own right. The result was the murder of the powerful Concini and the arrest, on charges of bewitching the queen, and subsequent beheading, of Galigaï. Marie de’ Medici was banished from court and was forced into exile to the Château de Blois. She escaped two years later and became the rallying point for disgruntled nobles who were unhappy with the duc de Luynes’s influence over the king and the resultant policies of the Crown. The aristocratic rebellion of 1620 was easily defeated. With the Treaty of Angoulême, mother and son were reconciled and, in 1621, the resilient Marie found herself back in the royal council. It was at this time that she commissioned Peter Paul Rubens to create a series of 24 large paintings detailing the events of her life for her newly constructed Luxembourg Palace in Paris. 29 Needless to say, the allegorical depictions of the Marie de’ Medici cycle portray the queen in a glorious light. 30 As David 28 A native of Florence, Concino Concini arrived in France with Marie de’ Medici. In 1613, he was named maréchal de France. He married the queen’s lady-in-waiting, Leonora Dori Galigaï, whom the superstitious Marie paid to perform acts of exorcism and white magic. 29 An additional 24 monumental paintings were also commissioned to illustrate the life of Henri IV. The Henri cycle was never completed. 30 The 24 paintings, which now hang in the Louvre, are as follows: The Birth of the Princess, in Florence on 26 April 1573; The Education of the Princess; The Presentation of her Portrait to Henri IV; The Wedding by Proxy of Marie de’ Medici to King Henri IV; The Disembarkation at Marseilles; The Meeting of Marie de’ Medici and Henri IV at Lyons; The Birth of the Dauphin at Fontainebleau; The Consignment of the Regency; The Coronation in Saint-Denis; The Death of Henri IV and the Proclamation of the Regency; The Council of the Gods; The Regent Militant: The Victory at Jülich; The Exchange of the Princesses at the Spanish Border; The Felicity of the Regency of Marie de’ Medici; Louis XIII Comes of Age; The Flight from Blois; The Negotiations at Angoulême; The Queen Opts for Security; Reconciliation of the Queen and her Son; The Triumph of Truth; Francesco I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany; Johanna of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany; The Reconciliation of Henri III and Henri of Navarre; The Battle of Ivry. Cf. Geraldine Johnson, “Pictures Fit for a Queen: Peter Paul Rubens and the Marie de’ Medici Cycle”, Art History, 16 (1973): 447-469; Fanny Cosandey, “Représenter une reine de France. Marie de Médicis et le cycle de Rubens au palais de Luxembourg”, Clio, <?page no="31"?> 31 Freedberg states, “she needed to justify her policies, and Rubens was summoned to make painted propaganda on her behalf.” 31 Fanny Cosandey writes: Le contexte est essentiel pour comprendre la portée politique d’une telle entreprise. Au-delà du parcours biographique que retrace le cycle en célébrant les moments cruciaux de son existence, Marie de Médicis entend offrir au public un manifeste qui vise autant à justifier ses actes qu’à glorifier son être. Fidèle à la tradition médicéenne, la reine mère sait mobiliser les arts pour célébrer sa grandeur et servir sa politique. 32 The context is essential in order to understand the political impact of such an undertaking. Beyond the biographical details retraced by the cycle in celebrating the crucial moments of her life, Marie de’ Medici intends to offer to the public a manifesto which aims as much to justify her acts as to glorify her being. Faithful to the Medici tradition, the queen mother knew how to mobilise the arts in order to celebrate her grandeur and serve her politics. Meanwhile, the queen mother’s reconciliation with the king was shortlived. The relentlessly political Marie became envious of Cardinal Richelieu’s expanding influence, and she sought unsuccessfully to have him dismissed as chief minister, actions which led to her exile to Compiègne in 1630. She managed to flee to Brussels, and later travelled to Amsterdam and London, all the while encouraging her other son Gaston to rebel against his brother the king. She died in Cologne in 1642. The traditional view of Marie de’ Medici is that she was greedy, intellectually limited and politically incompetent. 33 Jean-François Dubost argues that such a characterization owes much to attitudes of misogyny and xenophobia that were prevalent in the queen’s lifetime. It was felt that as a woman and a foreigner, the Italian-born Marie had no right to delve into politics. 34 According to Dubost, the queen’s reversal of France’s anti- Habsburg policy should not necessarily be seen as a sign of political Femmes, Genre, Histoire [online], 19 (2004), <http: / / clio.revues.org/ 645>, accessed on 16 September 2014. 31 David Freedberg, Peter Paul Rubens, Oil Paintings and Oil Sketches, New York: Gagosion Gallery, 1995, p. 7. 32 Cosandey, paragraph 5. 33 Cf Jules Michelet, Histoire de France au XVII e siècle, Henri IV et Richelieu, Paris: Chamerot, 1857; Pierre Chevallier, Louis XIII, roi cornélien, Paris: Fayard, 1979. 34 Dubost, pp. 801-803. <?page no="32"?> 32 ineptness. 35 Regardless of how one views the life of Marie de’ Medici, it cannot be denied that the queen enjoyed several years of considerable political power and influence in seventeenth-century France despite the rule of the Salic law. The final member of the trinity takes the form of Anne of Austria 36 (1601-1666), mother of Louis XIV (1638-1715). Not to be outdone by the House of Medici, Anne took bold steps to govern France following the death of her husband Louis XIII in 1643. The unhappily married king had stipulated in his will that although the queen was to be named regent for their young son, she would not be permitted to make any decisions without the consent of a council of regency, due to her inexperience in state affairs. 37 The turbulence of his own mother’s years as regent may have influenced his desire to curtail Anne’s powers. Unperturbed, and with the assistance of the chancellor of France, Pierre Séguier, the determined Anne proceeded to convince the Parlement 38 of Paris to revoke the will: At Parlement, she placed the child king on the throne of state in the hall of justice and took a seat to his right. [...] The young king had been taught to say ‘Gentlemen, I am come to show you my affection; my chancellor will tell you the rest.’ Séguier then presented the young king’s request that the council of regency established by his father be dissolved so that according to precedence, his mother should be left free to 35 Ibid. 36 Anne was the Infanta of Spain and Portugal, but was called Anne of Austria because of the origins of the House of Habsburg. 37 Louis XIII’s will states: “[…] the office of Regent is a trust of great weight, upon the due discharge of which depends the welfare and glory of the kingdom; and as it is impossible that the Queen can have the requisite knowledge to conduct the course of great and important events, which is acquired only by long experience, we have thought good to name a Council of Regency, by the advice of which, and under her Majesty’s authority, state affairs shall be resolved by a plurality of votes. We cannot make a more worthy choice of persons, therefore, to compose this Council, than to nominate our very dear and beloved cousins the Prince de Condé, the Cardinal de Mazarin, our very dear, and trusty the Sieur Séguier, Chancellor of France, Lord Keeper and a Knight of our Order, and our very dear, and faithful Bouthillier, secretary of finance, and de Chavigny, secretary of state. We will, and command, that our very dear brother the Duke of Orleans, shall be president of the Council of Regency” (quoted by Martha Walker Freer, The Married Life of Anne of Austria, Queen of France, Mother of Louis XIV, 2 volumes, London: Tinsley Brothers, 1865, vol. 2, pp. 223-224). 38 The parlements consisted of courts of appeals, rather than legislative bodies. <?page no="33"?> 33 take charge of not only the young king but also the business of state. The judges and peers voiced their approval. 39 Anne of Austria thus successfully eliminated the constraints imposed by her late husband, assuming the regency in her own right. All evidence indicates that her desire for power was based primarily on her total devotion to her two sons, Louis and Philippe, desiring to ensure that the four-year-old Louis XIV would be fully prepared for his role as monarch. 40 Like the two previous female regents before her, Anne had had little preparation for the responsibilities of governing the kingdom. Linda Andrian asserts: She had never been given the opportunity to develop administrative talents, let alone learn how to analyze the issues with which she would now be confronted. She had been pushed to the background since arriving in France. Her father had wanted her to establish diplomatic relations between the French and Spanish kingdoms. Instead, the French saw the Spanish as enemies to be defeated. Now this woman who had been so shunned and belittled was to rule the kingdom of France in the name of her son. 41 Aware of her own political limitations, the regent appointed Cardinal Mazarin as the chief minister of France. 42 Her eight years in the regency were marred by the turbulent events of the Fronde, a series of revolts that took place in France, particularly in Paris, against the centralizing policies of the Crown. 43 With the Fronde came calls for Anne to renounce the 39 Linda Andrian, Anne of Austria [online], <http: / / www.cas.umn.edu/ assets/ pdf/ AnneofAustriaREVSD.pdf>, pp. 54-55, accessed on 16 September 2014. 40 Ibid., p. 57. 41 Ibid. 42 It is rumored that Mazarin was Anne’s lover, and that it was he, rather than the king, who had fathered Louis XIV. Such a theory is supported by Anthony Levi in his work Louis XIV, New York: Carroll & Graff, 2004. 43 The first Fronde, known as the Fronde Parlementaire, took place between 1648 and 1649. The judges of the Parlement of Paris refused to pay a tax levied on them by the Crown and called for constitutional changes. The arrest of the leaders of the parlement resulted in insurrection in Paris. A stalemate between the Crown and the leaders led to the agreement of Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1649. The second Fronde, known as the Fronde des Nobles, took place between 1650 and 1653. This political and military conflict for power pitted disgruntled princes, such as Gaston d’Orléans (the king’s uncle), and Louis II, prince de Condé, against chief minister Mazarin. In <?page no="34"?> 34 regency in favour of Gaston d’Orléans, Louis XIV’s uncle. Hubert Carrier points out that misogynist prejudices were at the heart of such demands in the mazarinades, the satirical tracts that were being circulated against the chief minister and against the regent: Reacting against Anne of Austria’s complete control, a fair number of them deplored the more general phenomenon of the ascendancy of women, or even their presumption to encroach upon the rights of men. […] the mazarinades essentially reflected the opinion of the common people and the bourgeoisie, who were far more traditional and conservative with respect to mores than the intellectual and social elite. 44 Anne’s mission to protect the young king, together with Mazarin’s successful political and military maneuvering, resulted in the defeat of the Frondeurs and the strengthening of the authority of the French monarch. As regent, Anne of Austria’s philosophy was to put the interests of the king’s authority front and centre: Anne utilized her authority as regent only to protect her son’s authority as king. Anne defended this ground with an insistence neither present nor possible during earlier regencies. Influenced by Spanish traditions of a distant, god-like king, Anne insisted on her son’s centrality at the expense of her own. 45 Although Louis XIV assumed power in his own right in 1651, the queen mother remained an important voice in the royal council, playing a significant role in the government of France until the death of Mazarin ten years later. A total of 18 years of political power and influence in a country where the Salic law was in force! * the end, the cardinal was triumphant. Cf. Orest Ranum, The Fronde: A French Revolution, 1648-1652, New York: W. W. Norton, 1993. 44 Hubert Carrier, “Women’s Political and Military Action during the Fronde”, Political and Historical Encyclopedia of Women, ed. Christine Fauré, London: Routledge, 2004, p. 53. 45 Catherine Crawford, Perilous Performances: Gender and Regency in Early Modern France, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009, p. 134. <?page no="35"?> 35 Why were the regencies of Catherine de’ Medici, Marie de’ Medici and Anne of Austria legally accepted in France in the first place? The answer is quite simple: historical precedent. The first queen of France to serve as regent was Anne de Kyiv who ruled on behalf of her son Philippe I from 1060 to 1066. From 1190 to 1192, Adèle de Champagne was regent when her son Philippe II was away on a crusade. In 1226, Blanche de Castille began exercising absolute power as regent for her twelve-yearold son Louis IX. Her regency lasted eight years. She acted as regent a second time from 1248 until her death in 1252 while Louis was away on a crusade. Although she was not queen, Anne de France acted as co-regent from 1483 to 1492 on behalf of her brother Charles VIII. Finally, Louise de Savoie exercised the regency of France on two occasions, 1515-1516 and 1523-1526, while her son François I was away at war in Italy. The legal acceptance of female regencies in France was based primarily on the importance attached to the relationship between king and mother, or in the case of Anne de France, between king and the mother figure. Who best to look after the interests of a young king against potential usurpers than his own mother? As Craig Taylor asserts: […] women could not inherit the throne as private property because it was a public office, but they could administer the kingdom as regents because of their relationship with their husbands or children. 46 Catherine Crawford points out that the devotion of queen mothers to their sons was accepted as a given in early modern France: Contemporaries understood queen mothers to be devoted to their sons. Even if a queen mother was attacked for her lapses, she could use her relationship to the king to claim an effective interest in his well-being. 47 Of equal importance was the recognition that female regents could never assume the crown in their own right and therefore posed less of a threat to the king during his minority than would male counterparts. Pierre Dupuy’s Traité de la majorité de nos rois (Treatise on the Majority of Our Kings), published in 1655, addressed the apparent contradiction between 46 Taylor, “The Salic Law, French Queenship, and the Defense of Women in the Late Middle Ages”, p. 557. 47 Crawford, p. 167. <?page no="36"?> 36 the acceptance of female regency by the parlement of Paris and the application of the Salic law in France. As Harriet Lightman writes: […] the Parlement could (and did, in 1610 and 1643) sanction a queen mother’s regency and her continued power afterward. The sanctions contradicted the spirit of the Salic Law by permitting a woman to govern, but never went against the actual letter of the law. When the king was a minor, the queen mother became the child king’s natural guardian and, by extension, the guardian of the state and the protector of both king and realm from usurpers. 48 III François Hédelin, Abbé d’Aubignac The circumstances of abbé d’Aubignac’s life place him in the political shadows cast by the formidable female trio discussed above. Born in Paris in 1604 and deceased in 1676, François Hédelin lived under the regencies of Marie de’ Medici and Anne of Austria. His father, Claude Hédelin, who came from a noble family, exercised the legal profession. His mother, Catherine, was the daughter of Ambroise Paré, the official royal surgeon for Catherine de’ Medici and three of her sons, François II, Charles IX and Henri III. 49 Francis Packard writes of Paré: “[…] the Queen mother, Catherine de’ Medici, was not only his patient but his friend.” 50 It is safe to conclude that the association of women with power was not an alien concept for the young François who, we may surmise, listened to tales 48 Harriet Lightman, “Political Power and the Queen of France: Pierre Dupuy’s Treatise on Regency Governments”, Canadian Journal of History, 21 (1986): 299-312, p. 300. 49 Ambroise Paré (1510-1590) was a French barber-surgeon and anatomist who distinguished himself on the battlefield for his innovative surgical techniques. He is regarded as one of the fathers of surgery. Paré was one of the surgeons who attended to the dying Henri II. He was also in attendance to François II when the young king died from mastoiditis. There were unfounded rumours that Paré had conspired with Catherine de’ Medici to ensure the death of the young king so that the queen mother could exercise more power: “[…] the king died a few days later and the intrigues during his illness made everyone believe his days had been hastened. They suspected Paré of having put poison in his ear when he dressed him, by order of the Queen Mother, who saw no other means of assuring her authority. As Malgaigne says this suspicion does not warrant attention” (Packard, p. 63). 50 Packard, p. 4. <?page no="37"?> 37 recounted by his mother about what had gone on at the court of King Henri II’s widow. 51 In 1610, the same year that Marie de’ Medici became regent of France, the family moved from Paris to Nemours where Claude Hédelin had acquired the post of lieutenant général. François developed proficiency in spoken and written Latin, devoting himself to the study of the Roman lyric poet Horace and of the Latin historian Justin. He pursued studies in Greek, Italian, rhetoric, poetry, cosmology, geography, history, law and theology. 52 His father’s house in Nemours became a meeting place for intellectuals and members of polite society: […] toutes les personnes de condition, les ecclésiastiques, les nobles, et même les dames de la province, avec tous ceux qui témoignaient quelque amour pour les bonnes choses ne manquaient pas de s’y trouver. 53 […] all persons of quality, ecclesiastics, nobles, and even ladies of the province, along with all those who professed to love good things, did not fail to be there. François’s intellectual interest in women appears to have been awakened as a result of these gatherings: […] sa préciosité, sa vivacité d’intelligence faisaient de lui un petit prodige pour sa famille et surtout pour les dames de la province, dont il fut bientôt l’enfant gâté et le cavalier servant. Il composa en leur honneur et à leur prière plusieurs petits poèmes allégoriques. 54 […] his preciosity, his keen intelligence made him a little prodigy for his family and mostly for the ladies of the province, for whom he soon became the spoiled child and the servile knight. He composed in their honour and at their request several small allegorical poems. It was an interest that would last throughout his lifetime. 55 As we shall demonstrate later in this book, d’Aubignac’s oft-repeated insistence on the 51 Ambroise Paré died fourteen years before François’s birth. 52 Cf. D’Aubignac, Quatrième dissertation, p. 125. 53 Boscheron, vol. I, p. 286. 54 Arnaud, pp. 14-15. These allegorical poems included La Foire d’Amour, L’Opérateur d’Amour and L’Ordre de la liberté. Cf. Boscheron, vol. I, p. 287. 55 In his fourth essay against Corneille, d’Aubignac boasts about the nature of his own writings as being suited to the intellectual curiosity that one finds in royal courts and <?page no="38"?> 38 innocent and virtuous nature of this preoccupation is revelatory of his philosophy of the female sex. Following his studies, Hédelin professed law in Nemours and, in 1627, he published his first work, a treatise entitled Des Satyres, brutes, monstres et démons (Of Satyrs, Brutes, Monsters and Demons), based on his study of Greek mythology. One year later, he returned to Paris, abandoning the legal profession for holy orders and, in 1631, he was named abbé d’Aubignac in the diocese of Bourges. 56 Cardinal Richelieu’s impact on the abbé’s literary career was significant. A strong patron of the arts, the cardinal inspired d’Aubignac to become a playwright, resulting in the creation of three prose tragedies: La Pucelle d’Orléans (The Maid of Orleans), La Cyminde ou les deux victimes (Cyminde or the Two Victims), both published in 1642, and Zénobie (Zenobia), which appeared in print in 1647. 57 D’Aubignac claimed that he would not have written this last work “sans l’exprès commandement de cet incomparable Ministre, à qui les Rois et toute l’Europe n’ont pu résister” 58 (without the express command of that incomparable minister, whom kings and all of Europe have been unable to resist). As we stated in the Introduction of our book, what stands out about the subject matter of each of these tragedies is d’Aubignac’s focus on to the conversations that one hears in the salons where, he claims, nothing can be proved without profound erudition. Cf. D’Aubignac, Quatrième dissertation, p. 133. 56 “[…] il sut si bien se ménager auprès du Cardinal de Richelieu […] qu’il fut pourvu de l’Abbaye d’Aubignac Diocèse de Bourges” (Boscheron, vol. I, p. 288). ([…] he knew how to handle himself so well with Cardinal Richelieu […] that he was granted the Abbey d’Aubignac in the diocese of Bourges”.) 57 It is likely that neither La Pucelle d’Orléans nor La Cyminde ou les deux victimes was ever performed on stage. Both tragedies were adapted into verse at the request of Cardinal Richelieu. Guillaume Colletet’s Cyminde, ou les deux victimes (Paris: A. Courbé and A. Sommaville, 1642) was performed in 1641 at Richelieu’s special theatre, the Palais Cardinal. La Pucelle d’Orléans was versified either by Isaac de Benserade or by Hippolyte-Jules Pilet de la Mesnardière (Paris: A. Sommaville and A. Courbé, 1642). The play was performed in 1641 either at the Hôtel de Bourgogne or at the Théâtre du Marais. Cf. Henry Carrington Lancaster, A History of French Dramatic Literature in the Seventeenth Century, 5 parts in 9 volumes, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1929-1942, part II, vol. I, pp. 357, 359, 361, 367. Published in 1647, d’Aubignac’s Zénobie was probably performed for the first time in 1645 at the Hôtel de Bourgogne. Cf. Antoine de Léris, Dictionnaire portatif historique et littéraire des théâtres, Paris: Jombert, 1763, p. 459. 58 D’Aubignac, Quatrième dissertation, p. 138. <?page no="39"?> 39 women of power and influence. The two historical heroines, Joan of Arc and Zenobia, are no shrinking violets by any stretch of the imagination. Neither is Cyminde, d’Aubignac’s fictitious princess of Carimbe. Although they are all examples of powerful women, the manner in which d’Aubignac presents them differs significantly from one play to the other. As we shall examine in the next chapter of our work, the socio-political climates created by the regency of Marie de’ Medici and that of Anne of Austria had their impact on the composition of the abbé’s plays. Around 1640, d’Aubignac began writing a treatise on the art of stagecraft, La Pratique du théâtre (The Whole Art of the Stage). Boscheron writes: L’ouvrage qui a fait le plus d’honneur à l’abbé d’Aubignac est sa Pratique du théâtre qu’il composa pour plaire au Cardinal de Richelieu qui l’avait passionnément souhaitée, persuadé qu’elle pourrait soulager les Poètes de la peine qu’il leur eut fallu prendre, et du temps qu’il leur eut fallu perdre, s’ils eussent voulu chercher euxmêmes dans les Livres et au Théâtre les instructions dont ils avaient besoin. 59 The work which gave the most honour to abbé d’Aubignac is his Pratique du théâtre, which he composed to please Cardinal Richelieu who had greatly desired it, and who had been persuaded that it could ease playwrights of the trouble that it would have required of them, and the time they would have lost, had they desired to research for themselves the instructions that they needed, either in books or in the theatre. This work included a proposal for the restoration of French theatre, a notso-subtle message to Richelieu that the abbé’s real ambition was to become the overseer of theatrical performances in the country. Richelieu’s death in 1642 was a devastating blow to the ambitious d’Aubignac. Fifteen years would elapse following this event before the publication of La Pratique du théâtre (1657). This delay, initially caused by a falling-out with Richelieu in 1640, was further prolonged by the permanent loss of the abbé’s protector, as Hélène Baby explains: Cette information peut faire supposer que ces deux événements, l’échec à l’Académie et l’interruption de La Pratique, furent liés, tous deux conséquences d’une disgrâce qui n’eût été sans doute que momentanée, mais que la mort du Cardinal rendit définitive. 60 59 Boscheron, vol. I. p. 291. 60 Baby, “Introduction”, in La Pratique du théâtre, p. 13. <?page no="40"?> 40 This information can lead us to think that these two events, the failure to enter the Academy and the interruption of La Pratique, were linked, both consequences of a disgrace which no doubt would have been temporary, but which the death of the cardinal rendered permanent. It is d’Aubignac’s work as a dramatic theoretician, particularly the publication of La Pratique du théâtre, which eventually acquired for him the attention he so desperately sought throughout his literary life. As Jacques Scherer points out, the Pratique’s influence on seventeenthcentury French drama reveals that d’Aubignac was “un critique de premier ordre” 61 (a first-class critic): […] il a eu, comme Sainte-Beuve, des passions et des haines qui ont faussé son jugement, mais il a souvent vu beaucoup plus clair que ses contemporains. Il offre de la dramaturgie de son temps un tableau qui n’est pas complet et qui comporte, par excès de rationalisme, quelques propositions indéfendables, mais qui est beaucoup plus détaillé, beaucoup plus près des réalités scéniques et beaucoup plus cohérent que tout ce qu’on avait vu auparavant. Ses idées seront méditées par Corneille et par Racine. 62 […] he had, like Sainte-Beuve, passions and hatreds which skewed his judgement, but he often saw more clearly than his contemporaries. Of the dramaturgy of his time, he offers a portrait that is incomplete and which includes, by excess of rationalism, several indefensible propositions, but which is more detailed, much closer to theatrical realities and much more coherent than all that we had previously seen. His ideas would be considered by Corneille and by Racine. Charles Arnaud points out that d’Aubignac was the only writer of his time to write a complete work on dramatic theory, hence his decision to focus his book Les théories dramatiques au XVII e siècle on the life and works of the abbé: […] Chapelain n’a laissé que trois courtes dissertations inédites, Mairet n’a fait qu’une Préface, Scudéry qu’un pamphlet, Sarrasin qu’un quart de poétique, La Mesnardière qu’une moitié ; d’Aubignac seul a fait une œuvre complète : c’est ce qui lui a valu l’honneur de servir de centre à une histoire des théories dramatiques de son époque. 63 61 Jacaques Scherer, La Dramaturgie classique en France, Paris: Nizet, 1950; reprint 1964, p. 429. 62 Ibid. 63 Arnaud, pp. 1-2. <?page no="41"?> 41 […] Chapelain left only three short unpublished essays; Mairet wrote only one preface, Scudéry only one pamphlet, Sarrasin only a quarter of a poetics, La Mesnardière only a half. Only d’Aubignac wrote a complete work. This is what earned him the honour of being the centre of a history of dramatic theories of his time. Nothing would have pleased d’Aubignac more than to have been elected to the prestigious Académie française, founded by Richelieu in 1635. Alas for the abbé, this was an honour that would forever elude him. His unfortunate falling-out with the cardinal in 1640 is the most likely cause for his failure to be admitted. According to Jean Chapelain, d’Aubignac presented himself for admission in 1640, but was refused because of his criticism of the play Roxane (1640) by Jean Desmarets de Saint-Sorlin, where he called into question the taste of Cardinal Richelieu and that of his niece the duchesse d’Aiguillon, who had both liked the play: L’une de ses plus fortes ambitions a été d’entrer dans l’Académie, et il y avait grande apparence qu’il eut été le premier reçu s’il n’eut point fait un libelle contre la Roxane de M. Des Marets, où il blâmait le goût de son Eminence et mademoiselle d’Aiguillon qui l’avait estimée. Dans ce temps, M. Porchères d’Arbaud se laissa mourir, et plusieurs se présentèrent pour remplir cette place, le libelliste entre autres. M. Patru, notre ami et très galant homme, l’obtint d’une commune voix, et le précepteur eut l’exclusion, dont moult dolent fut et plaintif. 64 One of his greatest ambitions was to be admitted to the Academy, and there was every indication that he would have been the first one received had he not satirized Roxane by Mr. Des Marets, where he criticized the taste of his Eminence and that of Miss d’Aiguillon who had esteemed it. At this time, Mr Porchères d’Arbaud had died, and several people presented themselves to fill this place, the satirist among others. Mr. Patru, our friend and a very galant gentleman, obtained it unanimously, and the tutor was excluded, leaving him very doleful and lamenting. Richelieu’s death two years later eliminated any chance d’Aubignac might otherwise have had of eventually becoming a member of this exclusive society. Undeterred, the resilient and scheming abbé founded his own academy in 1654. His Discours au Roi sur l’établissement d’une seconde académie dans la ville de Paris (Speech to the King on the Establishment of a Second Academy in the City of Paris) was published in 1664, 64 Jean Chapelain, letter of 13 July 1640 to Balzac, vol. I, p. 663. <?page no="42"?> 42 although the printing privilege dates back to 1656. 65 In this writing, d’Aubignac indicates that his academy has been meeting for two years. His request to be granted letters patent to transform the society into a royal academy was never granted. The Académie des Belles-Lettres 66 (Academy of Great Literature), mockingly dubbed l’Académie allégorique 67 (the Allegorical Academy) by the critic Jean Donneau de Visé, continued to meet several years after the abbé’s death. 68 Donneau de Visé’s reference to d’Aubignac’s taste for allegory was completely accurate. During his youth in Nemours, Hédelin had immersed himself in the explanation of “tableaux énigmatiques” 69 (enigmatic 65 D’Aubignac’s discours is comprised of eighteen sections in which he attempts to convince the king of the necessity of a second royal academy in Paris. His major argument is that the greater the number of academies, the more opportunities there will be for the arts and sciences to flourish, all for the glorification of the king: “C’est donc, Sire, par ces différentes Sociétés de personnes de Lettres, que V. M. règnera sur le Parnasse Français, avec autant de droit et d’autorité que sur les Provinces de votre héritage, et que vous serez seul l’Hercule Musagète, c’est-à-dire, le souverain conducteur des Muses” (d’Aubignac, Discours au Roi, p. 48-49). (It is therefore, Sire, by these different societies of men of letters that Your Majesty will reign over French Parnassus with as much right and authority as over the provinces of your heritage, and that you alone will be the Muse-leader Hercules, that is, the sovereign leader of the Muses.) 66 The French gazette and literary magazine Le Mercure Galant identifies the following members: Abbé d’Aubignac (Director), Monsieur de Vaumorière (Sub-Director), Monsieur Guéret (Secretary of the Academy), Monsieur le Marquis du Châtelet, Monsieur le Marquis de Vilaines, Monsieur le Marquis d’Arbaux, Monsieur Petit (Director after Abbé d’Aubignac), Monsieur Perrachon (lawyer), Monsieur l’Abbé de Vilars, Monsieur l’Abbé de Villeserain, (bishop of Senez and Director of the Academy after Monsieur Petit), Monsieur l’Abbé Ganaret, Monsieur de Launay, Monsieur Caré (lawyer), Monsieur Richelet, Monsieur du Perier, Monsieur Baurin (lawyer), Monsieur Barallis (physician) and Monsieur l’Abbé de Saint Germain (Le Mercure Galant, Paris: T. Girard, May 1672, pp. 264-266). 67 Jean Donneau de Visé, Défense du Sertorius de Monsieur de Corneille, in Bernard J. Bourque, ed., Jean Donneau de Visé et la querelle de Sophonisbe. Écrits contre l’abbé d’Aubignac, Tübingen: Narr Verlag, 2014, p. 139. 68 The members of the academy met weekly at the home of d’Aubignac and held a monthly public gathering at the Hôtel Matignon. Cf. Livet, pp. 200-203; Josephine de Boer, “Men’s Literary Circles in Paris, 1610-1660”, Publications of the Modern Language Association of America, 53 (1938): 730-780, pp. 775-778. 69 At the end of the seventeenth-century, the Jesuit priest Claude-François Ménestrier published a treatise on the correct use of enigmatic images: La Philosophie des images énigmatiques, Lyons: J. Lions, 1694. <?page no="43"?> 43 images), a pedagogical exercise in vogue in seventeenth-century France and which became fashionable in the salons: Les tableaux […] sont à leur place d’abord dans les écoles, où ils éveillent la perspicacité des enfants, et ensuite dans les salons, où ils charment les intelligences cultivées. 70 The images […] were in place firstly in the schools, where they awakened the perspicacity of children, and afterwards in the salons, where they charmed cultivated minds. Boscheron paints a lively picture of the young Hédelin assiduously researching emblems and symbols in order to excel at the tableaux énigmatiques: Je vous laisse à penser, Monsieur, combien de fois il lui fallut feuilleter les Traités de figures hiéroglyphiques, d’Emblèmes, de Symboles, et de toutes ces représentations mystérieuses qui servent à exercer l’imagination des Curieux. Il n’y a presque rien dans le monde sensible, soit dans les couleurs, les arbres, les fleurs, les animaux, et même dans l’homme qu’il ne lui ait fallu connaître pour en discerner les actions humaines, il n’y a presque rien dans la Morale et dans la Politique, qu’il ne lui ait fallu découvrir tant sous les voiles Mystiques des Philosophes, et dans la nuit de leurs allégories, que sous les termes précis et dans le plein jour de notre Philosophie commune. 71 I leave it to you to imagine, Sir, how many times he would have had to leaf through treatises of hieroglyphic figures, of emblems, of symbols and of all these mysterious representations which served to exercise the imagination of the curious. There is nothing in the physical world, either in colours, in trees, in flowers, in animals and even in man which it was not necessary for him to know in order to discern human actions. There is almost nothing in morality and politics that it was not necessary for him to discover, as much under the mystical veils of the philosophers, and in the obscurity of their allegories, as under the precise terms and in the full daylight of our common philosophy. The popularity of allegorical writing throughout the century meant that the adult Hédelin had to get in on the action. 72 His eclectic interests and his desire to become known and influential led him to expand the range of his 70 Arnaud, p. 12. 71 Boscheron, vol. I, pp. 286-287. 72 Cf. Archimede Marni, Allegory in the French Heroic Poem of the Seventeenth Century, New York: Haskall House, 1971. <?page no="44"?> 44 literary work. Charles Livet writes: “Que n’avait-il pas fait pour se conserver dans le souvenir de la postérité! ” 73 (What had he not done to be preserved in the memory of posterity! ) And Livet is right. For in addition to his ambitions in the world of theatre, d’Aubignac also had aspirations of grandeur in the realm of novel writing. In 1654, he published his Histoire du temps, ou Relation du royaume de Coquetterie (Story of the Times, or Account of the Kingdom of Coquetry). This was followed in the 1660’s by four other novels: Macarise, ou la Reine des Isles Fortunées (Macarise, or the Queen of the Fortunate Islands) (1664), an allegorical novel dealing with the moral philosophy of the Stoics; Aristandre, ou l’histoire interrompue (Aristandre, or the Interrupted Story) (1664), a fragment of the sequel to Macarise; 74 Le Roman des lettres (The Novel of Letters) (1667) and Amelonde (1669). As we shall demonstrate later in this book, d’Aubignac’s novels, all of which focus on women, constitute a treasure trove of information regarding his philosophy of the female sex. The list of nobility about whom d’Aubignac delivered funeral panegyrics in the early 1650’s demonstrates his admiration for those who had participated in the Fronde: […] il avait prononcé l’oraison funèbre de la marquise de Meignelay, tante du cardinal de Retz (1650), celle du maréchal de Rantzau, que Mazarin avait gardé onze mois en prison (1650), celle de Marguerite Charlotte de Montmorency, princesse de Condé (1651) […]. 75 […] he had delivered the funeral oration for the marquise of Meignelay, the aunt of Cardinal de Retz (1650), that of the marshall of Rantzau, whom Mazatrin had imprisoned for eleven months (1650), that of Marguerite Charlotte of Montmorency, princess of Condé (1651) […]. It was also d’Aubignac who, in March 1652, spoke on behalf of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith on the occasion of the elevation of Jean-François Paul de Gondi to the cardinalship. 76 The newlyappointed Cardinal de Retz, who had played an active role in the Fronde, 73 Livet, p. 210. 74 The allegorical novel Aristandre was composed as an extension of volume II of Macarise. As d’Aubignac’s message in this sequel, with respect to the superficiality of les précieuses, is identical to that contained in Macarise, an analysis of the novel is not included in this book. 75 Arnaud, p. 21. 76 Livet, p. 166. <?page no="45"?> 45 was imprisoned several months later by Mazarin. As Arnaud asserts, this in itself was not enough to incriminate d’Aubignac as a militant Frondeur: Rien dans les écrits de l’abbé d’Aubignac ne laisse percer son opinion sur les dissensions funestes de la Fronde. L’intérêt qu’il témoigne pour la famille de cette belle princesse de Condé, que l’amour d’un roi avait forcée dans sa jeunesse à quitter la France, était légitime dans tous les camps ; mais il est remarquable cependant que les discours qu’il fait à cette époque sont destinés surtout à flatter le parti opposé à la cour. 77 Nothing in the writings of abbé d’Aubignac reveal his opinion of the disastrous dissensions of the Fronde. The interest which he shows towards the family of this beautiful princess of Condé, who had been forced in her youth to leave France because of the love of a king, was legitimate in all camps; however, it is remarkable that the speeches that he gives during this period are intended particularly to flatter the side opposed to the court. However, his friendships with noble families who were involved in the revolts would certainly not have ingratiated him with Louis XIV: Tout cela n’était pas bien grave, mais ne dut pas le recommander auprès d’un roi qui garda toujours un levain de rancune contre tout ce qui avait eu part à la Fronde. « Il y a plus de dix-sept ans que je n’ai pas paru à la cour, » écrivait en 1663 l’ancien précepteur du duc de Fronsac ; il attribuait son éloignement à ses occupations et à ses infirmités ; ses amitiés devaient y être pour quelque chose. 78 All this was not very serious, but it did nothing to recommend him to a king who always harboured animosity against anyone who had participated in the Fronde. “It has been more than seventeen years since I have attended court”, the former tutor of the duke of Fronsac wrote in 1663, attributing his absence to his work and to his infirmities; his friendships must have had something to do with this as well. In 1665, d’Aubignac was named to the abbey of Meimac in the diocese of Limoges, a reward for the good relations he had had with abbé de Lévis- Ventadour who had previously held the post and whose family was connected to the maréchal de Saint-Géran. 79 One year later, he published his Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène (Advice from Ariste to Célimène), a treatise on the art of living in polite society. The printing privilege of the 77 Ibid.. 78 Arnaud, pp. 21-22. 79 Ibid., p. 203. Hédelin had dedicated his treatise Des Satyres, brutes, monstres et démons (1627) to the maréchal de Saint-Géran. <?page no="46"?> 46 work dates back to 1656. It appears that the Célimène in question is Angélique-Claire d’Angennes, the daughter of the celebrated salon hostess madame de Rambouillet. 80 Hédelin resigned his post as abbé d’Aubignac in 1669 and that of abbé de Meimac the following year. It appears that d’Aubignac spent his remaining years in Nemours, living with his brother Anne Hédelin. Livet writes: Sa vue était alors presque perdue, sa santé ruinée, et peut-être même était-il tombé dans cette espèce d’enfance dont parle Despréaux. 81 His sight was at that time almost lost, his health ruined, and he had perhaps even fallen into this childlike state which Despréaux speaks about. In 1671, d’Aubignac published his Essais d’éloquence chrétienne (Essays of Christian Eloquence), a compilation of the most notable sermons he had delivered throughout his life. The date of his death is most likely 25 July 1676, although the years 1672 and 1673 have also been proposed by certain authors. 82 80 Cf. Livet, p. 204. 81 Ibid., p. 205. In his Réflexions critiques sur Longin (1694-1710), Nicolas Boileau- Despréaux writes: “J’ai connu M. l’abbé d’Aubignac. Il était homme de beaucoup de mérite et fort habile en matières de poétique, bien qu’il sût médiocrement le grec. Je suis sûr qu’il n’a jamais conçu un aussi étrange dessein [de nier l’existence d’Homère], à moins qu’il ne l’ait conçu dans les dernières années de sa vie, où l’on sait qu’il était tombé en une espèce d’enfance” (quoted by Livet, p. 202). (I knew Mr. abbé d’Aubignac. He was a man with a lot of merit and very adept at matters of poetics, although he knew Greek not particularly well. I am certain that he never conceived such a strange notion [denying the existence of Homer], unless it was done in the last years of his life, where we know that he fell into a sort of childlike state.) 82 Livet writes: “Chauffepié accuse d’erreur tous ceux qui placent la mort de l’abbé avant le 25 juillet 1676, et notamment la plupart des auteurs, qui rapportent sa mort à l’année 1673. La date 1672 que nous donnons néanmoins s’appuie sur un passage contemporain, emprunté au Mercure galant de 1672, t. VI, p. 65” (Livet, p. 209n). (Chauffepié declares erroneous all claims that the abbé died before 25 July 1676, and in particular that of the majority of authors, who place his death at 1673. The year 1672 that we are nevertheless proposing is based on a contemporary passage, taken from the Mercure Galant of 1672, vol. VI, p. 65.) <?page no="47"?> 2 The Tragic Trio: La Pucelle, Cyminde and Zénobie It is, of course, purely coincidental that the number of d’Aubignac’s tragic heroines mirrors that of the female regents who governed France during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is certainly not our aim to make a detailed comparison between Anne of Austria, for example, and the abbé’s Zénobie, as fascinating as such a study might be. Our intent, rather, will be to demonstrate how the political and social climates created by the powerful female regencies influenced the way in which d’Aubignac presented his characters. I The Heroic Woman In his excellent study Woman Triumphant: Feminism in French Literature 1610-1652, Ian Maclean examines the concept of the femme forte 1 (powerful woman), tracing its origins as an antithesis to the moralistic writing of the early part of the seventeenth century. 2 Moralists such as Nicolas Angenoust, André Valladier, Nicolas Caussin and Jacques Du Bosc were greatly influenced by the Renaissance philosophers Desiderius Erasmus and Juan Luis Vives, who emphasized the inherent limitations and moral weaknesses of the female sex: […] in Renaissance moral philosophy, commonplaces drawn from the ancients which stress woman’s domestic role, her need to be chaste, obedient, and faithful, her 1 “The femme forte takes her name from the first verse of the Alphabet of the Good Woman in the Book of Proverbs (Prov. 31: 10: ‘mulierem fortem quis inveniet? ’), in which, following the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the qualities of a capable wife of good reputation and sound business sense are outlined” (Maclean, p. 81). 2 Ibid., pp. 64-87. <?page no="48"?> 48 unsuitability for any public office, and her tendency to succumb to temptation are frequently encountered. 3 Moralistic writing in early seventeenth-century France is characterized by “a deep distrust of woman’s nature, a belief in her tendency to err, coupled with a critical attitude to her behaviour in society and to her preference of the pleasures of this world to the task of preparing for the next.” 4 It is in juxtaposition to this notion of woman that the figure of the heroic female is brought into being, taking on great importance in France during the 1640’s. The femme forte overcomes the perceived negative characteristics of womankind and manifests qualities which provoke admiration and wonder, particularly among the male population. As Maclean summarizes, “the femme forte is attributed with ‘constance’, ‘fidélité’, ‘résolution’, where women are accused of ‘inconstance’, ‘instabilité’, ‘caprice’ by traditional moralists; she is not indolent, but energetic; not ‘molle’, but ‘forte’; not hypocritical and superstitious, but truly devout; she acts with heroic openness, and does not stoop to deceit as her sex in general is said to do.” 5 She is, therefore, an anomaly. Michael Taormina describes the femme forte as “a woman with a great soul [who] has the power to challenge prevailing dramatic theory as well as social and political expectations for women in seventeenth-century France”. 6 Related to the notion of the heroic female is the depiction of the mother of Jesus in the Marian writing of the period, emphasizing the ideals listed above, as well as the warrior-like characteristics of the Virgin: The comparison of the Virgin Mary to a warrior is not uncommon, and stresses the heroic, quasi-military status of Our Lady in this literature. Furthermore, some theologians see the depiction of the femme forte in the Book of Proverbs as a prefiguration of the Virgin herself. 7 3 Ibid., p. 64. 4 Ibid., p. 71. 5 Ibid., p. 86. 6 Michael Taormina, “Magnanimous Women: Gender and Souls in Corneille’s Tragic Theater”, Cahiers du dix-septième: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 12 (2008): 38-60, p. 43. 7 Maclean, p. 74. <?page no="49"?> 49 It is in the context of this movement that d’Aubignac writes his prose tragedies, La Pucelle d’Orléans (1642), La Cyminde ou les deux victimes (1642) and Zénobie (1647). This period was a time where writings in honour of female heroism flourished, with emphasis being placed on the virtues of powerful and independent women in reference to both historical and contemporary examples. 8 It is no surprise, therefore, that the abbé is seduced by the growing interest in the femme forte during this decade, choosing to focus his only dramatic compositions 9 on the heroic deeds of three exceptional women. However, as we shall demonstrate, d’Aubignac does not portray the heroines in the same manner, communicating different and sometimes contradictory elements of his philosophy of the female sex. The first 10 of d’Aubignac’s tragic heroines, the Maid of Orleans, is young, chaste and saintly, personifying the ideals of womanhood as represented by the Virgin Mary. In his preface, d’Aubignac speaks of “la qualité de la Fille, qui est comme personne divine” 11 (the virtue of the young girl, who is like a divine person). Throughout his play, d’Aubignac accentuates the innocence and purity of the Maid in contrast to the cruelty of her judges. In the opening scene, the angel addresses the heroine as “Fille du Ciel, incomparable Pucelle” (daughter of heaven, incomparable Maid) who must fulfill her destiny by submitting to the iniquity of her 8 Ibid., pp. 76-78. 9 Le Martyre de S te Catherine, a tragedy in verse, has been erroneously attributed to d’Aubignac and is likely the work of St. Germain, the author of the tragedy Le Grand Timoléon de Corinthe (1642). See my article “La paternité du Martyre de S te Catherine (1649)”, Papers on French Seventeenth Century Literature, 40 (2013): 129-141. D’Aubignac assisted in the composition of several works by other playwrights, but as he states in his Quatrième dissertation, “[...] l’impatience des Poètes ne pouvant pas souffrir que j’y misse la dernière main, et se présumant être assez forts pour achever sans mon secours, y a tout gâté” (p. 138). ([…] the impatience of the poets, not able to bear that I put the final touches, and presuming themselves to be sufficiently strong to finish without my assistance, ruined everything.) According to Charles Arnaud, the plays in question are Palène (1640) and La Vraie Didon (1643) by François Le Métel de Boisrobert, and Manlius Torquatus (1662), a tragi-comedy written by Marie-Catherine Desjardins and performed in 1662 (Arnaud, p. 272). 10 La Pucelle d’Orléans appeared in print on 11 March 1642, La Cyminde ou les deux victimes on 13 March 1642, and Zénobie on 12 January 1647. 11 Abbé d’Aubignac, “Préface”, La Pucelle d’Orléans, in Bernard J. Bourque, ed., Abbé d’Aubignac. Pièces en prose, Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2012: 29-133, p. 42. <?page no="50"?> 50 judges. 12 But, of course, she is much more than simply a pure and innocent young woman. The Pucelle is also an action figure of mythic proportions, a poor peasant girl leading French armies victoriously in battle, and all the while obeying the will of God right up to her last breath at the execution stake. The emphasis on the Maid as a female warrior does not diminish her association with the Virgin Mary, as the latter is often portrayed in such terms in Marian literature, as we indicated earlier. A perfect tragic heroine for the abbé-playwright! 13 It must be emphasized, however, that d’Aubignac’s play is primarily political, rather than religious, in nature. The Maid’s divinely directed mission is, after all, to rid France of the yoke of English domination. And she does this by rising above the limitations of her sex, performing heroic acts in an arena that is traditionally associated with the male gender. The importance of the political symbolism of her accomplishments would not have been lost on Cardinal Richelieu at the court of Louis XIII. As Déborah Blocker states, “on peut supposer que son Éminence avait vite compris le profit que la monarchie qu’il était en train de tenter d’édifier pouvait tirer d’une telle figure.” 14 (one can suppose that his Eminence had quickly understood the benefits that the monarchy that he was in the process of trying to edify could obtain from such a figure.) Being a femme forte, d’Aubignac’s Joan exhibits qualities that run counter to the traditional construct of the female sex. This allows her to perform extraordinary acts of heroism and self-sacrifice, all in the name of France’s monarchy. 12 D’Aubignac, La Pucelle d’Orléans, I, 1, pp. 49, 51. In references to the abbé’s plays, the specific act is identified by a roman numeral, and the scene by a cardinal number (for example: I, 1 = Act 1, Scene 1). The page numbers that are indicated belong to my edition of d’Aubignac’s prose tragedies. 13 D’Aubignac was not the first French dramatist, however, to treat the story of St Joan. Fronton du Duc published his Histoire tragique de la Pucelle de Don-Remy, autrement d’Orléans (The Tragic Story of the Maid of Donremy, Otherwise Known as of Orleans) in 1581. Nineteen years later came the anonymous Tragédie de Jeanne Darques dite la Pucelle d’Orléans, Native du Village d’Emprenne, près Voucouleurs en Lorraine (The Tragedy of Joan of Arc Known as the Maid of Orleans, Native of the Village of Emprenne, near Voucouleurs in Lorraine). Although the first twelve cantos of Jean Chapelain’s epic poem La Pucelle ou la France délivrée were published only in 1656, the author had been working on the project for nearly twenty years. 14 Blocker, p. 160. <?page no="51"?> 51 D’Aubignac’s second heroine, the fictitious Cyminde, lives in the ancient world. Although she is not a military warrior, she is nonetheless a woman of action, her source of power deriving from the desire to save her husband Arincidas from being sacrificed to Neptune in order to prevent plague and flooding from befalling the land. 15 Cyminde decides to become the replacement sacrificial victim out of love for the man who made her a princess. But her motives are far more complex than that. When she tries to convince the king to sanction the replacement, she refers to herself as her husband’s libératrice 16 (liberator), allowing the prince and military leader to live on for the future benefit of the kingdom: Mais que sera-ce quand sous vos ordres Arincidas ajoutera de nouvelles Provinces à votre Empire ? quand on admirera les victoires qu’il remportera sur vos ennemis, on dira que Cyminde aura fait toutes ces belles actions en mourant. Oui, Sire, dès ce jour, en conservant mon mari, j’assure votre couronne, je vous gagne des batailles, et j’oblige vos ennemis à vous redouter. (La Cyminde ou les deux victimes, II, 4, pp. 171-172.) What will it be when under your orders Arincidas will add new provinces to your empire? When people admire the victories he will have over your enemies, they will say that Cyminde did all these beautiful actions by dying. Yes, Sire, from this day on, by saving my husband, I assure your crown, I win you battles and I oblige your enemies to fear you. Her reward will be the glory and honour she will attain in the eyes of posterity: Que sera-ce quand parmi tant de Princes qui viendront de son sang, on lira ce que j’aurai fait ? Ils croiront tous me devoir la vie, parce qu’Arincidas me l’aura due, et je serai glorieusement estimée la mère des enfants qu’un autre lui aura donnés, et de toute sa postérité. (La Cyminde ou les deux victimes, II, 4, p. 171.) What will it be when among so many princes who will come from his blood, will be read what I have done? They will all believe that they owe their life to me for 15 In the play, the vengeful god Neptune has demanded a human sacrifice every three years. The sacrificial victim, regardless of social rank, is to be selected by drawing lots. Arincidas, Prince of Carimbe, is chosen. It is later discovered that the selection process was in fact manipulated by Prince Ostane who sought to have Arincidas killed in order to possess Cyminde. 16 Abbé d’Aubignac, La Cyminde ou les deux victimes, in Abbé d’Aubignac. Pièces en prose: 135-211, II, 4, p. 171. <?page no="52"?> 52 having saved Arincidas, and I will be gloriously esteemed to be the mother of the children given to him by another, and of all his posterity. As she explains to her protesting husband, her act of supreme generosity will enable her to rise above the limitations of her sex: N’enviez point l’honneur que je mérite de la postérité. Au lieu d’une femme de chair et de sang, je vous laisse une femme toute de splendeur et de gloire, une femme qui sera vénérable à toutes les autres, une femme que l’on estimera dans votre famille comme une Déesse, une femme qui n’aura plus aucune faiblesse de son sexe, et qui conservera des avantages que les autres ne pourront peut-être jamais obtenir. (La Cyminde ou les deux victimes, IV, 2, p. 193.) Do not envy the honour that I merit from posterity. Instead of a woman of flesh and blood, I leave you with a woman full of splendor and glory, a woman who will be venerated above all others, a woman who will be esteemed in your family as a goddess, a woman who will no longer have any weaknesses of her sex, and who will keep advantages that the others will perhaps never be able to have. As we can see, Cyminde has all the characteristics of a femme forte. She is constant, faithful and resolute, offering herself in service to her country in a manner that distinguishes her from the rest of womankind. Describing Cyminde’s desire to die in the place of her husband, the king states in an aside: Effet prodigieux d’une vertu sans exemple. (La Cyminde ou les deux victimes, II, 5, p. 183.) A prodigious effect of unparalleled virtue. D’Aubignac’s third tragic heroine, Zénobie, is the epitome of the female warrior, for she not only fights in battle, but is also the ruler of her own realm. 17 Like the Maid and Cyminde, the queen of Palmyra embodies the essence of the femme forte. Her letter to the Roman emperor attests to the qualities of fortitude, fidelity and resolution which characterize the heroic woman: 17 Abbé d’Aubignac, Zénobie. Où la vérité de l’Histoire est conservée dans l’observation des plus rigoureuses règles du Poème Dramatique, in Abbé d’Aubignac. Pièces en prose: 213-327. <?page no="53"?> 53 Tu m’ordonnes de me rendre Aurelian, et jamais personne que toi n’a fait cette superbe demande par des lettres, il faut traiter toutes les affaires de la guerre avec plus de générosité. La Reine Cléopâtre n’a pas voulu survivre à la perte de sa Couronne, juge de là ce que doit faire Zénobie. Mais si les Brigands de Syrie ont battu ton armée, que ferons-nous quand les Persans et les Arméniens auront passé l’Euphrate ? Tu fléchiras cet orgueil qui te fait trop tôt parler en victorieux, et nous te verrons au point d’implorer la bonté de celle que tu menaces. (Zénobie, III, 7, p. 282.) You order me to surrender, Aurelian, and no one, except you, has ever made this arrogant request by letter. One must treat affairs of war with more magnanimity. Queen Cleopatra did not want to survive the loss of her crown. Judge from that what Zenobia must do. But if the brigands of Syria defeated your army, what will we do when the Persians and the Armenians cross the Euphrates? You will yield this pride of yours which makes you speak too soon as victor, and we will see you at the point of imploring the goodness of the one whom you threaten. D’Aubignac’s Zénobie confronts the invading Roman army and even participates in combat herself. 18 The play also highlights the queen’s past military triumphs, all for the glorification of her empire. 19 Even after she has been defeated by the Roman emperor, the heroine maintains her dignity and extraordinary strength of character, choosing to commit suicide rather than to face humiliation in Aurelian’s triumph. 20 By taking her own life, Zénobie seeks to maintain her glory in order to be an example for her sex. In a soliloquy near the end of the play, she asserts: Dès lors que j’ai pris les armes contre les Romains, j’ai résolu d’en triompher ou de mourir : votre fortune [celle des Romains] n’a pas souffert le premier, il faut que ma vertu fasse le second. […] Et je veux être un exemple en faveur de notre sexe. Oui, oui, la Reine de Palmyre sera mise au rang de ces Illustres Femmes dont les charbons 18 D’Aubignac, Zénobie, IV, 2, pp. 288-289. 19 Ibid., I, 2, p. 233. 20 See the following scenes of Zénobie: V, 5 and V, 6. D’Aubignac’s heroine stabs herself on stage. Suicide is not condemned in seventeenth-century French tragedy, as it is considered an act of générosité. The seventeenth-century French moralist and historian Jean-Baptiste Morvan de Bellegarde writes: “Ceux qui prétendent qu’il ne faut jamais ensanglanter le théâtre ignorent ce que c’est que de l’ensanglanter ; il ne faut jamais y répandre le sang de personne, mais on y peut verser le sien, quand on y est porté par un beau désespoir ; c’était une action consacrée chez les Romains” (quoted by Scherer, p. 418). (Those who claim that one must never bloody the theatre are ignorant of what it means to bloody it. On stage, one must never spill the blood of another person, but one may spill one’s own blood when one is carried away by a beautiful despair. It was regarded as a sacred act by the Romans.) <?page no="54"?> 54 ardents et le poignard ont éternisé la mémoire. J’aurai pourtant cet avantage en mourant comme les Romaines, qu’elles n’avaient jamais vaincu les Romains comme moi. (Zénobie, V, 4, pp. 318-319.) Ever since I took up arms against the Romans, I resolved to triumph or to die. As your fortune [that of the Romans] did not allow the first, it is necessary that my virtue accomplish the second. […] And I wish to be an example in favour of our sex. Yes, yes, the Queen of Palmyra will be placed in the ranks of the Illustrious Women whose hot coals and daggers have eternalized their memory. I will, nevertheless, have this advantage in dying like Roman women, that they never vanquished the Romans as I did. The words Illustres Femmes (Illustrious Women) are, of course, a clever reference by d’Aubignac to a work published in 1642 (part I) and in 1644 (part II) by Madeleine and Georges de Scudéry. 21 This consists of a collection of fictitious speeches by famous women in history, in mythology and in legend dealing with the topics of morals and manners. The right of women to exercise political leadership is defended. Among the women who are featured is Zenobia. 22 It must be emphasized that membership in the club of “heroic women” is very exclusive in seventeenth-century French drama. Firstly, the woman must either be of noble rank, such as Cyminde and Zénobie, or be divinely selected, such as the Maid. 23 Secondly, the stars must be aligned in such a way that the woman finds herself in a situation where heroic behaviour is possible. Without the rigged selection of Arincidas in the sacrificial lottery, in the case of Cyminde, and the assassination of King Odenathus, 21 The work Les Femmes illustres, ou les harangues héroïques was published only under the name of Madeleine’s brother, Georges de Scudéry. It is believed that both Madeleine and Georges collaborated extensively on this work. Madeleine’s novels Ibrahim, ou L’illustre Bassa (1641), Artamène, ou Le grand Cyrus (1649-1653), Clélie (1654-1660) and Almahide, ou L’Esclave reine (1660-1663) were also published under her brother’s name. The general consensus is that Georges de Scudéry’s contribution to the composition of these novels was very limited. Cf. Joan DeJean, Tender Geographies: Women and the Origins of the Novel in France, New York: Columbia University Press, 1991. 22 Cf. Tallemant, vol. V, p. 274; Caren Greenberg, “The World of Prose and Self- Inscription: Scudéry’s Les Femmes illustres”, L’Esprit créateur, 23 (1983): 37-43; Katharine Ann Jensen, “Madeleine de Scudéry (1607-1701)”, in French Women Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Source Book, ed. Eva Maritin Sartori and Dorothy Wynne Zimmerman, New York: Greenhouse Press, 1991: 430-439, p. 431. 23 Cf. Maclean, p. 189. <?page no="55"?> 55 in the case of Zénobie, circumstances would not have given these women the opportunity to perform heroic acts. The Maid’s humble station in life would have disqualified her from membership in the club were it not for divine intervention at every step of her mission. The heroic woman is therefore part of an elite group, a rare entity that inspires admiration, particularly among men who see in her male attributes, but also among “ordinary” women who cannot even hope to attain her status. The aim is clearly not to propose that all women should be like Joan of Arc, Cyminde or Zenobia, but rather to single out these women who, despite the inherent limitations of their sex, have distinguished themselves in a male world. 24 II The Weaker Sex Although d’Aubignac places his three heroines on a pedestal, he is also careful to define the limits of their innate qualities. In the case of the Maid of Orleans, those limitations derive from her humble birth, her youth and, above all, her sex. The angel reminds the Maid (and the audience) that it is only because of the will of God that she has been able to carry out her extraordinary actions: C’est par cet ordre de Dieu que je t’ai tirée du fond des cavernes, d’une naissance inconnue, dans un âge faible, et un sexe timide, pour relever un Trône abattu, et remettre sur la tête de ton Roi la couronne de tes Ancêtres. (La Pucelle d’Orléans, I, 1, p. 50.) It is through this command of God that I have taken you from the depths of the caverns, of unknown birth, of a weak age and a timid sex, in order to restore a shattered throne, and to place once again on the head of your king the crown of your ancestors. D’Aubignac once again emphasizes the heroine’s natural limitations when the angel shows Joan the image of her imminent execution: La nature, ton âge, et ton sexe te pourraient bien faire trembler aux approches de la mort : mais comme tu l’as vue sans peur dans les combats, tu l’envisageras 24 Maclean, p. 80. <?page no="56"?> 56 constamment dans le supplice, tu ne feras rien en ta mort qui soit indigne de ta vie. (La Pucelle d’Orléans, I, 1, p. 51.) Nature, your age and your sex could very well make you tremble at the approach of death, but as you saw it without fear during combat, you will envisage it with constancy during torture. You will do nothing in your death that will be unworthy of your life. The manner in which the Maid’s power is explained is significant. The English attribute her abilities to sorcery: Es-tu dans une si étrange méconnaissance de toi-même, que tu puisses ignorer ce que tu es, et ce qu’on estime de toi ? Faut-il que l’on te remette devant les yeux ta vie passée, pour t’apprendre que ta Magie, qui te fait redouter partout, est le plus signalé des crimes qui nous obligent à te punir ? (La Pucelle d’Orléans, IV, 1, p. 100.) Are you in such ignorance of yourself that you cannot know what you are, and what we believe you to be? Will it be necessary for us to remind you of your past life, to make you understand that your magic, which makes you feared everywhere, is the most grievous of the crimes that oblige us to punish you? The Maid and, therefore, d’Aubignac, on the other hand, ascribe her powers to God. Significantly, it is the heroine herself who emphasizes the limitations of her gender. In speaking to the Count of Warwick, she states: “[...] mes exploits n’ont pas été l’ouvrage d’une fille.” 25 ([...] my exploits have not been the work of a young girl.) To the judges, she asserts: Quand un sacré Messager du Ciel me commanda de secourir mon Prince [...], quand il m’assura de la prise de vos Bastilles, de votre défaite à Patay, de la reddition de Troyes, je n’en avais pas importuné le Ciel, et je n’en connus point les moyens que dans l’exécution. (La Pucelle d’Orléans, IV, 1, p. 106.) When a holy messenger from heaven commanded me to save my prince [...], when he assured me of the fall of your fortresses, of your defeat at Patay, of the recapture of Troy, I had not importuned heaven, and I was ignorant of the means until the execution of the mission. Regardless of the source of her powers, it is clear in the tragedy that they do not originate from the Maid’s innate qualities. After all, she is a woman! 25 D’Aubignac, La Pucelle d’Orléans, I, 4, p. 54. <?page no="57"?> 57 The Maid’s transvestism is also a focus of attention. Faithful to history, d’Aubignac has his imprisoned heroine continue to wear the male clothing given to her by the inhabitants of Vaucouleurs at the beginning of her mission. Clearly uncomfortable with the reversal of sexual roles that is implied with a transvestite saint, d’Aubignac voices his displeasure through one of the female characters: Et puis, ses habits d’homme qu’elle n’a jamais voulu quitter, contre le commandement qui lui en a été fait, est-ce pas un crime assez énorme ? Cacher ce qu’elle est, pour mettre sa débauche à couvert, est-ce pas un reproche qu’elle fait à la nature ? Est-ce pas une honte pour tout le sexe, et que chacune de nous devrait venger ? Est-ce pas une illusion publique, sujette à la plus rigoureuse censure des lois ? (La Pucelle d’Orléans, II, 2, pp. 75-76.) Also, these men’s clothes that she has never wanted to leave behind, against the command that was made to her, is this not a great enough crime? Concealing what she is in order to hide her debauchery, is this not a reproach against nature? Is this not a shame for all the sex, one that each woman should avenge? Is this not a public falsehood, subject to the most rigourous censure of the laws? Derval Conroy points out that d’Aubignac’s use of the countess as his mouthpiece is an attempt to express condemnation by the female sex of the Maid’s transvestism: […] the dramatist strengthens his criticism by giving it to a woman (the Countess of Warwick) to voice. In this way the playwright attempts both to distance the criticism from any implication of male misogynistic discourse, or alleged male jealousy that the prerogative of war is being usurped, and most importantly to imply that the warrior woman is largely rejected by her own sex. 26 This negative view is reinforced later in the play, this time by one of the male characters. During the trial, the judge Mide affirms: Porte-t-elle pas son crime sur son propre corps ? Ces restes d’habit d’homme dont elle est encore vêtue contre la défense qui lui en est faite, ne peut recevoir d’excuses, et si 26 Derval Conroy, “Mapping Gender Transgressions? Representations of the Warrior Woman in Seventeenth-Century Tragedy (1642-1660)”, in La Femme au XVII e siècle. Actes de Vancouver, University of British Columbia, 5-7 October 2000, ed. Richard G. Hodgson, Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2002: 243-254, p. 246. <?page no="58"?> 58 nous ne sommes aveugles, nous ne l’en pouvons absoudre. (La Pucelle d’Orléans, IV, 1, pp. 106-107.) Does she not wear her crime on her own body? These remnants of men’s clothes that she continues to wear against the order that was given cannot be excused, and if we are not blind, we cannot absolve her of it. D’Aubignac is clearly walking a tightrope here. On the one hand, he elevates his heroine above the riffraff that surround her, and on the other hand, he makes use of these same evil characters in order to express his own condemnation of a woman’s attempt to take on the appearance of a man. The author’s careful foot-working does not stop there. The Maid’s reply to the censure of her transvestism is that she needed to leave behind the appearances of the weak female sex in order to fulfill her sacred mission of forcibly removing the English from French soil: Ma mission était armée, et pour cela mon ordre était de quitter les apparences de mon sexe sans en quitter la pudeur : et de changer toutes les marques de notre faiblesse en appareil de guerre, et de victoires. (La Pucelle d’Orléans, IV, 1, pp. 107-108.) My mission was a military one, and for that my order was to leave behind the appearances of my sex without abandoning propriety and to change all the outward signs of our weakness into the trappings of war and of victory. In other words, this was a special case. God wanted her to lead the French army into battle and, of course, she needed to dress as a soldier in order to carry out that role effectively. As Derval Conroy states, “the dramatist ensures that this figure of huge cultural and symbolic significance is not portrayed as essentially approving of cross-dressing and (by implication) female military activity, but justifies herself as a divine instrument.” 27 D’Aubignac makes certain that his second heroine, Cyminde, also knows her place as a woman, and has her acknowledge the inherent weaknesses of her sex. Cyminde is keenly aware that it was Arincidas who raised her lowly social status to that of a princess. Consequently, she has an inferiority complex with regards to their marriage and seeks to be worthy of her royal title. Self-sacrifice is the only way to achieve the greatness that would otherwise be unattainable by womankind in 27 Ibid., p. 247. <?page no="59"?> 59 Cyminde’s world. In her speech to the king, the heroine makes use of the word digne (worthy) on four occasions: Quand j’aurai donné mon sang pour arrêter l’impétuosité des eaux, et qu’en ma mort j’aurai prévenu la peste de vos Provinces, on dira que j’étais digne de la Souveraineté que vous m’avez donnée pour l’épouser, digne d’être Princesse en votre Royaume, digne d’être la femme d’un si grand homme, digne de toutes les grâces que vous m’avez faites. (La Cyminde ou les deux victimes, II, 4, p. 171.) When I will have given my blood to stop the raging waters, and in my death I will have prevented the plague in your provinces, people will say that I was worthy of the sovereignty that you gave me to marry him, worthy of a princess in your kingdom, worthy to be the wife of such a great man, worthy of all the graces that you have bestowed upon me. By sacrificing her life for the preservation of her husband and her country, Cyminde believes that she will become known throughout the ages as a result of her death, not as the wife of Arincidas, but rather as a duplicate of him: On ne dira pas seulement que j’aurai vécu comme la moitié de lui-même, mais que je serai morte comme un autre lui-même. (La Cyminde ou les deux victimes, II, 4, p. 171.) They will say not only that I lived as his half, but that I died as another of him. For his part, Arincidas cannot accept that a woman will sacrifice herself in order to prevent his death. He focusses on the humiliation that he would experience from others if he were to allow such an act to take place. This is, after all, a man’s world and men should do what men were intended to do, and not rely on women to save them. D’Aubignac’s uneasiness with the reversal of sexual roles is clearly heard in the prince’s protestations: Pensez, ô trop aimable Cyminde, que la gloire dont vous couronnez votre nom, est la honte d’Arincidas ; vous me conservez la vie, mais c’est avec un reproche éternel de m’être efforcé de fuir pour éviter la mort. Voilà celui, dira-t-on, que sa femme a sauvé du trépas, et qui n’eut pas assez de cœur pour la devancer. (La Cyminde ou les deux victimes, IV, 2, p. 194.) Realize, oh too kind Cyminde, that the glory with which you crown your name is Arincidas’s shame; you save my life, but it is with an eternal reproach for having <?page no="60"?> 60 striven to flee in order to avoid death. There is the one, they will say, whose wife saved him from death and who did not have enough courage to precede her. Accordingly, Arincidas jumps into the water to die with Cyminde in order to maintain his dignity and manly courage. D’Aubignac saves the day, preventing the prince from being emasculated: Attendez-moi, Cyminde, et ne me laissez pas plus longtemps le regret et la honte de vous survivre. (La Cyminde ou les deux victimes, V, 3, p. 201.) Wait for me, Cyminde, and do not leave me any longer with the regret and the shame of surviving you. When at last Cyminde realizes that Arincidas has tried to follow her in death, she absurdly insists on being the first to die in order to fully realize her self-sacrifice: Mais quoi ! dira-t-on, Arincidas, que m’étant offerte à mourir devant vous, je ne meurs qu’après vous. Non, vous devez jouir au moins un moment, de l’avantage que ma mort vous devait procurer : En quelque état que vous soyez, vous me devez survivre : et mon Sacrifice n’aura point d’effet, si je n’avance l’ouvrage des Dieux, si je ne le précipite. (La Cyminde ou les deux victimes, V, 4, p. 203.) But what! Will they say, Arincidas, that having offered myself in death before you, I will die only after you. No, you must enjoy for at least one moment the advantage that my death was intended to procure for you. In whatever state you are in, you must survive me, and my sacrifice will have no effect if I do not accelerate the work of the gods, if I do not hasten it. Like the Maid who sacrifices herself for her king, Cyminde is willing to die for her prince. But in the end, neither Cyminde nor Arincidas are killed. The actions of the pair, together with the illicit means by which Arincidas had been chosen as victim in the first place, ensure the safety of the couple and the end of Neptune’s demand for cyclical sacrifice, as stipulated by the following oracle: Et je rendrai ma rigueur éternelle, S’il n’advient que le crime un jour M’oblige à refuser deux Victimes d’Amour. (La Cyminde ou les deux victims, I, 1, p. 152.) <?page no="61"?> 61 And I will render my harshness eternal, If it does not come to pass that a crime one day Will oblige me to refuse two victims of love. The happy ending of the play does not, of course, negate Cyminde’s status as a tragic heroine. D’Aubignac’s opposition to the term “tragi-comedy” was based on his definition of tragedy as a serious play with heroic characters, regardless of the denouement. 28 La Cyminde ou les deux victimes appeared in print within days of La Pucelle d’Orléans and reflects the same attitudes as the first tragedy towards the appropriate nature of female heroism as befitting the reign of Louis XIII, a king no longer in the shadows of his troublesome regent mother. In his portrayal of the queen of Palmyra, d’Aubignac is careful, once again, to emphasize the inherent weaknesses of the female sex. The theme of the first scene of the play, involving the two generals Zabas and Timagene, is more about their love for Zénobie the woman than about their duty to help defend the embattled city for their queen: Quand une femme est dans la douleur, on dit qu’il est aisé de lui faire entendre les sentiments de l’amour parmi ceux de la compassion ; et qu’ils lui sont d’autant moins désagréables que cette compassion lors est reçue pour un effet et pour un témoignage de l’amour. (Zénobie, I, 1, p. 229.) When a woman is in distress, they say it is easy to get her to understand feelings of love among those of compassion; and that they are all the less disagreeable to her because this compassion is then received as an effect and as a demonstration of love. D’Aubignac’s introduction of the love theme at the very beginning of his play has the effect of “normalizing” Zénobie, putting the heroine in her place as a woman, right from the outset, rather than focusing on her role as sovereign and warrior. In the next scene, we learn that the conquering Roman emperor Aurelian also has amorous feelings for the heroine. As Zénobie herself summarizes: Aurelian attaque mon Empire, et eux [Zabas et Timagene] le défendent, mais ils en veulent tous trois à ma personne. (Zénobie, I, 3, p. 244.) Aurelian attacks my empire, and they [Zabas and Timagene] defend it, but all three desire my person. 28 See chapter X of d’Aubignac’s La Pratique du theatre, pp. 209-240. <?page no="62"?> 62 Zenobia is certainly a femme forte, but she is, first and foremost, a woman! III Woman as Sex Symbol In her defense of transvestism, d’Aubignac’s Maid proclaims that she willingly would have taken on the seductive attire and adornment of the biblical Judith 29 had this been part of God’s plan: Si Dieu m’avait envoyée comme Judith, pour surprendre nos tyrans à la faveur des ténèbres du vin et du sommeil, j’aurais pris un équipage semblable au sien, je me serais vêtue d’ornements précieux, j’aurais relevé les attraits de ma beauté par les poudres, les eaux et les parfums, j’aurais employé tous ces mêmes artifices, et comme elle, je me serais servie des grâces de mes yeux pour me servir avantageusement de ma main. (La Pucelle d’Orléans, IV, 1, p. 107.) If God had sent me like Judith, to surprise our tyrants thanks to the darkness of wine and sleep, I would have taken on attire similar to hers. I would have worn precious ornaments. I would have enhanced the attractions of my beauty with powders, oils and perfumes. I would have used all these devices, and like her, I would have made use of the charms of my eyes in order to make favourable use of my hand. By introducing the story of the alluring Judith, d’Aubignac attempts to “normalize” his heroine, contrasting her necessary transvestism as a soldier with the feminine appeal she might otherwise have had, given an alternative sacred mission. But d’Aubignac has another motive in portraying his heroine as a potential sex symbol. He wants to tantalize his audience! The proof of this lies in the fact that d’Aubignac won’t let the matter drop. He continues to eroticize his play by inventing a love story 29 In revenge for the attack against the city of Bethulia by the Assyrians, the widowed Judith, dressed in her most attractive attire, entered the camp of General Holofernes and promised to help him conquer all of Judea. She received from him a safe-conduct in order to return to Bethulia to pray. Holofernes was seduced by Judith’s beauty and asked to sleep with her. During the night, taking advantage of the general’s drunken state, Judith succeeded in decapitating him. She returned to Bethulia using her safeconduct. Upon her arrival there, she displayed Holofernes’s head and inspired the city to launch an attack against the Assyrians. The enemy eventually retreated, and Judith was honoured as a result of the victory. <?page no="63"?> 63 involving the Maid. Throughout the tragedy, the married comte de Warwick woos the heroine, promising her freedom if she will return his love: [...] acceptez le secours que je vous offre, et que je puis bien vous donner ; je suis maître dans ce Château, je vous en puis tirer, et vous conduire où vous voudrez : pourvu que vous me donniez quelque part en votre affection, vous pouvez tout espérer ; ne vous ai-je pas rendu ma passion assez visible ? (La Pucelle d’Orléans, I, 4, p. 55.) [...] accept the help that I offer and that I can easily give you. I am the master of this castle. I can release you and take you where you wish. Provided that you give me some part of your affection, you can hope for everything. Have I not made my passion visible enough? Characteristic of the femme forte is her virtue in resisting temptations of the flesh. As Maclean points out, seventeenth-century moralists such as Le Moyne and the author of La Femme généreuse (1643) propose that “the virtue required to resist the promptings of the flesh and the blandishments and solicitation of men is no less great than that of men on the battlefield”. 30 The Maid, of course, will have nothing to do with the count’s proposed quid pro quo. However, the manner of the heroine’s refusal adds additional provocativeness to the play. She speaks of having lived in the court of a great king surrounded by his princes, and in armies among many brave warriors, where not one man had an impure thought about her person: Ce vaillant Dunois, Xaintrailles, la Hire, Baudricour, et tant d’autres, dans la licence de la guerre, dans la solitude de leurs pavillons, et dans la faveur de la nuit, m’ont toujours respectée ; [...] ils m’ont regardée, ils m’ont admirée, ils m’ont estimée, mais avec cette louable passion qui fait aimer les choses saintes. (La Pucelle d’Orléans, I, 4, pp. 57-58.) This valiant Dunois, Xaintrailles, la Hire, Baudricour and so many others, in the licence of war, in the solitude of their lodgings, in the favour of the night, always respected me. [...] They looked at me, they admired me, they esteemed me, but always with this laudable passion that makes one love saintly things. 30 Maclean, p. 83. <?page no="64"?> 64 She concludes her admonition by making reference to the “flamme illicite” (illicit flame) that burns within Warwick, stating that his imperfect love is a crime worthy of an Englishman: “[...] ton crime est digne d’un Anglais.” 31 These are salacious images that further highlight the Maid as a beautiful woman rather than as a military leader. While d’Aubignac emphasizes his heroine’s refusal to succumb to the temptations of the flesh, he is at the same time taking full advantage of the eroticism that this refusal creates in the minds of the audience. Of course, d’Aubignac did not defend his invention of the love theme in those terms. Rather, he identified it as a means “de faire jouer le Théâtre” (to create drama). He then went on to politicize this aspect of the plot, stating that the character of the Count of Warwick might also be considered an allegory representing “l’affection que quelques Anglais plus raisonnables pouvaient avoir pour elle, mais comme c’était une affection d’ennemis, elle n’était pas toute pure et désintéressée non plus que la passion de ce comte.” 32 (the affection that certain more reasonable Englishmen could have for her. But as this was affection on the part of enemies, it was not all pure and disinterested any more than the passion of this count.) Be that as it may, the focus on the Maid’s beauty and sexual appeal is an attempt by d’Aubignac to add spice to his play and to emphasize that his heroine’s extraordinary accomplishments were achieved as a result of divine intervention, rather than through her own innate qualities as a young and attractive woman. As with La Pucelle d’Orléans, d’Aubignac introduces an erotic element in La Cyminde ou les deux victimes. The evil character of the tragedy, Ostane, has arranged to manipulate the sacrificial lottery because he lusts after Cyminde. By eliminating the husband, Ostane believes that he will have the heroine all to himself. Derbis, sachez que tout ce que j’ai fait jusqu’ici n’est que pour la posséder. Je l’aimai dès le voyage que je fis en Albanie il y a trois ans, et ne pus néanmoins me résoudre à l’épouser, parce qu’elle n’était pas Princesse. Mais depuis que le Roi l’eut faite Souveraine de l’Île de Carymbe en faveur d’Arincidas qui l’aima depuis, tout a réveillé mon amour, toutes choses l’ont irrité, le dépit, la jalousie, ses mépris, et sa vertu même qui la rend invincible à mes poursuites. (La Cyminde ou les deux victimes, III, 3, pp. 176-177.) 31 D’Aubignac, La Pucelle d’Orléans, I, 4, p. 58. 32 D’Aubignac, “Préface”, La Pucelle d’Orléans, p. 44. <?page no="65"?> 65 Derbis, know that all that I have done until now has been only to possess her. I fell in love with her during my voyage to Albania three years ago and, nevertheless, could not resolve to marry her because she was not a princess. But ever since the king made her sovereign of the Island of Carymbe in consideration of Arincidas who has loved her since, everything has awakened my love. Everything has inflamed it: vexation, jealousy, her contempt, and even her virtue that renders her invincible to my pursuits. Of course, the virtuous and faithful Cyminde will have nothing to do with this villain. Earlier in the play, she makes reference to Ostane’s “amour lâche” 33 (despicable love). For his part, Ostane remains hopeful that his plans to possess the heroine will come to fruition. Sa fureur néanmoins m’étonne, et me fait craindre qu’en perdant Arincidas, il me soit difficile de la posséder. Le désir pourtant de conserver la dignité de Princesse qui ne lui est pas acquise par sa naissance, et le temps qui la consolera de la mort d’Arincidas me doivent faire tout espérer : l’ambition rend une femme capable de tout faire, et le deuil de son âme ne dure jamais tant que celui de ses vêtements. (La Cyminde ou les deux victimes, II, 6, p. 173.) Her fury nevertheless surprises me, and makes me fear that in losing Arincidas, it will be difficult for me to possess her. Even so, the desire to retain the dignity of princess, which she did not acquire through her birth, and time, which will console her of Arincidas’s death, make me hopeful. Ambition makes a woman capable of everything, and the mourning of her soul never lasts as long as that of her clothes. The last sentence is revelatory of d’Aubignac’s philosophy of the female sex. The words inconstance, infidélité and caprice once again come to mind. Of course, Cyminde is a heroic woman who is able to overcome these “inherent” challenges of her nature. The image of Zénobie, not as an Amazon ruler, but as a beautiful woman who is attractive to men, is emphasized throughout the play that bears her name. In the third scene, Ileone reveals to the heroine the physical love the two generals have for their queen: Croyez-vous, Madame, que par ces sentiments ordinaires ils eussent tant fait pour votre gloire, et tant souffert dans vos déplaisirs. Toutes leurs victoires ont été des tributs qu’ils rendaient à celle qui les avait déjà vaincus secrètement, et quand ils ont soupiré vos malheurs, la générosité les eût rendus incapables de ces tendresses, si l’amour ne les eût données. (Zénobie, I, 3, pp. 242-243.) 33 D’Aubignac, La Cyminde ou les deux victimes, I, 4; p. 157. <?page no="66"?> 66 Do you believe, Madam, that by these ordinary feelings they would have accomplished this much for your glory, and suffered so much in your unhappiness? All their victories were tributes rendered to the one who had already conquered them secretly, and when they deplored your misfortunes, generosity would have made them incapable of these feelings of tenderness, if love were not the source. But the virtuous Zénobie will have none of this love talk. However, as in the case of the Maid of Orleans, the manner of Zénobie’s refusal adds additional provocativeness to the play. She condemns her two generals for “la lâcheté de leur passion” (the cowardice of their passion) and for looking upon her not as their sovereign, but as a woman to be possessed: Aurelian veut triompher de moi dans Rome, et mes Généraux dans l’Asie. Lui par force et durant un jour seulement ; mais ils veulent que je consente à leur triomphe, et qu’il dure toute ma vie. (Zénobie, I, 3, p. 244.) Aurelian wants to triumph over me in Rome, and my generals in Asia. He by force and for one day only; but they desire my consent to their triumph, which will last all my life. Beginning in Act IV of the play, all the actions of the Roman emperor are motivated by his love for Zénobie the woman. When the Roman general Marcellin tries to convince him that the queen must be executed, Aurelian is adamant that she will live: [Marcellin] Après tout, c’est une femme. [Aurelian] Mais généreuse. [Marcellin] Mais belle, et l’on dira que vous la réservez moins à votre triomphe, que vous ne vous préparez au sien; avant que d’être à Rome, ses yeux auront triomphé de vous: et quand vous y serez arrivé, votre cœur ne pourra triompher d’elle. [Aurelian] Enfin, je veux qu’elle vive, et je vous ordonne Marcellin de lui faire entendre vous-même, qu’elle ne mourra point, mais ne lui parlez pas du triomphe. (Zénobie, IV, 6, pp. 308-309.) [Marcellin] After all, she is a woman. [Aurelian] But noble-hearted. <?page no="67"?> 67 [Marcellin] But beautiful, and people will say that you are not reserving her for your triumph, but rather that you are preparing yourself for hers. Before reaching Rome, her eyes will triumph over you, and when you arrive, your heart will not be able to triumph over her. [Aurelian] In short, I want her to live, and I command you Marcellin to inform her that she will not die, and not to speak to her about the triumph. The great Zenobia reduced to a sex symbol! It should be noted that in French moralistic writing of the seventeenth century, beauty in women is not regarded as a positive trait. 34 It is deeply distrusted as the source of many of the negative characteristics and behaviours associated with the female sex, such as affectation and the pursuit of worldly pleasures. It may be surprising, therefore, to see this trait in the heroic woman of seventeenth-century French drama. D’Aubignac’s heroines, for example, are all desired by male characters for their physical beauty. This characteristic is therefore treated as one of the “weaknesses” that the heroic woman must overcome in order to distinguish herself from the other members of her sex. But there is another element at play here as well. Aware of the effect their beauty has on males, d’Aubignac’s heroines are willing to take full advantage of the inherent attraction that is created in order to attain their goals. As we indicated earlier, the Maid would have willingly taken on the seductive attire and ornamentation of the biblical Judith had this been part of God’s plan. When Zénobie is captured, she insists on changing from her warrior attire to that of female dress and adornment before meeting with the Roman emperor to negotiate the terms of her defeat. The general Marcellin says to Aurelian: Elle a souhaité de paraître devant vous, plutôt avec les ornements de son sexe, qu’avec les marques de son courage. Elle ôte ses armes, je l’ai mise entre les mains de Rutile et de ses femmes, on l’amène incontinent. (Zénobie, IV, 2, p. 287.) She wished to appear before you with the adornments of her sex, rather than with the symbols of her courage. She is removing her weapons, and I have placed her in the hands of Rutile and her ladies. She will be brought to you forthwith. 34 Cf. Maclean, p. 70. <?page no="68"?> 68 When Zénobie appears, the effect on the Roman emperor is immediate. He exclaims: “Que de Majesté dans sa personne […].” 35 (What majesty in her person […].) Later, he states: “Que cette femme agite puissamment mes esprits! ” 36 (How this woman greatly stirs my spirits! ) For the heroic woman, therefore, beauty is very much a double-edged sword. On the one hand, as Conroy asserts with respect to the female warrior, “representation of beauty […] is constantly juxtaposed by valour, underlining her role as an hermaphroditic ideal”. 37 On the other hand, female beauty is used by male characters (and by extension, by the dramatist himself) to bring the heroic woman back down to earth, forcing the spectators to see her in purely physical terms. It is worth noting again that in all three of d’Aubignac’s tragedies, the love element is a pure invention on the part of the author. In La Pucelle d’Orléans, the Count of Warwick has little in common with the real Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, who was the governor of the castle of Rouen where Joan of Arc was imprisoned. Beauchamp was of the opinion that Joan should be burned at the stake, whereas the Count of Warwick in the play is in love with the young girl and wants to save her life. 38 The tragedy La Cyminde ou les deux victimes is, of course, entirely fictitious. The lust that prince Ostane has for the heroine is at the very source of the crisis in the play. Finally, the existence of a love interest between the historical Zenobia and her two generals, on the one hand, and between the queen and the Roman emperor Aurelian, on the other, is very doubtful indeed. 39 Of course, d’Aubignac was not the only seventeenthcentury French dramatist to incorporate a love theme in dramatic works. As Maclean notes, “the association of love and women is a feature of many plays at this time”. 40 In spite of their extraordinary acts, the heroic woman cannot escape the fact that she will be physically desired by the male characters around her, an image that evokes her vulnerable nature as she interacts with dominant men in her world. This has the effect of 35 D’Aubignac, Zénobie, IV, 3, p. 290. 36 Ibid., IV, 3, p. 291. 37 Conroy, p. 254. 38 Cf. Joan Edmunds, The Mission of Joan of Arc, Forest Row, U.K.: Temple Lodge Publishing, 2008, pp. 128-129. 39 Cf. Richard Stoneman, Palmyra and its Empire: Zenobia’s Revolt against Rome, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1992, p. 118. 40 Maclean, p. 181. <?page no="69"?> 69 putting the heroic woman into perspective and, in so doing, may be seen as misogynistic in its intent. As Conroy asserts, “constant reiteration of women as beautiful can be seen then paradoxically to demean any real power.” 41 IV The Prerogatives of War and Government Although d’Aubignac portrays the Maid as a woman of power, he is very careful to limit that power and to place it clearly outside the political realm. He has the heroine herself sing the praises of the Salic law in response to the English claim to the throne based on the female line: 42 Dieu qui pourvut les Français d’un cœur absolument incapable de souffrir la domination des femmes, leur inspira cette fameuse loi Salique, qui n’admet que les hommes à la succession de la Couronne : loi toute sainte dans son principe, vénérable à tous les autres Princes alliés, et pour jamais inviolable. On ne verra point, comme on ne l’a point encore vu, que les Filles même prétendent la moindre part en la Couronne de leurs Pères. (La Pucelle d’Orléans, III, 2, p. 89.) God who gave the French a heart absolutely incapable of bearing the domination of women, inspired them this famous Salic law, which allows only men to succeed to the throne, a holy law in its principle, venerable to all other allied princes, and forever inviolable. We will never see, as we have not yet seen, daughters claim even the smallest part of the crown of their fathers. There is no doubt that the Maid’s voice, supporting the Salic law, is really that of d’Aubignac. 43 The heroine then condemns the English for allowing women the right to inherit the throne, invoking the misogynist claims that 41 Conroy, p. 254. 42 At this period of history, hereditary justification was one of the means by which English kings tried to claim the French throne. A large portion of France was under the command of kings of England as inheritors of William the Conqueror, through the marriage of William’s grand-daughter to Geoffrey d’Anjou and through the marriage of the future English king Henry II to Eleanor of Aquitaine, the former wife of Louis VII of France. 43 Cf. Jeanne Morgan Zarucchi, “Sovereignty and Salic Law in d’Aubignac’s La Pucelle d’Orléans”, in Actes de Wake Forest, ed. M. R. Margitic and B. R. Wells, Paris: Papers on French Seventeenth-Century Literature, 1987: 123-134, p. 123. <?page no="70"?> 70 females are incapable of holding public office because of their emotional and capricious nature: Il n’appartient qu’à vous de pouvoir être les esclaves d’une femme, et de porter le joug d’une insolente domination, où d’ordinaire la passion fait toute la suffisance, et le caprice toutes les règles du gouvernement. (La Pucelle d’Orléans, III, 2, p. 89.) It is only you who are able to be the slaves of a woman, and to wear the yoke of an impertinent domination, where emotion usually carries the day and caprice dictates all the rules of government. The “disastrous” reign of the protestant Elizabeth I is predicted: [...] la main d’une femme vous fera gémir sous la ruine des autels, et l’oppression de la Justice. (La Pucelle d’Orléans, III, 2; pp. 89-90.) [...] the hand of a woman will make you groan under the ruin of altars and the oppression of justice. Blocker sees in this condemnation a veiled reference to the “future” reign of the English king Charles I as well: Au-delà de la critique de la tradition anglaise qui fait accéder les femmes au trône, on pourrait voir ici une allusion au règne d’Élizabeth I re , dont celui de Charles I er , roi faible et comme efféminé par l’absence de loi salique, ne serait qu’une triste conséquence. 44 Beyond the criticism of the English tradition allowing women to inherit the throne, one can see here an allusion to the reign of Elizabeth I, of which that of Charles I, a weak king who was in a sense made effeminate through the absence of the Salic law, would be but a sad consequence. Charles I, who reigned from 1625 to 1649, was king of England, Scotland and Ireland at the time d’Aubignac composed La Pucelle d’Orléans. Marred by financial and religious conflicts with parliament over the extent of royal prerogative, the reign saw civil war first in Scotland and later in 44 Déborah Blocker, “La Pucelle d’Orléans (1640-1642) de l’abbé d’Aubignac sur la scène de monarchie absolue naissante”, in Images de Jeanne d’Arc, Actes du Colloque de Rouen, 25, 26, 27 mai 1999, ed. Jean Maurice and Daniel Couty, Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2000: 164-166, p. 165. <?page no="71"?> 71 England. Of course, at the time of the play’s composition, d’Aubignac would not have known of the eventual execution of the king, but he would most certainly have been aware of the turmoil that permeated the British kingdom. So much so that in La Pucelle d’Orléans, he has his heroine predict that a revolution will befall the land, a reference, it may be argued, both to the defeat of the English in Joan of Arc’s time and to the aftermath of the political events in England of the early 1640’s: […] par une révolution inespérée après avoir été la terreur de nos Princes quand Dieu les a châtiés, vous deviendrez la risée de la populace quand il vous punira. (La Pucelle d’Orléans III, 2, p. 90.) […] by an unexpected revolution, after having been the terror of our princes when God punished them, you will become the laughing stock of the mob when he punishes you. All this because the English did not apply the Salic law that would have prevented the reign of Elizabeth I, in the first place, and thus the disastrous reign of her successor’s son, Charles I, several decades later. How’s that for skilful political propaganda based on misogynist beliefs! By painting a negative picture of the English system, d’Aubignac seeks to convey the opposite image of the kingdom of France, that of a stable monarchy under the reign of Louis XIII. Blocker asserts: Il semble qu’à travers la peinture des derniers moments de la vie de la Pucelle, d’Aubignac ait voulu pointer vers une période difficile, où le sacrifice de cette fille du peuple est présenté comme l’origine trouble mais nécessaire de cette stabilité monarchique dont pouvaient jouir les sujets de Louis XIII. 45 It seems that through the representation of the last moments of the life of the Maid, d’Aubignac wanted to point towards a difficult period, where the sacrifice of this peasant girl is presented as the troubled, but necessary, origins of this monarchic stability which the subjects of Louis XIII could enjoy. Implicit in the story line of La Cyminde ou les deux victimes is the traditional role that women should play. When Cyminde learns that her husband has been chosen as the sacrificial victim, she proclaims: 45 Ibid., p. 161. <?page no="72"?> 72 Voici le dernier jour auquel il me sera permis de prendre ce glorieux nom de votre femme, désormais je ne serai plus que votre veuve? (La Cyminde ou les deux victimes, I, 3, p. 156.) This is the final day that I will be permitted to take the glorious name as your wife. Henceforth, I will be but your widow. Her role of princess has meaning only in association with the real power that belongs to her husband. Alone, she is nothing. When Cyminde tries to convince the king to allow her to be the replacement sacrificial victim, she argues that death is the only way that women can attain the glory they are unable to have in the arenas of government and war: Notre sexe est banni du gouvernement des affaires, et des commandements de la guerre. Nous sommes condamnées partout aux ténèbres et au silence. Les femmes les mieux connues sont celles que l’on n’a point connues durant leur vie, leur plus belle réputation c’est de n’en avoir point, elles sont vertueuses quand on ne les voit point, et que l’on n’en parle point: c’est assez que l’on sache leur nom quand elles meurent. Si donc il y a quelque moyen de paraître sur le théâtre du monde, il faut que ce soit en mourant, et l’on peut tout croire et tout dire de la générosité d’une femme quand le jour de sa mort éclaire toute sa vie. (La Cyminde ou les deux victimes, II, 4, pp. 170- 171.) Our sex is banished from the conduct of public affairs and from commanding in war. We are condemned everywhere to darkness and to silence. The most well-known women are those whom we never knew during their lifetime. Their most beautiful reputation is not having had any; they are virtuous when we do not see them and when we do not speak of them. It is enough that we know their names when they die. If, therefore, there is some way to appear on the world stage, it must be in death, and one can believe and say everything about the nobility of a woman when the day of her death illuminates all her life. Cyminde’s position is not that women should be allowed to hold public office, but that they can rise above their limitations by performing heroic acts. Both La Pucelle d’Orléans and La Cyminde ou les deux victimes were composed around 1640, during the reign of Louis XIII. By that time, the queen mother’s regency had been over for more than twenty years. Moreover, her involvement in encouraging rebellion and her subsequent exile would not have put Marie de’ Medici or her years of power in a good light. It is not surprising, therefore, that d’Aubignac’s attitude toward female involvement in politics is a very negative one at this time. <?page no="73"?> 73 With Zénobie, we see a change in the manner in which d’Aubignac approaches the theme of the prerogatives of war and government in the context of gender, demonstrating great dexterity as a tightrope walker. In this tragedy, the author’s seemingly misogynist views intermingle with “feminist” discourse. In a discussion with her lady-in-waiting regarding the Roman emperor’s matrimonial intentions, the queen of Palmyra asserts the right of women to choose to submit to a man, rather than to accept as given the notion of husband as master: La femme courageuse qui peut consentir d’avoir un maître, ne le doit pas faire, mais le choisir [...]. Le mari qui n’a rien que le nom d’homme au-dessus de sa femme n’en devrait être que l’esclave. Et si la nature oblige notre sexe à fléchir, il faut que cent qualités éminentes autorisent et réparent la nécessité de ce malheur. (Zénobie, I, 3; p. 244.) The courageous woman who can consent to have a master must not be obliged to do so, but choose to do so [...]. The husband who has nothing more than the title of man over his wife should be nothing more than her slave. And if nature obliges our sex to yield, it is necessary that a hundred eminent qualities authorise and compensate the need for this misfortune. Zénobie is keenly aware that Aurelian’s mission to conquer her, both militarily and personally, stems in large measure from a humiliation he suffered, seemingly at her hand, in a previous combat: Vous souvient-il pas qu’au dernier combat que j’ai fait en personne, il fut blessé d’un trait qui presque a terminé ses conquêtes avec sa vie. Il croit qu’il est parti de ma main, et cela pourrait bien être. Mais cet orgueilleux qui ne distingue pas Zénobie d’avec mon sexe, se tient déshonoré d’avoir été frappé par une femme : la grandeur de la plaie, la violence de la douleur, et la longueur de la maladie font qu’il ne pense à moi qu’en fureur, il n’en parle qu’avec outrage, et ne s’en propose que des vengeances extraordinaires. (Zénobie, II, 2, p. 254.) Do you not remember that in my last personal combat, he was injured by an arrow that almost ended his conquests with his life? He believes that it came from my hand, and that could very well be the case. But this arrogant man, who does not distinguish Zenobia from her sex, believes himself dishonoured by having been hit by a woman. The greatness of the wound, the violence of the pain, and the duration of the illness were such that he thinks of me only in furor. He speaks of it only with outrage, and seeks only extraordinary vengeance. <?page no="74"?> 74 To have been injured in battle at the hands of a woman, regardless of her stature or military skills, is a great humiliation in the eyes of Aurelian. Even the final defeat of Zénobie will not be recognized as a great accomplishment by Romans, as the queen herself acknowledges to the Roman general Marcellin: Et puis la grandeur des Romains ne jugera pas une femme digne de leur triomphe. J’y serais moins le témoignage des faiblesses de mon sexe, que de la honte de votre Empereur. (Zénobie, V, 2, p. 315.) And the greatness of Romans will not judge a woman to be worthy of their triumph. I would be less the evidence of my sex’s weaknesses than of your emperor’s shame. Unlike d’Aubignac’s two other plays, Zénobie presents the traditionalist view of the appropriate nature of female heroism, not via the heroine herself, but rather by way of the antagonist.When the emperor confronts Zénobie following her capture, he condemns as criminal her participation in battle with its necessary transvestism and lack of feminine modesty: Contre les lois ? où trouvez-vous qu’elles autorisent dans la conduite de la guerre un sexe à qui la Nature n’a permis de faire des conquêtes qu’avec les yeux ? (Zénobie, IV, 3, p. 297.) Against the laws? Where do you find that they authorize in the conduct of war a sex for whom nature has permitted conquests only by way of the eyes? Conroy points out that according to the Roman emperor, Zénobie is “a physical and moral transvestite, to the extent that she has adopted both the clothes and the traits of the opposite sex”. 46 Balancing the discussion, d’Aubignac has the queen assert the right of womankind to wage war and, by extension, to rule: M’était-il défendu de conserver le titre d’Auguste à mon Fils comme son héritage ? Je l’ai fait : par les armes, il est vrai, mais cette autorité que les hommes s’attribuent de faire la guerre, est-ce un droit de la Nature ou bien une vieille Usurpation ? La Souveraineté des Femmes est d’autant plus juste que la nature leur en a donné les caractères sur le visage, et les commencements dans le respect de tous les hommes. (Zénobie, IV, 3, p. 297.) 46 Conroy, p. 245. <?page no="75"?> 75 Was it forbidden for me to keep the title of Augustus for my son as his heritage? I did this by way of arms, it is true, but this authority that men give themselves to wage war, is it a right of nature or rather an old usurpation? The sovereignty of women is all the more just because nature gave them the traits of sovereignty in their faces, and its beginnings in the respect of all men. The emperor reiterates his arguments, this time by making reference to Roman law: Une femme qui leur fait la guerre est digne de risée, mais celle qui les a vaincus est coupable de leur honte. Ce sont nos lois. Et pour la Vertu, souffre-t-elle une femme travestie vivre toujours dans la licence de la guerre et de la nuit ? Faire des meurtres avec joie, et porter continuellement la fureur dans les yeux ? Ce sont des actions toutes criminelles et dont vous avez outragé la pudeur de votre sexe autant que la dignité des Romains. (Zénobie, IV, 3, p. 298.) A woman who wages war against them is worthy of ridicule, but one who conquers them is guilty of their shame. These are our laws. And as for virtue, does it allow a transvestite woman to always live in the licence of war and of the night? Committing murders with joy and continuously having furor in her eyes? These are all criminal actions for which you have outraged the propriety of your sex as much as the dignity of Romans. The queen counter punches by calling Aurelian “Tyran de mon sexe autant que de Zénobie” (tyrant of my sex as much as of Zenobia). 47 Contrary to history, d’Aubignac has his heroine commit suicide, rather than face dishonour by being paraded in Aurelian’s triumph. 48 This decision tilts the debate slightly in favour of Zénobie’s “feminist” arguments, at this point, for it means that she is essentially uncompromised and triumphant to the end. However, in the final speech of the tragedy, the emperor expresses his intentions to kill Marcellin for having helped persuade Zénobie to commit suicide, and then to take his own life: 47 D’Aubignac, Zénobie, IV, 3, p. 298. 48 According to most sources, Aurelian arrived in Rome with his prisoner Zenobia in 273. Following the triumphal parade, the emperor permitted the queen to spend the rest of her life in a villa in Tibur (Tivoli), a town located to the east of Rome. Cf. Scriptores Historiae Augustae, trans. David Magie, 3 volumes, London: William Heinemann, 1932, Tyranni: 30.27. <?page no="76"?> 76 Je veux mêler le sang de ce perfide à celui de cette Reine, et le coupable doit bien souffrir une peine aussi tragique, que l’innocente. Vengeons-la sur Marcellin, et puis vengeons-la sur nous-même ; Immolons à ces Mânes par justice celui qui l’a perdue, et par amour celui qui ne l’a pas sauvée. (Zénobie, V, 7, p. 326.) I wish to mix the blood of this traitor with that of the queen, and the guilty must suffer as tragic a punishment as the innocent. Let’s avenge her on Marcellin, and then avenge her on ourselves. Let us sacrifice to the spirits of these dead, through justice him who destroyed her, and through love him who did not save her. The play ends with uncertainty as the audience does not know if the emperor’s plans will in fact be carried out. We are left, therefore, with the image of a grieving Aurelian, mournful not for the death of an Amazon queen but rather for the loss of the woman he adores. This final impression readjusts the focus of the audience’s attention away from the feminist/ anti-feminist debate to the universal theme of love. The emperor is not the villain after all; he even plans to do the “honourable” thing and follow the queen in death. The end result is that the heroic Zénobie is once again feminized. D’Aubignac applies the “have-one’s-cake-and-eat-it-too principle”, 49 adept as he is in walking the tightrope in this play when it comes to expressing his philosophy of women. Conroy speculates that the abbé’s inclusion of strong “feminist” discourse in the play may be due to the regency of Anne of Austria. 50 This is precisely my take on this as well. For while d’Aubignac also writes about the female warrior Joan of Arc, the views of that tragic heroine regarding the right of women to rule are in complete opposition to those of Zénobie. The explanation of these divergent views has to do with the political conditions under which the plays came into being. Both La Pucelle d’Orléans and La Cyminde ou les deux victimes were performed 51 and published during the personal reign of Louis XIII. The turmoil that characterized the regency of Marie de’ Medici and the subsequent behaviour of the queen mother provided ample reinforcement to those 49 This phrasing is used by Katharina Volk in her work The Poetics of Latin Didactic. Lucretius, Vergil, Ovid, Manilius, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, p. 233. 50 Conroy, p. 248. 51 It is likely that d’Aubignac’s original prose tragedies were never performed. However, the verse adaptations were performed either in 1641 or 1642. Cf. Lancaster, part II, vol. I, pp. 357, 359, 361, 367; François and Claude Parfaict, Dictionnaire des théâtres de Paris, 7 volumes, Paris: Rozet, 1767, vol. II, p. 221. <?page no="77"?> 77 with misogynist views that women should not be ruling the land. With his last tragedy, Zénobie, the author chooses to present counter arguments to the traditional views of male domination in the arenas of war and government. It is difficult not to hear in the Roman emperor’s traditionalist arguments the voice of abbé d’Aubignac himself. But what we also witness in the play is a careful reassessment of these views, or at least a public demonstration of a reassessment. From this perspective, d’Aubignac is very much a political opportunist, publishing his play as he did during the powerful regency of Anne of Austria who would rule France for another four years afterwards. However, the date of publication is one thing. What about the year the play was performed? There is one piece of documentation that does not seem to place the first performance during the regency of Anne of Austria. In his letter of 6 April 1640 to François de Ménard, Jean Chapelain writes: “Monsieur, j’ai vu votre lettre en allant à Zénobie […].” 52 (Sir, I saw your letter while going to Zénobie […].) This has been interpreted by Henry Carrington Lancaster as a reference to d’Aubignac’s play, as there is no indication of another dramatic work by that title in the 1640’s. 53 However, contradictory information is provided by the historians of French theatre Antoine de Léris, the Parfaict brothers (François and Claude), as well as Jean-Marie-Bernard Clément and Joseph de Laporte, all of whom indicate that the play was first performed in 1645. 54 Moreover, the publisher’s notice that accompanies the first edition indicates that although the composition of the play had been requested by Richelieu, the cardinal’s death prevented him from seeing any performances: […] la mauvaise issue d’une longue maladie ravit au premier [Richelieu] les divertissements qu’il avait attendus de sa représentation. 55 […] the bad outcome of a long illness took away from the former [Richelieu] the enjoyment he had anticipated from its performance. 52 Chapelain, letter to François de Mainard, vol. I, p. 598 53 Lancaster, part II, vol. I p. 338. 54 Léris, p. 459; Parfaict, Dictionnaire des théâtres de Paris, vol. VI, p. 320; Jean- Marie-Bernard Clément and Joseph de Laporte, Anecdotes dramatiques, 3 volumes, Paris: Duchesne, 1775, vol. II, p. 281. 55 D’Aubignac, “Avis des libraries au lecteur”, Zénobie, p. 218. <?page no="78"?> 78 Richelieu died on 4 December 1642. Had Zénobie been first performed in 1640, the publishers would not have made reference to the “outcome” of the cardinal’s illness as being the cause of his absence from the play’s performance. Another piece of evidence, this time in the play itself, also undermines the credibility of 1640 as being the year of the first performance. In Act V, scene 4, as we noted earlier, d’Aubignac makes reference to Madeleine de Scudéry’s work Les Femmes illustres, the first part of which was published only in 1642. Moreover, the timeframe between the probable year of the first performance (1645) and that of the play’s publication (1647) is more in keeping with the practice of the period. The preponderance of the evidence, therefore, supports the position that the play was indeed first performed in 1645 during the regency of Anne of Austria, which began in 1643. Although Chapelain’s statement that he saw Ménard’s letter “while going to Zénobie” remains a mystery, we are convinced that it is not in reference to d’Aubignac’s play. It is reasonable to interpret the following speech by d’Aubignac’s heroine as a reference to Anne of Austria: 56 La valeur seule est le titre pour commander, et si vous n’en avez point fait de lois, nous en avons fait des exemples. La vaillante Victorie règne encore sur les Gaules. (Zénobie, IV, 3, p. 297.) Only merit is the title for commanding, and if you have not made this part of your laws, we have provided examples of it. The brave Victoria still reigns over the people of Gaul. After the Gallic emperor Victorinus was murdered in the late 3 rd century, his mother Victoria (also known as Vitruvia) exercised power until she appointed Tetricas I as the successor. Moreover, the life of Anne herself may be seen as a reflection of that of Zenobia. Both women were wives of kings and, as such, expected to play no significant role in government. In each case, however, the death of the monarch elevated the queen to the position of regent, placing her front and centre in the government of the realm. 57 To be sure, these allusions to the powerful Anne of Austria and 56 This point is also made by Conroy (pp. 192-193). 57 Zenobia (c.241-272) married the widower Septimius Odenathus, who later became king of Palmyra. When the king and his son Herodian were assassinated, the young prince Vaballathus, son of Odenathus and Zenobia, succeeded to the throne. Zenobia exercised the regency in the name of her son. Desiring to establish her independence <?page no="79"?> 79 the inclusion of “feminist” views in Zénobie were attempts by d’Aubignac to adjust to the new political reality of France. Regardless of his personal misogynist tendencies, the public d’Aubignac knew how to go with the flow. The laudations of the Salic law and the declarations of women’s inability to rule that we find in La Pucelle d’Orléans would have been injudicious in 1645. D’Aubignac’s three prose tragedies may therefore be seen as a manifestation of the complex interaction between the notions of power and misogyny that existed in France in the first half of the seventeenth century. from Rome, she conquered the entire Syrian province and, in 269, she invaded Egypt. The emperor Claudius launched an unsuccessful counter attack in Egypt. To his successor, Aurelian, was left the task of crushing Palmyra’s revolt. <?page no="81"?> 3 Dangling Mistresses: Dorise, Alminde, Clitie, Uranie and Urselide D’Aubignac’s Le Roman des lettres (The Novel of Letters), published in 1667, 1 is a remarkable piece of writing for two reasons. Firstly, although it is billed as a novel (roman), the work does not fit the genre in the modern sense of the term. It consists of a collection of short and often unconnected letters written by and to a character named Ariste. This correspondence is intended to be the work’s vehicle of narration. One of Ariste’s friends, Cleonce, has compiled a number of these letters from a variety of sources, including Ariste himself, with the intent of publishing them in a coherent volume. He is joined at a country estate by another learned gentleman, Learinde, and the letters are read aloud and commented upon. Thomas O. Beebee describes the work as a “speculum, a mirror for courtiers”. 2 While the first part of the book provides a semblance of a plot, having to do with matters of the heart, the second part abandons the story line in favour of a presentation of unconnected letters concerning a variety of subjects, including diplomacy, scholarship, and condolences. The focus of the entire work is not the plot, but rather Ariste himself. As Elizabeth Jane MacArthur points out, the narrative is fragilely sustained only by the intervention of the frame character Cleonce who comments on the circumstances in which the letters were written: While Cleonce presents the letters more or less sequentially, they tell a story only because of the addition of his passages of third-person narration, and frequently the connections between one episode and another are topical rather than casual: metaphorical rather than metonymical. At the end even this loosely narrative 1 Although the work was published in 1667, the printing privilege dates back to 15 January 1659. 2 Thomas O. Beebee, Epistolary Fiction in Europe, 1500-1850, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999, p. 73. <?page no="82"?> 82 structure disintegrates, leaving a group of miscellaneous, unrelated letters such as other letter collections contain. […] Cleonce ends up leaving the packet of unrelated letters in no particular order, thus dissolving the narrative structure of the letter collection. 3 This brings us to the second reason why Le Roman des lettres is such a remarkable piece of writing. The character Ariste is presented as being no other than d’Aubignac himself. The work is dedicated to “Son Altesse Royale Mademoiselle” 4 (Her Royal Highness Mademoiselle) and is signed “Ariste”. Is this, as Beebee asserts, “d’Aubignac’s attempt at autobiography through epistolary fiction”? 5 If this is indeed the case, Le Roman des lettres is above all a work of shameless self-promotion. As Beebee points out, the name Ariste originates from a Greek word, meaning “the best”. 6 Moreover, the character is portrayed as a man who has led a remarkable life. He is an extraordinary intellectual whose thoughts must be appreciated and admired for the quality of the ideas and the manner of expression: Elle [Meliane] est persuadée, comme il est vrai, qu’il n’est pas d’un esprit commun, et que ses moindres ouvrages ont toujours quelque caractère de doctrine et d’agrément qu’on ne voit point ailleurs, qu’il ne faut rien perdre de tout ce qu’il fait, et que les lettres des grands hommes ont toujours été considérées comme un abrégé de tout ce qu’ils ont fait de plus excellent. (Le Roman des lettres, pp. 5-6.) She [Meliane] is convinced, as it is true, that he is not of a common mind, and that the least of his works always have some character of erudition and of beauty that one does not find elsewhere, that one must not lose anything of what he does, and that the letters of great men have always been regarded as a summary of everything excellent that they have done. This message is reiterated in various forms throughout the work: 3 Elizabeth Jane MacArthur, Extravagant Narratives: Closure and Dynamics in the Epistolary Form, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990, p. 65. 4 Le Roman des letttres is dedicated to Anne Marie Louise d’Orléans, duchesse de Montpensier. She was the daughter of Louis XIII’s brother Gaston, duc d’Orléans, and was officially known as Mademoiselle. 5 Beebee, p. 73. 6 Ibid. The Greek word is , meaning “topnotch” or “excellent”. From this comes the Greek word (aristocracy): (excellent) + (power). <?page no="83"?> 83 Il ne faut pas faire perdre au public le plaisir et l’utilité qui lui peuvent revenir de tout ce qui sort de la plume d’un si bon génie ; toutes ses pensées sont agréables et solides, elles sont délicates sans faiblesse, et fortes sans dureté ; les expressions en sont nettes, les paroles bien choisies, et l’art si bien couvert, que tout y paraît propre, encore que presque tout y soit figuré. […] L’érudition s’y mêle avec tant d’adresse, qu’il est mal aisé de le contredire sans se mettre au hasard de donner un démentir à quelque Auteur digne du respect de tous les savants. Achevez donc s’il est possible votre dessein, et cherchez partout les pièces d’un trésor qui peut enrichir le public, et qui sera perdu si vous ne prenez le soin d’en rassembler le débris. (Le Roman des lettres, pp. 13-15.) One must not deprive the public of the pleasure and the utility of everything that comes out of the pen of such a genius; all his thoughts are agreeable and solid, they are delicate without weakness, and strong without hardness; the expressions are clear, the words well chosen, and the art so well covered, that everything in it seems proper, even though almost everything there is in a figurative style. […] Erudition is melded in with such skill that it is difficult to contradict him without risking to contradict an author worthy of the respect of all scholars. Follow through if possible with your plan, and search everywhere for the pieces of a treasure that will enrich the public and which will be lost if you do not take care to collect the fragments. Even the author himself, in his dedication to Mademoiselle, boasts about his own erudition and his exquisite style of writing: Mon style a quelquefois été assez heureux pour exciter beaucoup de jalousie par l’odeur et la beauté de ses fleurs ; et dans les occasions sérieuses, j’ai fait quelquefois paraître une érudition, mal agréable à ceux qui ne la pouvaient imiter. (“Ariste à Son Altesse Royale Mademoiselle”, Le Roman des lettres.) My style has sometimes been agreeable enough so as to provoke a great deal of jealousy by the fragrance and the beauty of its flowers; and on serious occasions, I have sometimes demonstrated erudition that was disagreeable to those who could not imitate it. It must be said that d’Aubignac is either very clever in the multi-layered narrative construction of this novel or he is very sloppy. The work is clearly about Ariste, who also happens to be the author of the dedication at the beginning of the work. The novel has a narrator who makes his presence known in the first four pages and only occasionally afterwards. In addition, there is the frame character Cleonce who presents and comments upon the letters written by and to Ariste. One can see in the description of Cleonce a reflection of d’Aubignac himself: <?page no="84"?> 84 Durant les derniers jours de ces chaleurs excessives, qui nous ont rendu presque insupportable la plus belle saison de l’année, et qui nous ont gâté les plus belles heures des promenades et des divertissements ordinaires ; Cleonce, autant illustre par la modération de sa vie, que par l’excellence de ses ouvrages, s’était retiré dans une maison de campagne loin des affaires et des visites de Paris, pour avoir un peu de repos dans un temps où le travail est contraire à la santé, et pour le délivrer de l’incommodité de ceux qui chargent à tout propos de la lecture de quelques mauvais ouvrages les Savants de réputation, qu’ils consultent sans vouloir suivre leur avis. (Le Roman des lettres, pp. 1-2.) During the last days of this excessively hot weather, which have made the most beautiful season of the year almost unbearable to us, and which have spoiled the most beautiful hours of walking and ordinary amusements, Cleonce, as much renowned by the moderation of his life as by the excellence of his writings, had withdrawn to a country house far from the affairs and the visits of Paris, in order to have a bit of rest at a time when work is contrary to health, and to free himself from the inconvenience of those who ceaselessly burden, with the reading of badly written works, reputable scholars whom they consult without wanting to follow their advice. In his Quatrième dissertation, d’Aubignac complains about dramatists who, after having solicited his advice regarding their dramatic works, completely ignored his suggestions for improvement: […] on m’en a montré plusieurs dont j’ai dit mes sentiments qui n’ont pas été suivis ; j’ai donné l’ouverture de quelques sujets que l’on a fort mal disposés ; […] il n’y a rien de plus difficile à conduire que la tête d’un Poète ; l’ardeur de son imagination le fait trop présumer de lui-même, et l’empêche de suivre les bons conseils que l’on lui donne. (Quatrième dissertation, p. 138.) […] I was shown several of them about which I stated my opinions, which were not followed; I gave suggestions on the opening of several subjects, which were very ill used. […] There is nothing more difficult to lead than the head of a poet; the ardour of his imagination makes him overestimate himself and prevents him from following the good advice which one gives him. So would the real abbé d’Aubignac please stand up? Is he in the narrator of Le Roman des lettres, the frame character Cleonce or the ingenious Ariste? He is perhaps all three or even none of them at all. This subject must now be explored further. <?page no="85"?> 85 I Autobiography or Fantasy? Arnaud states that Le Roman des lettres is a rich source of information on d’Aubignac, man of the world: Ces lettres, reliées entre elles par un commentaire sur leurs divers auteurs et sur la nature de leurs relations, constituent de véritables mémoires sur la vie de d’Aubignac, homme du monde, - mémoires un peu romanesques, comme leur titre l’indique et comme le sont tant d’autres mémoires qui ne veulent pas en convenir, - mais contenant, au milieu de « quelques rêveries » avouées, assez de faits authentiques pour qu’on en tienne compte. 7 These letters, connected together by a commentary on their various authors and on the nature of their relationships, constitute genuine memoirs on the life of d’Aubignac, man of the world - memoirs that are somewhat fictional, as their title indicates and as are many other memoirs which do not wish to acknowledge it - but containing, in the midst of a few acknowledged “musings”, enough authentic facts to enable us to take them into account. There is undeniable evidence of autobiographical elements in Le Roman des lettres, particularly in the second part of the work. In one of the letters, Bisserius inquirers about the state of Ariste’s Macarise, a novel published by d’Aubignac in 1664: Mais vous ne nous dites point ce que devient Macarise, ni les autres ouvrages que vous tenez captifs injustement. Que n’ai-je la puissance des Rois pour leur donner la liberté, et pour leur faire voir le grand jour qu’ils ont si bien mérité. (Le Roman des lettres, p. 417.) But you are saying nothing to us about the fate of Macarise, and about the other works that you are unjustly holding captive. Why do I not have the power of kings to give them freedom, and to make them see the light of day which they have so much deserved? In a letter addressed to Edumène, Ariste himself speaks about his four Dissertations, a clear reference to d’Aubignac’s critical essays on Pierre Corneille published in 1663: Contentez-vous de me caresser avec quelques belles paroles, et ne me faites point rougir d’un excès que la connaissance de moi-même ne peut supporter. Je vous en 7 Arnaud, p. 26. <?page no="86"?> 86 conjure par les deux Dissertations que je prends la liberté de vous envoyer pour joindre aux deux premières ; et j’espère de votre justice autant que de votre bonté ce que je vous demande avec beaucoup de respect […]. (Le Roman des lettres, p. 435.) Content yourself with caressing me with a few fine words, and do not make me blush by an excess that my self-knowledge cannot accept. I implore you by the two Dissertations that I take the liberty of sending you to add to the first two, and I hope for your fairness as much as your kindness in what I am asking you with great respect. The subject of the next piece of correspondence, also addressed to Edumène, is Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, a work published by d’Aubignac in 1666: Et en la seconde [lettre], continua Dorise, il lui envoie ses conseils à Célimène […]. (Le Roman des lettres, p. 436.) And in the second [letter], continued Dorise, he sends him his advice to Célimène. In this letter, Ariste writes that his work “a reçu à Paris et dans toute la Cour un si bon accueil des honnêtes gens, que je ne pourrais vous l’expliquer sans me rendre suspect de quelque vaine complaisance ; et je n’ai pu me cacher plus longtemps sous les caractères énigmatiques qui portent mon nom” 8 (received in Paris and in all the court such a great reception from people of quality that I could not explain it to you without making me suspect of some vain complacency; and I could no longer hide myself behind the enigmatic characters which carry my name). Further autobiographical details are provided in letters concerning two funeral panegyrics given by Ariste, the texts of which he is sending to relatives of the deceased. One letter is addressed to the brother of Louis de Savoie, duc de Nemours, and the other to the son of Charlotte-Marguerite de Montmorency, princesse de Condé. 9 The orations were delivered by abbé 8 Le Roman des lettres, p. 437. 9 Ibid., pp. 579-583; 583-589. The brother of Louis de Savoie was Charles Amadeus de Savoie who became duc de Nemours following Louis’s death. Charles himself died at the age of 28, killed in a duel with his brother-in-law. The eldest son of Charlotte- Marguerite of Montmorency was Louis de Bourbon, prince de Condé, known as “le Grand Condé” (the Great Condé). Ariste’s letter is addressed to him, as a reference is made to “cette illustre et grande famille dont vous êtes le chef” (this illustrious and great family of which you are the head). Cf. Le Roman des lettres, pp. 584-585. <?page no="87"?> 87 d’Aubignac between September and December 1641, in the case of the former, and on 2 January, 1651, in the case of the latter. 10 By all accounts, many of the letters in part II of Le Roman des lettres are based on actual pieces of correspondence written by d’Aubignac, the author no doubt wishing to call attention to the quality of his letter writing and to the many contacts he had in the world of literature, politics and polite society. As Beebee asserts, “by creating a frame which allows fictional characters to read and comment on his letters, D’Aubignac manages to avoid the strictures of his age against self-portraiture”. 11 Nevertheless, the intent is blatant self-promotion.The identity of some of the addressees is barely disguised. For example, Hapelcain is clearly an anagram for Chapelain, with whom d’Aubignac shared correspondence. Other names such as Bisserius, Costaridès and Sembarède are no doubt in reference to Jean de Bussières, Pierre Costar and Isaac de Benserade, respectively. 12 Beebee asserts: In reality, many of the letters are recycled from d’Aubignac’s own correspondence, with the names changed to protect the guilty. 13 I am more inclined to think that the names were altered to protect d’Aubignac. The great esteem which the celebrated minds of the day had for the abbé was a perception that the author of Le Roman des lettres wanted to create. In reality, for example, Jean Chapelain’s opinion of the abbé was lukewarm at best: C’est un esprit de feu, qui se jette à tout, et qui se tire de tout ; sinon à la perfection, au moins en sorte qu’il y a plus de lieu de le louer que de le blâmer. 14 10 Cf. Abbé d’Aubignac, Panégyrique funèbre de Louis de Savoie, duc de Nemours, de Genevois et d’Aumale, Paris: J. du Bray, 1641; Abbé d’Aubignac, Panégyrique funèbre de Charlotte-Marguerite de Montmorency, Paris: C. de Sercy, 1650 ; Abbé d’Aubignac, Essais d’éloquence chrétienne, Paris: E. Couterot, 1671, pp. 1-43, 109- 164. A marginal note in the text of the duc de Nemour’s funeral panegyric erroneously gives 1640 as the year of the oration. Louis de Savoie died the following year. Cf. Essais d’éloquence chrétienne, p. 1. 11 Beebee, p. 74. 12 Cf. Arnaud, p. 35. Jean de Bussières is the author of Les Descriptions poétiques, published in 1669. Pierre Costar is known primarily for his defense of Vincent Voiture’s poetry and for his correspondence. Isaac de Benserade is the author of four plays, and was admitted to the Académie française in 1674. 13 Beebee, p. 73. <?page no="88"?> 88 He is a fiery spirit who throws himself into everything and who finds a way out of everything, if not to perfection, at least in such a way that there are more grounds to praise him than to criticize him. In the Introduction of our book, we quoted portions of a letter from Chapelain referring to d’Aubignac’s hot temper and to the violence of his passions. 15 The theory that Le Roman des lettres is d’Aubignac’s attempt at autobiography must be explored further. Philippe Lejeune’s concept of the pacte autobiographique (autobiographical pact) provides a useful framework for the purposes of our discussion. This pact is an understanding between the author and the reader establishing that what is being presented is a true account of the subject (namely, the writer himself), or at least the author’s perception of a true account of that subject. This contract may be established explicitly - where the name of the narrator-character is the same as that of the author - or implicitly - where the link is made less directly but is nonetheless indisputable. 16 In the case of Le Roman des lettres, the implicit connection is made by associating the authorship of some of d’Aubignac’s works to the main character. Lejeune explains further that in the autobiographical pact, the author-reader relationship is engaged, in the sense that the author is trying to have the reader believe in the veracity of the account or is trying to win over the reader’s esteem or admiration for the subject. 17 Both objectives seem to be in play in the case of d’Aubignac’s Le Roman des lettres. As we have seen, by linking the authorship of some of his writings to Ariste, d’Aubignac attempts to convince the reader that there is an element of truth in his novel. The portrayal of Ariste as an extraordinary intellect is an effort by the author to receive the admiration of his audience for his subject, namely himself. Can we conclude, therefore, that d’Aubignac’s Roman des lettres is an example of autobiography? The third-person narration does not disqualify 14 Jean Chapelain, Liste de quelques gens de lettres vivants en 1662, in Pierre Nicolas Desmolets, Continuation des mémoires de littérature et d’histoire de M. de Salengre, 11 volumes, Paris: Simart, 1726, vol. II, p. 21. 15 See pages 17 and 18 of our book. 16 Philippe Lejeune, Le Pacte autobiographique, Paris: Seuil, 1975, p. 26. 17 Ibid. <?page no="89"?> 89 the work from belonging to this type of writing. 18 However, the fact that it is billed as a novel should indicate that it contains fictional elements. Is it, therefore, an example of a roman autobiographique (autobiographical novel), as Lejeune calls it, in which the plot is based on the life of the author, but with fictional elements added, or is it the product of the fictionalisation of self in which the story line is entirely imaginary? The following is Lejeune’s definition of the autobiographical novel: […] j’appellerai ainsi tous les textes de fiction dans lesquels le lecteur peut avoir des raisons de soupçonner, à partir des ressemblances qu’il croit deviner, qu’il y a identité de l’auteur et du personnage, alors que l’auteur, lui, a choisi de nier cette identité, ou du moins ne pas l’affirmer. […] A la différence de l’autobiographie, il comporte des degrés. La « ressemblance » supposée par le lecteur peut aller d’un « air de famille » flou entre le personnage et l’auteur, jusqu’à la quasi-transparence qui fait dire que c’est lui « tout craché ». 19 […] I will call thus all fictional texts in which the reader can have reasons to suspect, based on resemblances that he believes to discern, that there is an identity between the author and the character, whereas the author has chosen to deny this identity or at least not to affirm it. […] Unlike autobiography, it consists of degrees. The “resemblance” supposed by the reader can vary from a vague “family likeness” between the character and the author to a quasi-transparency which makes one say that he is the “spitting image”. In the case of Le Roman des lettres, d’Aubignac does not explicitly affirm that he and the main character are one and the same person. However, within the work, he provides enough clues for the reader to conclude that this is in fact the case. The only question that remains to be answered is the degree to which the novel is a reflection of reality. In her critical edition of Le Roman des lettres, Giovanna Malquori Fondi devotes several pages of discussion to the ambiguous title of d’Aubignac’s work and to the inherent contradiction that is created through the use of the terms roman and lettres, which juxtapose the notions of fiction and reality. 20 She asserts that in seventeenth-century 18 Ibid., p. 16. In Le Roman des lettres, there is a narrator in addition to the two frame characters Cleonce and Learinde. 19 Ibid., p. 25. 20 Giovanna Malquori Fondi, “Introduction”, in François Hédelin, abbé d’Aubignac, Romans des lettres, ed. Giovanna Malquori Fondi, Paris-Seattle-Tübingen: Papers on French Seventeenth Century Literature, 1989, pp. XIX-XXII. <?page no="90"?> 90 France, readers of epistolary works expected to learn about true experiences: […] les ouvrages présentés sous la forme épistolaire étaient, de par leur nature, censés garantir le récit d’expériences vécues. La plupart des lecteurs y cherchaient et y lisaient le document personnel, le fragment original d’une réalité qu’on n’aurait su rapprocher de la fiction romanesque. 21 […] the works presented in the epistolary form were, by their nature, intended to guarantee the telling of lived experiences. Most of the readers searched for and read in these works a personal document, the original fragment of a reality that they would not have linked to novelistic fiction. Bernard Bray points out that the authors of Nouvelle Biographie du roman épistolaire en France des origines à 1842 (New Biography of the Epistolary Novel in France from its Origins to 1842) place d’Aubignac’s work in the category of recueils (collections) of letters, rather than in one of the three categories of novels. 22 In truth, d’Aubignac’s Le Roman des lettres is comprised of two distinct works, presented in the guise of parts. As we have seen, the Seconde Partie is based on d’Aubignac’s actual correspondence addressed to men of letters, to distinguished church and political figures, as well as to other aristocrats. The first work (Première Partie), however, is much more ambivalent in terms of its connection to the real events of d’Aubignac’s life as a man of the world. As we indicated earlier, Arnaud believes that the entire novel constitutes the author’s genuine memoirs, albeit mingled with fictitious elements. Or are the letters that are found in the first part of the novel the result of the fictionalization of self, based on fantasy, which d’Aubignac wishes the reader to accept as being true? The author’s dedication at the beginning of Le Roman des lettres, “Ariste à Son Altesse Royale Mademoiselle” (Ariste to Her Royal Highness Mademoiselle), provides us with some clues as to the nature of 21 Ibid., p. XXn. 22 Bernard Bray, “Le roman par lettres, ou la fiction dénoncée”, Perspectives de la recherche sur le genre narratif français du XVIIe siècle, actes du colloque de Pavie (octobre 1998), Pisa-Geneva: Edizioni Ets-Slatkine, 2000: 187-211, p. 189n. Cf. Yves Giraud and Anne-Marie Clin-Lalande, Nouvelle Biographie du roman épistolaire en France des origines à 1842, 2 nd edition, Fribourg, Switzerland: Éditions universitaires, 1995, pp. 48-49. <?page no="91"?> 91 the work. Firstly, as the title of the dedication indicates, the author and the character Ariste are the same person. Later in the work, Ariste’s identity as d’Aubignac is established. Secondly, the author refers to “mes lettres” (my letters), thereby inferring that the correspondence is genuine. However, elsewhere in the dedication, he speaks of “ce nouveau roman” [this new novel) and “mes rêveries” [my reveries]: Ce qui sera bon dans mes lettres se défendra de lui-même ; et la malice, quoi qu’ingénieuse, ne prévaut jamais contre la vérité. Il ne serait pas juste aussi de demander la protection de V. A. R. contre ces Critiques fâcheux à qui ce nouveau Roman pourrait déplaire ; nous n’avons point vu d’ouvrages porter sur le front un nom assez puissant et assez glorieux, pour arrêter la médisance et l’envie de ceux qui les lisent. Je suis plus équitable au jugement que je fais de mes rêveries : Je les ai faites en me divertissant, et je les donne à V. A. R. pour la divertir. (“Ariste À Son Altesse Royale Mademoiselle”, Le Roman des lettres.) What will be good in my letters will defend itself; and malice, however ingenious, never prevails against truth. It would not be just as well to ask for the protection of H. R. H. against these troublesome critics who might be displeased by this new novel; we have not seen any works which contained on its title page a name that was powerful and glorious enough to stop the malicious gossip and envy of those who read them. I am more impartial in the judgement that I have about my reveries. I created them while amusing myself and I give them to H. R. H. in order to amuse her. Bernard Bray elegantly summarizes the confusion that these conflicting references create: Si dans ces pages liminaires d’Aubignac désigne son ouvrage comme « mes lettres », la formule est donc justifiée en apparence. Mais quand ailleurs dans la même épître il parle de « ce nouveau roman » ou encore de « mes resveries », il entretient l’ambiguïté qui caractérise le rapport entre l’auteur et ses personnages. 23 If in these introductory pages d’Aubignac designates his work as “my letters”, the formula is, therefore, on the face of it, justified. However, when elsewhere in the same epistle he speaks about “this new novel” or again about “my reveries”, he 23 Bray, “Le roman par lettres, ou la fiction dénoncée”, p. 191n. <?page no="92"?> 92 perpetuates the ambiguity that characterizes the rapport between the author and his characters. It may be argued that the framework within which the author’s letters are presented, namely the fictitious meeting involving Cleonce and Learinde to discuss the correspondence, provides enough justification to call the work a novel. It is likely, however, that other fictional elements appear in the writing. In fact, we are inclined to believe that the composition of Le Roman des lettres took place in two distinct stages. We may theorize that the abbé wrote the first part of the work primarily as fiction, albeit loosely based on the worldly experiences of his younger days. With the second part, the author decided to meld fiction and reality, associating himself with the main character by making use of much of his own correspondence and by inserting references to some of his own published works. The important point for our study is that regardless of its elements of truth and fiction, Le Roman des lettres is revelatory of d’Aubignac’s philosophy of the female sex. In answer to our question about the identity of the real d’Aubignac in this work, we may make the following concluding statements. The abbé’s voice can be heard in the narrator who, at the beginning of the novel, makes reference to a subject that was very much on d’Aubignac’s mind throughout his literary career - that of providing solicited advice to other writers who, in turn, neglected that advice in their works. The narrator’s role is to present Cleonce, and he does so in a very favourable light. As we quoted earlier, the frame character is “autant illustre par la modération de sa vie, que par l’excellence de ses ouvrages” (as much renowned by the moderation of his life as by the excellence of his writings), a distinguished man of letters who is often hounded for advice on literary matters. This Cleonce sounds very much like d’Aubignac himself. Furthermore, the role of the frame character is to extol the genius and virtues of Ariste who, as we have demonstrated, is identified as the author not only of Le Roman des lettres itself, but also of four Dissertations, the novel Macarise, the Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène and two specific funeral panegyrics, all of which were written by François Hédelin, abbé d’Aubignac. Whether Ariste is one hundred percent d’Aubignac or not, the abbé clearly wants his readers to believe that they are reading about one and the same person. Therefore, according to our theory, we have d’Aubignac the narrator, presenting d’Aubignac as the frame character Cleonce, who then presents <?page no="93"?> 93 d’Aubignac as the illustrious Ariste. The ultimate in ego trips! Le Roman des lettres is indeed all about abbé d’Aubignac and, therefore, provides us with a treasure trove of information about the abbé’s philosophy and fantasies of the female sex. II Would-Be Casanova The first part of d’Aubignac’s work consists of letters which Ariste has written to and received from five women of polite society during his younger days. Cleonce refers to these letters as “les amusements de ses premières années” (the amusements of his youth). 24 Ariste woos the ladies in question, occasionally visits them and, for all intents and purposes, plays hard to get. In all of these relationships, the strategy is to capture the woman’s heart, to abandon it, and then to enjoy responding to the woman’s protestations. In reply to a letter from Dorise who declares that she is “affamée de votre présence aussi bien que de vos billets” (hungry for your presence as well as your letters), Ariste writes enigmatically: Je ferai ce que vous désirez sans vous obéir ; car je vous enverrai une lettre sans vous écrire, je vous écrirai sans vous envoyer de lettre. (Le Roman des lettres, p. 86.) I will do as you desire without obeying you; for I will send you a letter without writing to you; I will write to you without sending you a letter. In another letter, he continues to play with Dorise’s heart: Ce n’est pas qu’il ne soit fort douloureux de ne vous point trouver quand on vous cherche ; mais on souffre encore davantage en vous quittant après vous avoir vue. (Le Roman des lettres, p. 101.) It isn’t that it is not very painful not to find you when one searches for you; but one suffers even more in leaving you after having seen you. Ariste’s flirtations continue with the beautiful Alminde: […] j’y remarque des yeux tout de lumière et de feu ; un teint frais, et une bouche vermeille ; une taille digne d’une princesse, et mille brillants agréables et dangereux ; 24 D’Aubignac, Le Roman des lettres, p. 7. <?page no="94"?> 94 une grâce qui plaît infiniment, une douceur qui ravit, une complaisance qui charme, et une civilité qui gagne le respect des plus fiers. (Le Roman des lettres, pp. 45-46.) [..] in you, I see eyes that are full of light and fire, a fresh complexion and a ruby mouth, a form worthy of a princess and a thousand brilliances that are agreeable and dangerous, a grace that infinitely pleases, a softness that delights, a kindness that charms, and a civility that wins the respect of the most proud. Ariste also corresponds extensively with a married woman named Clitie, with whom he has a close friendship. He describes her in the following terms: […] vous n’ignorez pas combien je l’honore, par l’attachement de nos familles, par le mérite de sa personne, par l’honnête liberté que j’ai depuis longtemps auprès d’elle, et par les témoignages d’amitié que j’en reçois ; outre que je ne hais pas les yeux noirs, une bouche vermeille, une taille bien prise, un esprit de grand discernement, et des entretiens subtils et judicieux comme les siens. (Le Roman des lettres, pp. 50-51.) […] you are not unaware of how much I honour her, by the connection of our families, by the merit of her person, by the respectable liberty that I have had with her for so long, and by the expressions of friendship that I receive from her. Besides which, I do not dislike the dark eyes, a ruby mouth, a well-made form, a mind of great discernment and subtle and judicious conversations such as hers. Ariste sees the protestations of an abandoned heart as “une nouvelle divertissement” 25 (a new diversion). Such is the case with Uranie who complains to Clitie that Ariste “l’avait oubliée malgré toutes les faveurs qu’elle lui avait prodiguées par l’entremise de sa voix et de ses regards” 26 (had forgotten her in spite of all the favours that she had lavished on him through her words and her glances). Ariste’s written response is to feign indignation, knowing that “les visites d’Ariste calmeraient bientôt toute la ridicule colère quand ce billet l’aurait excitée” 27 (Ariste’s visits would soon calm all the ridiculous anger this letter would excite in her). While he is juggling the hearts of these four women, Ariste becomes interested in yet another beautiful young lady, Urselide: Tandis qu’Ariste se divertissait des tendresses d’Alinde, du déguisement de Dorise, de la liberté de Clitie, et des scrupules d’Uranie ; la guerre qui durait encore entre les 25 Ibid., p. 240. 26 Ibid. 27 Ibid. <?page no="95"?> 95 deux couronnes, avait fait revenir à Paris une infinité de gens de condition ; mais entre autres l’incomparable Urselide, illustre par sa naissance, admirable par sa beauté, et digne de respect par sa qualité qui l’élevait au-dessus des plus grandes Dames du Royaume, et dans l’égalité des princesses. (Le Roman des lettres, pp. 168-169.) While Ariste was enjoying himself with the affections of Alinde, the disguise of Dorise, the liberty of Clitie, and the scruples of Uranie, the war which was ongoing between the two crowns caused the return to Paris of a number of people of quality, but above all the incomparable Urselide, illustrious by birth, admirable for her beauty, and worthy of respect for the quality which raised her above the greatest ladies in the kingdom, and at the same level as that of princesses. To this new-found love, he declares: […] quand il me revient à l’esprit que c’est à vous à qui j’ai l’honneur d’écrire, parce que vous êtes absente, une noire mélancolie arrête ma plume et mes pensées ; car on ne peut être parfaitement heureux où vous n’êtes pas. (Le Roman des lettres. pp. 216- 217.) […] when I recall that it is you to whom I have the honour of writing, because you are absent, a black melancholy stops my pen and my thoughts, as one cannot be perfectly happy where you are not. Are these quotations from actual letters that were composed by d’Aubignac? It is doubtful, in our view, that they belong to the abbé’s correspondence that date back to his youthful days. It is more likely that the letters are loosely based on the young Hédelin’s experiences in the world of polite society or, if one may be bold enough to propose, that they are the manifestation of the older Hédelin’s fantasies about the female sex. However, regardless of the fictional or autobiographical nature of the letters, the important point to be made here is that d’Aubignac unmistakably identifies himself as Ariste and, in so doing, labels himself as a misogynist. A misogynist, that is, in the modern Casanova 28 sense of 28 Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (1725-1798) was an Italian adventurer who, during his many European travels, earned a living as a violinist, an alchemist, a gambler and, in his later years, as a librarian, just to name a few of his many occupations. He is the author of several plays and essays. His 12-volume autobiography Histoire de ma vie (Story of My Life), written in French and published only after his death, provides details of his many liaisons with women. The original manuscript of the work can be accessed via Gallica (<http: / / gallica.bnf.fr/ ? lang=EN>), the digitized library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (National Library of France). As the reader will no doubt be aware, the term “Casanova” has been used in the English language, since the <?page no="96"?> 96 the term: a womanizer who toys with hearts, seeing females as mere conquests. The significant difference between the two men, of course, is that Casanova had physical relationships with his women, whereas Ariste (d’Aubignac) uses them as a form of mental enjoyment. As stated earlier, what is striking about these love letters is the fact that Ariste keeps several women dangling as potential lovers, but does not have a physical relationship with any of them. The “innocent” nature of his endeavours is stressed several times in the novel. At the beginning of the work, it is made clear that Ariste was reluctant to release his letters because of the negative perception they might create about his character. However, he was convinced to do so because of the innocent and respectable nature of the correspondence: Mais Ariste nous a longtemps résisté, sous prétexte que ce sont des pièces trop courtes pour avoir des marques véritables de l’étendue de l’esprit, qu’elles tombent quelquefois de la plume avec nonchalance, souvent même par nécessité, ou dans une mauvaise humeur, et que n’en ayant jamais écrit que pour affaires, ou pour se divertir, il est bien difficile qu’elles portent ces expressions de tendresse que les Dames y recherchent, ni l’érudition que les curieux en attendent. […] Mais nous lui avons persuadé que l’on n’avait jamais condamné ce qui s’est fait dans les honnêtes divertissements d’une jeunesse bien réglée, et dans une liberté commune à toutes les personnes d’honneur qui vivent dans le siècle, comme il a fait jusques dans un âge bien avancé, et que les Dames de mérite et de qualité, qui se reconnaîtront dans les lettres, rendront publiquement le témoignage qu’elles doivent à la vérité, et justifieront la douceur de ses conversations, et l’innocence de ses plaisirs. (Le Roman des lettres, p. 8.) But Ariste resisted us for a long time, on the pretext that the pieces were too short to have true signs of intellectual range, that often they fall from the pen with nonchalance, often even by necessity, or because of ill humour, and that having written only for business or for amusement, it is very difficult for them to display these expressions of tenderness that the ladies look for in them, nor the erudition that the curious expect. […] But we convinced him that people have never condemned what was done in the respectable enjoyments of a well ruled youth, and in a liberty common to all people of honour who live in this century, as he has done well into an advanced age, and that the ladies of merit and quality who will recognize themselves in the letters will attest to the truth upon which they are based and will confirm the sweetness of his conversations and the innocence of his pleasures. mid 1850’s, to describe a man who is notorious for seducing women. Cf. Derek Parker, Casanova, London: Sutton Publishing, 2002; Ian Kelly, Casanova: Actor, Lover, Priest, Spy, London: Tarcher, 2011. <?page no="97"?> 97 The emphasis on moderation and propriety is made once again by Cleonce later in the novel: Vous croyez qu’il ait senti tout ce qu’il a écrit, et qu’il ait été touché vivement des passions qu’il dépeignait avec tant de grâce. Mais apprenez qu’il a toujours été le maître de ses sentiments, et que la raison et l’étude l’ont retenu dans une modération si juste, que tous ceux qui savent la vérité de sa conduite en ont autant d’admiration, que les autres qui l’ignorent ont de peine à le comprendre. (Le Roman des lettres, 30.) You believe that he felt everything that he wrote and that he was vividly moved by the passions that he depicted with so much grace. But be aware that he has always been the master of his feelings, and that reason and study have held him in such correct moderation, that all those who know the truth of his conduct have as much admiration for him as others who do not know him have difficulty understanding him. Friendship, rather than love or lust, is the focus of Ariste’s relationship with all these women: […] l’estime et le respect qu’il a pour elles, ne sont jamais fondés que sur l’amitié. (Le Roman des lettres, pp. 155-156.) […] the esteem and respect that he has for them are always founded only on friendship. In Part II of the work, when d’Aubignac returns briefly to the theme of Ariste the lover, he stresses that the character’s efforts were all in the name of mental enjoyment: Quant à Dorise, elle avait toujours eu quelque soupçon qu’Ariste était plus attaché par divertissement d’esprit que par engagement de cœur ; mais elle avait quelque respect pour cette âme forte, quoique libertine ; et le changement de sa condition n’a point changé jusqu’à présent les pensées avantageuses qu’elle a toujours eues de sa générosité. (Le Roman des lettres, pp. 498-499.) As for Dorise, she always had some suspicion that Ariste was more attached by mental distraction than by an engagement of the heart. But she had some respect for this strong soul, however libertine, and the change in her situation did not alter to this day the favourable thoughts she has always had towards his generosity. In a letter to Halpecain, Ariste condemns shameless women whose interest is a physical relationship and who get angry when they are rejected: <?page no="98"?> 98 […] ces femmes impudentes qui s’irritent, quand on a rejeté leur fol amour, après qu’elles l’ont offert ; la honte du refus leur fait naître de la haine ; et cette haine les porte à la vengeance avec fureur ; la perte des mauvais plaisirs qu’elles espéraient, leur est une douleur insupportable. (Le Roman des lettres, pp. 455-456.) […] these shameless women who get upset when one has rejected their insane love, after they have offered it, the shame of refusal generates hatred within them, and this hatred leads them to furious vengeance. The loss of the wicked pleasures for which they had hoped is an intolerable pain. Ariste’s choice of the terms “fol amour” and “mauvais plaisirs” are indicative of his, and therefore d’Aubignac’s, negative attitude towards physical intimacy between the sexes. A final discussion is in order here regarding the description of d’Aubignac as a would-be Casanova. The title of this section of our book may be viewed as somewhat unsuitable given that the abbé preceded the famous womanizer by over a century. The title “Precursor of Casanova” might be judged as being more appropriate. Our point, however, is that Ariste makes use of the same modus operandi as the historical Casanova - finding a beautiful woman, wooing her, “possessing” her and then abandoning her - all for his own enjoyment. The careful manipulation of the relationship that is created is entirely in the favour of the seducer, rather than the seduced, the former exercising power and dominance over the latter. The “possession” stage manifests itself differently, of course: intellectually/ emotionally, in the case of Ariste, and sexually, in the case of Casanova. This is where the “would-be” element of our title comes into play. Ariste stops at the edge of the precipice, so to speak, ostensibly because of his aversion to physical intimacy between the sexes. His pleasure is cerebral in nature and does not necessarily preclude sexual fantasy. The “virtuous” Ariste is a perfect reflection of the tightrope walker d’Aubignac, making certain that he is enjoying the thrill of the experience, without falling. This is the image of himself that the abbé wants to create in the minds of his readers, namely that of a sophisticated man of the world who is an expert on the female sex and who, in his youth, enjoyed engaging with women without leading a life of debauchery. The question of whether this image is rooted in the true life experiences of d’Aubignac or, as we are inclined to believe, largely in the world of fantasy, is really secondary to our study. What is significant is <?page no="99"?> 99 that the reputation of an “innocent” womanizer is something that the abbé is clearly promoting of himself in Le Roman des lettres. The nature of the endeavours is judged to be virtuous and harmless by the perpetrator of the acts. This is an important point, as it speaks to d’Aubignac’s philosophy of the female sex and to the interplay between power and misogyny that exists in the abbé’s world. III All in Good Fun Le Roman des lettres provides us with ample evidence that d’Aubignac considers himself an expert on the female sex. At least, this is the message that he wishes to communicate to his public. Having identified himself as Ariste, the abbé emphasizes the depth of that character’s knowledge of women’s inherent qualities of mind and character. In his conversation with Learinde, Cleonce describes Ariste in the following terms: La vie du grand monde qu’il a pratiquée dès ses plus tendres années l’a fort bien instruit de l’humeur des femmes. (Le Roman des lettres, p. 30.) The life of high society which he has led since his youngest days has taught him very well the disposition of women. It is this knowledge that allows Ariste to manipulate the women whom he dangles as potential lovers. Through his generalized constructs of the female sex, Ariste believes, so we are told, that all women are desirous of being seen as beautiful and that this can be used to win over their favour. Minor and innocent indiscretions on his part are easily excused as he is, after all, a proper gentleman: Il sait qu’elles sont toutes bien aises d’être estimées belle, et que les plus sages ne sont pas fâchées qu’on leur dise ; celles qui ne voudraient pas être suspectes de la moindre faute contre leur devoir, sont ravies qu’un honnête homme ait pour elles quelque estime particulière, quand même de sa part il pourrait faire quelques légères extravagances; elles regardent ces défauts comme un effet de leur mérite. (Le Roman des lettres, p. 31.) He knows that they are all very pleased to be considered beautiful and that the wisest among them are not angry to be told this. Those who do not wish to be suspected of the least fault against their duty are delighted that a gentleman has for them some <?page no="100"?> 100 particular esteem, even though on his part he might make some slight extravagances. They look upon these faults as an effect of their own merit. Later in the novel, we read a similar statement about women’s susceptibility to flattery: […] les cajoleries sont toujours bien reçues des Dames sous quelque prétexte que ce soit. (Le Roman des lettres, p. 257.) […] flattery is always well received by ladies regardless of the pretext. Elsewhere, a reference is made to women’s natural inclination towards jealousy: […] la jalousie gâte toujours la sincérité de leur bienveillance. (Le Roman des lettres, p. 143.) […] jealousy always spoils the sincerity of their benevolence. It should be noted that the above statements are made by the frame character Cleonce, revealing his own philosophy of women. Some may argue that these comments do not necessarily reflect the thinking of d’Aubignac and that we should be careful not to equate the narrative construction of the work with the author. However, as we proposed in section I of this chapter, Le Roman des lettres is all about abbé d’Aubignac. He is as much Cleonce as he is Ariste. The frame character’s commentary is certainly a way for the abbé to explain the context of the letters and to link the various pieces of correspondence that are presented, but it also enables him to justify Ariste’s behaviour based on general beliefs that he, the author, has about women. Throughout the novel, Cleonce reinforces the theme of the manipulation of women through compliments and apparent servitude. In the following passage, he makes use of striking imagery related to conquest and human sacrifice: Les femmes sont toujours susceptibles de quelque complaisance, quand elles découvrent une belle âme soumise à leurs volontés ; il n’est point d’obstacle qui ferme un cœur, quand le mérite l’attaque ; et les plus grandes conditions deviennent des victimes que l’on fait gloire d’immoler à la tendresse. (Le Roman des lettres, pp. 170- 171.) <?page no="101"?> 101 Women are always open to some kindness, when they discover a beautiful soul that is submitted to their will. There is no obstacle that closes a heart when merit attacks it, and those of the highest quality become victims whom one gloriously sacrifices on the altar of tenderness. D’Aubignac’s use of the words victimes, attaque and immoler is revelatory of his philosophy of women. The image created is one of cunning and dominance, rather than of affection and love. The juxtaposition of the terms “sacrifice” and “altar of tenderness” once again conjures up the image of d’Aubignac the tightrope walker, adept as he is at walking a fine line between manipulation and propriety. By making a distinction in matters of love between physical lust, which he condemns, and intellectual pleasure, which he embraces, Ariste allows himself certain liberties in his dealings with women. Cleonce makes it very clear that his Ariste has the highest courtesy for the female sex, declaring that “il garde une extrême civilité pour toutes les Dames” (he displays the utmost civility towards all ladies). 29 However, this does not prevent him from toying with their emotions for his and, he claims, their intellectual enjoyment. In other words, it’s all in good fun and no one gets hurt in the process: […] il leur dit librement, à sa manière, quelle est la grandeur de leur mérite, il leur écrit tout ce qu’elles veulent que l’on en pense, il les entretient dans une agréable complaisance par des louanges qui ne déplaisent jamais, et par des assurances de respect qui ne peuvent offenser la vertu des plus délicates : mais il leur fait assez bien paraître que tout cela n’est qu’un divertissement de la plus belle humeur, et non pas un engagement de quelque frénésie ridicule. (Le Roman des lettres, pp. 32-33.) [..] he tells them freely, in his own way, about the grandeur of their merit. He writes to them everything that they would like people to think of them. He engages them in an agreeable kindness by praise, which never displeases, and by assurances of respect, which cannot offend the virtue of the most delicate. But he makes it quite known to them that all this is but an enjoyment of good humour, rather than an engagement of some ridiculous frenzy. We are told that Ariste communicates clearly to his women that there must be a clear separation between the mind and the heart; the former is meant to be shared, the other is to be kept for oneself: 29 D’Aubignac, Le Roman des lettres, p. 32. <?page no="102"?> 102 […] il les fait lire jusqu’au fond de son âme, et leur montre que son esprit et son cœur n’agissent pas de concert ; que le premier est pour elles, et l’autre pour lui ; que le premier est de lumière, et que l’autre n’est pas susceptible d’un feu que la vertu n’aurait pas allumé, ou que la raison ne pourrait conduire. (Le Roman des lettres, p. 33.) […] he has them read to the very depth of his soul and shows them that his mind and his heart do not act in concert; that the first is for them, and the other for him; that the first is of light, and that the other is not affected by a fire that virtue could not light or that reason could not control. However, Ariste’s enjoyment necessarily depends upon manipulation, an enjoyment not shared by the women who are the objects of that manipulation. In fact, only one of the females, the married Clitie, actually understands Ariste’s strategy and is at times complicit in playing the game. When Uranie complains to Clitie that Ariste has stopped visiting and corresponding with her, we are told that “ce fut une nouvelle divertissement pour Ariste et pour Clitie” 30 (this was a new diversion for Ariste and for Clitie). Therefore, with the exception of Clitie, the females actually fall in Ariste’s traps, believing that he is in love with them. For her part, Dorise was “si contente de découvrir les sentiments d’Ariste” (so very happy to discover Ariste’s feelings). Alminde was “toute glorieuse dans la créance d’avoir fait une conquête d’un homme qu’elle estimait sur la belle réputation qu’il avait” 31 (all glorious in the belief that she had won over a man whom she respected because of the good reputation that he had). In Part II of the novel, Ariste tries to make amends for his conduct by bringing together his three potential and jealous mistresses - Dorise, Alminde and Clitie (Uranie having been cast aside earlier by Ariste, and Urselide having died in Part I of the novel) - so that everyone can be friends: […] Ariste voulut un jour lui-même assembler les trois aimables personnes qu’il honoraient le plus, et qu’il aimait le plus tendrement à sa manière ; il souhaitait qu’elles fussent entre elles bonnes amies, comme elles étaient bien dignes de l’amitié l’une de l’autre ; et il croyait qu’elles pouvaient ensemble s’accorder dans les douceurs d’une belle amitié comme il les accordait aisément dans son esprit qu’elles 30 Ibid., p. 240. 31 Ibid., pp. 54-55. <?page no="103"?> 103 occupaient toutes ensemble, sans l’incommoder et sans se faire tort. (Le Roman des lettres, p. 495.) […] one day, Ariste wanted to assemble the three kind people whom he honoured the most and loved so tenderly in his way. He wanted them to be good friends to one another, as they were worthy of one another’s friendship. And he believed that they could get along in the gentleness of a beautiful friendship, just as he himself brought them together in his mind that they all occupied, without inconveniencing him and without hurting one another. Clitie spills the beans on Ariste, informing the two other women of Ariste’s playful manipulations and of his purely platonic intentions towards them. Eventually, all is forgiven as Ariste is such an honest man whose only motivation was civility: […] quand elles en furent éclaircies, et qu’Ariste se fut lui-même dépeint sans rien déguiser, Alminde et Dorise eurent de la peine à n’en pas témoigner quelque dépit; mais après avoir tout examiné, et raisonné sur l’honnêteté de ses sentiments, sur le respect qu’il avait sur les Belles vertueuses, sur le zèle qui l’engageait à les servir sans aucun autre intérêt que la civilité, et sur tout ce qu’il se propose en ses conversations, elles conclurent qu’il en était plus estimable ; et que celles qu’il aimait de la sorte se devaient croire autant heureuses, que sincèrement honorées. (Le Roman des lettres, pp. 496-497.) […] when they were enlightened about this and when Ariste presented himself without disguise, Alminde and Dorise had difficulty not to demonstrate any vexation. But after having considered everything and having thought about the honesty of his feelings and about the respect that he had for virtuous beautiful women, about the zeal which engaged him to serve them without any other interest but civility, and about all that he offers in his conversations, they concluded that he was even more respectable than before and that they whom he loved in this way should believe themselves as much happy as sincerely honoured. D’Aubignac once again hammers home the point that Ariste had the best intentions in the world and that his dangling “mistresses” should be delighted that he chose them above all others for his intellectual pleasures. The element of power plays a key role in Ariste’s interactions with the women in his world. It is only because of his perceived intellectual superiority and of the women’s inherent “weaknesses” that he is able to control the game that he initiates in the first place. We should add that the “imperfect” faculties of the females that are featured in the novel seem to <?page no="104"?> 104 be a characteristic that is generalized to all members of the female sex. Following the reading of one of Dorise’s letters to Ariste, Cleonce asserts: Cela n’est pas mal écrit pour une femme. (Le Roman des lettres, p. 81.) This is not badly written for a woman. Such a statement about female intellectual inferiority makes us cringe today, but it speaks to the attitude that was shared by many in seventeenth-century France. 32 To be sure, this was not a universal view. As Faith Beasley summarizes, the salons not only enabled women who were part of them to be viewed as a force in literary criticism, but it also encouraged them to become writers: The progression towards worldly gatherings that were more devoted to literary evaluation and creation is closely and logically related to the growing number of women who were entering the literary field as writers themselves. Many of the principal salonnières in the second half of the century resembled Mlle de Scudéry in that they were recognized and celebrated as important writers. 33 However, even in the rarefied world of the salons, the situation for women writers was not all roses, as Maclean points out: While also the salons provided an acceptable outlet for female literary creativity, and while women who belong to them are urged to write by Madeleine de Scudéry and others, not all were accommodated inside their framework; Marie de Gournay complains of the disrespect shown to the ‘Œuures des femmes’ by the ‘vulgaire des Lettrez’ […]. 34 The nature of power seems to bestow on those who exercise it the desire to remain in that position, often to the exclusion of others. 35 The connection between power and misogyny is therefore not surprising, given that the latter is based on the will to remain dominant. In Le Roman des lettres, d’Aubignac demonstrates a propensity to view females as 32 See Ian Maclean’s chapter “The Traditional Querelle des Femmes in the Seventeenth Century”, in Woman Triumphant, pp. 25-63. 33 Beasley, p. 29. 34 Maclean, p. 150. 35 In Leviathan, Hobbes speaks of the “perpetual and restless desire for Power after power, that ceaseth only in Death” (chapter XI, p. 47). <?page no="105"?> 105 intellectual objects of enjoyment. Ariste’s modus operandi is to use his head in order to manipulate the hearts of the women he selects to “love”. In turn - and this is where an element of fiction comes into play - they feel honoured for having been chosen as the target of his endeavours. The three remaining dangling mistresses get over their initial feelings of anger very quickly. All is understood. All is forgiven. After all, it was all in good fun. IV Gay Instruments It may be surprising to learn that Ariste touches upon the subject of homosexuality in one of his letters. We include this piece of correspondence in our discussion as it deals with a subject that was not much talked about in the literature of the time. In a letter to Costaridès, Ariste criticizes Jean Desmarets de Saint- Sorlin’s poem Les Amours du compas et de la règle et ceux du soleil et de l'ombre, published in 1637. 36 This delightfully bizarre allegorical work, dedicated to Cardinal Richelieu, recounts how le soleil (the sun) and l’ombre (shadow) procreated la règle (the ruler). This daughter became the mate of le compas (the compass) and later gave birth to triangles et carrés et mille autres figures (triangles and squares and a thousand other figures). In his customary argumentative manner, d’Aubignac (Ariste) questions the logic of the mating of the sun with shadow, pointing out that one is the antithesis of the other and that, as a consequence, the two should be adversaries rather than lovers: Quant à cette passion amoureuse qu’il imagine au Soleil, il me semble qu’en bonne Philosophie, cet Astre poursuit l’Ombre partout, non comme sa bien-aimée, mais comme son ennemie, puisqu’elle n’est rien que la privation de sa lumière. […] Et j’estime que c’est contre la justesse des allégories, et contre le rapport de la feinte à la vérité, de rendre le Soleil amoureux de cette maîtresse qu’il ne peut voir sans la 36 Jean Desmarets de Saint-Sorlin, Les Amours du compas et de la règle et ceux du soleil et de l'ombre, Paris: J. Camusat, 1637. Desmarets was a founding member of the Académie française and was its first chancellor. He had studied architecture, and composed the allegorical poem as a tribute to his favourite subjects. Cf. René Pocard du Cosquer de Kerviler, Jean Desmarets de Saint-Sorlin: l’un des quarante fondateurs de l’Académie française; étude sur sa vie et sur ses écrits, Paris: Librairie historique de J.-B. Dumoulin, 1879, pp. 25-27. <?page no="106"?> 106 défigurer, qu’il ne peut baiser sans la faire évanouir, et qu’il ne pourrait embrasser étroitement sans lui faire perdre la vie. (Le Roman des lettres, pp. 474-476.) As for this amorous passion which he attributes to the sun, it seems to me that in good philosophy, this heavenly body pursues shadow everywhere, not as its lover, but as its enemy, as she is nothing but the deprivation of its light. […] And I believe that it is against the exactness of allegory and against the relationship of fiction to fact to have the sun be in love with this mistress whom he cannot see without disfiguring her, whom he cannot kiss without making her faint and whom he cannot embrace without making her lose her life. D’Aubignac also challenges the logic of the birth of la règle (the ruler) from this union because of the very nature of shadow: Et de dire que la règle est née de cette union, je ne le comprends pas ; c’est une vision de Poète, mal fondée en la nature des choses; car toute ombre n’est pas droite, elle prend la figure du corps de celle qui la forme, et encore selon les divers regards du Soleil. (Le Roman des lettres, p. 476.) And to say that the ruler was born of this union is incomprehensible. This is a poetic vision which is ill founded on the nature of things. For every shadow is not straight; it takes the shape of the body which forms it and, what is more, according to the various gazes of the sun. The author asserts that, based on the poet’s line of thinking, one could couple other instruments, such as the anvil and the hammer, and even those which are of the same sex, such as la serrure (the lock) and la clef (the key), a notion that d’Aubignac considers repugnant: A son exemple on pourrait faire de beaux mariages entre tous les instruments dont la nécessité nous a fait connaître et trouver la sympathie ; comme entre l’Enclume et le Marteau dont on ferait naître des enfants admirables mâles et femelles, le Bruit, les Étincelles, les Bondissements, les Tintamarres, les Tressaillements, les Maux de têtes, et mille autres monstres de fer et de feu ; tout le mal qui s’y pourrait rencontrer, c’est que bien souvent les deux Amants sont d’un même sexe, comme la Serrure et la Clef. Car il faudrait introduire ces mariages scandaleux et horribles que l’on nous dit avoir été pratiqués chez les Romains sous les premiers Empereurs. (Le Roman des lettres, pp. 473-474.) Following his example, one could have marriages between all the instruments whose necessity has made us discover an affinity, such as the Anvil and the Hammer from which would be born admirable male and female children, such as Noise, Sparks, Bounds, Dins, Quivers, Head Aches and a thousand other monsters of iron and of fire. All the evil that could arise is that quite often the two lovers are of the same sex, such <?page no="107"?> 107 as the Lock and the Key. For it would be necessary to introduce scandalous and horrible marriages that we are told were practised by the Romans under the first emperors. It is significant to note that the example of homosexual coupling cited by d’Aubignac involves two feminine instruments, the sex of the lock and that of the key being determined by the gender of the respective French nouns. This is not surprising, as the focus of d’Aubignac’s fictional output is on the female, rather than on the male. D’Aubignac’s condemnation of same-sex coupling is not surprising, given the “hetero-normative standards” 37 of the time. While the subject of friendship and love among men, outside the boundaries of sexuality, is prominent in seventeenth-century France, the importance of bonds among women is not emphasized and is rarely discussed. Marianne Legault points out that in the literary discourse of the period, “the concept of female friendship is allowed to surface only to be mocked and ultimately negated”. 38 She points to Honoré d’Urfé’s pastoral novel L’Astrée 39 and to Isaac de Benserade’s comedy Iphis et Iante 40 as examples of texts where female intimacy is ultimately downplayed by the transformational intervention of male characters: The androcentric philosophy shared by Benserade and d’Urfé explains why their texts display a deep sense of unease in the rare moments when the writers imagine female intimacy and, more specifically, erotic relationships between women - both being experiences that, for the most part exclude male participation. […] D’Urfé’s novel also reveals a great textual tension between the desire to voice the possibility of female homoeroticism and its immediate suppression, always achieved through narrative reminders of the male hero. As for Benserade, who stages the expression of female intimacy in its most complete form, lesbian love, his play ends with the pseudo-exorcism of the grotesque being that the lesbian represents in his imagination, but not before thoroughly exposing her ridicule and inherent lack. 41 37 Marianne Legault, Female Intimacies in Seventeenth-Century French Literature, Farnham, U.K.: Ashleigh Publishing, 2012, p. 8. 38 Ibid., p. 12. 39 The novel is in five parts. Parts I to III were published during the author’s lifetime: 1607, 1610 and 1619, respectively. Part IV was completed by d’Urfé’s secretary, Balthazar Baro, and was published in 1627, while Part V, published in 1628, is said to have been written by Pierre Boitel, sieur de Gaubertin. 40 The play was first performed in 1634 and was published in 1637. 41 Legault, p. 210. <?page no="108"?> 108 Notable exceptions include two works by women writers, namely the novel Mathilde d’Aguilar 42 by Madeleine de Scudéry and the fairy tale Plus belle que fée 43 by Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de La Force, both of which explore the world of female friendship and even that of female physical intimacy. Legault writes: Mathilde (d’Aguilar) and Plus belle que Fée each represent a unique moment in French seventeenth-century literature, when a woman author, against all odds, dares to subscribe in her own voice her homoerotic fantasy into literary history. Their texts offer landscapes that are clearly dominated by female characters, utopian locations in which the heroines are free to feel a range of emotions and desires, whether they be heterosexual or homoerotic (as in Scudéry), or to physically explore their sexual leanings, within heterosexual relationships, sexual relations before marriage or lesbian relationships (as in La Force). 44 D’Aubignac’s passing remark condemning homosexuality in general and female intimacy, in particular, is certainly in keeping with the traditionalist view in seventeenth-century France of unacceptable sexual behaviour. It is the abbé’s emphasis on female-female relationships that is especially important to our study, as it speaks to his interest in women and to his misogynist tendencies. Ariste’s manipulation of the women in his world depends entirely upon his role as the dominant party. Lesbian relationships, which necessarily exclude men, do not have a place in his paradigm. This is not to say that Ariste has a greater tolerance for male homosexuality, but only that lesbianism is particularly repugnant for him as it takes men away from the centre of control. Regardless of his proclaimed non-sexual intentions towards his dangling potential mistresses, Ariste still operates within the hetero-normative standards of his time. In the fantasy world that d’Aubignac has created for himself, the notion of sex between men and women is still at the centre of the game that he enjoys playing. 42 Madeleine de Scudéry, Mathilde d’Aguilar, Paris: E. Martin & F. Eschart, 1667. 43 Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de La Force, Plus belle que fée, in Les Contes des contes, Paris: S. Benard, 1698: 1-96. 44 Legault, pp. 209-210. <?page no="109"?> 4 Women of Virtue: Célimène and Amelonde I Célimène Published one year before Le Roman des lettres, d’Aubignac’s Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène (1666) 1 offers advice to a young woman “sur les moyens de conserver sa réputation” (on ways to protect her reputation). The work was composed at least ten years before the publication date, the printing privilege having been granted on 15 January 1656. As the book appeared in print several months before Le Roman des lettres, Ariste’s introduction to the public would have been as a wise and gentle fatherfigure, a protector of young female virtue. D’Aubignac’s paradigm of women in this instructional manual is rooted in the traditional view of the female as the innocent and vulnerable creature whom males relentlessly aim to seduce by using a variety of methods, particularly that of deceit. The image that is portrayed of Ariste in this work is in sharp contrast to that of the Ariste of Le Roman des lettres which, as we have seen, features a casanovaesque figure who relies on manipulation in order to interact with his potential dangling mistresses. 1 Abbé d’Aubignac, Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène sur les moyens de conserver sa reputation, Paris: N. Pepingué, 1666. Arnaud writes: “Les Conseils d’Ariste eurent de nombreuses éditions au dix-septième siècle ; Boscheron dit en avoir vu « 5 ou 6, » dont la dernière était de 1692. J’en ai trois entre les mains, la première de 1666, la deuxième de 1667, la troisième de 1685 In-12. Toutes les trois sont anonymes. Le privilège est accordé à S. A. D. C. A. E. P. O. D. S. M., c’est-à-dire, comme l’explique Boscheron, « au Sieur Abbé D’Aubignac, Conseiller, Aumônier Et Prédicateur Ordinaire De Sa Majesté »” (Arnaud, p. 87n). (The Conseils d’Ariste had a number of editions in the seventeenth century; Boscheron says having seen “5 or 6”, of which the last was of 1692. I have three of them in hand, the first of 1666, the second of 1667, the third of 1685 In-12. All three are anonymous. The privilege is granted to S. A. D. C. A. E. P. O. D. S. M, that is, as Boscheron explains, to “Mr. Abbé D’Aubignac, Adviser, Chaplain and Ordinary Preacher of His Majesty”.) <?page no="110"?> 110 As we indicated in our first chapter, the name Célimème is most likely in reference to Angélique-Claire d’Angennes, the second daughter of the illustrious salonnière Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet. 2 D’Aubignac’s work contains two references to Artenice, 3 the salon name for the celebrated literary hostess: […] pour abréger un entretien qui demandait un plus grand loisir et plus d’attention, je vous proposai tout d’un coup, comme une doctrine animée, l’exemple de la sage Artenice, à qui vous devez, avec la naissance, une partie de l’estime que vous avez acquise. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section I, p. 4.) Cette vérité ne vous est pas inconnue, Célimène, les enseignements d’Artenice vous l’ont apprise […]. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XXVII, p. 196.) […] to shorten a conversation which required greater time and attention, I suddenly proposed as a lively doctrine, the example of the wise Artenice, to whom you owe, along with your birth, a part of the esteem that you have acquired. This truth is not unknown to you, Célimène; the instructions of Artenice have taught you this […]. In the preface of d’Aubignac’s Dissertation sur la condamnation des théâtres (Essay on the Condemnation of Theatres), a work published six months after Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, a reference is made to “une des plus belles et des plus vertueuses dames de notre siècle” 4 (one of the most beautiful and most virtuous ladies of our century) who requested the composition of the Conseils by the abbé. There can, therefore, be no doubt that Célimène is in fact a real person. The young lady is engaged to be married 5 and has asked Ariste to provide her with written advice on how best to conduct herself in polite society in order to protect the honour she had maintained in her early years: 2 Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet, was known as Madame de Rambouillet. 3 The name Artenice (or Arthenice), an anagram for Catherine, was given to Madame de Rambouillet by the French poets Honorat de Bueil, seigneur de Racan (1589-1670) and François de Malherbe (1555-1628). 4 Abbé d’Aubignac, Dissertation sur la condemnation des théâtres, Paris: N. Pépingué, 1666, “Avis au lecteur”. 5 Angélique-Claire d’Angennes married François de Grignan, duc de Termoli, in 1658. <?page no="111"?> 111 […] vous me dites que votre mariage était enfin résolu, et qu’étant sur le point de changer de condition, vous désiriez avoir mes avis sur la conduite que vous devez garder pour conserver la gloire de vos premières années ; et que vous seriez aussi religieuse à suivre toutes les règles qui me paraîtraient les meilleures, que vous l’avez toujours été en la direction que j’ai eue de vos plus secrètes pensées. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section I, pp. 3-4.) […] you informed me that your marriage had been finally decided, and that being on the point of changing your situation, you desired to have my advice on the conduct you should keep in order to conserve the glory of your early years; and that you would be as religious in following the rules that would seem to me to be the best for you, as you have always been in the direction that I have had of your most secret thoughts. The counsellor does not intend to give lessons of piety, but rather to provide the young woman with practical advice on how to handle certain situations in order to retain her good name. He emphasizes that virtue is the foundation of reputation. While Ariste does not guarantee that a virtuous life will render a woman impervious to calumny, he stipulates that under these circumstances such vilification will be short-lived: […] je ne veux pas être garant qu’une vertu sincère et véritable, qu’une conduite sage et sans relâche, et qu’une pratique exacte et religieuse de tous les conseils que je prépare en ce discours et de ceux que l’on y pourra joindre, puisse conserver une estime inébranlable, et rendre une femme assurée contre la calomnie ; mais cette calomnie ne durera pas longtemps quand elle n’aura point de fondement qui la soutienne : C’est une glace du Printemps qui sera dissipée avant que de refroidir les bons sentiments de celles qui la mépriseront ; et tant que l’innocence ne changera pas de visage ni d’action, elle ne sera entièrement défigurée ni vaincue. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section III, pp. 22-23.) […] I do not wish to guarantee that a sincere and true virtue, that a wise conduct that is sustained, and that an exact and religious practise of all the advice that I am preparing in this discourse, and of those that can be added, can conserve an unwavering esteem and render a woman assured against calumny; but this calumny will not last long when it has no foundation that sustains it. It is like ice in springtime which will dissipate before cooling the good feelings of those who will spurn it. And as long as innocence does not change its face or its actions, it will not be entirely disfigured or defeated. Arnaud elegantly summarizes the central theme of d’Aubignac’s work: L’amour, voilà l’ennemi qui attend Célimène, et contre lequel elle doit se défendre avec énergie, mais avec habileté ; car enfin il faut décourager la passion, non la <?page no="112"?> 112 sympathie ; se méfier des hommes, non les rébuter. Comment sortir de cette difficulté ? 6 Love, this is the enemy that awaits Célimène, and against which she must defend herself with energy, but with skill; for, in short, it is necessary to discourage passion, not sympathy; to mistrust men, not to repel them. How does one get out of this difficulty? Surprisingly enough, d’Aubignac’s Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène received positive reviews in seventeenth-century France. It is one of only a few works written by the abbé to receive such favourable attention during the author’s lifetime. The oldest literary and scientific journal in Europe, Le Journal des savants, 7 (The Journal of Scholars) spoke very highly of the book in its issue of 5 April 1666: Ce livre a cela de singulier, que sans perdre le temps à traiter les maximes qui sont de la connaissance de tout le monde, et qui se trouvent tant de fois rebattues dans les Auteurs qui ont écrit de la Morale, il s’attache aux particularités qui concernent la conduite d’une jeune Dame, et règle ses conseils sur toutes les circonstances de la vie commune et sur les actions ordinaires du beau monde. Les règles en sont fondées sur l’honnêteté, et sont écrites d’un style agréable. Si les esprits libres se plaignent qu’elles ne tendent qu’à ruiner la galanterie, les sages reconnaîtront qu’elles retranchent seulement de la société les choses que la modestie n’y peut souffrir. On ne sait pas bien encore le nom de l’Auteur : mais il est facile de juger que cet ouvrage sort de la main d’un homme qui s’est acquis l’intelligence des bons livres, et qui connaît parfaitement la vie de la Cour. 8 This book is remarkable in that without wasting time in treating maxims that everyone knows, and which can be found hackneyed in authors who write about morality, it deals with the particularities that concern the conduct of a young lady and adjusts its advice to all the circumstances of common life and to the ordinary actions of high society. The rules are founded on honesty, and are written in an agreeable style. If free thinkers complain that they tend to ruin gallantry, wise men will recognize that they remove from society only those things which modesty cannot tolerate in it. The name 6 Arnaud, p. 81. 7 The journal was established under the patronage of Louis XIV’s Minister of Finance, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, by Denis de Sallo. The first issue appeared on 5 January 1665. The journal was published weekly until 1723, after which it appeared monthly until its suspension in 1792. It was reestablished in 1816 and continues to exist today as a biannual publication. Cf. Hippolyte Cocheris, Histoire du journal des savants depuis sa foundation jusqu’à nos jours, Paris: A. Durand, 1860. 8 Le Journal des savants, Du Lundi 5. Avril M. DC. LXVI, Paris: J. Cusson, 1666, p. 168. <?page no="113"?> 113 of the author is not yet known, but it is easy to judge that this work comes from the hand of a man who has acquired the intelligence of good books and who knows perfectly the life at court. The preface of d’Aubignac’s Dissertation sur la condamnation des théâtres makes reference to “le bon accueil que ce premier Ouvrage a reçu de toutes les personnes d’honneur et d’esprit” 9 (the good reception that this first work received by all people of honour and intellect). This positive opinion has endured in more recent years. Livet describes the book as “[un] écrit fort sage [qui] s’appuie toujours sur une morale pure, rigoureuse à soi-même, indulgente aux autres” 10 ([a] very wise work [which] is based on a pure moral doctrine, strict to oneself, lenient to others). Arnaud considers the book “un des meilleurs qu’ait écrits d’Aubignac” 11 (one of the best written by d’Aubignac): Sans doute c’est une œuvre de préciosité par l’importance donnée à des bagatelles, l’examen trop attentif de certains cas de conscience, qu’une conscience droite et ferme résoudrait sans conseil, et qu’un directeur sérieux ne s’attarderait pas à discuter. […] La morale cependant n’en est pas relâchée ; tout embesognée qu’elle se montre à de menus problèmes, et toute souriante qu’elle soit dans ses considérants, les conclusions en sont irréprochables. D’Aubignac a su flétrir tout « ce qui est incompatible avec l’honnêteté la plus scrupuleuse : » rester prêtre dans ces fonctions de conseiller des coquettes, et s’élever en outre, par cet effort sincère de sa raison, jusqu’à un style qui paraît net et franc à côté de celui de ses autres ouvrages. 12 Without doubt, it is a work of preciosity owing to the importance given to trifles, to the too careful examination of certain cases of conscience which a sound and firm conscience would resolve without counsel, and which a serious adviser would not dwell on discussing. […] The morality, however, is not lax; toiling as it does to resolve minor problems and all agreeable as it is in its preambles. The conclusions are irreproachable. D’Aubignac knew how to condemn everything “that is incompatible with the most scrupulous honesty”, to remain a priest in these functions as counsellor of coquettes, and to rise, furthermore, by this sincere effort of his reason, to a style which appears clear and frank compared to that of his other works. While we are not particularly inspired to share in Arnaud’s enthusiasm for the work, we believe that d’Aubignac’s instructional manual is a valuable 9 D’Aubignac, Dissertation sur la condemnation des théâtres, “Avis au lecteur”. 10 Livet, pp. 203-204. 11 Arnaud, p. 86. 12 Ibid. <?page no="114"?> 114 source of information on the abbé’s philosophy of the female sex and on the life of women in polite society in seventeenth-century France. For the purposes of our discussion, the various pieces of advice provided by Ariste in the thirty sections of Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène have been grouped together into two categories: communication and entertainment. I.1 Communication Ariste warns Célimène that because of her imminent rise in social standing as a result of her upcoming marriage, she will encounter men with questionable intentions who will wish to visit with her. D’Aubignac’s choice of vocabulary here is revelatory of his philosophy of women, focussing on the female as a victim - hence the use of such words as “une proie” (a prey), “précipiter” (to plunge), “un abîme” (an abyss), and “une conquête” (a conquest): Tandis qu’une fille est encore armée de sa première pudeur, de l’ignorance de son âge, des conseils de sa Mère et de ceux qui veillent sur sa Personne, on n’entreprend pas de tenter une vertu que l’on juge impossible à vaincre parmi tous ces obstacles […]. Mais quand elle a passé dans un état plus libre, et qui tout d’un coup semble avoir levé toutes ces difficultés, la témérité se persuade qu’elle peut tout espérer, que c’est une proie exposée à l’artifice et à l’insolence, et que n’étant plus défendue que par elle-même, il est aisé de la précipiter dans un abîme dont l’ouverture et le nom seul pouvaient auparavant l’étonner ; tous en forment les désirs, tous en préparent les moyens, tous s’efforcent d’y réussir ; c’est une conquête que tous entreprennent, croyant qu’il est glorieux d’en avoir eu la pensée, quand on ne l’aurait pas obtenue. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section IV, pp. 29-30.) While a young girl is still armed with her first modesty, with the ignorance of her age, with the advice of her mother and of those who watch over her person, one does not undertake to tempt a virtue that is judged impossible to conquer among all these obstacles […]. But when she has passed to a freer state and who suddenly seems to have removed all these difficulties, recklessness is persuaded that it can hope for everything, that this is a prey at risk to trickery and insolence, and that being protected now only by herself, it is easy to plunge her into an abyss whose opening and very name could previously astonish her; all form the desires, all plan the means, all strive to succeed; it is a conquest that all undertake, believing that it is glorious to have even thought of it when it has not been accomplished. <?page no="115"?> 115 The pronoun “tous” (all) refers to all men, allowing no exceptions, including Ariste himself. The message is that every male is intent on conquering the vulnerable female and that, consequently, Célimène should receive as male visitors only those “qui font profession d’honneur” 13 (who profess to be honourable). Even then, appearances and reputations can be deceiving. D’Aubignac’s choice of imagery - “déguise[r]” (to disguise) and “un piège” (a trap) - in the following paragraph reinforces the predator-victim theme: On ne connaît pas un honnête homme par les yeux et par le bruit commun ; les plus vicieux se couvrent ordinairement des livrées d’une fausse vertu, et le jugement du public est un mauvais garant de la vérité. […] ils vous doivent tous être suspects, et de quelque couleur dont on les déguise, regardez-les comme un piège que l’on veut rendre agréable pour vous empêcher de vous plaindre quand vous y serez tombée. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section IV, p. 32; section V, p. 36.) One does not know a good man by his eyes or by the word of others; the most lecherous among them cover themselves ordinarily with the livery of false virtue, and the judgment of the public is a bad guarantor of the truth. […] all these things must be suspicious to you, and of whatever colour in which they are disguised, look upon them as a trap that they wish to make agreeable in order to prevent you from complaining when you will have fallen into it. This traditional conception of the relationship between the sexes is certainly not unique to d’Aubignac during his lifetime. In her excellent study on the role of women in seventeenth-century France, Wendy Gibson points out, however, that during the reign of Louis XIV, signs of a reversal of these roles began to appear. Many aristocratic women, even the married ones, were not hesitant to use their wealth in order to secure male sexual partners in Paris or in the provinces, often paying their living expenses and their debts: Sex, like every other diversion, had moved with the times. The traditional roles of the male as the hunter and the female as the prey were showing signs of being reversed. Now it was women who, existing husbands notwithstanding, started and stalked a quarry. […] To lend lustre to their charms they might well offer to relieve a lover of all financial worries by paying his upkeep and his debts. To the growing number of impecunious ‘gentlemen’ who could not or would not subsist by honourable means, 13 D’Aubignac, Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section IV, p. 31. <?page no="116"?> 116 the largesses of women represented a useful supplement to the proceeds obtained from more or less honest gambling. 14 These men were not restricted to those of noble birth, but also included servants and actors. 15 Women of the bourgeoisie were not immune to this new climate of sexual promiscuity: […] the bourgeoisie, which in many respects formed the moral backbone of the nation, had become infected by loose behaviour and criminal tendencies. Bourgeois satirists, the most vigorous in denouncing female vices, abundantly confirmed the degeneration of their womenfolk. Noblewomen and bourgeoises, fanning out into the provinces on holiday or business, or as exiles, found the ground well prepared for the transplantation of fashionable vices from the capital. 16 In spite of this emergent sexual liberation, d’Aubignac’s philosophy of women at this time reflects the traditional view of the female as being passive and vulnerable. Ariste advises Célimène to avoid receiving one man more often than another. Not only should she be wary of such a person’s intentions, but she should also be mindful of her own reactions to the attention given, for she may in the end develop feelings for the person. In other words, do not trust this man, but also do not trust yourself either for, after all, women are susceptible to flattery. Ariste’s belief is that the mere presence of a wellmade man, both physically and intellectually, will necessarily excite in any woman carnal thoughts and possibly even desires: […] il est impossible que la présence ordinaire d’un homme qui sera bien fait de corps et d’esprit, n’excite dans le cœur d’une femme des pensées et peut-être des désirs qui font peine à la vertu, et quand elle y persévère, elle tombe en des emportements fort déraisonnables, et souvent elle y perd sa réputation, sa gloire s’éteint, et la laisse comme une personne morte au monde. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section V, pp. 40-41.) […] it is impossible that the mere presence of a man who is well-made in body and in mind should not excite, in the heart of a woman, thoughts and perhaps desires that harm virtue, and when she perseveres in it, she falls into very unreasonable passion 14 Wendy Gibson, Women in Seventeenth-Century France, London: MacMillan, 1989, pp. 205-206. 15 Ibid., p. 206. 16 Ibid., p. 208. <?page no="117"?> 117 and often loses her reputation. Her glory is extinguished and leaves her like a person who is dead to the world. Parallels to the mythical Pandora, who could not resist opening the jar, are apparent. 17 The female cannot avoid being lured by the temptations of the male, releasing evils that will result in the death of her honour and her virtue. The onus is on the woman not to awaken in a man the hope that she is interested in him. Ariste tells Célimène that he has known virtuous women whose reputations were besmirched by well-meaning actions on their part, such as the way they looked at men, the way they engaged with them in conversation and the way they praised their talents: 18 Cette conduite fait croire qu’un homme plaît ; et entre plaire et se faire aimer, il n’y a pas un grand trajet ; c’est réveiller son espérance, réchauffer ses désirs et ranimer sa témérité : Peut-être que cela vous paraîtra bien sévère, mais j’estime qu’une femme d’honneur ne saurait être trop sérieuse : Ce que je condamne peut s’accorder avec l’innocence, mais non pas avec une bonne réputation. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XXVI, pp. 192-193.) This conduct can communicate that a man is pleasing; and between being pleased and being loved, there is not a great distance. It is awakening his hope, rekindling his desires and reanimating his temerity. This may appear to you to be very strict, but I believe that a woman of honour cannot be too serious. What I am condemning can be compatible with innocence, but not with a good reputation. As regards conversations, Ariste emphasizes to Célimène the importance of speaking only in respectful terms about her husband. She should never speak to others about his weaknesses or about matters which should not be revealed, and she should never show any contempt for him. Otherwise, men will assume that she is open for business. D’Aubignac’s language here is sexually suggestive: 17 According to Greek mythology, Pandora was the first human woman created by the gods. In retribution for the theft of fire by Prometheus, Zeus ordered that Pandora be endowed with a deceitful and seductive nature. In Hesiod’s version of the myth, Pandora brings with her a jar containing a myriad of pain, diseases and death. When she opens the jar, out of pure curiosity, all the evils are scattered into the world, leaving only hope which remains in the container. Due to an error in translation by Erasmus of the word pithos, the jar is usually referred to as a box. Cf. E. Beall, “The Contents of Hesiod's Pandora Jar: Erga 94-98”, Hermes 117 (1989): 227-230. 18 D’Aubignac, Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XXVI, pp. 190, 192. <?page no="118"?> 118 Quand on présume que le cœur d’une femme est tout rempli de l’estime et de l’affection qu’elle est obligée d’y conserver par les ordres de la terre et du Ciel, on ne s’avise pas d’en entreprendre la conquête ; on le regarde comme une place dont l’accès est difficile, armée de toutes les forces de la pudeur, et défendue par un possesseur légitime : Mais quand on présume qu’il est vide des sentiments et de l’idée qui doivent y régner, on tente hardiment toutes choses pour s’en rendre Maître. On le regarde comme une place dont l’entrée est toute libre, exposée à l’invasion, et abandonnée au premier occupant. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section IX, pp. 76-77.) When one assumes that the heart of a woman is completely filled with the esteem and the affection that she is obliged to keep there according to the orders of earth and heaven, one does not take it into one’s head to set out to conquer it; one looks at it as a place whose access is difficult, armed with all the forces of modesty and defended by a legitimate possessor. But when one assumes that it is empty of the feelings and the idea that must reign in it, one attempts daringly all things to become its master. One looks upon it as a place whose entry is free, exposed to invasion and given to the first occupant. When conversing about a man, a woman should be very careful never to speak at length about his qualities, particularly the affections of his soul and the graces of his body. Otherwise, she will be suspected of coquetry. In Ariste’s world, flirtation is largely a male prerogative; women who flirt or who are perceived to be flirting behave outside the established norms of proper behaviour: […] quand vous louerez un homme qui vous visite souvent, et qui peut avoir quelque place entre ceux que vous appellerez vos amis, je vous le répète Célimène, il faut le faire sobrement ; Vous ne devez pas oublier les principaux termes qui peuvent marquer son mérite, mais il n’y faut pas demeurer longtemps. On ne croit pas que celle qui prend tant de plaisir à faire éclater le mérite d’un homme n’ait quelque complaisance pour la personne. […] Surtout ne donnez ces grandes louanges qu’aux actions de l’esprit, qu’aux œuvres de la sagesse et du courage ; mais ne touchez que légèrement aux affections de son âme, non plus qu’aux grâces de son corps : et j’ai vu une Dame de qualité des plus honnêtes de notre temps s’être rendue suspecte de coquetterie à quelques gens d’humeur bizarre, pour avoir loué civilement et en termes de bienséance la vivacité des yeux et le beau teint d’un homme qu’elle n’a jamais regardé qu’avec l’indifférence digne de son sexe et de son mérite. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XI, pp. 88-90.) […] when you praise a man who visits you often, and who may be among those whom you will call your friends, I repeat to you Célimène, it is necessary to do so plainly. You must not forget the principal terms that can indicate his merits, but you must not do so for long. One does not think that she who takes so much pleasure in <?page no="119"?> 119 extolling the merit of a man does not have some indulgence for the person. […] Above all, reserve these laudations for the actions of the mind, for the works of wisdom and courage, but only touch briefly on the affections of his soul and the graces of his body. And I have seen a woman of quality, one of the most respectable of our time, having herself being suspected of coquetry by some peculiar people for having praised, civilly and with propriety, the vivacity of the eyes and the nice complexion of a man whom she only ever looked upon with the indifference worthy of her sex and of her merit. Rules also exist governing the act of listening. Ariste cautions Célimène not to allow a man to whisper in her ear, lest other people think that he is in her confidence. Private conversations with a man are to be avoided, for the male will believe that the female is sexually interested in him. Ariste emphasizes that if a woman must speak with a man, it is important that she not behave in a coquettish manner; everything must be “sérieux” (serious) and “modeste” (modest). 19 Once again, it is the woman’s responsibility to avoid creating a situation that will be the subject of malicious gossip. Being alone with a man for the purpose of having a private conversation is to be completely avoided: Que vous dirai-je donc de ces conversations solitaires, que l’on nomme ordinairement tête-à-tête, avec un homme tel que nous l’avons déjà dépeint plusieurs fois ? […] Les bons Docteurs du vieux temps ont écrit que personne ne s’imaginera que ces retraites soient recherchées pour dire ensemble son Chapelet ; et les malicieux ignorants de notre siècle en feront encore des railleries plus fortes et plus désobligeantes. […] je vous y demande toujours quelque témoin, il n’importe de quel sexe ni de quel âge, il suffit qu’il ait des yeux et une langue (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XXIV, pp. 179-181.) What can I tell you, therefore, of these private conversations, which one ordinarily calls tête-à-tête, with a man whom we have already described several times? […] The good Doctors of old have written that no one will imagine that these retreats are being sought in order to say one’s rosary beads; and the malicious people of our century will make even stronger and more disobliging mockery. […] I ask that you always have a witness to these meetings, of whatever sex or age; it is only necessary that they have eyes and a tongue. If a man declares his love, the woman should interrupt him and not allow the speech to continue. It is also important not to reason with him. The man’s behaviour is a ruse trying to trick the woman into seduction in 19 Ibid., section XII, p. 102. <?page no="120"?> 120 order to deprive her of her honour. In the light of Le Roman des lettres, we can state that Ariste’s intimate knowledge of this predator-prey engagement seems to derive from his own experiences, either real or fanciful: […] il commencera par des louanges de toutes vos belles qualités […]. Ensuite il vous fera croire qu’il n’a point de plus grande passion que de vous servir, […] il vous regardera sans rien dire ; […] il aura les yeux tristes et le visage chagrin, […] il vous dira d’autres fois qu’il n’est pas bon de se familiariser avec vos yeux, que votre présence a beaucoup de charmes, mais qu’elle est dangereuse, et qu’un homme ne sera jamais plus malheureux qu’en vous aimant; il vous fera des discours entiers de la vertu, de la vénération qu’il a pour une honnête femme, […] il ne manquera pas de vous expliquer une grande passion, avec une forte résolution de tout souffrir pour vous sans rien espérer. Cette première parole contiendra le poison, et la seconde ne sera qu’une adresse pour vous le faire prendre. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XXVII, pp. 200-203.) […] he will begin by praising all your beautiful qualities […]. Afterwards, he will make you believe that he has no greater passion but to serve you; […] he will look at you speechless; […] he will have sad eyes and a despondent face; […] he will tell you at other times that it is not good to familiarize oneself with your eyes, that your presence has many charms, but that it is dangerous, and that a man will never be more unhappy than in loving you; he will give you entire speeches about virtue, about the veneration he has for an honest woman; […] he will not fail to express to you a great passion, with a strong resolution to suffer everything for you without hoping for anything. This first speech will contain the poison, and the second will be but a skilful means to have you take it. Similar precautions apply to the area of correspondence. Should a man write to Célimène declaring himself, she should not finish reading the letter and, in the presence of the person who delivered it, she should throw it into the fire. If a second letter is received, she should immediately discard the letter without opening it. Moreover, under no circumstances should she reply to the letter, as this action would be interpreted by others as a sign of interest in the man. Once again, Ariste makes use of the vocabulary of victimhood, the words “votre esclavage” (your enslavement), “le triomphe” (the triumph), “un piège” (a trap) and “un précipice” (a precipice) creating vivid imagery of entrapment and domination: On les prendrait toujours pour un aveu que vous aimez, et pour un consentement d’être aimée ; ce serait signer de votre main le titre de votre Esclavage et le triomphe <?page no="121"?> 121 de votre Ennemi. C’est un piège qu’une honnête femme doit bien éviter; c’est un précipice où son imprudence l’abime, et d’où la vérité ne peut qu’à grande peine la retirer. Nous savons les noms et les dignités de celles qui n’ont pu réparer leur faute, pour n’avoir pu démentir leur écriture ; leur main a trahi leur réputation ; et toute leur vie ne sera peut-être pas capable de la rétablir. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XXVIII, p. 217.) They will always be interpreted as an admission that you love, and for consent to be loved; it would be signing with your own hand the title of your slavery and the triumph of your enemy. It is a trap that an honest woman should much avoid; it is a precipice where her imprudence damages her, and from where the truth can only but with great difficulty remove her. We know the names and the ranks of those women who were not able to repair their mistakes by not having been able to deny their writings; their hands betrayed their reputations, and all their lives will perhaps not be able to re-establish them. Ariste’s advice to Célimène is not to write to men at all, even for business purposes. The customary salutations and complimentary closings can always be subject to misinterpretation: On y mêle toujours ces entrées et ces fins agréables que l’on nomme des compliments ; et vous n’en pouvez si bien choisir les termes, qu’ils ne souffrent quelque interprétation malicieuse; un homme vain ou mal satisfait ne manquera pas de les montrer; il n’en fera peut-être confidence qu’à son Ami, mais toujours il les montrera, et croyez-vous qu’il s’empêche de dire que vous n’aurez pas voulu vous expliquer plus clairement, parce qu’il vous entend assez bien ; et laissant le reste à la discrétion de celui qui l’écoute, il tirera de vos paroles les plus innocentes un mauvais sens et désavantageux à votre réputation. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XXVIII, p. 219.) One always adds these agreeable introductions and salutations which we call compliments; and you cannot choose the terms so well that they will not be the subject of malicious interpretation; a vain man or one who is unsatisfied will not miss showing them to others; he will do so perhaps only to his friend, but he will always show them. And do you believe that he will prevent himself from saying that you do not wish to explain yourself more clearly because he understands you quite well? And leaving the rest to the discretion of the listener, he will take from your most innocent words a bad meaning that is unfavourable to your reputation. On the occasions where duty demands that a letter be written, it is imperative that the words be chosen carefully and with brevity in mind. 20 20 Ibid., section XXVIII, p. 220. <?page no="122"?> 122 Similar principles govern the receipt of gifts. Accepting a gift from a man implies that the woman is selling herself or that she is receiving payment for services rendered. 21 As an extension of this rule, Ariste cautions Célimène against borrowing the carriage of a man or riding with him in his carriage. The danger lies in the debt of gratitude that will be owed, an obligation satisfied only through sexual favours. Regardless of the outcome, the woman’s reputation will be ruined: N’est-il pas encore étrange qu’une femme se serve si librement et si fréquemment du bien d’un homme ? Car par les règles de la gratitude, elle doit vouloir qu’il se serve aussi du sien, et en faisant ainsi, elle lui témoigne qu’elle le veut. Mais quelle bien a-telle dont elle puisse disposer, et dont il voudrait se servir ? Je craindrais de vous donner de la peine si je m’expliquais plus clairement. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XXIII, pp. 173-174.) Is it not strange that a woman helps herself so liberally and so frequently to the possessions of a man? For, according to the rules of gratitude, she must want him to help himself to hers, and in so doing, she is demonstrating to him that she wants him. But what possession does she have that she can give away and of which he would want to make use? I fear that I would be distressing you if I were to explain myself more clearly. The concluding section of Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène is entitled "Si une femme peut faire quelque amitié avec un homme" (If a woman can have a friendship with a man). The answer is an unequivocal “no”, owing to the nature of the male sex: Non, non, Célimène, n’espérez point de pouvoir jamais former une véritable amitié avec nos jeunes Courtisans : Les bouillons de sang qui leur inspirent l’impétuosité de toutes les passions, l’aveuglement de leur raison qui les emporte aux voluptés les plus criminelles, et la dépravation publique de nos mœurs qui les entretient dans une répugnance naturelle à l’honnêteté, ne le permettront jamais. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XXX, pp. 226-227.) No, no, Célimène, do not hope to ever be able to form a true friendship with our young courtiers. The hot bloodedness which inspires the impetuosity of all the passions, the blindness of their reason which carries them to the most criminal voluptuous pleasures, and the public depravity of our mores which keeps them in a natural repugnance to propriety, will never permit it. 21 Ibid., section XIV, p. 113. <?page no="123"?> 123 Ariste makes a clear distinction between friendship, which is preoccupied with the interests of the soul, and love, which is attached to the interests of the body. In today’s world, says the counsellor, aimer (to love) is selfish and insolent. 22 Women should never believe men who claim to be motivated only by amitié (friendship). The image created by Ariste is that of hunters in search of prey, the words used by men serving as traps to snare innocent females: Ce sacré nom d’amitié qu’ils ont assez souvent en la bouche, n’est qu’une illusion, qu’un masque, dont ils cachent l’amour déréglé qu’ils ont dans le cœur. […] C’est un piège pour celles qui s’y fient. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XXX, pp. 227, 233.) This sacred name of friendship which they quite often have in their mouths is only an illusion, only a mask, where they hide the corrupt love which they have in their hearts. […] It is a trap for those women who trust it. As we saw in his Roman des lettres, d’Aubignac demonstrates a very negative attitude towards love between the sexes. This philosophy is reiterated in Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène with even greater insistence. A man loves a woman, he claims, in order to have someone who is obliging to his disorders, someone who will cowardly suffer all his insolences and who will abandon herself to shame and to his pleasures. Men almost always have love without friendship and without feelings of generosity. Outward signs of trust on the part of males, such as words, respect for religion, knowledge of philosophy, fear of the law and professions of honour should not be believed. 23 D’Aubignac blames this corruption not only on “l’imperfection de notre nature” (the imperfection of our nature), but also on “le désordre du siècle” 24 (the disorderliness of the century). In his advice to Célimène, Ariste compares love to a sly enemy, relentless in its attempts to infiltrate and to cause damage: C’est un petit trompeur qui passe en des lieux où l’on n’y croit pas lui donner entrée ; et comme vous l’avez toujours maltraité, ne le regardez jamais que comme votre ennemi avec lequel vous ne devez faire ni paix ni trêve, et qui ne se réconciliera point 22 Ibid., section XXX, p. 229. 23 Ibid., section XXX, pp. 233-234. 24 Ibid., section XXX, p. 233. <?page no="124"?> 124 avec vous que pour se venger et vous faire quelque injure. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XXX, p. 235.) It is a little deceiver who enters places where one believes it has not been granted access. As you have always mistreated it, always look upon it as your enemy with which you must neither make peace nor call a truce, and which will become reconciled with you only to avenge itself and to cause you some harm. Although Ariste’s words are intended to protect Cèlimène against unwanted advances outside the sanctity of her imminent marriage, one cannot help but read into his message the idea that love even between husband and wife is necessarily self-serving and corrupt. Ariste advises Célimène that true friendship with a man is only possible if the gentleman is of an advanced age “où les ardeurs du sang soient amorties, et les vertus de l’esprit plus libres, dont la vie passée n’ait souffert aucune tache que l’on puisse tirer en mauvaise conséquence pour l’avenir, fidèle en ses pensées, respectueux pour le mérite d’autrui, généreux au service de ceux qu’il fait profession d’aimer, et qui ait toujours préféré l’honneur aux avantages de la vie commune” 25 (where the ardours of the blood have dulled and the virtues of the mind are freer, whose past life has not suffered any blemish that can be seen as a bad consequence for the future, who is faithful in his thoughts, respectful for the merit of others, generous in his service to those whom he professes to love, and who has always preferred honour to the advantages of everyday life). Is this a description of d’Aubignac himself? Undoubtedly, this is what the author of Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène would have us believe. According to Ariste, men such as these are exceedingly rare and, therefore, the best piece of advice is for Célimène not to engage in friendship with any male. The implied message is that even with these exceptional men, complete trust cannot be assured: […] pour m’en expliquer franchement, j’estime qu’il vous sera toujours plus sûr de d’en rien faire ; c’est le meilleur parti que vous puissiez prendre, et le plus digne de vous. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XXX, p. 238.) […] to explain myself frankly on the matter, I feel that it will always be safer for you not to be involved at all; this is the best course of action that you can take and the one most worthy of you. 25 Ibid., section XXX, pp. 237-238. <?page no="125"?> 125 As we noted earlier, although d’Aubignac describes males as being generally promiscuous and intent on conquering women, he is consistent in his message that it is the responsibility of the females not to awaken any desire or hope of victory in the first place. Men are free-ranging and unable to control themselves; even the oldest, wisest and most wellintentioned among them are not completely trustworthy. Women, on the other hand, must take every precaution not to be entrapped; they must always be several steps ahead of the game, outmanoeuvering men at every turn. The powerful predator and the vulnerable prey are forever engaged in a battle of deceit and counter-strategy. In the end, d’Aubignac’s message to women is to be proactive. They should deal with men only in formal situations, as the absolute need arises. I.2 Entertainment Several sections of Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène pertain to acceptable forms of entertainment for respectable women. However, there are rules that must be followed even with these permitted activities. One such form of enjoyment is the promenade. A woman who is as young and as beautiful as Célimène should be very careful in her choice of walking partners. Ariste refers to her as one of the “jeunes Soleils” (young suns) who are particularly vulnerable to being led astray by the male sex. 26 Accepting to walk with a man communicates to him that his presence is not unwelcomed, raising his hopes of having the opportunity of pleasing the woman. As with conversations, it is the female’s responsibility in the promenade not to awaken in a man the hope that she is a potential catch: La liberté s’y change bien en licence, et toutes les choses que la nature nous y présente pour nous plaire, y peuvent devenir des objets ou des instruments d’une ruine 26 Ibid., section XVI, pp. 121-122. Ariste recounts to Célimène the story of the biblical Abel who went for a walk, only to be murdered by his brother. The name Abel, he claims, signifies un jeune Soleil (a young sun). Ariste then explains that the term “young suns” is now used to describe young and beautiful women such as Célimène, and that he has known some of them to have lost their life of honour on their very first promenade at the initiative of those whom they trusted. In truth, the name Abel is Hebrew for “breath”, “son” or “breathing spirit”. <?page no="126"?> 126 que l’on ne répare pas aisément. […] Il faut choisir vos gens, et ne vous pas associer avec ceux qui ne sont pas convenables à votre condition, qui sont d’une humeur turbulente et qui corrompent tous les divertissements par des désordres que leur impertinence y suscite. […] il n’y faut pas recevoir un homme qui vous serait suspect de quelque dessein dont vous ne voudriez pas être complice, car ce serait lui faire entendre qu’il ne vous déplairait pas, et lui donner quelque espérance de vous plaire. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XVI, pp. 121-123.) Liberty changes quickly to licentiousness and everything that nature presents to please us can become objects and instruments of a ruin that one cannot easily repair. […] You must choose the people around you and not associate with those who are unsuitable for your rank, those who are of an unruly temperament and who corrupt all diversions with dissoluteness that their impertinence arouses. […] you must not receive a man whom you would suspect of anything in which you would not wish to be an accomplice, for that would make him understand that he would not be disliked by you and would give him some hope of pleasing you. The choice of female walking partners is also to be taken very seriously. Ariste cautions Célimène not to associate with women who are either évaporées (featherbrained), who always do things extravagantly, étourdies (scatterbrained), who are always saying foolish things, chagrines (despondent), who think ill of everything, or médisantes (malicious), who poison everything. 27 D’Aubignac’s message is that a great number of women fall into one or more of these categories, and that Célimène should therefore be extremely careful about her choice of female associates. Jealousy and spitefulness - characteristics that are identified with women in the traditional moralistic writing of the period 28 - will inevitably rear their ugly heads, resulting in Célimène’s good name being compromised: Celles qui n’ont point d’esprit ne laissent pas de se reconnaître stupides, et de haïr celles qui en ont : croyez-vous qu’une Belle souffre sans jalousie que l’on vous honore plus qu’elle, et que toutes n’aient pas quelque intérêt qui les irrite contre vous ? vous ôterez à l’une son Amant sans y penser ; vous aurez trop d’admirateurs à l’entour de vous selon le sentiment de l’autre, l’une n’endurera pas sans murmure que vous soyez la maîtresse des conversations ; et l’autre contredira par envie, par malice ou par vanité tout ce que vous proposerez ; et toutes ces dispositions différentes de leur cœur, ne leur fourniront que trop de sujet pour mal interpréter tous les mouvements du vôtre. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XVI, pp. 126-127.) 27 Ibid., section XVI, pp. 125-126. 28 Cf. Maclean, p. 50. <?page no="127"?> 127 Those women who have no intelligence do not fail to show themselves as stupid, and to hate those who have some. Do you believe that a beautiful woman will suffer without jealousy that you are being honored more than she, and that all of them will not have some interest that will irritate them against you? You will take away, from one, her lover without knowing it; you will have too many admirers around you, according to another; one will not endure without murmuring that you are the centre of the conversations; and the other will contradict by envy, malice or vanity everything that you will propose; and all these different dispositions of their hearts will furnish them with only too many reasons to misinterpret all the movements of yours. According to Ariste, the playing of games is not a preoccupation of civil society. He does not look upon it as a pastime, as people play only to win, rejoicing at their victories and showing vexation at their losses. 29 Célimène should be careful not to engage in the playing of games with men who will allow her to win in order to obtain certain favours. She should also beware of women who might wish to spread malicious gossip about these encounters. Ariste makes reference to the imperfect nature of female virtues, causing women to be motivated in their actions by pride and jealousy: Les femmes n’ont presque jamais que des vertus défectueuses ; celles qui ne voudraient pas faire brèche à leur pudeur, ont ordinairement tant d’orgueil, qu’elles voudraient bien seules obtenir la gloire d’être vertueuses ; et celles qui sont tombées dans quelque faute, quoique secrète, voudraient bien tirer toutes les autres après elles, ou du moins persuader à tout le monde qu’elles sont dans le même précipice ; et par l’un ou par l’autre de ces motifs, lorsqu’elles vous verront dans cette intrigue, elles la publieront partout, et feront prendre pour votre Dupe ce beau Joueur dont vous gagnerez l’argent, où vous passerez pour la sienne […]. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XXII, pp. 167-168.) Women almost always have only defective virtues; those who do not wish to compromise their modesty usually have so much pride that they wish only themselves to obtain the glory of being virtuous; and those who have fallen into some fault, even secretly, would like to bring down all the others after her, or at least to persuade everyone that they are in the same precipice. And by one or the other of these motives, when they see you in this affair, they will spread the news everywhere and will make of this handsome player your fool from whom you will win money, where you will be regarded as his possession […]. 29 D’Aubignac, Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XXII, pp. 164-165. <?page no="128"?> 128 Rules also apply to attendance at feasts or banquets. Ariste advises Célimène not to act in ways that may lend credence to the widely accepted belief that women always wish to satisfy their appetites and that they indulge in rich food: […] n’y faites jamais rien qui ressente ce que l’on attribue aux femmes ; on dit qu’elles veulent toujours manger, et qu’elles aiment la bonne chère. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XVII, p. 128.) […] never do anything which brings to mind what is attributed to women; it is said that they always want to eat and that they love good food. Wendy Gibson confirms this stereotype in her chapter on the manners and morals of seventeenth-century French women. The consumption of food by ladies at court was reportedly a sight to behold, the term “overeating” being an understatement of the gorging that went on by ladies of polite society. Even Anne of Austria was noted for her voracious appetite. Gibson writes that the princesse d’Harcourt “was literally unapproachable at social functions because of her habit of overeating and promptly relieving herself where she stood.” 30 The author provides additional examples of these “exhibitions of incontinence”, 31 the most notable of them involving Madame de Saux and Madame de la Trimouille who, on one occasion of overindulgence, used their theatre box as a lavatory and then disposed of the waste by hurling it down the unsuspecting people in the pit below. 32 References to the reputation of women as voracious eaters can also be found in Défense de la Sophonisbe (1663) by Jean Donneau de Visé: Après avoir parlé sans nécessité, et même injustement des personnes vivantes, vous dites que le temps où elles parlent est celui que les spectateurs prennent pour manger leurs confitures. Si je n’étais bien assuré que ces Remarques sont de vous, je croirais qu’elles viendraient de quelque femme qui a coutume d’y en manger. 33 After having spoken needlessly and even unjustly about the living, you say that the time when they speak is the time spectators take to eat their jam. If I were not well 30 Gibson, Women in Seventeenth-Century France, p. 204. 31 Ibid. 32 Ibid., p. 205. 33 Jean Donneau de Visé, Défense de la Sophonisbe, in Jean Donneau de Visé. Écrits contre l’abbé d’Aubignac, pp. 53-54. <?page no="129"?> 129 certain that these remarks came from you, I would believe that they came from a woman who has the habit of eating some there. In response to the criticism that Corneille’s Lépide should have intervened when he saw Sophonisbe swallow poison, 34 Donneau de Visé writes facetiously that the Roman tribune did not know what the noblewoman was swallowing, and that he would be justified in thinking that it might have been some sort of confection: Comme c’est une action assez ordinaire, ou si vous voulez, comme les femmes de qualité ne passent pas une heure sans manger quelque chose, ne pouvait-il pas croire que ce n’était que quelque confiture. 35 As it is a fairly ordinary occurence, or if you will, as women of quality do not spend an hour without eating something, could he not have believed that it was only some sort of jam? In addition to the negative effects of overeating, the dangers of drinking alcohol to the dignity of women are also highlighted by Ariste. A large consumption of spirits is incompatible with the image of a virtuous female: Il n’est jamais bienséant aux femmes de vertu, de faire monstre d’une capacité de bien boire, encore qu’elles fussent maîtresses de leur esprit ; ni de faire paraître de l’avidité pour ces liqueurs étrangères qui sont plutôt inventées pour irriter la soif que pour l’apaiser. Un savant homme a dit que parmi les pots et les verres la pudeur devient plus fragile que le verre; celle qui se sentirait assez forte pour conserver un bien si précieux et si délicat, ne doit jamais se mettre au hasard de se faire appliquer cette vérité. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XVII, p. 132.) It is never seemly for women of virtue to make a spectacle of their capacity to drink well, even though they may be in control of their minds, nor to show avidity for these foreign liqueurs which are invented more to irritate the thirst than to appease it. A wise man said that among mugs and glasses, modesty becomes more fragile than glass; she who would feel strong enough to preserve so precious and delicate a possession must never put herself in danger of having that truth applied to her. 34 This criticism of Corneille’s tragedy Sophonisbe was made by abbé d’Aubignac in his Première dissertation (p. 12). 35 Donneau de Visé, Défense de la Sophonisbe, p. 59. <?page no="130"?> 130 It is significant to note that Ariste does not condemn drinking alcohol in and of itself, but rather its consumption by the female sex. Even if a woman shows no signs of inebriation, her drinking will be associated with loose morals and an absence of propriety. The implication is that this judgement does not apply to the male population, for whom modesty appears to have less importance as a virtuous attribute in comparison to females. 36 Ariste describes la comédie (the theatre) as “un divertissement noble et fort agréable” 37 (a noble and amusing form of entertainment). He expresses his anger, however, at the way in which theatrical companies are beginning to corrupt the stage by the impudence of their productions and the dissoluteness of the dramatic dialogue: Autrefois le Théâtre n’était qu’une école de turpitude où les honnêtes femmes n’osaient paraître ; le dernier siècle l’avait tellement épuré et rendu si célèbre, qu’il est devenu le plaisir et l’occupation des personnes de qualité ; mais l’ignorance des Poètes le met à la veille de perdre toutes ses grâces, et le désordre des Histrions, l’impudence de leurs représentations, et la dissolution de leurs discours, est sur le point de le faire tomber dans sa première honte et de le faire encore une fois abandonner. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XVIII, pp. 133-134.) In the past, theatre was but a school of turpitude where honest women did not dare go. The last century cleansed it so much and made it so famous that it became the pleasure and occupation of people of quality. But the ignorance of poets is placing it on the brink of losing its graces, and the licentiousness of actors, the impudence of their performances and the dissoluteness of their speeches are such that they are on the verge of making it fall into its early shame and of having it once more abandoned. Ariste advises Célimène to be careful how she reacts to humourous and perhaps off-coloured lines recited by the actors. If she partakes in the laughter of the common people, she will be associated with the infamy that is being presented on stage. On the other hand, if she reacts negatively to the situation, either through words or gestures, she will be accused of being severe and somewhat peculiar by those around her: 36 Maclean writes: “Modesty is seen by moralists as the most effective guardian of chastity; its most dangerous enemies are sensuality, ambition, and avarice. Du Bosc, La Mothe Le Vayer, Henri du Lisdam, Claude Maillard, and Paul Caillet all specify these three vices; their common source seems to be a verse in the first Epistle General of John” (p. 69). 37 D’Aubignac, Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, p. 133. <?page no="131"?> 131 Si vous vous éclatez de rire avec le Parterre aux bons mots que l’on y récite, on vous donnera quelque part à la complicité de cette infamie ; et si vous n’en voulez pas rire, vous serez contrainte de faire quelques actions ou de prononcer quelques paroles qui vous feront traiter de sévère et de bizarre. […] quand vous y assisterez, usez d’un tempérament qui vous empêche d’être à charge à votre compagnie, et qui ne vous fasse pas soupçonner de prendre plaisir aux mauvaises choses. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XVIII, p. 135.) If you burst out laughing with those in the stalls to the witty words being recited, you will be given some complicit part in this infamy; and if you do not wish to laugh, you will be constrained to make some actions or to say some words which will make you appear harsh or strange. […] when you attend plays, display a temperament which prevents you from being a burden to your company, and which does not make you suspected of taking pleasure in bad things. Ariste’s advice to Célimène is to choose carefully the people with whom she attends theatrical performances. If a man is in the company, she should never awaken in him the slightest hope of being in her favour: […] ne l’acceptez pas souvent ; il se familiariserait avec vous, et vous lui donneriez une audace dont vous devez retenir les moindres effets. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XVIII, pp. 135-136.) […] do not accept him often; he will familiarize himself with you, and you would give him an audacity of which you must retain the least effects. As far as other women in attendance are concerned, Célimène should be careful not to sit beside one whose name will taint her own. 38 Ariste advises Célimène to beware of private serenades performed during the night by a man “qui travaille à vous prendre par les oreilles” 39 (who works to seduce you by the ears). Should a situation like this arise, the best reaction afterwards, if asked about it by the man in question, is to claim that she did not hear the music, that she could never imagine that it was for her in the first place and that she would be angry if she thought otherwise. Another advisable reaction is to tell him outright that she did not approve of the situation: 38 Ibid., section XVIII, pp. 135-136. 39 Ibid., section XIX, p. 137. <?page no="132"?> 132 Et si le jour suivant celui qui s’est avisé de vous réveiller par cette galanterie, vous en parle et se plaint de vous assurez-le que vous n’en avez rien ouï, et que vous ne pouvez vous persuader que ce soit pour vous ; et quoiqu’il en dise et qu’il en jure, persévérez et témoignez-lui que vous seriez en colère si vous en croyiez autre chose. Il n’est même pas hors de raison qu’il découvre par quelques paroles, que l’harmonie vous a réveillée, afin qu’il sache que vous l’avez méprisée par une volonté absolue, et faites que tout le monde en soit instruit aussi bien que lui, afin que personne n’y trouve rien à redire. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XIX, pp. 138-139.) And if on the following day, he who dared wake you by this gallantry speaks and complains to you about it, assure him that you heard nothing and that you cannot convince yourself that it was for you. And no matter what he says and declares about it, persevere and show him that you would be angry if you believed otherwise. It is even not unreasonable for him to discover by certain words that the harmony awoke you, so that he knows that you absolutely despised it; and make this known to everyone as well as to him, so that no one can find fault with it. In the section on balls and masquerades, Ariste encourages Célimène, as part of her duty to society and to her family, to attend royal functions because of the presence of the king and queen, and to go to social gatherings which are organized to honour the invitees and those given by families of high rank for respectable considerations. He cautions her, however, not to attend those events whose sole purpose is to engage participants in dancing, particularly if there is some suspicion about the motives of the host and the hostess. […] si on est persuadé publiquement des dérèglements du Maître et de la Maîtresse de ce Bal, je vous conjure de chercher des excuses honnêtes pour n’y point aller ; ne les offensez pas, car la vertu ne vous oblige point à cette dureté ; mais ne vous familiarisez pas avec des objets qui ne vous donneront que de fâcheuses idées. Il n’est pas nécessaire que vous soyez témoin d’une action que l’on prendra pour une intrigue de débauche ; vous regarderez toutes leurs civilités comme des libertés indécentes, tous leurs entretiens secrets pour des mystères d’iniquités ; et tout ce qu’ils feront inquiètera votre esprit […]. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XX, pp. 143- 144.) […] if the dissoluteness of the master and mistress of the ball is known publicly, I entreat you to find honest excuses not to attend. Do not offend them, as virtue does not require this harshness of you, but do not familiarize yourself with things that will give you only unpleasant thoughts. It is not necessary for you to witness an action that will be looked upon as an affair of debauchery. You will interpret all their civilities as indecent liberties, all their secret conversations as mysteries of iniquity, and everything that they will do will trouble your mind […]. <?page no="133"?> 133 It must be noted that Ariste does not forbid Célimène to dance at balls, especially as she has received excellent instruction in that art form. He asserts that a woman of her rank must do things very well in public, and if possible, to perform them better than all the others in her company. 40 Ariste insists, however, that the dances be serious and modest. Immoral dancing, which is comprised of jumps, postures, steps and ridiculous twirls of the body, is unworthy of a woman of quality and is compromising of the decency of her sex. Ariste notes that the physical effects of dancing on the female body are incompatible with modesty, dignity and decorum: […] quand il n’y aurait que le désordre de vos habillements, la confusion de vos cheveux, la sueur de votre front, la rougeur de votre visage, la lassitude qui vous en restera, vous aurez toujours non seulement un prétexte, mais une juste raison de vous en exempter ; j’ajoute aussi que l’on y peut faire un jugement favorable de l’humeur d’une femme qui s’y laisse emporter ; ces différentes dispositions de son corps, ces mouvements si contraires à la modestie, et cet abandonnement des ajustements honnêtes de sa personne, n’ont point de rapport avec la pureté de la vie que vous embrassez ; et bien que tout cela puisse compatir avec la vertu, on ne l’accordera peut-être pas avec la belle réputation. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XX, pp. 152-154.) […] even with only the disorder of your clothing, the confusion of your hair, the perspiration of your brow, the redness of your face, the weariness that you will be left with, you will always have not only a pretext, but a good reason not to participate. I would add as well that one cannot make a favourable judgement of the temperament of a woman who allows herself to be carried away. These different postures of the body, these movements so contrary to modesty and this abandonment of proper attire have nothing to do with the purity of the life you have embraced. And though all this may be compatible with virtue, they may not be seen as being harmonious with a good reputation. Moreover, the wearing of a mask by a woman at a ball is strictly forbidden, as it communicates that she is concealing herself in order to be able to compromise her virtue in the safety of anonymity: Que ne peut-on raisonnablement présumer d’une femme lorsque n’étant pas contente de se cacher dans les ténèbres, elle n’oublie rien pour être inconnue, parmi des hommes qui perdent sous le masque tout le reste de la pudeur, et qui s’imaginent souvent que les femmes ne s’empêchent pas tant de faillir par vertu que par la crainte 40 Ibid., section XX, p. 148. <?page no="134"?> 134 d’être vues. […] Et je sais bien que quand une femme serait incapable de faire du mal, on ne croira jamais que les hommes soient capables de se renfermer dans les termes de la modestie ; la vertu de celle-là peut bien être assez forte pour vaincre tout, mais il est malaisé que l’honnêteté de ceux-ci soit assez grande pour ne la pas obliger à la résistance ; et quiconque les en pourra soupçonner, n’aura pas d’une femme toute l’opinion à laquelle vous aspirez. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XX, pp. 156-157.) What cannot be reasonably presumed of a woman when, not being content to hide herself in darkness, she neglects nothing in order to be unrecognized, among men who lose behind their masks all that remains of propriety and who often imagine that women prevent themselves from lapsing not so much out of virtue but out of the fear of being seen. […] And I know well that should a woman be incapable of doing wrong, one will never believe that the men would be capable of containing themselves in terms of modesty. The virtue of the former may well be strong enough to conquer all, but it is difficult for the honesty of the latter to be so great that it would not put that virtue to the test; and whoever will be able to suspect them of this will not have of a woman all the opinion to which you aspire. Once again, it is the responsibility of the female not to place herself in situations where she may be trapped by the male or where she may be suspected by society of immoral intentions. The underlying message is that modesty and decency in males is, by nature, limited in their ability to overcome the instinct of seducing females, who are seen by men as desirous of this behaviour. Women, on the other hand, must take control of the situation and of themselves. If they fail to protect their virtue, the blame lies primarily with them. Ariste advises Célimène against hosting balls and masquerades, owing to the difficulties involved in organizing such events, as well as to the risks associated with opening one’s home to insolent young men: […] il vous sera difficile de prévoir à tous les inconvénients sans fâcher quelques esprits pointilleux, et sans vous procurer quelque brouillerie ; et quand il n’y aurait que cette licence effrénée des Coureurs, c’est-à-dire, de ces jeunes insolents à qui votre maison doit être ouverte malgré vous : je crains toujours que vous n’en receviez quelque déplaisir. […] Que ne peut-il donc arriver d’un amas confus et tumultueux d’imprudents et de méchants, abandonnés à leur caprice, et quelquefois agités de vin, d’orgueil et de fureur ? (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XX, pp. 145-146.) […] it will be difficult for you to foresee all the inconveniences without angering certain fussy minds and without procuring for yourself some quarrel; and with this unrestrained licentiousness of womanizers, that is these insolent young men to whom your house must be opened in spite of you, I always fear that you would experience <?page no="135"?> 135 some displeasure. […] What cannot happen with a confused and tumultuous group of imprudent and wicked young men, abandoned to their whims, and sometimes agitated by wine, pride and fury? The counsellor encourages Célimène not to hesitate to dress according to the fashion of the day that befits a woman of her social standing and age. He cautions her, however, about inventing new fashions which may be considered indecent and which, in the eyes of others, will communicate a certain belief in debauchery and in coquetry: Les excellents Philosophes ont dit que les vertus et les vices sont les habillements de l’âme, c’est-à-dire que c’est par là qu’elle se fait connaître ; et j’estime aussi que c’est par les habillements que nous connaissons quelles sont les dispositions naturelles du corps ; s’ils sont modestes, ils nous apprennent la modestie de tous les sens ; et s’ils ont quelque marque de licence malhonnête, ils sont comme les interprètes d’un emportement de désir, ou pour le moins d’inclinations qui ne sont pas tout à fait louables. Aussi l’un de nos plus grands Prophètes nourri dans la Cour, et qui savait la cause et les effets des dérèglements qui la font blâmer, condamne toute la vie des femmes de Jérusalem, en condamnant l’impudence et le désordre de leurs habillements. (Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, section XXI, pp. 161-162.) The excellent philosophers have said that virtues and vices are the clothing of the soul, that is to say that it is through them that the soul becomes known; and I feel as well that it is through clothing that we know the natural dispositions of the body. If they are modest, they communicate to us modesty in all its senses; and if they have certain marks of dishonest license, they are like the interpreters of a passionate desire or at least of inclinations that are not altogether praiseworthy. Also, one of our great prophets, raised at court and who knew the causes and effects of the dissoluteness for which it was blamed, condemns the life of the women of Jerusalem by condemning the shamelessness and the disorder of their dress. II Amelonde If Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène may be described as d’Aubignac’s blueprint for the protection of female virtue, his novel Amelonde 41 (1669) may be said to serve as a demonstration of the effectiveness of that model. 41 Abbé d’Aubignac, Amelonde. Histoire de notre temps, où l’on voit qu’une honnête femme est heureuse quand elle suit un conseil sage et vertueux, Paris: B. Loyson, 1669. <?page no="136"?> 136 The novel’s subtitle provides an accurate summary of the theme of the work: Histoire de notre temps, où l’on voit qu’une honnête femme est heureuse quand elle suit un conseil sage et vertueux (History of Our Time, Where One Sees That a Respectable Woman is Happy When She Follows a Wise and Virtuous Counsel). II.1 The Secret Adventures of the Noble Amelonde Two women, Cleomene and Eurimedon, have paid a visit to their friend Bérénice. The topic of conversation turns to the portraits of illustrious women that the hostess has created. Cleomene remarks that among the names of virtuous women in history, that of Amelonde should be added to the list. The ladies then proceed to share their knowledge of the illustrious life of this woman who, in her final years, cloistered herself among the Carmelite nuns following the death of her husband. She is described as “une femme d’honneur, mal traitée de la fortune, et qui malgré toutes ses disgrâces est demeurée invincible à tous les ennemis de sa gloire” 42 (a woman of honour, mistreated by fate, and who, despite all her misfortunes, remained invincible to all the enemies of her glory). Because of her extraordinary physical beauty, the young married Amelonde becomes the object of considerable attention among the male population where she lives. D’Aubignac describes her in very sensual terms, neglecting few aspects of her attractive physique: Amelonde était douée d’une beauté singulière, sa taille bien prise ; ses cheveux était bruns, fort longs, déliés, et en si grande abondance, qu’ils faisaient seuls toutes les tresses de sa coiffure et les autres ornements de sa tête ; ses yeux éclataient d’une lumière toujours brillante au milieu de la douceur et de la fierté ; et sa bouche était d’un feu paisible et qui ne devenait mobile qu’en faveur des perles qu’elle y tenait renfermées, et des charmantes paroles qu’elle en faisait sortir ; son teint était vif, délicat et poli, mêlé d’un vermeil imperceptible ; et sa gorge comme un air serein qui met en vue toutes ses beautés sensibles à la nature. (Amelonde, pp. 19-20.) Amelonde was endowed with a singular beauty, her figure well formed; her hair was brown, very long, flowing, and in such abundance that the strands themselves formed the braids of her hairstyle and the other ornaments of her head; her eyes shone with an always brilliant light in the midst of softness and pride; and her mouth was of a gentle 42 Ibid., p. 12. <?page no="137"?> 137 fire which moved only in favour of pearls, which were contained within, and of charming words, which she released; her complexion was vibrant, delicate and polished, mixed with an imperceptible rosiness; and her bosom was like a serene air which made visible all her natural beauty. The young Amelonde is befriended by Cleandre, the brother of one of our female narrators. Although the gentleman is described as being completely virtuous and respectable, and despite the fact that Amelonde takes great pleasure in his company, the heroine makes it very clear to him that she is interested only in amitié (friendship): Mais comme elle avait souvent ouï dire que les hommes ne donnent point de frein à leurs sentiments déréglés, qu’ils présument tout de leur audace, et qu’ils tirent toujours avantage des civilités qu’ils prennent toujours pour des faveurs avancées, elle résolut d’établir un commerce d’amitié avec Cleandre ou de rompre de bonne heure avec lui, pour l’empêcher de rien entreprendre, ni de rien dire qui pût jamais la fâcher. (Amelonde, pp. 29-30.) But as she had often heard that men do not curb their dissolute feelings, that they overestimate everything because of their audacity, and that they always take advantage of civilites which they always take for advanced favours, she resolved to establish a relationship of friendship with Cleandre or to cut off all ties with him early in order to prevent him from undertaking or saying anything which could ever anger her. Amelonde has therefore followed d’Aubignac’s advice to Célimène not to trust the intentions of any man, regardless of his virtuous reputation. Because of his very nature, the male will always think about seducing the beautiful female. Amelonde is justified in mistrusting the young gentleman, for although he is an honnête homme (respectable gentleman), Cleandre admits that he finds the young lady very attractive and that he cannot guarantee that his virtue will not succumb to temptation in the future: Je sais bien ce que je sens maintenant pour vous, et que rien ne vous peut fâcher ; mais je ne sais ce que je pourrai sentir, car ma vertu n’a jamais été mise à l’épreuve d’une personne aussi parfaite que vous. (Amelonde, p. 53.) I know well what I feel for you now, and that there is nothing there to anger you; but I do not know what I might feel in the future, as my virtue has never been put to the test by a person as perfect as you are. <?page no="138"?> 138 Amelonde’s response makes use of the same language of victimhood employed by Ariste in his advice to Célimène: La proposition que je vous fais n’est pas nouvelle, mais quand c’est un homme qui l’a faite dans les premières dispositions de sa complaisance pour quelque femme, ce n’est ordinairement qu’un ouvrage de dissimulation : c’est un piège qu’il tend à l’innocence de celle qu’il feint d’honorer, il croit qu’en le souffrant sous le nom d’ami, elle le reçoit pour amant, et qu’en s’engageant elle-même d’avoir de l’amitié pour lui, elle s’engage insensiblement à l’amour ; que ce premier sentiment n’est qu’une ouverture de cœur pour y laisser entrer le second, et que sous le voile d’une honnête conversation, il trouvera plus de liberté pour l’exécution de ses injustes pensées. (Amelonde, pp. 54-56.) The proposition that I make to you is not new, but when it is a man who makes it in his first approach of kindness towards a woman, it is ordinarily only a work of dissimulation. It is a trap that he sets for the innocence of the woman whom he feigns to honour. He believes that by putting up with him under the name of friendship, she receives him as a lover, and that by committing herself on her own to have friendship for him, she engages herself imperceptibly in love, that this first sentiment is only an opening of the heart in order to allow entry for the second, and that under the veil of a respectable conversation, he will find more liberty for the execution of his illegitimate thoughts. Cleandre hesitatingly agrees to treat the young woman like a sister, and remains faithful to his word throughout the narration. He is, therefore, one of those rare men, of which d’Aubignac speaks in Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, whom young women can trust for a genuine friendship. Ariste’s advice to Célimène about communicating clear limits to male friends has therefore been implemented successfully by Amelonde. The heroine’s experiences with her other gentlemen admirers in the novel, however, are far less positive. After assisting Amelonde following a stumble near the temple, a prince named Uxeride visits her on several occasions, with the expectation that she will return his kind deed with affection. On one occasion, he removes an expensive ring from his finger and presents it to Amelonde. The heroine refuses the gift and manages not to fall into the prince’s trap. Perturbed, Uxeride asks her if she will be among “ces Idiotes qui ne font rien que par l’avis de leur mère ou de leur mari” 43 (these idiots who do nothing without the advice of their mothers 43 Ibid., p. 80. <?page no="139"?> 139 or their husbands). The relationship temporarily ends there. Amelonde has successfully followed Ariste’s advice not to accept gifts from men. In this section of the novel, we realize that d’Aubignac makes his presence known in the character of Cleandre. After the heroine has related her experiences with the prince to him, Cleandre offers advice that could easily have come from the mouth of Ariste. He tells Amelonde that amorous advances from princes are always dangerous for women of lower status. As they exercise considerable power, these men are in a position to ruin the reputation of anyone who irritates them. Cleandre’s advice to Amelonde is to use all her skill in order to avoid the prince’s company in the future: […] j’estime que vous devez éviter la compagnie d’Uxeride autant que vous le pourrez et par adresse lui ôter tous les moyens de vous parler en secret : Il faut feindre que vous êtes indisposée ; que vous êtes dans une affaire de famille ou dans quelque embarras de ménage ; que vous êtes pressée de sortir pour quelque service indispensable de quelqu’une de vos amies : Il ne faut jamais s’enquérir de l’état de sa santé, ni de la cause de son chagrin ; il faut toujours faire l’ignorante aux choses qu’il ne dira pas clairement, faire la sourde ou répondre à contresens quand il s’expliquera. (Amelonde, pp. 86-87.) […] I feel that you should avoid Uxeride’s company as much as you can, and with skill remove from him all the means to speak with you alone. You must pretend that you are indisposed, that you must attend to a family affair or to some household matter, that you are in a hurry to leave for some indispensable service that you must render to one of your female friends. You must never inquire about the state of his health, nor the cause of his distress. You must always feign ignorance to things that he will not say clearly, to be deaf or to respond the wrong way when he explains himself. The worldly d’Aubignac thus advises that a woman in Amelonde’s situation must always walk a fine line between rejecting advances from a powerful prince and offending his honour. While she must be clear and resolute in her refusal, the woman must always be respectful: […] employez-y la fermeté du cœur, sans emportement de geste ni de voix; ne vous opposez pas au désordre par un autre ; soyez rigide en vos raisonnements sans y mêler aucun terme injurieux […]. Enfin gouvernez-vous en sorte qu’il n’ait pas sujet de se plaindre de vous, mais ne souffrez rien en lui qui vous puisse faire plaindre des autres. Assurez-vous que plus vous le traiterez mal avec prudence, plus il vous honorera. (Amelonde, pp. 88-89.) <?page no="140"?> 140 […] use firmness of heart without anger of gesture or voice. Do not oppose yourself to a disorder by using another in its place. Be firm in your reasoning without adding any injurious terms […]. Finally, govern yourself in such a way that he will have no cause to complain about you, but do not suffer anything in him that can make others grumble about you. Be assured that the more you treat him badly with prudence, the more he will honour you. Amelonde follows Cleandre’s advice. When she receives a letter and a gift of two diamond earrings from Uxeride via a page, she immediately returns the gift and answers the prince in writing, using firm but respectful language. Successive attempts by Uxeride to visit Amelonde are met with avoidance strategies on the part of the young woman. When the heroine and her husband move to the country for financial reasons, the prince gives up the hunt, sending Amelonde a sonnet that says he will forget her. 44 Amelonde’s move to the country does not put an end to her troubles with male admirers. However, the strategies that she employs are effective in discouraging the persistent suitors. A man named Adolf declares his love to her by letter and in person, sentiments that are promptly rejected by the young married woman. When two of Amelonde’s horses die, Adolf offers to give her two replacement animals, a gift that is not accepted. As financial matters do not improve for Amelonde and her husband in the country, the couple return to Brussels. There, the heroine encounters Senator Esby, a judge who becomes very interested in the young woman. He visits her frequently, believing that “en nous montrant souvent à une personne que nous aimons, on l’accoutume à nous souffrir” 45 (in showing ourselves often to a person whom we love, we accustom her to bear with us). Amelonde successfully discourages the visits, and Senator Esby resolves not to think about the young beauty any longer. Amelonde’s troubles are not restricted to members of the male sex. In Brussels, she is befriended by a woman named Servilie who promptly becomes jealous of all the attention Amelonde is receiving: Elle voyait tous les respects et toutes les gentillesses des compagnies s’adresser à cette rivale, chacun se pressait pour l’approcher ou pour l’entretenir ; c’était toujours elle qui faisait la règle des divertissements, et les autres n’avaient pas crédit où cette 44 Ibid., pp. 107-108. 45 Ibid., p. 131. <?page no="141"?> 141 belle régnait. Servilie ne le put souffrir et sa rage la porta jusqu’à se venger contre Amelonde […]. (Amelonde, pp. 139-140.) She saw all the acts of respect and kindness from others that were being directed to this rival; everyone rushed to approach her or to speak with her; it was always she who was the centre of attention, and the others had no merit where this beauty reigned. Servilie could not put up with this, and her rage led her to seek revenge against Amelonde […]. Servilie spreads gossip about Amelonde, letting gentlemen acquaintances know about the young woman’s financial problems and hinting that her friend would be very appreciative of any attention they could provide. As a result, Count Sigismond visits Amelonde and makes arrangements to have gifts delivered to her. Our heroine rejects both the gentleman and his gifts in no uncertain terms, informing the messenger to tell the count “qu’il est un méchant, un traître, un détestable et que je ne le veux jamais voir non plus que vous” 46 (that he is a wicked person, a traitor, a detestable person, and that I do not wish to see him or you ever again). When Servilie hears that her revenge plot has been unsuccessful, she promptly puts another plan into action. This time, it is a young nobleman named Cleonorre who takes the bait, believing that Amelonde is desirous of male attention. After several visits, he writes to the young woman, declaring his love. Amelonde immediately shows the letter to her husband Aradin, then returns it to the page who had delivered it: […] vous assurerez votre maître […], page, que j’ai reçu son billet comme je devais ; mais il ne faut pas qu’il se donne la peine d’en envoyer d’autres, car puisqu’Aradin ne veut pas lui faire réponse, il n’en doit jamais attendre. (Amelonde, p. 163.) […] you will assure your master […], page, that I received his note as I should have, but that he must not give himself the trouble of sending any more. As Aradin does not wish to send him a response, he must never expect to receive any. Undeterred, Cleonorre pays a visit to Amelonde in order to once more plead his case, but he is met with such firmness from the young woman that he finally gives up the chase. Cleonorre’s lack of success inspires one of his acquaintances to try his hand at the game. A vice-admiral named Hermadel, who is an associate of Amelonde’s husband, at first professes only friendship for the young woman, but soon reveals his true colours. 46 Ibid., p. 152. <?page no="142"?> 142 Amelonde’s strategy is to make fun of Hermadel’s words, a response which angers the vice-admiral. He nevertheless does not give up the hunt, visiting the young woman following a naval voyage and offering her a gift of pearls. Amelonde refuses the jewellery and finally exasperates Hermadel with her continued use of sarcasm and other avoidance strategies. Amelonde’s jealous lady friend makes another attempt to embroil her rival in scandal, encouraging a military man, Colonel Ernesti, to attempt a conquest. The officer sends flowers and perfume to the young beauty. He even sings to her. Amelonde’s cold reaction eventually discourages Ernesti from continuing the pursuit. True to Ariste’s advice, our heroine uses effective strategies to safeguard her virtuous reputation. Amelonde receives amourous attention from two other males in the neighbourhood. A nobleman named Teorid and a count named Vadelian become acquainted with the heroine. The former turns out to be “un véritable homme d’honneur” 47 (a true gentleman of honour), and although he is attracted to Amelonde, “il la voyait toujours en de si beaux sentiments, l’esprit si judicieux et le cœur si ferme qu’il en jugeait la conquête non seulement difficile, mais impossible” 48 (he always saw in her such beautiful feelings, such a judicious mind and a heart so firm that he deemed a conquest to be not only difficult, but impossible). Like Cleandre, the young nobleman is one of those rare men to whom Ariste refers in his advice to Célimène, one who despite his natural inclinations is able to develop true friendship with a woman without trying to seduce her: Il sentait […] que sa beauté lui donnait de l’amour pour sa vertu, et que sa vertu lui donnait de l’amour pour sa beauté, et que sa vertu lui donnait du respect pour sa beauté. Il se résolut donc de la voir, de l’honorer et de la servir, et de ne rompre jamais une société qu’il estimait douce et glorieuse. (Amelonde, p. 261.) He felt […] that her beauty gave him love for her virtue, and that her virtue gave him love for her beauty, and that her virtue gave him respect for her beauty. He resolved therefore to see her, to honour her and to serve her, and to never break off an association which he believed to be sweet and glorious. 47 Ibid., p. 260. 48 Ibid. <?page no="143"?> 143 The same cannot be said regarding count Vadelian who is described as someone who “n’avait jamais fait de société louable avec aucune Dame qu’il visita parce qu’il s’était donné par sa mauvaise conduite la réputation d’être peu respectueux” 49 (never had any laudable association with any lady whom he visited because he had earned for himself, through his bad conduct, the reputation of not being very respectful). The jealous Servilie seizes yet another opportunity to try to compromise Amelonde’s virtue, convincing the count of the young beauty’s desire for companionship. In a drunken state, Vadelian visits our heroine, utters words of tenderness to her and finally throws a purse full of gold coins in her direction, asserting: […] c’est trop longtemps d’être malheureuse, Madame, recevez ces arrhes de ma libéralité qui vous assureront que je vous veux empêcher de l’être davantage ; mais aussi ne permettez pas que je sois malheureux, et souffrez que je reçoive des marques de votre reconnaissance. (Amelonde, p. 266.) […] you have been unhappy for too long, Madam. Receive this deposit from my generosity which will assure you that I wish to prevent you from being so any longer. But also do not permit me to be unhappy, and grant that I receive from you signs of your gratitude. Before Amelonde can respond, the count kisses her hand and even attempts to touch her breasts, whereupon the young woman communicates her outrage in no uncertain terms: Impudent, […] où vous ai-je donné sujet d’entreprendre de me faire cette injure ? […] Il paraît bien maintenant que vous vous êtes toujours contrefait, et que l’on a raison de vous tenir pour un homme sans honneur ; traître, infâme, et digne d’être accablé sous la main de quelque valet. […] Que les femmes sont malheureuses de n’avoir pas le droit de prendre les armes pour se venger ! J’en aurais bien la force, mais nous sommes réduites à la nécessité de souffrir, et de ne pas éclater d’un outrage qui n’a que notre honneur pour témoin. (Amelonde, pp. 267-269.) Impudent person, […] when have I ever given you cause to undertake to insult me in this manner? […] It well appears now that you have always disguised yourself, and that one is right to regard you as a man without honour, treacherous, vile and worthy of being beaten at the hands of some servant. […] How unfortunate women are not to have the right to carry arms in order to avenge themselves! I would well have the strength to do so, but we are reduced to the necessity to suffer, and not to explode with rage from an insult which has only our honour as a witness. 49 Ibid., p. 262. <?page no="144"?> 144 Although the count departs, he returns on two occasions prior to leaving for a military expedition, unsuccessfully attempting to obtain Amelonde’s forgiveness. We learn that several days later he is killed in a duel with a fellow soldier, an event which does not seem to displease our heroine. The narration ends with the news of the death of Cleandre, Amelonde’s trusted male friend. The other true man of honour in her life, Teorid, is sent to the German army. Amelonde becomes a widow and retreats to a life of solitude with the Carmelite nuns. The three female narrators of d’Aubignac’s novel express great admiration for the heroine who, despite her beauty and her youth, did not succumb to the temptations that appeared before her: Elle fut jeune et généreuse ; persécutée et jamais abattue. Pour moi, j’admire qu’elle ait pu mépriser le soulagement de ses besoins les plus pressants parmi les apparences de la grandeur ; qu’elle n’ait point été séduite par les artifices de la corruption, ni tentée par l’utilité des présents, ni trompée par les grâces du corps, ni flattée par les charmes de l’esprit, ni renversée par des pratiques ingénieuses et violentes soutenues des forces de la libéralité. […] parmi tant d’ennemis, les uns armés d’amour et les autres de haine et d’envie, Amelonde est demeurée insensible à ceux qui cherchaient à lui plaire et invincible à ceux qui ne travaillaient qu’à la perdre. (Amelonde, pp. 286- 287.) She was young and generous, persecuted and never defeated. As for me, I admire that she was able to scorn the relief of her most pressing needs among the appearances of grandeur; that she was not seduced by the trickery of corruption, nor tempted by the utility of gifts, nor tricked by the graces of the body, nor flattered by the charms of the mind, nor upended by the ingenious and violent practices sustained by the forces of liberality. […] amidst so many enemies, the ones armed with love and the others armed with hate and envy, Amelonde remained unmoved to those who sought to please her and invincible to those who worked to see her lost. II.2 A Not-So-Happy Life Despite the subtitle of d’Aubignac’s novel, one does not sense that Amelonde has led a happy life. Her marital status does not prevent a number of male suitors from trying to have sexual relationships with her. One might very well inquire as to the whereabouts of her husband when all these incidents are taking place. When Aradin is eventually shown one of the love letters, he advises his wife that it is her responsibility to <?page no="145"?> 145 respond, as the matter only concerns her. Amelonde spends considerable energy protecting her virtue by avoiding the presence of certain individuals, deflecting unwanted attention, refusing gifts, telling male scoundrels off and eventually cloistering herself away from the world. She puts into action all the advice found in Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène. As we saw in d’Aubignac’s instructional manual, it is the responsibility of the female to be constantly on her guard in order to avoid falling into the traps set by the unscrupulous and relentless male hunter. She must also be wary of jealous and spiteful females who will plot to either lead her astray or to victimize her at the hands of others. Although Amelonde is able to have a genuine friendship with two men of honour, it is she who initiates this arrangement, clearly communicating the acceptable rules of engagement with two males who would otherwise have been only too willing to interact with her outside of those boundaries. The heroine also heeds Ariste’s advice about monitoring her own feelings in her interactions with such attractive men of honour. One of the female narrators, the hostess Berenice, opines that a respectable man puts women less on their guard than does a dishonourable one, hence the need for constant vigilance on the part of the female even with les honnêtes hommes (respectable men): Un honnête homme est plus capable de se faire aimer, comme il est plus digne d’être aimé. […] On chérit le vase qui contient quelque précieuse liqueur, et l’on ne peut pas mépriser un corps où demeure une belle âme. […] un honnête homme agit toujours avec tant de lumière et de douceur, qu’il attire inévitablement sur lui notre estime ; et comme il ne fait ses actions que par l’entremise des sens, il fait insensiblement descendre notre complaisance de la vertu sur la personne ; au lieu qu’un vicieux ne fait rien qu’avec désordre, emportement et turbulence, et sa manière d’agir effarouche notre imagination, et nous empêche de trouver en sa personne aucun charme digne de nous arrêter. (Amelonde, pp. 229-230, 236-237.) A respectable man is more capable of having himself loved, as he is more worthy to be loved. […] One cherishes the vase that contains some precious liqueur, and one cannot scorn a body where lives a beautiful soul. […] a respectable man always acts with so much light and sweetness that he inevitably attracts to himself our esteem; and as he acts only by means of the senses, he imperceptibly transfers our delight of virtue to the person, whereas a depraved man does everything with licentiousness, passion and unruliness, and his behaviour frightens our imagination and prevents us from finding in him any charm worthy of engaging us. <?page no="146"?> 146 Her visitor Cleomene asserts that it is still preferable for women to associate themselves with honorable men rather than those of the depraved variety, and that a truly virtuous woman will not allow herself to transfer her admiration for the quality of a man’s character to her interest in the graces of his body. Furthermore, Cleomene states that the actions of a depraved man may in fact have a much more seductive effect on a woman: Ce n’est point la vertu qui regarde ces mauvaises idées ; elle les condamne, et jamais l’esprit ne les envisage tandis qu’il écoute sa voix, et qu’il s’oppose aux mouvements de la corruption. Mais cette impétuosité qui suit toutes les actions d’un vicieux nous imprime fortement dans la fantaisie sa personne, et tout ce qu’il peut avoir agréable ; les images en sont vives comme elles sont violentes ; quand on le veut haïr on court fortune de l’aimer, et on ne saurait presque jamais couvrir ce qu’il a de bon d’une assez mauvaise teinture pour détester sa personne autant que sa vie. (Amelonde, pp. 238-239.) It is not virtue that looks at these bad thoughts; it condemns them, and the mind never considers them as long as it listens to its voice and opposes itself to the movements of corruption. But this impetuosity that follows all the actions of a depraved man strongly imprints his person in our fantasy, as well as everything agreeable that he may have. The images are as vibrant as they are violent; when one wants to hate him, one runs the risk of loving him, and one will almost never be able to cover the good in him with enough bad colour to detest his person as much as his life. The debate, therefore, covers all aspects of men’s seductive effects on women. Regardless of a male’s reputation for being either un honnête homme (a respectable man) or un vicieux (a depraved man), there is always some aspect of the nature of the female which is vulnerable to his charm. D’Aubignac’s message to women is clear: men’s nature being what it is, you must always be in a state of hypervigilance in order to safeguard your virtue and your good name. <?page no="147"?> 5 The Coquettes In 1654, d’Aubignac published his novel Histoire du temps, ou Relation du royaume de Coquetterie 1 (History of Time, or Account of the Kingdom of Coquetry), a work that Madeleine de Scudéry claimed to be a plagiary of her allegorical Carte de Tendre (Map of Tenderness) 2 which had been circulating in manuscript form. The abbé denied the accusation, meticulously pointing out the geographic, literary and moral differences between the two creations in his Lettre d’Ariste à Cléonte (Letter from Ariste to Cléonte). 3 Livet is convinced that d’Aubignac’s work was not a plagiarism of Scudéry’s map. 4 This opinion is shared by Arnaud: 1 Abbé d’Aubignac, Histoire du temps, ou Relation du royaume de Coquetterie, extraite du dernier voyage des Hollandais aux Indes du Levant (History of Time, or Account of the Kingdom of Coquetry, Taken from the Last Voyage of the Dutch to the East Indies), Paris: Charles Sercy, 1654. 2 The Carte is a map of a fictitious land called Tendre (Tenderness), depicting the path towards love, as well as potential dead-ends. Among the many place names, one finds Nouvelle Amitié (New Friendship), Tendresse (Tenderness), Sincérité (Sincerity), Lac d’Indifférence (Lake of Indifference) and La Mer Dangeureuse (The Dangerous Ocean). The map appeared in the first part of Scudéry’s ten-volume novel Clélie (1654-1660). Cf. Edme Jacques Benoît Rathéry, Mademoiselle de Scudéry, sa vie et sa correspondence, avec un choix de ses poésies, Paris: L. Techener, 1873. 3 In this letter, d’Aubignac affirms that he had told Madeleine de Scudéry about his work when she had first shown him her Carte de Tendre (Lettre d’Ariste à Cléonte, Paris: D. Langlois, 1659, p. 6). Boscheron believes that d’Aubignac was innocent of the charge of plagiarism: “Rien n’était plus véritable et quoique Mademoiselle de Scudéry ait prétendu que le Royaume de Coquetterie n’était qu’une Copie de la Carte de Tendre, il est certain que Furetière n’aurait pas donné le pas à l’Ouvrage de l’Abbé d’Aubignac, sur celui de cette Demoiselle, s’il n’eut été bien instruit que celui de cet Abbé avait couru en Manuscrit longtemps auparavant” (Boscheron, vol. I, p. 297). (Nothing was further from the truth, and although Mademoiselle de Scudéry claimed that the Royaume de Coquetterie was only a copy of the Carte de Tendre, it is certain that Furetière would not have given priority to abbé d’Aubignac’s work over that of <?page no="148"?> 148 La défense me paraît suffisante. « A mes yeux, » dit aussi M. Livet, « le cas n’est pas douteux. » Il ne le sera pas non plus pour quiconque se souviendra des antécédents de d’Aubignac, des tableaux énigmatiques, de la Foire d’Amour, etc., etc., et, surtout, de ce roman de Macarise commencé déjà depuis longtemps, en 1654, et où « tout est allégorique jusqu’aux points et aux virgules, » disait un contemporain. L’auteur du Royaume de Coquetterie n’est pas un plagiaire ; ce n’est même pas un imitateur, c’est un semblable. 5 The defense seems to me to be sufficient. “In my opinion”, says Livet as well, “the case is not in doubt.” Nor will it be for anyone who remembers the previous history of d’Aubignac, the enigmatic images, the Foire d’Amour, etc., etc. and, especially, this novel Macarise begun much earlier, in 1654, and where “everything is allegorical, up to the full stops and the commas”, said a contemporary. The author of the Royaume de Coquetterie is not a plagiarist. He is not even an imitator; he is a likeness. D’Aubignac’s short novel is a satirical and allegorical depiction of the lifestyle of those with whom he himself had associated over the years. The fictional work is devoid of a real plot, essentially providing only a description of an isolated island and of the characteristics and practices of its inhabitants. The superficial nature of the men and women in d’Aubignac’s fictitious country is, of course, to be expected. This is, after all, the kingdom of Coquetry where vanity prevails. D’Aubignac’s novel is not entirely condemning, however. While pointing out the superficiality of the world of coquetry, the author does not use an accusatory tone, but rather employs humour to poke fun at a world he knows all too well. Even the literary salons of the period do not escape his satire: L’air en est si sain, qu’on n’y voit jamais de grandes maladies, et pour peu qu’une Coquette ait le teint mauvais ou quelque rougeur apparente, elle s’en plaint à tout le monde comme d’un outrage que la Nature fait à l’Amour. Ce n’est pas qu’il soit défendu d’y garder le lit, pourvu que ce soit pour tenir ruelle plus à son aise, diversifier son jeu, ou d’autres intérêts que l’expérience seule peut apprendre. (Histoire du temps, pp. 5-6.) The air is so healthy that one never sees any great illnesses, and if one of the Coquettes has a bad complexion or some apparent redness, she complains to everyone as if it were an outrage that nature inflicted on love. It is not forbidden to stay in bed, this young lady, if he were not well informed that the work of this abbé had been circulating in manuscript form a long time beforehand.) 4 Livet, p. 172. 5 Arnaud, p. 75n. <?page no="149"?> 149 provided it is for the purpose of holding a salon more comfortably, of diversifying one’s game or other interests that experience alone can teach. As Arnaud points out, the work is intended to amuse those who are being satirized, and is to be enjoyed within the very walls of the literary salons that are themselves the object of satire: Cette relation est en effet le tableau de la vie mondaine par un mondain qui la pratique, mais qui la juge, une satire peu méchante, moins propre à châtier des coupables qu’à les faire sourire, mais à leur dépens ; c’est un sermon pour alcôve, enveloppé et enguirlandé d’allégories et d’amabilité. 6 Et c’est la grâce que je vous souhaite ! devait ajouter, en souriant, l’abbé d’Aubignac lisant son œuvre dans une assemblée de coquettes et finissant par ce dernier trait sa satire et son sermon. Les auditrices devaient sourire aussi et trouver en somme bon prêtre ce prêtre galant et coquet, qui savait leur dire la vérité tout en l’embellissant, osait leur parler de repentir au sein même de leur plus mondains badinages […]. L’abbé d’Aubignac, en ces années d’aimable maturité, avant l’aigreur et la « bile » de sa vieillesse, devait être un directeur recherché, du moins pour les Précieuses. Il avait assez d’agrément pour les attirer, assez de vertu pour les rassurer, et […] assez de bon sens pour leur être utile. 7 This account is in effect a portrait of society life written by a socialite who practises it, but who judges it, a not very malicious satire, less suitable for chastising the guilty than to make them smile, but at their expense; this is a sermon for the alcove, enveloped and decorated with allegory and kindness. “And it is grace that I wish for you”, abbé d’Aubignac would have added while smiling, reading his work in an assembly of coquettes and finishing his satire and sermon with this last stroke. The female audience would have smiled also and would have found, all in all, a good priest in this gallant and coquettish man of the cloth, who knew how to tell them the truth while embellishing it, who dared to speak to them of repentance in the heart of their most mundane banter […]. Abbé d’Aubignac, in his years of amiable maturity, before the bitterness and the “bile” of his old age, would have been a sought-after counsellor, at least for the précieuses. He had enough charm to attract them, enough virtue to reassure them and […] enough good sense to be useful to them. The preface of the novel emphasizes the approach used by d’Aubignac in his criticism of the world of coquetry. The abbé seeks to point out the superficiality of this society, while all the while entertaining his public, 6 Ibid., p. 76. 7 Ibid., pp. 77-78. <?page no="150"?> 150 combining “la solidité de la morale avec les agréments de cette invention” 8 (the soundness of morality with the pleasantness of this fiction). Although d’Aubignac’s novel was not a huge success by any stretch of the imagination, it did attract some attention during the abbé’s lifetime, owing primarily to the quarrel with Madeleine de Scudéry. Three editions of the work were published in the seventeenth century and one edition in the century that followed. 9 I Coquetry Before examining d’Aubignac’s novel, the term coquetterie must be defined. The word entered the French language in the seventeenth century and derives from the adjective coquet/ coquette, which is a diminutive of coq, meaning cock or rooster. The noun coquetterie is defined in the Dictionnaire de l’Académie française (Dictionary of the French Academy) of 1694 as “afféterie d’une personne qui est coquette” 10 (affectation of a person who is coquettish). This same dictionary defines the adjective coquet as “galant, qui fait le galant, qui affecte de donner de l’amour” 11 (gallant, who acts gallantly, who affects to offer love). Associated with the definition of coquetry is the concept of narcissism. The objective is to attract attention to oneself and to be viewed as desirable. Shelley King and Yaël Schlick point out that insights into the meaning of coquetry in seventeenth-century France can be found in the writings of François de La Rochefoucauld: 8 D’Aubignac, Histoire du temps, “Le Libraire au lecteur”. 9 In addition to the original publication of 1654, a revised edition of the work appeared the following year: Nouvelle histoire du temps, ou la Relation véritable du royaume de la Coquetterie, Paris: N. Le Ché, 1655. The third edition of the novel, published four years later, contained d’Aubignac’s Lettre d’Ariste à Cléonte (Paris, D. Langlois, 1659). In the eighteenth century, the work appeared in volume XII of Bibliothèque de campagne, ou Amusements de l’esprit et du cœur, ed. Marie-Christine Pioffet, La Haye: J. Néaulme, 1742; reprint, 1752. 10 Le Dictionnaire de l’Académie française, 2 volumes, Paris: Jean-Baptiste Coignard, 1694, vol. I, p. 246. 11 Ibid. <?page no="151"?> 151 La Rochefoucauld’s Réflexions: ou sentences et maximes morales (1665) […] provides perhaps the most concise - and familiar - definition of the coquette: “Coquets are those who studiously excite the passion of love, without meaning to gratify it”. […] The only reliable “cure” for coquetry offered by La Rochefoucauld is love: “Envy is destroyed by true friendship, as coquetry is by true love”, or similarly, “The greatest miracle of love is the reformation of a coquet”. Only true love can break the desire for admiration. The moralization of true sentiment as one that necessitates a singular object for one’s heartfelt attachment points to the emerging culture of sensibility, and perhaps gestures at the specifically narcissistic quality assigned to female coquetry, fixated as it is on oneself rather than on a beloved other. 12 An important point to be made here is that coquetry is a behaviour that is practised by men as well as women. The definition of coquet provided by La Rochefoucauld applies perfectly to d’Aubignac’s Ariste in Le Roman des lettres. As we saw in chapter 3 of our book, his entire modus operandi is to have women fall in love with him, but without the intention of consummating that love or desire. One of the principal weapons of the coquet or the coquette is words, and this is certainly the case with Ariste. Although La Rochefoucauld believes that coquetry is common to both men and women, he associates it primarily with the female sex: [He] asserts that coquetry is a behaviour common to both sexes. Nevertheless, the balance of La Rochefoucauld’s references indicates that he regards coquetry as an innate characteristic of the female sex: “All women are Coquets, though they do not practise coquetry. Some are restrained by fear, some by reason”. He goes on to argue, however, that even this conscious restraint cannot fully control behaviour, because “women are not aware of the extent of their coquetry”; even those who successfully discipline the tendency remain implicated in it, for “To boast that we never coquet, is itself a sort of coquetry”. 13 The seventeenth-century French philosopher and moralist Jean de La Bruyère also identifies this behaviour with women, as King and Schlick indicate: The Rochefoucauldian critique of the narcissism associated with the coquette and the valorization of feminine sentiment connected to sexual behavior is extended and confirmed later in the century. Jean de La Bruyère in his Les caractères de 12 Shelley King and Yaël Schlick, “Refiguring the Coquette”, in Refiguring the Coquette: Essays on Culture and Coquetry, ed. Shelley King and Yaël Schlick, Cranbury, New Jersey: Associated University Presses, 2008, pp. 17-18. 13 Ibid., p. 18. <?page no="152"?> 152 Théophraste traduits du grec avec Les caractères ou Les mœurs de ce siècle (1688, English edition 1699) […] offers a chapter entitled “Of Women” in which he reflects on women’s sexual character. […] “A Woman of Gallantry is Ambitious of being belov’d; tis enough for a Coquet, that’s she’s thought lovely and desirable. The business of the one is to make an engagement, of the other to make a Conquest. The first passes successively from one Engagement to another, the second has a great many Amusements on her hands at once. Passion and Pleasure are predominant in one, Vanity and Levity in the other.” 14 II The Kingdom of Coquetry D’Aubignac’s novel relates an exploratory sea voyage undertaken by the narrator and other travellers under the captaincy of a man called La Jeunesse (Youth). Because of the strong ocean currents, the ship reaches a previously undiscovered island situated near the Cape of Good Hope. The visitors name the island l’ Î le des Coquets (the Island of the Coquets) due to the great number of cocks and grouses which they encounter upon their arrival. As it turns out, the name is entirely appropriate, as the capital of the island is actually called Coquetterie (Coquetry) by the inhabitants, and the governor is a prince named l’Amour Coquet (Coquettish Love). This young ruler is the brother of Amour (Love), who is the sovereign of all the monarchs. However, he is a bastard brother, a child of nature and of disorder, a usurper. Amour Coquet does not age; he never seeks counsel and, except for the purposes of amusement, does not permit old people to be in the kingdom. 15 The land is governed through self-interest and moral depravity: […] les affaires sont plus mêlées d’intérêt que d’affection, et les dérèglements de la débauche y sont plus approuvés que la conduite de la raison. (Histoire du temps, p. 8.) […] the affairs are mixed more with interest than with affection, and the dissoluteness of debauchery is more favoured than the conduct of reason. At the entrance of the capital city is a square named Cajolerie (Cajolery), rendered spacious by the ruins of an old Temple de la Pudeur (Temple of Propriety). Here the shopkeepers give praise freely on a variety of 14 Ibid. 15 D’Aubignac, Histoire du temps, pp. 2-8. <?page no="153"?> 153 subjects, regardless of the truth, and provide insincere professions of friendships, empty vows of loyalty and disinterested assurances of best wishes. The eastern side of the island has two famous castles named Oisiveté (Idleness) and Libertinage (Debauchery), where men are usually obliged to meet with the governors of the country before being permitted to access the royal court. 16 On the western side of the island, there are two country estates called Tête-folle (Foolish Head) and Courte-monnaie (Short of Money), “où plusieurs des Dames qui suivent l’Amour Coquet vont chercher leur attestation de vie et mœurs” 17 (where several of the ladies who follow Coquettish Love go to obtain their certificates of good conduct). The building that serves as the public library for the citizens of the country “est bâtie d’imaginations ridicules et de souhaits rarement accomplis” 18 (is built of ridiculous fancies and wishes that rarely come true). It houses several manuscripts, the most studied of which includes Le Cours de la Bagatelle (The Course of Trifles) in three volumes, entitled L’Adresse des Badins (The Cleverness of Jocular People), L’Introduction des ruelles (Introduction to Literary Salons) and La Conduite des Idiots (The Behaviour of Idiots). Other important manuscripts include the following: Les Observations du Ciel (Observations of the Sky) - written for the purpose of knowing the favourable moment for a lover -, L’Invention (Invention) - teaching how to give little while making great progress -, Les Règles du Cours (The Rules of Court) - a useful book for new arrivals, explaining the necessary gestures, bows and curtseys at court -, Les Infortunés d’une Admirable (The Misfortunes of an Admirable Lady) - relating the story of one to whom sweet nothings were whispered in her ear, but only for the purpose of mockery -, La Déconvenue d’une Embarrassée (The Disappointment of a Confused Lady) - relating the story of a Coquette who could not choose between two Coquets and who decided to keep them both -, Le Contraste de deux Coquettes (The Contrast of Two Coquettes) - dealing with the question of whether it is best to have a discreet lover or a forward one, the matter being decided in favour of the latter - and Le Coup d’État (The Coup d’État), specifying 16 Ibid., pp. 6-8. 17 Ibid., p. 7. 18 Ibid., pp. 47-48. <?page no="154"?> 154 the times and places that are suitable for making secret declarations and the various tones of voice to be used in this important endeavour. 19 The many churches in the kingdom are filled with people who are there not to pray to God, but rather to see, to be seen and to socialize: […] le peuple de cette Île n’a point de véritable Religion ; ce n’est pas qu’il n’y ait beaucoup d’ Églises dans le pays, mais on n’y va point pour y prier Dieu, c’est seulement pour voir ou se faire voir, railler, sourire, cajoler, résoudre les parties, prendre assignation de débauche, et faire servir les lieux saints aux pratiques de l’iniquité ; et d’ordinaire quand ils font en apparence quelque œuvre de piété, ce ne sont que des profanations, et tous leurs sacrifices y deviennent autant de sacrilèges : il est presque inouï jusqu’à présent que les hommes aient embrassé jamais une véritable dévotion ; et quand les femmes s’y réduisent, c’est ordinairement après une aventure incroyable à qui n’y fera point une sérieuse réflexion, pour en reconnaître le sens mystique. (Histoire du temps, pp. 63-65.) […] the people of this island have no true religion; this is not to say that there aren’t many churches in the country, but the people do not go there to pray to God, but only to see or to be seen, to jest, to smile, to cajole, to settle differences, to allocate parts in a game of debauchery and to make use of holy places for the practice of iniquity. And ordinarily, when they make an appearance of an act of piety, it is only desecration, and all their sacrifices become sacrileges. So far, it is very rare for men to have ever embraced a genuine devotion; and when women do so, it is ordinarily after an incredible adventure for which serious reflection is not required in order to recognize its mystical significance. The male inhabitants of the island are categorized into various groups: les Soupirants (the Sighers) who are always dressed in sorrow and in colours of worry, les Enjoués (the Cheerful Ones) who are always dressed in pirouettes and in words of laughter, les Aventuriers (the Adventurers) who are covered in changing taffeta and who run in all sorts of directions, but without going far from the Fort d’Entreprise (Fort of Business), and les Ânes d’Or (the Golden Asses) who are pompously dressed and who spend a great deal of money, but earn very little. In addition, there are also the serious Coquets who speak infrequently except for the purpose of criticizing others, who think highly of themselves, but who are not highly regarded, who think they know what they are ignorant of, who ignore what they should know and who have set themselves up as general reformers of the kingdom of Coquetry without anyone wishing to follow 19 Ibid., pp. 48-53. <?page no="155"?> 155 their orders. 20 The most amusing spectacle is les Cœurs volants (the Flying Hearts), covered with fiery wings, who say sweet words to all the ladies: Dans une même conversation ils volent sur l’épaule d’une Dame, sur la tête d’une autre, et se laissent aisément prendre à la main, ils font hommage aux yeux de celle-ci, aux cheveux de celle-là, ils adorent la bouche de l’une, et la taille de l’autre, ils s’attachent à tout, et ne tiennent à rien, chacun se raille d’eux, et ils en rient, car ces Cœurs volants savent rire aussi bien que parler. (Histoire du temps, pp. 23-24.) In the same conversation, they fly upon the shoulder of a lady, upon the head of another, and allow themselves to be easily taken by the hand. They pay homage to the eyes of this one, to the hair of that one; they adore the mouth of one, the form of the other; they attach themselves to everything and hold on to nothing. Everyone scoffs at them, and they laugh about it, for these Flying Hearts know how to laugh as well as to speak. Although d’Aubignac satirizes the male inhabitants of the island, the primary focus of his attention is the coquettes. It is significant to note that in his Lettre d’Ariste à Cléonte, in which he defends the originality of his novel, d’Aubignac makes reference only to coquettes, and not to their male counterparts: […] dès la première fois qu’elle [Madeleine de Scudéry] me montra son Pays de Tendre, je lui dis que j’avais dès longtemps fait une description de ces femmes extravagantes que l’on nomme Coquettes […]. 21 […] the first time that she [Madeleine de Scudéry] showed me her country of Tenderness, I told her that I had long ago written a description of these extravagant women we call Coquettes […]. The abbé’s description of the various types of women in the allegorical kingdom of his novel is revelatory of his philosophy of the female sex. There are les Admirables (the admirable ones) whose only marvellous quality is their name, les Précieuses (the precious ones) who now give themselves away cheaply, les Ravissantes (the ravishing ones) who pull more at the purse than at the heart, les Mignonnes (the pretty ones) whose minds are as slender as their bodies, les Évaporées (the scatter-brained 20 Ibid., pp. 19-22. 21 D’Aubignac, Lettre d’Ariste à Cléonte, p. 6. <?page no="156"?> 156 ones) who dance everywhere without a violin, who sing without intention, who speak of everything without guarantee of truth and who respond to everything without malice, les Embarrassées (the embarrassed ones) who are of three types: les Barbouillées de blanc (the smeared ones with white), les Barbouillées de rouge (the smeared ones with red) and les Barbouillées de gras (the smeared ones with fat), who fear rain. There are even the saintes nitouches (the saintly ones), women who affect innocence, refusing everything before the world and allowing everything to be taken from them. The most sought-after women at court are les Malassorties (the badly-matched ones), young beauties who, having been condemned to suffer the domination of an old man, of a bore or of a fool, received special permission from the Council of Coquettish Love to leave their homes and do as they pleased. 22 The most cherished of all the ladies at court is la Mode (Fashion) whose advice is the one most generally followed: […] elle est originaire de France, un peu sotte, mais non pas désagréable ; son humeur est bizarre et fort changeante ; elle condamne aisément sans sujet ce qu’elle avait estimé sans raison ; et du caprice d’une Coquette un peu renommée, elle en fait une Loi pour tout le royaume. (Histoire du temps, pp. 34-35.) […] she comes from France, a bit foolish, but not disagreeable; her temperament is strange and very changeable; she easily condemns without cause what she had previously esteemed without reason; and from the whim of a fairly renowned Coquette, she creates a law for the entire kingdom. Although women in the kingdom are not permitted to exercise real political power, la Mode is nonetheless able to assert her influence in many areas of society: […] elle entreprend sur tout, et même sur le langage, au préjudice des droits de l’Académie, de sorte qu’on n’ose plus y rien faire ni rien dire qu’à la Mode. Encore elle est devenue si puissante, qu’elle a dépouillé les Coquets et Coquettes de tout ce qu’ils possédaient pour se l’approprier. Et quand on leur demande, quels cheveux avez-vous ? quels rubans ? quelle coiffure ? ils répondent tous c’est à la Mode. Voire même n’ont-ils plus leurs yeux, leur bouche, ni leurs démarches, tout est à la Mode. Enfin par une obligation générale de n’avoir plus rien à soi, il faut que tout soit à la Mode. (Histoire du temps, pp. 35-37.) 22 D’Aubignac, Histoire du temps, pp. 21-27. <?page no="157"?> 157 […] she embarks upon everything, even upon language, to the detriment of the rights of the Academy, such that one no longer dares do or say anything about it except through Fashion. Indeed, she became so powerful that she has stripped the Coquets and the Coquettes of all their possessions in order to appropriate them for herself. And when they are asked, what hair have you? what ribbons? what hairstyle? , they all answer that they belong to Fashion. Indeed, they no longer have their eyes, their mouths, or even their ways of walking, as everything belongs to Fashion. In short, by general obligation not to possess anything for oneself, everything must be the property of Fashion. D’Aubignac is clearly satirizing the movement known as préciosité (preciosity), a phenomenon that arose in mid-seventeenth-century France out of the conversations and discussions that took place in the literary salons, in particular that of Madame de Rambouillet. In an attempt to distance themselves from the crudeness of ordinary French society, the précieuses focussed their attention on manners, elegance and taste. In language, they created periphrases for vulgar terms, and invented new words and expressions to communicate refinement in feelings and in ideas. 23 A further satire of the salons can be found later in d’Aubignac’s novel. In la Place du Roi (the King’s Square), the island’s most beautiful district, there are a number of splendid buildings where important gatherings of coquetry are held. These structures are “autant de Temples magnifiques consacrés aux nouvelles divinités du pays” 24 (equally magnificent temples consecrated to the new divinities of the country). In each of these buildings, there is always a place that is revered like a sanctuary: […] sur un autel fait à la façon de ces lits sacrés des Dieux du Paganisme on trouve une Dame exposée aux yeux du public, quelquefois belle et toujours parée, quelquefois noble et toujours vaine, quelquefois sage et toujours suffisante, et là viennent à ses pieds les plus illustres de cette Cour pour y brûler leurs encens, offrir leurs vœux, et solliciter sa faveur envers l’Amour Coquet pour en obtenir l’entrée du Palais des bonnes fortunes. (Histoire du temps, pp. 55-56.) 23 Cf. Myriam Maître, Les Précieuses: naissance des femmes de lettres en France au XVIIe siècle, Paris: H. Champion, 1999. Molière’s popular one-act comedy Les Précieuses ridicules (The Ridiculous Précieuses) satirizes the movement. The play was first performed in Paris in 1659. 24 Abbé d’Aubignac, Histoire du temps, p. 54. <?page no="158"?> 158 […] on an altar made in the manner of these sacred beds of the pagan gods, one finds a lady who is visible to the public, sometimes beautiful and always adorned, sometimes noble and always vain, sometimes wise and always smug. And at her feet come the most renowned of this court in order to burn their incense, to offer their best wishes and to solicit her favour towards Coquettish Love so as to gain entry into the Palace of Good Fortunes. The words “ces lits sacrés” (these sacred beds) are a clear reference to the manner in which the salonnières received their guests and presided over their “sacred” gatherings. Ironically, as we stated earlier, d’Aubignac himself was a regular visitor at these assemblies. The most active female among the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Coquetry is an old Italian woman named l’Intrigue (Intrigue): […] elle va toujours masquée, soit pour la difformité de son visage, ou pour se rendre autant qu’elle peut méconnaissable. On ne peut pas dire au vrai comment elle est vêtue, parce qu’elle est souvent déguisée ; tantôt elle s’habille en Princesse, et tantôt en gueuse ; elle prend même quelquefois un froc et de toutes couleurs, ayant ainsi l’entrée libre en des lieux où autrement elle serait suspecte. Quelquefois elle est comme ces vieilles chargées de Chapelets, Médailles, et grains bénis, et souvent elle fait la Vendeuse de point de Gênes, Passements de Flandre, et de toutes sortes de bijoux. Elle marche plus souvent la nuit que le jour, et plutôt en carrosse qu’à pied ; elle ne parle jamais qu’à voix basse, et presque toujours à l’oreille, mais elle ne débite que fourbes, troubles, noises, séparation de corps et biens, et toutes sortes d’ouvrages à cornes. Enfin c’est une dissimulée, malfaisante, envieuse, et la plus méchante femme du monde, qui ne laisse pas néanmoins d’avoir accès dans les cabinets dorés, ruelles de lit, cellules de Moines, et autres lieux profanes et saints. (Histoire du temps, pp. 37-40.) […] she is always masked, either because of the deformity of her face or in order to be as unrecognizable as possible. One cannot really say how she is dressed because she is often disguised; at times she is dressed as a princess, and at times as a beggar woman; sometimes she even wears a habit of all colours, having thus access to places where she would otherwise be suspicious. Sometimes she is dressed like these old women who are laden with prayer beads, religious medals and blessed beads, and often she is the seller of needle-point lace, braids of Flanders, and all sorts of jewellery. She most often walks at night rather than during the day, and usually goes by coach rather than on foot; she speaks only in a hushed voice, and almost always to one’s ear, but she utters only treacherous things, turmoil, quarrels, loss of possessions, and all sorts of beastly works. In short, she is disguised, evil, envious, and the most wicked woman in the world, who nonetheless does not fail to gain access to golden offices, salons, the cells of monks and other profane and holy places. <?page no="159"?> 159 The inhabitants of the island amuse themselves with games “où communément les femmes jouent à l’homme, et les hommes à la bête” 25 (where women usually play the role of men, and men the role of beasts). In the royal square, there is an obelisk where the fundamental laws of the kingdom are written in golden letters. One such law discourages the practice of fidelity, and another that of modesty, discretion and selfrestraint: Quiconque fera profession de fidélité, sera tenu de justifier qu’il est de la race de Amadis, ou des descendants de Celadon ; sinon et à faute de ce passera pour Idiot. (Histoire du temps p. 61.) La modestie, la discrétion et la retenue, n’auront aucune entrée dans l’État, sinon qu’elles peuvent être utiles à celles qui sont obligées de cacher leur jeu. (Histoire du temps, pp. 61-62.) Whoever professes fidelity will be obliged to prove that he is of the race of Amadis or of the descendants of Celadon; otherwise, and failing this, he will pass for an idiot. Modesty, discretion and self-control will have no entry into the state, unless they are useful to those women who are obliged to hide their game. In the final pages of the novel, the anti-utopian character of the Island of Coquetry is emphasized with language related to violence and denigration. Behind the palace is a garden called le Bureau des Récompenses (the Office of Rewards), described as the antithesis of the Garden of Eden: […] c’est un lieu qui semble être maudit du Ciel, où la nature ne produit rien que de fâcheux et d’insupportable, les palissades ne sont que des regrets et d’inquiétude, il n’y a pour fleurs que des pensées noires, des soucis renaissants, et des espérances perdues, pour plantes de l’absinthe et des amarantes, et pour fruits des poires d’angoisse, et quelques autres qui n’ont pas meilleur goût. Les fontaines y jaillissent de tous côtés, mais les eaux en sont toujours amères, et de leur chute elles font le lac de confusion […]. (Histoire du temps, pp. 65-67.) […] it is a place that seems to be damned by heaven, where nature produces nothing but things which are disagreeable and intolerable. The fences are only regrets and worry; the only flowers are dark thoughts, recurring worries and lost hopes; for plants, only absinths and amaranths; and for fruits, only pears of anxiety and several others 25 Ibid., p. 58. <?page no="160"?> 160 which have no better taste. The fountains spout out from all sides, but the waters are always bitter and their falls form the lake of confusion […]. It is here that on certain days the most renowned of the coquets assemble and, choosing one of the ladies who had the imprudence to enter the Palace of Good Fortunes, they place her in their midst and proceed to adorn her with various fruits and plants. Afterwards, she is led to the sitting room of the palace where she is placed in an armchair and is mockingly treated like a king. The lady is then stripped of all her refinements and is sprayed three times with water from the lake of confusion. The coquets proceed to sing verses of abuse to her, reproaching her for the way she has lived her life: Ils n’épargnent ni ses cheveux qui les ont enchaînés, ni ses yeux qu’ils ont adorés, ni sa bouche qui fut pour eux un oracle de vie et de mort, ni ses mains qu’ils avaient estimées dignes du sceptre de tout le monde, ils la nomment perfide ayant toujours eu trois Galants à la fois ; indiscrète, […] maligne, jalouse, importune, dont au commencement elle ne fait que rire ; et comme ils continuent, elle se fâche et puis elle entre en colère, s’emporte, et fait la désespérée. (Histoire du temps, pp. 69-71.) They spare neither her hair which had enslaved them, nor her eyes which they had adored, nor her mouth which had been for them an oracle of life and death, nor her hands which they had deemed worthy of the sceptre of the entire world. They call her perfidious, having always had three gentlemen at a time, indiscrete, […] malicious, jealous, importunate, at which initially she only laughs; and as they continue, she becomes angry and then enters into a rage, loses her temper and throws herself into despair. The men later wrap her in a silk blanket and toss her about for a good hour, responding to her protestations and cries only with laugher and mockery. After they have experienced sufficient enjoyment, the males depart, leaving the woman as if she were half-dead. 26 This disturbing scene, evoking abuse and humiliation, is in sharp contrast to the amusing description of the island and of its inhabitants found in the previous pages of the work. It marks the stage in the novel where d’Aubignac, the abbé, drives home the moral lesson of his story. The remaining pages of the novel provide an encouragement to coquettes to abandon their superficial and morally depraved lifestyle by turning to God. Once again, d’Aubignac’s focus is on the women of the island, 26 Ibid., p. 71. <?page no="161"?> 161 rather than on the men. The author relates that some of the coquettes either feel no pain and sorrow from their experience or refuse to do so. Those who are afflicted either imprison themselves for life or throw themselves into the precipice of despair. 27 However, the wisest among them seek refuge in the Chapelle de S. Retour (Chapel of Saint Return) whose entry is guarded by Capitaine Repentir (Captain Repentance), a melancholic and usually angry gentleman who is nonetheless wise, pious and charitable: […] il pénètre le fond du cœur, il en veut connaître la sincérité, et n’assiste jamais que celles qui prennent une bonne et forte résolution de quitter cet impertinent Royaume ; car alors il les conduit en sûreté dans cette Chapelle miraculeuse où sitôt qu’elles sont arrivées, elles ouvrent les yeux, s’aperçoivent bien qu’auparavant ils étaient fermés, et découvrent que tout ce qu’elles pensaient voir n’étaient que des illusions ; Que toutes les douceurs de cette Île ne sont que des amertumes déguisés, et que les plaisirs apparents y produisent toujours de véritables douleurs, que les plus heureux sont presque toujours à la géhenne, et que les satisfactions extérieures n’y servent que de voile aux soupirs, aux gémissements, et aux plaintes. (Histoire du temps, pp. 74-75.) […] he penetrates the depth of the heart; he wants to know its sincerity and only helps those women who make a good and firm resolution to leave this impertinent kingdom. For then he leads them in safety to this miraculous chapel where upon arrival, they open their eyes, realizing that previously they had been closed, and they discover that everything that they had believed to see had been only illusions, that all the gentleness of this island is nothing but disguised bitterness, and that the apparent pleasures always produce there real pain, that those who are apparently the happiest are almost always in Gehenna [hell] and that the exterior signs of satisfaction serve only to veil sighs, groans and complaints. The refugees come to the understanding that the Palace of Good Fortunes is nothing more than “le piège des imprudents” (the trap of fools), “l’erreur de la jeunesse” (the error of youth), “l’amusement de l’oisiveté” (the amusement of idleness), “l’opprobre des conversations” (the disgrace of conversations), “l’occupation des fols” (the occupation of madmen), “le mépris des sages” (the scorn of sages), “la ruine de la santé” (the destruction of health), “la désolation des familles” (the devastation of families), “l’écueil des vertus” (the pitfall of virtues) and “la source de mille impiétés” (the source of a thousand impieties). 28 Now that they have seen the light, these repentant women “jouissent d’un repos, et d’une 27 Ibid., p. 72. 28 Ibid., p. 76. <?page no="162"?> 162 satisfaction véritable, qu’elles avaient inutilement recherchées dans le séjour des troubles et des infortunes” 29 (enjoy a rest and a real satisfaction that they had needlessly sought in the sojourn of troubles and misfortunes). The short novel ends, therefore, on a serious note, with the voice of d’Aubignac, the preacher, indicating to coquettes the way to salvation. In reference to the abbé, the “Libraire au lecteur” declares that “ceux qui le connaissent savent bien qu’il n’est pas de ces flatteurs, qui ne combattent les vices qu’avec des fleurs, et qu’il est persuadé qu’on n’y peut employer de glaives assez tranchants, ni de machines assez fortes” 30 (those who know him, know well that he is not one of those flatterers who combats vices only with flowers, and that he is persuaded that one cannot make use of too sharp a sword or too strong a weapon in this endeavour). However, this is not really the case in this novel. Although d’Aubignac is critical of the coquettes and the précieuses, he does so primarily out of consideration for his role as confessor. One senses that he realizes all too well that these women are engaged only in playing a game, much like Ariste is doing in Le Roman des lettres. Certainly, the game is usually taken too seriously, and the world of superficiality and vanity which is created is not to be lauded, particularly by a man of the cloth. But overall, the women are portrayed as being essentially harmless. Although they are depicted as being misguided in their philosophy of life, they are certainly not evil and are to be pitied. Although they are narcissistic, they are nonetheless likeable and worthy of our sympathy. This gentle approach used in reprimanding the coquettes is not surprising, given d’Aubignac’s portrayal of himself as Ariste in Le Roman des lettres. As we demonstrated earlier in our book, Ariste’s behaviour fits La Bruyère’s description of coquetry to a T. With his potential dangling mistresses, Ariste is content to play the intellectual game of flirtation and manipulation. The relationships always remain unconsummated. In his comparison of the coquette with the wanton woman, La Bruyère expresses greater condemnation for the former, as King and Schlick explain: […] to seek love is superior to being satisfied with a reputation for beauty, and “to make an engagement” or win the heart of another is superior to the desire “to make a 29 Ibid., p. 77. 30 Ibid., “Libraire au lecteur”. <?page no="163"?> 163 Conquest.” Similarly, to practice serial monogamy (even without benefit of marriage) is more virtuous than to engage in polygamous - though unconsummated - “Amusements,” while “Passion and Pleasure” are more laudable incentives than “Vanity and Levity.” La Bruyère ultimately classifies both types of sexual behavior as defective, with the wanton practicing a more conventionally feminine “weakness of the heart”, while the coquette demonstrates “an irregularity of the mind.” The juxtaposition between heart and mind, furthermore, signals at once their relation to each other as an opposition - akin to that of the body and the mind - and we might read between the lines that the ‘fallen’ woman is less problematical, less aberrant, than the specifically intellectually transgressive coquette. 31 In the case of Ariste, of course, the objective in matters of “love” is to earn a reputation for intellectual superiority, rather than one for beauty. Like the Flying Hearts in the kingdom of Coquetry, he goes from one lady to another, saying all the right things and attaching himself to several of them, but without holding on to any. The egotistical maneuvering for which Ariste demonstrates great skill aims to make polygamous conquests of women, but only on an intellectual level. Although the game is presented as being harmless and completely virtuous, Ariste’s behaviour is still sexual in nature. It is a game based on power and one that overwhelmingly favours the amusement of the initiator. 31 King and Schlick, p. 19. <?page no="165"?> 6 Allegorical Women: Macarise and her Enemies Published in 1664, d’Aubignac’s two-volume work Macarise, ou la Reine des Îles fortunées 1 (Macarise or the Queen of the Fortunate Islands) is an allegorical novel aimed at illustrating the moral philosophy of the Stoics. The first volume is followed by four different sections of explanatory material, totalling 225 pages. 2 In one of these sections, the author explains that his student, the duc de Fronsac, had requested a book summarizing all the tenets of moral science in order to guide him in his various endeavours. Macarise is the abbé’s fulfilment of that request: Il m’avait témoigné qu’il désirait s’instruire particulièrement en la science des mœurs, afin d’avoir toujours devant les yeux un flambeau qui pût éclairer tous les mouvements de son esprit et la conduite de sa vie publique ; et comme je savais bien qu’il se divertissait beaucoup à la lecture des Romans, mais qu’il n’en aimait que les 1 Macarise, ou la Reine des Îles fortunées, histoire allégorique contenant la philosophie morale des stoïques sous le voile de plusieurs aventures agréables en forme de roman (Macarise, or the Queen of the Fortunate Islands, an Allegorical Story Containing the Moral Philosophy of the Stoics Under the Veil of Several Entertaining Adventures in the Form of a Novel), 2 volumes, Paris: J. Du Brueil, 1664. 2 The full titles of the four sections are as follows: I. Table des noms contenus en ce premier volume, avec leur explication (Table of names contained in this first volume, with their explanations); II. Abrégé de la philosophie des Stoïcs, avec un éclaircissement général de cette histoire, nécessaire à tous ceux qui la voudront lire avec plaisir (Summary of the philosophy of the Stoics, with a general clarification of this story, necessary to all those who will want to read with enjoyment); III. Observations nécessaires pour l’intelligence de cette allégorie (Necessary observations for the understanding of this allegory); IV. Discours contenant le caractère de ceux qui peuvent juger favorablement de cette histoire, et tirer quelque avantage des vérités qu’elle enseigne (Discourse describing the character of those who can favourably judge this story, and who can take advantage of the truths that it teaches). <?page no="166"?> 166 grandes actions et les aventures extraordinaires, et qu’il en méprisait toujours les petites intrigues d’amourettes et les intérêts des personnes de basse condition et de médiocre vertu, je m’avisai de déguiser la Morale sous des ornements qui la pussent rendre plus aimable et plus pompeuse, et qui néanmoins ne lui fissent rien perdre de la vérité de ses maximes. (Discours contenant le caractère […], in Macarise, vol. I, pp. 187-188.) He indicated to me that he wished to be taught particularly in moral science, in order to always have before his eyes a torch which could light up all the movements of his mind and the conduct of his public life. And as I well knew that he very much enjoyed reading novels, but that he liked only those with great actions and extraordinary adventures, and that he always despised little love stories and the interests of people of low standing and of mediocre virtue, I took it upon myself to disguise morality with ornaments which would make it more pleasant and more grand, and which, nevertheless, would not diminish the truth of its maxims. The author explains why he chose to base his novel on the moral philosophy of the Stoics, rather than on holy scripture, declaring that the former has considerable rapport with several rules and mysteries of the Christian religion “qu’il ne nous est pas permis de toucher qu’avec respect, et qu’il serait malaisé de travestir sans profanation” 3 (which we are not permitted to touch except with respect, and which would be difficult to disguise without defilement). Another section of d’Aubignac’s explanatory material provides a 120-page synopsis of the philosophy of the Stoics, which is intended to facilitate the reading of the novel. In addition, there is a 54-page section in which d’Aubignac critiques the various types of novels - historical, imaginary, contemporary - and indicates how he intends to avoid the defects associated with each one of these. In particular, he wishes to entertain his readers, while at the same time providing insight into the ancient philosophy of Stoicism. The explanatory material also contains an alphabetical table that decodes the various allegories utilized in the first volume of the novel. 4 As the abbé states, “les lettres, les cartels, les devises sont partout allégoriques […]. Les noms ont tous rapport au sens allégorique” 5 (the letters, the cartels, the currencies are all allegorical […]. The names all have allegorical meaning). 3 D’Aubignac, Discours contenant le caractère […], in Macarise, vol. I, p. 188. 4 The second volume of the novel contains a similar alphabetical table, decoding the allegories that are pertinent to that volume. 5 D’Aubignac, Observations nécessaires […], in Macarise, vol. I, pp. 168, 170. <?page no="167"?> 167 D’Aubignac’s novel did not receive popular acclaim in seventeenthcentury France. Tallemant wrote of the abbé that it was “le diable qui le poussa de mettre au jour son roman allégorique de la philosophie des Stoïciens” 6 (the devil that drove the author to create his allegorical novel of the philosophy of the Stoics), adding that the work is “mal écrit” 7 (badly written) and “ne se vend point” 8 (has no sales). D’Aubignac did manage to convince seventeen of his contemporaries to provide laudatory statements about his creation, all of which can be found at the end of the first volume. 9 One such contributor, the French grammarian and lexicographer Jules-César Richelet, later wrote to the abbé, declaring that his words had been disingenuous: Hédelin, c’est à tort que tu te plains de moi, N’ai-je pas loué ton ouvrage ? Pouvais-je faire plus pour toi Que de rendre un faux témoignage ? 10 Hédelin, it is in error that you complain about me, Did I not praise your work? Could I not have done more for you Than to give a false declaration? More recent critics have also been unenthusiastic about the work. In his description of the novel, Livet uses the words “ouvrage insensé, livre 6 Tallemant, vol. VI, p. 215. 7 Ibid., vol. VI, p. 216. 8 Ibid., vol. VI, p. 217. 9 There are a total of eighteen such endorsements, two of which were composed by the same person. The exaggerated statements take the form of prose, verse, sonnets, madrigals and epigrams. Two sets of verses are written in Latin. Gabriel Guéret writes to d’Aubignac: “Vous ne ferez jamais que des chefs-d’œuvre, et je vois bien que les Muses vous en ont donné parole ; partout je crie au miracle depuis que j’ai lu votre MACARISE […].” (You will never create anything but masterpieces, and I well see that the Muses have inspired you in this work; everywhere I hail a miracle since I read your MACARISE […].) Pierre d’Ortigue de Vaumorière’s amusing epigram reads as follows: “Ce grand homme me charme, et quand je viens de lire / Cet ouvrage de son esprit / Je renonce à la plume, et ne veux plus écrire / Que pour louer ce qu’il écrit.” (This great man charms me, and when I come to read / This work of his mind / I renounce the pen, and do not wish to write any longer / But to praise what he writes.) 10 Tallemant, vol. VI, p. 220. <?page no="168"?> 168 vraiment absurde où l’auteur ne se reconnaît plus” 11 (a crazy work, a really absurd book in which the author is no longer recognizable). Arnaud declares: Il semble […] que Macarise soit sortie de la main d’un homme qui n’a jamais connu la vie de la cour ni les hommes en général, et qui est resté confiné depuis l’enfance dans ses livres et ses propres pensées. […] on ne peut rêver de plus faux, de plus froid, de plus ennuyeux que cette histoire : […] c’est un rêve de pédant, malade de grec et de philosophie. On sort de cette lecture comme d’un cauchemar, avec le besoin de respirer et de se rafraîchir […]. 12 It seems […] that Macarise came out of the hand of a man who has known neither life at court nor men in general, and who has remained confined since childhood in his books and in his own thoughts. […] One cannot imagine anything more false, more cold, more boring than this story: […] it is the dream of a pretentious person, ill from Greek and philosophy. One comes out of the reading of this novel as if from a nightmare, with the need to catch one’s breath and to refresh oneself […]. Although she is more objective in her analysis than Livet and Arnaud, Lise Leibacher-Ouvrard points out that the work is burdened with learned references and doctrinal considerations: Son roman stoïque fera en sorte que l’intention édifiante saute littéralement aux yeux : outre que les gravures qui l’illustrent, l’inscription de certains mots en « grosses lettres », ou l’ajout d’une petite étoile * ou astérisme [sic] à la marge permettront de s’en assurer. Autodidacte qui méprisait infiniment l’éducation des collèges et des « petits pédagogues triobolaires » de son enfance, d’Aubignac se fait ici le plus pesant des doctes. 13 His stoic novel is such that the edifying intention literally jumps out at you. In addition to the engravings that illustrate it, the printing of certain words in “big letters” or the use of a small star or asterisk in the margins allows us to be certain of it. A self-taught individual who infinitely despised the education of the colleges and the “small classical pedagogues” of his childhood, d’Aubignac nonetheless shows himself in this work to be the weightiest of scholars. These opinions will likely be shared by anyone who attempts to read this ponderous novel, a work, by the way, which was intended to comprise six 11 Livet, p. 189. 12 Arnaud, pp. 87, 94. 13 Lise Leibacher-Ouvrard, “L’Envers de l’écrit: romans et paratexte chez d’Aubignac”, Revue d’Histoire littéraire de la France, 90 (1990): 147-164, p. 160. <?page no="169"?> 169 volumes, a plan that did not come to fruition. The work is nonetheless important to our study, as it contributes to our understanding of d’Aubignac’s philosophy of the female sex. I Allegory, Allegory, All is Allegory A brief summary of the plot is in order. The novel begins with two brothers, Arianax and Dinazel, swimming across the river Sannatelle in order to flee from their enemies. The pair stumbles across a temple where the priest Callistrate relates to them the origins of a talking statue. This statue is in the likeness of a man named prince Cléarte of Cittie who had died defending the interests of Macarise, the queen of the Fortunate Islands, whom he loved. After relating the story of their own adventures, Arianax and Dinazel finally meet Macarise and continue to relate more stories about themselves, the intricate details of which we will not provide, as they are of no relevance to our study. As it turns out, Arianax is really Theandre, the king of Ormenie, who has lost his kingdom. D’Aubignac tells us that the name Arianax comes from Greek meaning roi faible (weak king). The kingdom that he has lost is virtue or happiness, personified in the character of Queen Macarise herself, whose name comes from a Greek word meaning rendre heureux (to render happy). The name of Arianax’s brother, Dinazel, signifies conseils négligés (neglected advice), indicating that his counsel has not been followed by the weak king. That of Cléarte comes from two Greek words meaning gloire (glory) and vertu (virtue). In d’Aubignac’s explanatory notes, Cléarte is also referenced as Zénon, the author of the stoic doctrine. All the other names found in the novel, whether place names or names of people, also have allegorical significance: the name of the river which Arianax and Dinazel cross at the beginning of the novel, Sannatelle, comes from two Greek words meaning fin (end) and folie (madness); Doxane (opinion) is the despotic queen of a neighbouring empire; Thanate (death) is the murderer of Cléarte, an indication that the hero died of natural causes; Agatide (the appearance of false goods) is the lady in the novel who hosts banquets which are more pleasing to the eye than to the stomach; Hélimène (truth) is the beautiful lady who is imprisoned in a cage by Agatide; Clodomire, whose childhood and youth are recounted in one of the chapters in the <?page no="170"?> 170 novel, is an allegorical reference to Louis XIV; 14 Tarchane, who usurped Arianax’s kingdom, is named after a Greek word meaning la douleur de l’esprit (the distress of the mind), etc. In the end, Arianax, the king without a kingdom, embraces virtue and recaptures his country. He realizes that he is in love with Macarise and makes preparations to return to the Fortunate Islands in order to woo the queen. In so doing, he will become a happy and virtuous monarch once again. The second volume of the novel ends with the departure of the king, accompanied by five knights and two other subjects. The narrator indicates that the journey will not be without its share of adventure, thus leaving the reader with much anticipation about what will follow in future volumes: Mais laissons-le passer la mer pour le reprendre à votre première commodité sur les côtes de l’Afrique, où sa générosité lui doit faire entreprendre la conquête de l’Île invisible, dont le discours ne vous sera peut-être pas moins désagréable que celui-ci, 14 In this chapter, d’Aubignac celebrates the love of Clodomire and Dioclée, that is to say, the love between Louis XIV and the Christian religion. The character Léandre, who is in dispute with Clodomire, is an allegory for Pope Alexander VII who was not on good terms with Cardinal Mazarin, Louis XIV’s chief minister. The Catholic church of France saw itself as being somewhat independent from the Holy See of Rome. D’Aubignac is therefore taking sides with the French king. The novel Macarise is in fact dedicated to Louis XIV. Arnaud writes: “D’Aubignac s’y montre d’un gallicanisme sans réserve, soutient le pouvoir royal « que la cour de Rome et tous ceux qui sont sous sa dépendance s’efforcent à tout propos de troubler et de contester » et attaque violemment « la présomption des ultramontains »” (Arnuad, p. 53n). (D’Aubignac shows himself unreservedly as a supporter of Gallicanism [the principle of the independent rights of the Church of France]; he supports royal power “which the court of Rome and all those under its dependence continuously endeavour to disrupt and to contest” and violently attacks “the presumption of ultramontanists [those supporting the absolute power of the Italian church]”.) It is significant to note that a decade earlier, d’Aubignac had expressed the opposite viewpoint. In his Panégyrique de saint Pierre (1663), he strongly supported the absolute authority and infallibility of the pope. We agree with Arnaud’s opinion that the abbé’s change of heart was primarily an act of opportunism: “On dira peut-être que dans le Sermon, il faisait de la théologie dogmatique, et qu’ici il fait de la politique. Je crains qu’il ne fasse tout simplement une bassesse, et ne quête une pension. Macarise était dédiée au roi. Elle parut […] à l’époque où Chapelain et Colbert dressaient les listes des pensions” (Arnaud, p. 53n). (It will be said perhaps that in his sermons, he was expressing dogmatic theology, and that here he is being political. I fear that is is merely a servile act and that he is seeking a pension. Macarise was dedicated to the king. It appeared […] at the time when Chapelain and Colbert were drawing up the list of pensions.) <?page no="171"?> 171 encore qu’il doive contenir des ennemis bien dissemblables ; et j’estime que je dois ainsi diviser cette longue histoire, afin que je vous sois moins ennuyeux. (Macarise, vol. II, p. 811.) But let us leave him there, crossing the sea, to take up his story again at your first convenience on the coasts of Africa where his generosity makes him undertake the conquest of the invisible island. The narration will perhaps be no less disagreeable to you than this one, even though it must involve entirely different enemies; and I feel that I must divide this long story in this way so that I am less boring to you. Doubtless, d’Aubignac would be horrified at our superficial and incomplete treatment of his intricate plot - and were the abbé living today, we might very well find ourselves the target of one of his blistering essays - but we will now conclude our summary, leaving the final words to Arnaud: En résumé, tous ces personnages et leurs aventures représentent la victoire qu’il faut remporter sur les faux biens et les passions, pour arriver au bonheur. 15 In summary, all these characters and their adventures represent the victory that one must carry over false possessions and passions, in order to arrive at happiness. II The Kingdom of Happiness On a purely literal plane, d’Aubignac’s novel presents a utopian land governed by virtue and wisdom. These Fortunate Islands of Queen Macarise, are in opposition to the kingdom of Ormenie, once ruled by Arianax, the weak king who lost his country’s rule because of the usurpation of his enemies. As the novel progresses, the hero comes to the understanding that his only salvation is to submit himself to virtue and to win the heart of Macarise: […] puisque la fortune m’a trahi il faut que la vertu me rétablisse ; et si j’ai perdu ma couronne par une recherche indigne d’un cœur généreux, il en faut gagner une autre par la conquête d’une beauté qui sans doute est un chef-d’œuvre des cieux, puisqu’elle est proposée pour le prix d’une valeur sans exemple. (Macarise, vol. II, p. 800.) 15 Arnaud, p. 94. <?page no="172"?> 172 […] since fortune has betrayed me, it is necessary that virtue restore me; and if I have lost my crown by an unworthy search for a generous heart, I must win another by the conquest of a beauty which no doubt is a masterpiece of the heavens, as she is seen as a prize of unparalleled value. The usurper of Arianax’s kingdom, Tarchane, is captured and is condemned to life imprisonment. The following description of the villain underlines the tyrannical nature of his illegitimate rule: Cet usurpateur était insupportable à qui le connaissait bien ; il avait toujours le visage chagrin et l’humeur mélancolique ; il se plaisait aux mauvaises nouvelles ; […] il se plaignait toujours quelquefois dans la solitude qu’il ne recherchait néanmoins que pour faire du mal sans être vu […] ; il n’avait d’autre plaisir que de mettre le trouble et le désordre parmi tous ceux qui l’approchaient, et disait souvent qu’il ne trouvait d’air plus doux à respirer que des soupirs, et que volontiers il n’aurait bu que des larmes. (Macarise, vol. II, pp. 805-806.) This usurper was intolerable to anyone who knew him well; he always had a despondent face and a melancholic temperament; he enjoyed bad news; […] he always complained, sometimes in solitude which he sought out nevertheless only to do wrong without being seen […]; he had no other pleasure than to place trouble and disorder among everyone who approached him, and he often said that he found no other air as sweet to breathe as sighs, and that willingly he would have drunk only tears. D’Aubignac makes it abundantly clear that his novel is to be interpreted allegorically, and he provides meticulous details of how this should be correctly done. Arianax’s fight to regain his kingdom represents the struggles of a man to conquer weaknesses and faults that are found within himself in order to reign over his own being. These enemies are personified by the usurper Tarchane and by the various nefarious women encountered by the hero during his journey. By following the principles of the doctrine of Stoicism, Arianax is able to embrace wisdom and virtue, personified by Macarise, resulting in a happy life. The lesson is that men must triumph over the enemies that are found within themselves before being worthy of attaining wisdom and true happiness. The story of Macarise “est conforme à la vie d’une femme d’honneur” 16 (conforms to the life of a woman of honour). In the novel’s 16 D’Aubignac, Abrégé de la philosophy […], in Macarise, vol. I, p. 81. <?page no="173"?> 173 dedication to the king, d’Aubignac describes his heroine in the following terms: […] j’en ai fait une Héroïne d’humeur agréable, d’un visage riant, et pourvue de mille grâces qui lui peuvent donner l’entrée du Cercle aussi bien de votre cabinet : Je l’ai revêtue d’habillements à la mode et d’ornements propres à paraître devant le beau Monde ; ses conversations n’ont rien que de galant ; elle ne détruit point les plaisirs honnêtes ; elle ne contredit point les règles de la bienséance ; elle ne condamne point les nobles sentiments des âmes fortes ni la douleur des esprits modestes ; elle n’a d’aversion que pour le vice dont elle ne peut souffrir la société, et s’accommode aisément avec tout ce que la vertu peut approuver. (“Au Roi”, Macarise.) 17 […] I have created a heroine of agreeable temperament, of a smiling face and endowed with a thousand graces which can give her access to court as well as to your cabinet. I have adorned her with fashionable clothing and with ornaments suitable to appear before polite society. Her conversations are always courteous; she does not destroy honest pleasures; she does not contradict the rules of decorum; she does not condemn the noble sentiments of strong souls or the pain of modest minds; she has aversion only for vice, whose presence she cannot tolerate, and she adapts easily to everything that virtue approves. Although this description is in reference to the personification of Stoicism, it is nonetheless very telling of d’Aubignac’s concept of an ideal woman. She is graceful, dressed in clothes that befit contemporary style and is properly adorned for genteel society. Her personality is not that of a stick-in-the-mud, but rather one that is pleasant and polite. Although she is completely virtuous and opposes vice in all its forms, she takes part in enjoyments that do not offend decorum. The character of the heroine is in complete opposition to that of other females in d’Aubignac’s allegorical novel. These women are portrayed as the enemies of Macarise and represent, therefore, the demons within Arianax himself. One of these females is Cinaïs, the personification of passion. The abbé tells us that the name is a combination of the first letters of two Greek words meaning “movement” and “senses”, passion 17 Similar descriptions of idealized women can be found in d’Aubignac’s Les Portraits égarés (The Lost Portraits), Paris: P. Bienfat, 1660. In this work, d’Aubignac writes the portraits of five women, among them a certain Laodamie, to whom the work is dedicated. “The taste for pen-and-ink portraits is due to Mlle. de Scudéry, whose romances of Artamène ou le Grand Cyrus and Clélie are filled with such compositions” (Crane, p. 292). <?page no="174"?> 174 being the movement and trouble of the senses. 18 Upon hearing that Arianax is moved by the beauty of Macarise, the jealous Cinaïs uses magic in order to create a double of the hero so that she can possess him. The false Arianax represents the sensual man who is tempted by “mauvaises pensées” 19 (evil thoughts). The allegorical depiction of passion as being female is in keeping with d’Aubignac’s paradigm of the sexes. By his very nature, and therefore through no fault of his own, the male is subject to the lure of the female, who is seen as the societal scapegoat for these evil desires. Doxane, the despotic ruler of the empire of the Mores, is the mother of Cinaïs. According to d’Aubignac, the name Doxane comes from the Greek word meaning “opinion”, which the Stoics identify as the source of all the passions. 20 The name Mores comes from the Greek meaning insensés (demented), denoting those “qui se laissent emporter aux mauvaises opinions de leurs sens” 21 (who allow themselves to be swept along by their senses). Once again, the embodiment of the source of sensual depravity is a female. In the novel, the greatest enemy of wisdom is identified as Fortune (Fortune), personified by Horalie. She has in her possession all the blessings and the ills that can happen to a man: […] elle a tout ce qui lui peut plaire et ce qui lui peut nuire ; elle a de quoi flatter ses désirs et de quoi l’émouvoir de mille craintes ; l’honneur du monde et toutes les dignités qui l’accompagnent, soutiennent sa Couronne et peuvent réparer toutes les pertes des richesses et des plaisirs. De sorte qu’il faut employer toutes les vertus contre ses caprices et contre sa rage, contre ses caresses et contre ses menaces ; […] elle peut corrompre toutes nos forces, et laisser l’homme tellement abandonné de toutes choses, que s’il ne se défend par sa propre vertu, il succombe et se laisse aller aux charmes de cette artificieuse, ou vaincre à ses outrages. (Abrégé de la philosophie […], in Macarise, vol. I, pp. 111-112.) […] she has everything that can please him and that can hinder him; she has what it takes to flatter his desires and to disturb him with a thousand worries. The honour of the world and all the dignities that accompany it uphold her crown and can repair all 18 D’Aubignac, Table des noms […], in Macarise, vol. I. 19 D’Aubignac, Abrégé de la philosophie […], in Macarise, vol. I, p. 83. 20 D’Aubignac, Table des noms […], in Macarise, vol. I. 21 D’Aubignac, Abrégé de la philosophie […], in Macarise, vol. I, p. 32. D’Aubignac clarifies that the word Mores in his novel has nothing to do with the people of Africa who carry that name. <?page no="175"?> 175 the losses of riches and pleasures. It is therefore necessary to use all the virtues against her caprices and against her rage, against her caresses and against her threats; […] she can corrupt all our strengths and leave man so abandoned to all things that if he does not defend himself by his own virtue, he succumbs and abandons himself to the charms of this deceitful one, or is conquered by her indignities. The seductiveness of fortune is equated with the charms of a female against which men must defend themselves through virtue. Fortune and her confidant Erotime (popular honour) offer to Arianax plenty of riches, but also plenty of ills. Along his journey, the king encounters Agatide, a woman described as “apparences des faux biens” 22 (appearance of false possessions) whose allurements place the hero in great danger: Elle ne paraît pas si cruelle que la crainte, mais elle n’est pas moins dangereuse quand il est assez crédule pour être flatté de ses appas ; elle lui déguise tout ; Elle lui fascine les yeux par les artifices, et met son esprit en peine. […] Agatide en sera le portrait en sa personne et en tous les ornements de son Palais, où mon Héros se trouvera innocemment embarrassé […]. L’Apparence des faux biens […] sous les illusions d’un éclat extérieur, de riches ornements, d’équipage pompeux, et des autres machines de l’orgueil, fait paraître une grandeur redoutable, et tout ensemble vénérable aux Âmes faibles, et qui pourtant n’a rien que la bassesse, des ombres et de la fumée […]. (Abrégé de la philosophie […], in Macarise, vol. I, pp. 47-48.) She does not appear to be as cruel as fear, but she is no less dangerous when he is gullible enough to be flattered by her charms; she disguises everything to him; she fascinates his eyes by ingenious devices and places his mind in distress. […] Agatide is the personification of this and can also be found in the ornaments of her palace, where my hero will innocently find himself confused […]. The appearance of false possessions […] under the illusions of an exterior brightness, of rich ornaments, of a grand style, and of other machines of pride, create a formidable grandeur, and all in all venerable to weak souls, and which nevertheless has only baseness, shadows and smoke […]. This description evokes images of the Kingdom of Coquetry in d’Aubignac’s Histoire du temps, where the coquettes “ont l’esprit en ténèbres par le défaut d’une application raisonnable aux bonnes choses, et le cœur complaisant à des voluptés dangereuses par l’ignorance de la vertu” 23 (have minds in darkness due to the lack of reasonable application to good things, and hearts that are servile to dangerous, sensual pleasures 22 D’Aubignac, Table des noms […], in Macarise, vol. I. 23 D’Aubignac, Discours contenant le caractère […], in Macarise, vol. I, p. 195. <?page no="176"?> 176 because of ignorance of virtue). The enemies of Macarise - all of them women - are also motivated by a love for superficiality and by self-love: Et elles se persuadent que la perfection d’une dame consiste à grimacer de bonne grâce, et dire une impertinence avec un sourire affecté, des mouvements de tête bien façonnés, et quelque emportement d’une mauvaise raillerie. (Discours contenant le caractère […], in Macarise, vol. I, p. 196.) And they convince themselves that the perfection of a woman consists of grinning with good grace and making an impertinent remark with an affected smile, accompanied by well-formed head movements and some fit of wicked mockery. To be sure, not all the women in d’Aubignac’s Macarise personify vices. However, those who are virtuous live in the land over which the eponymous queen reigns. The heroine Macarise is the embodiment of the ideals recommended by d’Aubignac to Célimène in the Conseils d’Ariste. Ironically, despite its title, Macarise is not intended for the female sex. When the enlightened Arianax - a representation of d’Aubignac himself - decides to woo the queen, it is for his own happiness and well-being that the journey to the Fortunate Islands is made. His planned marriage to Macarise will make her a part of him, and not the other way around. D’Aubignac’s illustration of the philosophy of the Stoics has the male in mind. While la sagesse (wisdom) is depicted as female, le sage (the wise one) is most definitely seen by the abbé as male. The twelve fortresses in his novel, all of which are allegories for the principles underlying the philosophy of the Stoics, are in reference to le sage. The concept of a wise woman is not part of d’Aubignac’s paradigm, as men are naturally at the centre of knowledge and power. Challenging d’Aubignac’s own description of the heroine - a quote from the abbé that we presented earlier in this chapter - Livet writes that “ni Macarise n’est d’humeur agréable, ni son visage n’est riant, ni ses conversations ne sont galantes” 24 (neither is Macarise of an agreeable temperament, nor is her face cheerful, nor are her conversations galant). What Livet is saying here is that the personification of virtue in the abbé’s novel has a very bland personality in comparison to the wild and energetic traits of the vices that are embodied by other females in the work. As such, Macarise is depicted as passive, reserved and modest. In short, she is 24 Livet, pp. 189-190. <?page no="177"?> 177 the ideal female in d’Aubignac’s world, where power is necessarily in the hands of the male. This does not mean that she is physically unattractive. On the contrary, Arianax is enticed by Macarise’s beauty. Paradoxically, therefore, even virtue must have its alluring side in d’Aubignac’s allegorical creation. <?page no="179"?> 7 Women Who Behave Badly: the heroines of Corneille’s Sophonisbe, Sertorius and Œdipe In 1663, d’Aubignac became embroiled in a bitter dispute with Pierre Corneille. The Querelle de Sophonisbe (Quarrel of Sophonisbe) has become synonymous with the combative nature of the abbé. Amusingly, once the quarrel began, Corneille kept very much to the sidelines, leaving d’Aubignac and a Corneille critic-turned-supporter to battle it out. The personal attacks against the great dramatist notwithstanding, the conflict generated important criticism on d’Aubignac’s part of the manner in which Corneille portrays his heroines. It is this aspect of the literary dispute which is the focus of this chapter. Let us begin with a brief summary of the events which led to the quarrel. I The Showdown of the Century A reader of d’Aubignac’s La Pratique du théâtre (1657) will be struck by the author’s high opinion of the plays written by Pierre Corneille. Of Théodore vierge et martyre (Théodore, Virgin and Martyr) (1646), the abbé wrote: C’est une Pièce dont la constitution est très ingénieuse, où l’Intrigue est bien conduite et bien variée, où ce que l’Histoire donne, est fort bien manié, où les changements sont fort judicieux, où les mouvements et les vers sont dignes du nom de l’Auteur. (La Pratique du théâtre, p. 110.) It is a play whose composition is very ingenious, where the plot is well driven and well varied, where what history provides is very well handled, where the changes are very judicious, where the movements and the verses are worthy of the name of the author. <?page no="180"?> 180 Promoting the use of the unity of time, d’Aubignac held Corneille’s works as examples for other dramatists to follow: Qu’il considère bien l’Horace, le Cinna, le Polyeucte, le Nicomède, et toutes les dernières Pièces de M. Corneille, et je m’assure qu’il en demeurera d’accord. (La Pratique du théâtre, p. 188.) Let him consider Horace, Cinna, Polyeucte, Nicomède and all the last plays of Mr. Corneille, and I am convinced that he will be in agreement. He also applauded Corneille’s practice of beginning the action of his tragedies close to the climax (catastrophe), as well as his great skill in developing incidents. 1 Referring to Corneille as “le maître de la scène” 2 (the master of the stage), d’Aubignac extolled the virtues of Cinna ou la clémence d’Auguste (Cinna or the Clemency of Augustus) (1643), stating that the playwright’s arrangement of the incidents in the various acts and scenes is second to none. 3 He had high praise for Corneille’s ability to compose dramatic dialogue: Nous en avons une preuve sensible dans les Pièces de Monsieur Corneille ; car ce qui les a si hautement élevées par-dessus les autres de notre temps, n’a pas été l’intrigue, mais le discours. 4 We have notable proof in the plays of Mr. Corneille; for what has raised them so high above all the others in our time was not the plot, but the dialogue. However, d’Aubignac also disapproved of aspects of some of Corneille’s works. He stated that the tragedy Théodore did not enjoy all the success it deserved because its subject centred on the prostitution of the heroine. 5 He was critical of Rodogune princesse des Parthes (Rodogune Princess of the Parthians) (1647) for the lack of preparation devoted to Cleopatra’s death by poisoning 6 and of the unnecessary narration of Princess Rodogune’s life. 7 D’Aubignac also criticized Cinna for a narration that goes against 1 D’Aubignac, La Pratique du théâtre, pp. 190, 198. 2 Ibid., p. 248. 3 Ibid., p. 339. 4 Ibid., p. 409. 5 Ibid., p. 110. 6 Ibid., p. 197. 7 Ibid., p. 424. <?page no="181"?> 181 vraisemblance (verisimilitude) 8 and he described Valère’s speech in Act V of Horace (1641) as “froid, inutile, et sans effet” (cold, useless and without effect). 9 Significant to our study, the abbé expressed disapproval of Pauline’s declaration of love to Sévère in Polyeucte martyr (1643): Il ne faut jamais qu’une femme fasse entendre de sa propre bouche à un homme qu’elle a de l’amour pour lui, et moins encore qu’elle ne sent pas assez forte pour résister à sa passion; car c’est donner sujet au plus discret amant de prendre avantage de cette disposition, et de tenter tout ce qu’elle doit craindre. 10 A woman must never let it be known from her own mouth to a man that she has love for him, and even less that she does not feel strong enough to resist his passion; for this is giving cause to the most discreet lover to take advantage of this disposition, and to try everything that she must fear. As we have seen in previous chapters, this message is a recurring one in d’Aubignac’s works. Because of the unchangeable nature of the male sex, it is the responsibility of the female to avoid words and actions that will activate the man’s desire for conquest. Should sexual depravity occur, the fault lies with the woman for not having prevented the situation in the first place. Corneille’s planned response to d’Aubignac’s criticism was outlined in a letter dated 25 August 1660 to abbé de Pure, in which he announced the imminent publication of an edition of his complete works, which included three essays on dramatic poetry and an examen (examination) of each of his plays. Viewing the abbé’s critiques with “une indifférence philosophique” 11 (a philosophical indifference), the great dramatist chose not to identify d’Aubignac by name in any of these writings, a decision, he correctly predicted, that would infuriate his adversary: 8 Ibid., pp. 426-427. 9 Ibid., p. 465. 10 Ibid., p. 455. 11 François Granet, “Préface”, Recueil de dissertations sur plusieurs tragédies de Corneille et de Racine, ed. François Granet, 2 volumes, Paris: Gissey and Bordelet, 1739, vol. I, p. xcix. <?page no="182"?> 182 […] bien que je contredise quelquefois M. d’Aubignac et Mrs de l’Académie, je ne les nomme jamais, et ne parle non plus d’eux que s’ils n’avaient point parlé de moi. […] Derechef préparez-vous à être de mes protecteurs […]. 12 […] although I contradict at times Mr. d’Aubignac and the members of the Academy, I never name them, and I do not speak of them any more than if they had not spoken of me. […] Once again, be ready to be one of my protectors. At the conclusion of his third essay, Corneille issued a challenge to his detractors, declaring that he would gladly follow their theories as soon as these were successfully put into practice: Je ne doute point qu’il ne soit aisé d’en trouver de meilleurs moyens, et je serai tout prêt de les suivre, lorsqu’on les aura mis en pratique, aussi heureusement, qu’on y a vu les miens. 13 I do not doubt that it is easy to find better means, and I will be ready to follow them when they have been put into practice as successfully as mine have been. Hammond and Hawcroft point out that the use of the word pratique was a clear reference to d’Aubignac’s Pratique du théâtre: Point n’est besoin de nommer l’abbé. Le mot “pratique” renvoie très clairement à son ouvrage ; et voilà que ses théories se voient rejetées avec un mépris hautain. 14 No need to name the abbé. The word “practice” clearly refers to his work; and now his theories are being rejected with haughty contempt. According to Tallemant des Réaux, the final straw for d’Aubignac was Corneille’s criticism of Mlle Desjardins’s tragedy Manlius (1662), a work whose composition had been influenced by the abbé. 15 Sometime between April and June of 1663, d’Aubignac published two critical essays, the first dealing with Corneille’s tragedy Sophonisbe (1663) and the second with the tragedy Sertorius (1662). 12 Pierre Corneille, Lettres de Pierre Corneille à l’abbé de Pure, in Corneille. Œuvres complètes, ed. Georges Couton, 3 volumes, Paris: Gallimard, 1980-1987, vol. III, p. 7. 13 Corneille, Discours des trois unités, in Corneille. Œuvres complètes, vol. III, p. 190. 14 Nicholas Hammond and Michael Hawcroft, “Introduction”, in L’Abbé d’Aubignac. Dissertations contre Corneille, p. xiv. 15 Tallemant, vol. VI, pp. 231-232. <?page no="183"?> 183 Motivated by opportunism, a young writer by the name of Jean Donneau de Visé came to Corneille’s defence. After having severely criticized Sophonisbe several weeks earlier, he published an anonymous essay in 1663 in which he ardently defended the play against d’Aubignac’s critical commentary. 16 As Arnaud points out, “attaquer Corneille, c’était pour un débutant, un moyen sûr de faire du bruit et d’attirer l’attention ; mais le défendre, c’était bien plus glorieux” 17 (attacking Corneille was, for a beginner, a sure way to make noise and to attract attention; but to defend him was far more glorious). This was soon followed by his Défense du Sertorius in which he once again took up arms against the abbé. In one of his most biting statements, Donneau de Visé declared: Vous aboyez toutefois en vain, il y a tant de distance entre Monsieur de Corneille et vous, que vous ne pourrez jamais donner la moindre atteinte à sa réputation. (Défense du Sertorius, p. 140.) You bark however in vain. There is so much distance between Mr. de Corneille and you that you will never be able to do the slightest damage to his reputation. D’Aubignac placed all the blame on Corneille, remaining silent about the true authorship 18 of the two essays which had mocked his writing style, 16 Although the essay was published anonymously, the author’s identity was no secret. In Défense de la Sophonisbe, Donneau de Visé makes reference to his Nouvelles nouvelles in which he had initially been critical of the play (p. 70). He is also careful to state that Corneille had nothing to do with the essay: “[…] je vous ai répondu sans l’aveu de Monsieur de Corneille” (ibid., p. 69). (I have answered you without the consent of Mr. de Corneille.) In the preface of his Défense du Sertorius, the author speaks of having written Défense de la Sophonisbe. It is signed “D”: “Vous dites que vous n’avez connu dans ma Défense de Sophonisbe, que la colère de Monsieur de Corneille […]. Vous faites tort à sa réputation, en lui attribuant cette Défense, et bien que vous me fassiez beaucoup d’honneur, je suis obligé de vous avertir, que vous vous abusez; et de vous dire aussi que cette Défense de Sertorius est du même auteur, que celle de Sophonisbe […]” (Défense du Sertorius, p. 143). (You say that you recognized in my Defence of Sophonisbe only the anger of Mr. de Corneille […]. You do wrong to his reputation by attributing to him this Defence, and although you do me great honour, I am obliged to inform you that you are mistaken, and to tell you as well that the author of this Defence of Sertorius is the same as that of Sophonisbe […].) 17 Arnaud, p. 303. 18 At the conclusion of his Seconde dissertation, d’Aubignac writes to the duchess of R***: “J’étais près de finir cette lettre […] lorsque l’on m’a mis entre les mains <?page no="184"?> 184 the quality of his creative works and certain personal characteristics such as his advanced age. 19 The abbé had bigger fish to fry than the young Donneau de Visé, referring to him as one of these “petits poissons qui s’attachent aux grands et merveilleux monstres de la mer pour vivre de leurs excréments” 20 (small fish which attach themselves to the great and marvellous sea monsters in order to live off their excrement). Believing that Corneille was the source of these writings, or at least that he approved of them, d’Aubignac viewed the great dramatist as being pretentious and condescending. Seeing himself as a victim, he decided to continue his criticism of Corneille in order to place his new enemy on the defensive. In July 1663, he published his essay on Œdipe (1659), accompanied by his Quatrième dissertation (Fourth essay) in which he attacked the very character of the playwright: une Épigramme et un Sonnet de M. Corneille, avec une Lettre et une Défense en prose servant de réponse aux observations que vous m’aviez demandées sur la Sophonisbe; je prends la liberté de vous les envoyer pour vous montrer combien l’esprit de M. Corneille est usé […]” (p. 61). (I was about to finish this letter […] when I received an epigram and a sonnet of Mr. Corneille, with a letter and a defence in prose serving as a response to the observations that you asked me to make on Sophonisbe; I take the liberty of sending them to you to show you how spent Mr. Corneille’s mind is.) In his Quatrième dissertation, the abbé still insisted that Corneille was the author of the defensive essays: “Vous dites que M. de Corneille est de vos amis […] ; que vous savez tous les sentiments de M. de Corneille, et je n’en doute point, vous ne pouvez ignorer les vôtres ; vous combattez à outrance pour les intérêts de M. de Corneille et vous avez raison, car ce sont les vôtres” (p. 117). (You say that Mr. de Corneille is one of your friends […], that you know all the thoughts of Mr. de Corneille. And I do not doubt it at all; you cannot be ignorant of your own thoughts. You fight excessively for the interests of Mr. de Corneille, and you are right, as they are your own.) 19 In his Défense du Sertorius, Donneau de Visé ridicules d’Aubignac’s age on six different occasions. It is a point on which the abbé was particularly sensitive. In his Quatrième dissertation, he wrote: “Et pourquoi me donnez-vous dix ou douze ans que je n’ai pas […] ? Mais après tout, pensez M. de Corneille, que vous n’êtes pas plus jeune que moi, ou du moins cela serait difficile, car quand je vous ai connu, vous aviez bien huit ou dix ans plus que moi” (Quatrième dissertation, p. 123). (And why do you give me ten or twelve years that I do not have […]? But after all, you should realize, Mr. de Corneille, that you are not younger than I, or at least that would be difficult, as when I knew you, you were in fact eight or ten years older than I am.) The truth is that Corneille was nearly two years younger than d’Aubignac. 20 D’Aubignac, Seconde dissertation, p. 67. <?page no="185"?> 185 Vous avez une furieuse antipathie avec la vérité, ou la colère vous aveugle d’une manière bien peu commune, […] voilà ce que c’est que d’être trop bon Poète ; on s’accoutume tellement à mentir que l’on ne veut plus parler autrement. (Quatrième dissertation, p. 137.) En vérité M. de Corneille, vous êtes un grand homme, mais vous êtes un grand imposteur ; si vous inventez c’est avec bien peu d’esprit, puisque vos inventions se détruisent d’elles-mêmes ; et si vous devinez, il faut que ce soit avec bien de la diablerie puisqu’il y a si peu de vérité. (Quatrième dissertation, p. 139.) You have a tremendous dislike for truth, or anger blinds you in an uncommon manner, […] this is what happens when one is too good a poet; one accustoms oneself so much to lying that one does not wish to speak otherwise. In truth, Mr. Corneille, you are a great man, but you are a great impostor; if you are inventing, it is with very little intelligence, as your inventions destroy themselves; and if you are guessing, it must be with great mischief, as there is so little truth in what you say. II Immodest Women In his Première dissertation, d’Aubignac disapproves of the heroines of Corneille’s Sophonisbe because they discourse on politics, rather than conversing about their feelings of tenderness, of jealousy and of other passions: Vous m’aviez bien dit, Madame, que cette Pièce est remplie de plusieurs discours politiques, grands, solides et dignes de Monsieur Corneille, mais j’y trouve deux manquements signalés : l’un, qu’il les a mis pour la plupart, en la bouche de deux Femmes ; et l’autre, qu’ils étouffent tous les sentiments de tendresse, de jalousie, et des autres passions ; De sorte qu’on ne souffre pas volontiers des Femmes faire ainsi les Catons, et l’on souhaiterait qu'elles fissent un peu plus les Femmes : et quand de ces hauts raisonnements de la politique, elles reviennent au sentiment de leur cœur, il semble que ce soit avec peine ; elles en disent peu de choses, et pour avoir perdu le temps en ces entretiens qu’elles ne doivent pas faire, elles n’en ont plus pour expliquer ce qui les pressait, et qui sans doute plairait davantage aux Spectateurs. (Première dissertation, p. 10.) You well informed me, Madam, that this play was filled with several political speeches that were grand, solid and worthy of Mr Corneille, but I find in them two striking faults: firstly, that he placed them for the most part in the mouths of two women; and secondly, that they stifle all the feelings of tenderness, of jealousy and of the other passions. One does not willingly suffer women making political speeches, <?page no="186"?> 186 and one would wish that they were a bit more like women. And when from this lofty political reasoning, they return to feelings of the heart, it seems that it is done with difficulty; they say very little about them, and having wasted time with these conversations in which they should not engage, they have little left in them to explain what motivated them, and which no doubt would please the spectators more. Valerie Worth-Stylianou points out that the abbé’s concept of dramatic art is binary in terms of his notion of the appropriate nature of male and female roles: [...] the heroes should be active, political and military leaders; the heroines should be content to discourse on their passions. 21 D’Aubignac asserts that Corneille should have reserved the political speeches in his tragedy for Lélius, the lieutenant of the Roman consul, or even for the consul himself, Scipion, who does not even appear in the play. He indicates that Jean de Mairet made judicious use of this character in his own Sophonisbe (1634). 22 D’Aubignac also criticizes the quality of the speeches delivered by the male characters in Corneille’s tragedy, describing them as unfinished: […] je ne les ai pas trouvées tout à fait de l’air de Monsieur Corneille, parce qu’elles ne sont pas achevées, et qu’elles demeurent presque toutes à moitié chemin ; elles n’ont rien de ces belles contestations qu’il a mises tant de fois sur notre Théâtre, qui poussaient l’esprit de l’Homme à bout, et où le dernier qui parlait semblait avoir tant de raison, que l’on ne croyait pas qu’il fût possible de repartir, et où les réponses et les répliques excitaient de si grands applaudissements, que l’on avait toujours le déplaisir d’en perdre une bonne partie […]. (Première dissertation, p. 11.) […] I did not find them altogether in the style of Mr. Corneille, as they are unfinished and remain almost always at the halfway mark. They are not like these wonderful arguments that he presented on so many occasions on our stage, which pushed the mind of man to the limit, and where the last one who spoke seemed so right that one did not believe that his arguments could possibly be contested further, and where the responses and the retorts provoked such great applause that one always had the displeasure of missing a good part of them […]. 21 Valerie Worth-Stylianou, Confidential Strategies: The Evolving Role of the Confident in French Tragic Drama (1635-1677), Paris: Droz, 1999, p. 51. 22 D’Aubignac, Première dissertation, p. 10. <?page no="187"?> 187 The implication is that the political speeches assigned to females in the play have the effect of emasculating the males, or at least of rendering them less masculine and glorious in their argumentation than they should be. In his criticism of Corneille’s Sophonisbe, d’Aubignac conveniently forgets his own tragedy Zénobie, whose heroine makes a number of speeches that are political in nature, a fact not lost on Jean Donneau de Visé. In his Défense de la Sophonisbe, Corneille’s defender counteracts d’Aubignac’s criticism, pointing out that the abbé’s Queen of Palmyra is a political figure who asserts the right of women to rule and to make war: Les Histoires ne sont moins pleines de Femmes Fortes, et savantes en l’art de régner que de grands Politiques : et si c’est une faute à Monsieur de Corneille de faire parler ses Héroïnes en véritables Héroïnes, vous êtes tombé en une plus grande, de nous avoir autrefois fait voir Zénobie, qui parle plus de Politique et moins d’amour, que Sophonisbe ni Erixe. 23 History is no less filled with powerful women who are as knowledgeable in the art of reigning as great politicians. And if it is an error on the part of Mr. de Corneille to have his heroines speak as real heroines, you have committed a bigger one by having presented us in the past with Zénobie, who speaks more of politics and less of love than does Sophonisbe or Erixe. As we stated in chapter 2 of this book, d’Aubignac is very much an opportunist when defending a woman’s rights to participate in the political realm or at least when presenting both sides of the “feminist”-“antifeminist” debate in that context. The powerful regency of Anne of Austria provided him with sufficient “inspiration” to delve into that arena in the tragedy Zénobie. By 1663, the queen mother was no longer a part of the political landscape, her influence in government having ended with the death of Cardinal Mazarin two years earlier. The question of proper moral behaviour for women also comes under intense scrutiny in d’Aubignac’s critique of Sophonisbe. The abbé condemns Corneille’s heroine for not being “une femme d’Honneur” 24 (a woman of honour), citing her complete lack of virtue for putting her husband Syphax in harm’s way by encouraging him to wage war and for precipitously wishing to marry the conqueror Massinisse when she learns of her husband’s imprisonment: 23 Donneau de Visé, Défense de la Sophonisbe, pp. 41-42. 24 D’Aubignac, Première dissertation, p. 13. <?page no="188"?> 188 Sophonisbe en est l’Héroïne ; mais hélas, quelle Héroïne ! elle n’a pas un seul sentiment de vertu : d’abord elle contraint Syphax, son mari, de refuser la paix, et de s’exposer à une dangereuse Bataille, par des motifs de rage et de mépris envers un si grand Prince. […] aussitôt qu’elle sait la perte de cette Bataille et la prison de Syphax, elle tourne les yeux et le cœur sur ce jeune Prince [Massinisse], fondée sur l’amour qu’il avait eu pour elle, des espérances qu’elle devait condamner, et se persuade que sa beauté peut aisément rallumer un feu qu’elle ne croyait pas bien éteint, et l’événement découvre l’injustice et la honte de ses imaginations et de son dessein ; car son mari n’étant ni mort, ni blessé, elle reçoit les compliments de Massinisse avec effronterie, et l’engage elle-même à un mariage précipité. (Première dissertation, pp. 13-14.) Sophonisbe is the heroine of the play, but alas, what a heroine! She does not have a single feeling of virtue. Firstly, she compels Syphax, her husband, to refuse the peace and to expose himself to a dangerous battle, through motives of rage and of scorn towards such a great prince. […] As soon as she learns of the loss of the battle and the imprisonment of Syphax, she turns her eyes and her heart towards this young prince [Massinisse], founded on the love that he had for her - expectations that she should condemn - and persuades herself that her beauty can easily reignite a fire that she believed not yet extinguished. And the event uncovers the injustice and the shame of her dreams and of her plan. For although her husband is neither dead nor injured, she receives the compliments of Massinisse with shamelessness, and herself encourages him in a precipitous marriage. The abbé asserts that a woman of honour and virtue would have acted differently, urging her husband to avoid war out of consideration for the glory and the survival of the kingdom, and out of fear for the safety of the king. Instead, Sophonisbe demonstrates little esteem or respect for her husband, her actions being motivated by a secret passion for the enemy Massinisse and by thoughts that are contrary to her duty as wife and queen. 25 When her husband is defeated, she treats him with absolute contempt: […] cette Femme se marie le jour même à son vainqueur ; et au lieu de s’en excuser, elle lui fait insulte, elle lui reproche son infortune, elle lui dit des injures, le méprise, et lui préfère l’auteur de tous ses malheurs. (Première dissertation, p. 15.) […] this woman marries his conqueror on the same day; and instead of apologizing for it, she insults him, she reproaches him for his woes, she hurls abuse at him, she scorns him and prefers to him the author of his misfortune. 25 Ibid. <?page no="189"?> 189 D’Aubignac criticizes Corneille for violating the rules of decorum by having Massinisse speak about his desire to consummate his marriage to Sophonisbe: En vérité quand on voit Massinisse sur un Théâtre, en plein jour, et parmi tant d’affaires, demander en termes fort clairs de coucher avec une Femme, la pudeur en conçoit quelque horreur, et s’en effarouche […]. (Première dissertation, p. 14.) In truth, when one sees Massinisse on stage, in broad daylight, and with so much going on, ask in very clear terms to sleep with a woman, one is horrified and shocked by the absence of propriety. Massinisse’s words remind the audience of the heroine’s immoral character, as it was Sophonisbe who actively pursued the marriage to the new king. Although d’Aubignac is also critical of Syphax’s vanquisher, stating that he should have shown greater feelings of affliction when sending poison to his new wife, 26 he reserves his strongest condemnation for the heroine. Her behaviour is incompatible with the abbé’s notion of the respectable woman, one who is modest, virtuous and dutiful, characteristics which Sophonisbe certainly does not display. In his Seconde dissertation in which he critiques Corneille’s Sertorius, d’Aubignac refers to Viriate as “une grande Reine” 27 (a great queen), but he censures her for speaking of marriage to the general Sertorius. Despite Viriate’s claim that she is not motivated by love, her actions, according to the abbé, inevitably convey thoughts that betray the propriety of her sex: Viriate est une grande Reine qui pour soutenir son Trône veut épouser Sertorius, par ambition néanmoins et sans amour ; Je ne condamne pas ce sentiment, mais il me semble qu’elle ne devrait pas en parler elle-même à Sertorius. Il y a toujours de la faiblesse et même quelque image d’imprudence, quand une femme sollicite ellemême un homme, bien que ce soit pour en faire son Mari ; Elle a beau faire entendre qu’elle n’est pas touchée d’amour, on ne laisse pas d’en concevoir toujours quelque chose contre la pudeur du sexe […]. (Seconde dissertation, p. 47.) Viriate is a great queen who, in order to sustain her throne, wishes to marry Sertorius out of ambition, nevertheless, and without love. I do not condemn this sentiment, but it seems to me that she should not speak of it herself to Sertorius. There is always 26 Ibid., p. 15. 27 D’Aubignac, Seconde dissertation, p. 47. <?page no="190"?> 190 some weakness and even an image of imprudence when a woman herself seeks out a man, even though it is for the purpose of making him her husband. However much she makes it known that she is not motivated by love, the situation still creates in our minds something that is contrary to the modesty of the female sex. D’Aubignac refers to Viriate’s behaviour as unseemly, insisting that she should have carried out her marriage negotiations through intermediaries: […] j’estimerais plus séant que Viriate fît sa négociation par l’entremise de ses Ministres, cela serait plus dans l’ordre de la politique. Et si M. Corneille a voulu qu’elle en donnât elle-même quelque connaissance, il y fallait mêler quelques tendresses […] dont la manifestation serait un peu plus excusable, quoiqu’elle ne fût pas plus honnête. (Seconde dissertation, p. 47.) […] I feel that it would be more seemly if Viriate undertook her negotiations by way of her ministers. This would be more in keeping with the order of politics. And if Mr. Corneille wished for her to give some knowledge of it herself, he should have added in her speech some elements of tendernes […], the expression of which would be more excusable, although not more respectable. Later in the essay, d’Aubignac reiterates his views: Dites-moi, Madame, si cette Ambitieuse n’agit point un peu trop contre la pudeur […]. 28 Tell me, Madam, if this ambitious lady does not act a bit too much against propriety. The character Aristie in Corneille’s Sertorius also comes under sharp criticism. Outraged by an unjust political divorce and motivated by a desire for vengeance, she speaks to her ex-husband Pompée in order to win back his love. D’Aubignac disapproves of the statements made by the general in response to Aristie’s protestations. The blame is placed on Aristie for provoking words which create “de vilaines idées” (indecent thoughts) in the minds of the audience: […] je trouve qu’elle a trop de faiblesse quand elle parle à Pompée ; une femme d’honneur ne doit rien oublier pour se réconcilier avec son Mari, mais il ne faut pas sur le Théâtre lui faire dire des choses qui laissent aux Spectateurs de vilaines idées. (Seconde dissertation, p. 47.) 28 Ibid., p. 56. <?page no="191"?> 191 […] I find that she has too much weakness when she speaks to Pompée; a woman of honour must not forget anything in order to reconcile herself with her husband, but one must not make him say things on stage which create indecent thoughts for the spectators. The words in question are in reference to Emilie, Pompée’s new wife. When Aristie questions the general about her, Pompée reveals that the marriage has not been consummated, explaining that while Emilie is about to give birth, the pregnancy is from a previous union with another man. The abbé finds the details far too explicit for his liking: […] cette réconciliation ne doit avoir que des prétextes honorables sans y rien mêler qui ressente les faiblesses de la Nature, et ce qui peut en donner ici quelque fâcheuse idée, est que Pompée lui dit pour s’excuser et l’assurer de sa constance envers elle, qu’il ne s’est rien passé contre ses intérêts entre Emilie et lui, et qu’elle était sur le point d’accoucher en sa maison d’un Enfant qu’elle avait fait ailleurs ; […] cela porte quelques marques de turpitudes que je ne veux pas démêler […]. (Seconde dissertation, pp. 47-48.) […] this reconciliation must have only honourable pretexts without adding anything to it which alludes to the weaknesses of nature. And what can provoke improper thoughts is that Pompée tells her, in order to excuse himself and assure her of his faithfulness to her, that nothing has happened against her interests between Emilie and him, and that in his house she was on the verge of giving birth to a child who had been conceived elsewhere; […] this carries certain marks of turpitude which I do not wish to untangle […]. The point to be made here is that d’Aubignac places the blame for all these details not on the male speaker, but rather on the female character who, in the abbé’s mind, requested them in the first place. References to sexuality made by a man are bad enough, but allusions to them made by a woman are entirely unacceptable, as these betray the propriety of the female sex. Aristie’s transgression is not that she tries to win her husband back, but that in doing so she makes allusions to sexuality which, in turn, generate even more explicit discussion about the topic. 29 29 In his defense of Corneille, Donneau de Visé asserts that there is nothing in the scene between Aristie and Pompée that creates “de vilaines idées” (indecent thoughts). He ascribes d’Aubignac’s judgement to the abbé’s own evil ideas: “Je ne juge pas qu’il y ait dans ces Vers, qui puisse laisser de vilaines idées, ni qui sente ce qu’un homme de votre caractère, et de votre âge, ne devrait pas penser, et que je n’ose expliquer” <?page no="192"?> 192 In his essay on Corneille’s Œdipe, d’Aubignac once again singles out one of the female characters for transgressing the modesty of her sex. Dircé, Œdipe’s sister who is in love with Thésée, prince of Athens, speaks openly about her sentiments to Mégare, her lady-in-waiting. The abbé does not approve: En la seconde Scène du second Acte, comme partout ailleurs, Dircé parle si clairement de sa passion, que la pudeur de son sexe en est offensé : ce qui n’est qu’un peu libre dans la Comédie passe pour effronté dans la Tragédie, où les personnages sont plus sérieux et plus honnêtes. (Troisième dissertation, p. 99.) 30 In the second scene of the second act, as everywhere else, Dircé speaks so clearly of her passion that the propriety of her sex is offended. What is considered only slightly tolerable in comedy passes for shameless in tragedy, where the characters are more serious and more respectable. Elsewhere in his essay, d’Aubignac refers to Dircé as a coquette: […] Dircé ne devait point être si respectueuse aux obscurités des Oracles, ou bien elle ne devait pas dire tant d’injures à sa mère ni au mari de sa mère ; Elle est trop emportée ou bien elle est trop religieuse, au moins devait-elle expier sa faute en assistant sa mère dans les derniers moments de sa vie, et non pas s’amuser à coqueter avec Thésée. (Troisième dissertation, p. 97.) […] Dircé should not have been so respectful of the obscurities of the oracle, or at least she should not have said so many insults to her mother or to the husband of her mother. She is either too hot-tempered or too religious. At the very least, she should have atoned for her fault by assisting her mother in the last moments of her life, rather than amusing herself by playing the coquette with Thésée. Several pages later, he again returns to the theme of the transgression of female propriety. In Act III, scene 2, an angry Dircé informs her mother that it is through her father Laïus that she has inherited her passion for love. D’Aubignac finds such talk unbecoming of a respectable young woman: (Défense du Sertorius, p. 111.) (I do not see that there is anything in these verses that could create indecent thoughts, or which conveys what a man of your character and your age should not be thinking about, and which I dare not explain.) 30 Abbé d’Aubignac, Troisième dissertation concernant le poème dramatique, en forme de remarques sur la tragédie de M. Corneille, intitulée l’Œdipe. Envoyée à Madame la duchesse de R***, in L’Abbé d’Aubignac. Dissertations contre Corneille: 69-113. <?page no="193"?> 193 Encore est-il, à mon avis, contre la pudeur, qu’une fille autorise sa passion amoureuse des inclinations que le sang de son père lui donne, et qu’elle se vante d’y trouver de la douceur, en disant, Trouve bien qu’il est doux d’aimer et d’être aimée. 31 The fact remains, in my opinion, that it is against propriety for a girl to justify her amorous passion through the inclinations that the blood of her father gives her, and for her to boast of having found in this some sweetness, in saying, [His blood] truly finds that it is sweet to love and to be loved. III The Salic Law Revisited We conclude this chapter with a return to the topic of the Salic Law or, to be more precise, to that of d’Aubignac’s opinion regarding the appropriateness of female rule. As we demonstrated earlier in our book, the abbé shows himself, in La Pucelle d’Orléans, to be a staunch supporter of the French law of agnatic succession. In his tragedy Zénobie, however, created during the regency of Anne of Austria, d’Aubignac displays a major shift in his thinking, presenting both sides of the debate. The fact that it is the heroine who argues in favor of the female right to wage war and to rule gives prominence to the “feminist” side of the discussion. By the time of the Querelle de Sophonisbe, which took place fourteen years after the publication of Zénobie, the abbé returns to his original position on the topic of the legitimacy of female rule. In his essay on Corneille’s Œdipe, d’Aubignac criticizes Corneille for having Dircé declare herself the heir to the throne of Thebes, the princess claiming that Œdipe usurped her rights to the crown: Elle débite incessamment ses belles prétentions, et parle comme ferait une fille d’Espagne injustement dépossédée. (Troisième dissertation, p. 96.) She incessantly spiels off her far-fetched claims, and speaks in the manner of a young girl from Spain who has been unjustly dispossessed. The abbé’s language betrays his true opinions about the topic of royal succession, his use of the words “ses belles prétentions” (far-fetched 31 Ibid., p. 108. <?page no="194"?> 194 claims) and “une fille d’Espagne” 32 (a young girl from Spain) communicating a disdain for the idea of female inheritance of the crown. He goes on to point out the lack of historical accuracy in Corneille’s play regarding the concept of female succession in the ancient world: Je ne crois pas néanmoins que dans ces vieux temps qui sont nommés Héroïques, les Royaumes tombassent si facilement en quenouille, et M. Corneille aurait peut-être bien de la peine à nous en donner des exemples. (Troisième dissertation, p. 96.) I do not believe, nevertheless, that in these olden times which are called heroic, kingdoms would fall so easily into female hands, and Mr. Corneille would perhaps be hard pressed to give us some examples of this. D’Aubignac’s position, in 1663, on the appropriateness of female rule is not surprising, given that Louis XIV’s personal reign of France began in 1661. 32 The words “une fille d’Espagne” are likely in reference to the Spanish infanta Isabella, the granddaughter of King Henri II of France. In 1593, her claim to the French throne was denied as a result of the application of the Salic Law. Cf. Cordula Van Wyhe, ed., Isabel Clara Eugenia: Female Sovereignty in the Courts of Madrid and Brussels, Madrid and London: Centro des Estudios Europa Hispanica and Paul Holbertson, 2011. In d’Aubignac’s lifetime, Spain did not exclude daughters from succession to the throne in default of sons. <?page no="195"?> Conclusion The Hitchcock Presence Sir Alfred Hitchcock appeared in many of the films he produced. Each appearance was very brief and inconsequential to the plot: walking across a road, mailing a letter, standing in front of a drug store, leaving a train, missing a bus, etc. 1 But he was there! And very soon audiences as well knew that he was there, and indeed looked forward to trying to spot his cameos in successive films. Not surprisingly, it is not our intention here to make a comparative study of Alfred Hitchcock and abbé d’Aubignac. (We leave it to far more imaginative seventeenth-century French scholars to perform that feat.) Our aim, rather, is to show how the abbé places himself at various times in his works in order to let us know that he is, in fact, there. These “appearances” have less to do with the intention of “writing the self” than with the desire to deliver important political and social messages. D’Aubignac’s “cameos” are often multi-dimensional in nature within the same work, in the sense that he inhabits more than one character as the need arises. We have seen that in La Pucelle d’Orléans, the defense of the Salic law and its accompanying “anti-feminist” arguments that come from the mouth of the Maid are really being enunciated by d’Aubignac. This also applies to the heroine’s belittling of the English political system and her glorification of the emerging absolute French monarchy under Louis XIII and chief minister Richelieu, d’Aubignac’s protector. The condemnation of female warrior cross-dressing, expressed firstly by the countess and later by the judge Mide, are also the words of the dramatist. In La Cyminde ou les deux victimes, d’Aubignac plays the ventriloquist when 1 These Hitchcock appearances can be found in the following films: The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), Suspicion (1941), Saboteur (1942), The Paradine Case (1947) and North by Northwest (1959), respectively. <?page no="196"?> 196 the heroine emphasizes the weaknesses of her sex that disqualify her from involvement in the affairs of government and of war, an unambiguous condemnation once again of the failed regency of Marie de’ Medici and a glorification of the reign of Louis XIII. He later switches over to another character, this time Arincidas, in order to assert the male prerogative to protect his wife and to sacrifice himself for his country, rather than being emasculated by female heroic actions. In Zénobie, d’Aubignac stretches his appearances to the limit, inhabiting the two opposing characters, the queen of Palmyra and the Roman emperor, even within the same scene. Zénobie’s declaration of the right of women to rule and to wage war is the dramatist’s (arguably grudging) tribute to the powerful Anne of Austria, while Aurelian’s condemnation of female cross-dressing and his generally “anti-feminist” views are the dramatist’s attempt to balance the discussion. In all three of d’Aubignac’s tragedies, the ever-present love theme may be seen, as we have argued, as an attempt by d’Aubignac to bring his tragic heroines down to earth, to put them into perspective as women who are physically desired by men. We cannot help but seeing in the male characters who lust after these women a hint of the abbé’s own sexual fantasies. In this scenario, d’Aubignac may be seen as going over to the “dark side”, inhabiting the character of Warwick who is moved to possess the Maid, that of Ostane who is desirous of Cyminde and, finally, that of Aurelian who is stirred by the provocativeness of Zénobie. The reader may find this hypothesis somewhat farfetched, but as we demonstrated in our book, this recurring erotic theme in d’Aubignac’s works is one that cannot be ignored. What are we to think of Le Roman des lettres? As we stated in chapter 3, it is first and foremost a work of shameless self-promotion on the part of the author. Part I of the novel may be said to represent d’Aubignac’s sexual fantasies of women. This portion of the work flows with a storyline consisting of all the right letters to make the plot work. This is, in our view, an indication of the largely fictional nature of this correspondence, albeit loosely based on the experiences of the abbé’s youth, and is in sharp contrast to the second part of the work, with its haphazard and disjointed presentation. D’Aubignac is keenly aware of this “flaw” in Part II of his novel and often justifies the lack of cohesion with comments that refer to letters “que je n’ai point” 2 (which I do not have) and to subjects “si 2 D’Aubignac, Le Roman des lettres, p. 429. <?page no="197"?> 197 détachés qu’il est difficile de les assembler sous quelque apparence de rapport que ce puisse être, et avec ordre” 3 (so detached that it is difficult to assemble them with some semblance of relevance or order). Regardless of the extent of autobiography that is to be found in the novel, d’Aubignac clearly communicates his egocentric intentions throughout the work, creating a world in which the elements in the multi-layered narrative all point to the abbé himself. D’Aubignac’s decision to identify himself as the casanovaesque Ariste is, quite simply, an attempt to be portrayed as a dashing, complex man of letters, gifted in all areas of erudition, including matters of the heart. As we have seen, however, insistence by the author on the propriety of this identity does not conceal the abbé’s misogynist philosophy. His Ariste is adept at manipulation and takes great enjoyment in toying with young female hearts. He has no intentions of having sexual relationships, for that would label him as a womanizer of the worst sort. He maintains his virtue by staying well clear of the physical world. The fact that all is well at the conclusion of the novel, with the three remaining potential mistresses having a positive feeling about what has gone on, and indeed feeling honoured that they above all women were chosen for this game, is clearly an indication of the fantasy-land nature of the plot. The sun-king Ariste, surrounded by his chosen ones, dangles his potential mistresses by making use of his superior intellectual powers, all for his own amusement. The relationship between power and misogyny is the driving force of the plot, with Ariste clearly being in the dominant position. There is no evidence to indicate that Le Roman des lettres received much attention at any time following its publication in 1667. D’Aubignac’s motivations in publishing the work may well have been to rehabilitate himself following his bruising battle in the quarrel of Sophonisbe, from which he came out looking petty, vindictive and somewhat crazed. Given the nature of the novel, the primary objective appears to have been pure attention seeking, an attempt to create the perception that he was, in spite of what many of his contemporaries thought, a great man of letters, a superb intellectual and a perfect gentleman with a “healthy” interest in women. All this, despite the fact that he was an abbé. Composed and published well after the regency of Anne of Austria, Le Roman des lettres does not contain any of the “feminist” discourse that characterizes d’Aubignac’s Zénobie, a tragedy 3 Ibid., pp. 500-501. <?page no="198"?> 198 that appeared during Anne’s period of immense power in France. A correlation once again exists between d’Aubignac’s philosophy of the female sex, or rather what he chooses to reveal about that philosophy, and the socio-political conditions that existed at the time of the particular writings that reveal that philosophy. This was, after all, the glorious reign of Louis the Great who had assumed power in his own right in 1651. A man was once again at the centre of things, not just in name, but in an actual position of power. D’Aubignac’s instructional manual for young women of polite society, Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, presents a generally negative attitude towards the female sex. The message given is that men, because of their nature, will always try to seduce women by using deceit and manipulation. The onus, therefore, is on the female to avoid being trapped. Moreover, it is her responsibility not to awaken men’s desires in the first place. D’Aubignac seems to be embracing the notion of woman as a societal scapegoat; by their very nature, women lead men to want to seduce them and, ultimately, cannot resist being seduced by them. What is striking about the Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène is its use of the language of victimhood. Also striking is Ariste’s thorough knowledge of the ways in which men prey on women in order to trap them for their conquests. In the light of Le Roman des lettres, we can speculate that d’Aubignac appears to be an expert on men’s modus operandi because he practiced the art of seduction himself, albeit, it is claimed, in a purely intellectual and honourable manner. As we have demonstrated, the abbé’s main preoccupation in Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène is, first and foremost, sex. In this regard, the Ariste represented in this work is no different than the one portrayed in Le Roman des lettres. Both individuals are motivated by their intense interest in women. Both deal with strategies of manipulation employed by men to “control” females. Where they do differ is the perspective that is taken in each case in discussing the topic at hand. In Le Roman des lettres, the focus is on Ariste himself, the brilliant and “virtuous” man of the world who fantasizes about women by toying with them on an intellectual/ emotional level; in Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, the emphasis is on defensive strategies identified by Ariste that should be used by women to counteract male manoeuvres in the areas of passion and love. Both works taken together provide a complete picture of the man d’Aubignac calls Ariste. On the one side, we have the sophisticated casanovaesque man of the world who is, according to the <?page no="199"?> 199 author, the d’Aubignac of his youthful days, but as we have argued, may also be seen as a manifestation of his current fantasies about the female sex. On the other side, we have the wise and caring paternal-like counsellor, a figure more in keeping with the traditional image that we have of an abbé. The author of Les Conseils would have us believe that this Ariste is the mature d’Aubignac, a virtuous man of the cloth who is nonetheless conversant with the ways of the world. What is important to note, however, is that this second face of Ariste reflects an individual who is very knowledgeable about males in their role as sexual hunters in search of prey and that, in all likelihood, this comprehension derives from a personal knowledge of the strategies that are being discussed. We are not suggesting here that abbé d’Aubignac spent his waking hours trying to seduce women, but rather that he had an “intellectual” interest in this area. While his philosophy of the female sex is articulated differently in Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène from that expressed in Le Roman des lettres, the essence of that philosophy is present in both works. The interaction between power and misogyny is once again evident in this instructional manual written for the virtuous Célimène. The powerful male initiates and pursues the sex game by using the tools of deceit and manipulation. The vulnerable female must be ever vigilant, even to the point of paranoia, for in the end it is she who will be judged. The use of the word “paranoia” here is not meant to be facetious. The well-intentioned pieces of advice provided by Ariste seek to create a state of hypervigilance in young women such as Célimène. It is all for their own good, according to the Conseils, as paranoia may be the ultimate weapon in dealing with the relentless and scheming male. This world of guardedness, caution and precaution exists not only in interactions with men, however. The ever jealous and spiteful female is also to be mistrusted. If Célimène hopes to protect her reputation, she will have to act according to the belief that men and other women will not have her best interests at heart. The interaction between power and misogyny is at play in d’Aubignac’s entertaining novel about the young and beautiful Amelonde. Whereas the male is portrayed as being powerful, playing the controlling role in the game of seduction, the female is depicted as being vulnerable and reactive, demonstrating a constant need to be on her guard. Regardless of her marital status, a woman such as Amelonde will always be potential prey for the sexual appetite of the male, notwithstanding the latter’s virtuous nature or reputation. D’Aubignac makes his presence <?page no="200"?> 200 known in the character of Cleandre. After the heroine has related to him her negative experiences with the prince, Cleandre offers advice that is reminiscent of the wise and worldly Ariste. The novel’s central theme is sex, the author not failing to provide his readers with enough details and inferences to add spice to his work. The abbé emphasizes the heroine’s attractive physique, describing her charms in such a way as to seemingly betray his own sexual predilections. There is also another element at play here, namely the idea that women are not always entirely displeased with unwanted attention. This notion is communicated in Cleomene’s analysis, quoted in chapter 4, of the comparative dangers of interacting with men who are honnêtes (respectable) and those who are vicieux (depraved). But it is seen primarily in Amelonde’s seemingly innocent inability to avoid situations that compromise her virtue. Men whom she has refused and castigated are permitted to continue their visits. In some cases, it is out of respect for the noble rank of the individual, but in other cases, it seems to be a question of subtle enjoyment in the game that is being played. Ultimately, Amelonde’s decision to cloister herself from the world is the most effective solution to the incessant problem of safeguarding her virtue. This is a recurring theme in d’Aubignac’s work, as we saw in chapter 5. The interaction between power and misogyny is once again at play in d’Aubignac’s Histoire du temps. The women of the island are chastised for their aberrant lifestyle in which virtue and modesty have been abandoned in favour of behaviour that does not fit the traditional role that women should play in d’Aubignac’s world. Significantly, it is only through the intercession of a man - Capitaine Repentir (Captain Repentance) - that they are given the opportunity to recognize the superficiality of their ways and to gain sanctuary. This powerful, melancholic, wise, pious and charitable gentleman can be no other than d’Aubignac himself. The “Hitchcock presence” about which we spoke earlier can thus be found in the abbé’s satire of the world of coquetry. Like his presence in his three prose tragedies, d’Aubignac’s manifestation takes on more than a single identity. He is also, as we have indicated, one of the Flying Hearts, a true coquet who wishes to attract attention in order to be seen as an intellectual Casanova and who is sexually satisfied by being viewed as such. The interplay between d’Aubignac, as sophisticated man of the world and frequenter of the salons, and d’Aubignac, as abbé, is therefore a recurring theme in some of the author’s works. Like Le Roman <?page no="201"?> 201 des lettres and Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, d’Aubignac’s Histoire du temps was composed and published after Anne of Austria was no longer in the political spotlight. The work contains nothing of the “feminist” discourse that we saw in the tragedy Zénobie, which appeared during the years of Anne’s powerful regency. The women in d’Aubignac’s Histoire du temps have no political power, exercising their influence only over matters of language, manners and style via their activities in the salons. However, this form of leadership is mocked as being frivolous. The disintegration of sex roles, as seen in the games in which women play the role of men, is symbolic of the unnatural state of affairs that characterizes the Kingdom of Coquetry. Similarly, the manner in which women are idolized, either in the rituals of courtly love or in the context of the sanctuary of the new female divinities (that is to say, the salons), is also depicted as being unnatural. The only true place for these ladies is in the isolated refuge of a virtuous life. As Leibacher-Ouvrard points out, this place of safety and virtue is a form of imprisonment itself, where women return to the “natural” state of being secondary in importance to men: Sur cette terre ferme séparée de « l’impertinent Royaume » d’inconstance par un bras de mer dont le passeur est Repentir, les yeux des femmes abusées se dessilleront enfin. Mais la réalité offre la perspective d’un « repos et d’une satisfaction véritable » qui n’apparaissent pas des plus gais, et, sur la carte, la chapelle close n’a rien d’attrayant. 4 On this firm ground separated from the “impertinent kingdom” of infidelities by an arm of the sea whose boatman is Repentance, the eyes of the abused women will finally be opened. But the reality offers the perspective of a “rest and a genuine satisfaction” which does not appear to be of the most cheerful veriety, and on the map, the enclosed chapel has nothing appealing about it. It is through the abusive actions of the males that the coquettes come to an understanding of the error of their ways. In this regard, the men ironically, and in a very sinister way, serve a useful purpose for the repentance of these women whose behaviour has overstepped the boundaries of the virtuous and modest female. As in Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène, the males in Histoire du temps are essentially given a free pass. While they are depicted as imperfect and morally questionable creatures whose 4 Leibacher-Ouvrard, p. 151. <?page no="202"?> 202 ultimate purpose in courtly love is to use females for their own enjoyment after having placed them on a pedestal, they apparently cannot experience any real conversion owing to their very nature. As they cannot do otherwise, they are, therefore, left to do what they have always done. Once again, it is entirely up to the female sex to make the necessary changes in order to keep the world functioning in some sort of virtuous state. As Leibacher-Ouvrard points out, “les femmes, suggère d’Aubignac, ont tout à perdre au jeu des voluptés fugaces et ne sont finalement que des proies” 5 (the women, suggests d’Aubignac, have everything to lose in the game of fleeting sensual pleasures and are, in the final analysis, only prey). Ironically, the changes that are made by the females are ultimately accomplished through the advice and intercession of males, personified in d’Aubignac’s novel by Capitaine Repentir (Captain Repentance), who are seen as the legitimate and exclusive holders of political and religious power in seventeenth-century France. The association of women with the characteristics of deceitfulness, sensuality and superficiality is common in moralistic writing of seventeenth-century France. 6 In Macarise, the allegories used by d’Aubignac portray the female as the embodiment of temptation itself. There is, therefore, a great distrust of the nature of the female sex that is communicated in the novel. As we saw in Les Conseils d’Ariste à Célimène and Histoire du temps, the source of men’s unvirtuous behaviour is ultimately women, who trigger in males the desire to succumb to pleasures of the flesh. It is only by an extraordinary submission to virtue that a man is able to resist these vices. Macarise is the personification of that virtue. The idyllic land over which she reigns is, therefore, the antithesis of the Kingdom of Coquetry: Macarise est l’autre versant de la coquetterie. C’est l’utopie de la galanterie honnête, des amours heureuses, de la sagesse et de la vertu. 7 Macarise is the other side of coquetry. It is the utopia of honest gallantry, of happy love affairs, of wisdom and of virtue. 5 Ibid., p. 150. 6 Cf. Maclean, pp. 64-87. 7 Leibacher-Ouvrard, p. 152. <?page no="203"?> 203 In his essays on Corneille’s Sophonisbe, Sertorius and Œdipe, d’Aubignac makes frequent use of the word pudeur, meaning a sense of propriety or decency, in reference to female characters. This is an element of the abbé’s philosophy of women that we have seen in his other works. The only difference is that in this case, the use of the term is in the context of criticism of someone else’s female characters. While it is true that the Querelle de Sophonisbe may have led d’Aubignac to be ultra-critical of Corneille’s heroines, it must be stated that the element of pudeur has consistently been part of the abbé’s concept of the ideal female. In the world of politics, pudeur signifies that women should play only a peripheral role, one in which even making political speeches by a female takes away from the glory and rightful prerogative of the male. The same principle applies to the world of love and sex, where women must never usurp masculine identity by declaring their love or even making allusions to sexual activity. While d’Aubignac is also critical of Corneille’s heroes, there is an implied acknowledgement in his criticism that their behaviour is pardonable, given that their very nature leads them to act in ways that are not always perfect. 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Wells, Paris: Papers on French Seventeenth-Century Literature, 1987: 123-134. <?page no="219"?> Index Académie des Belles-Lettres, 42 Académie française, 18, 41, 87, 105, 150, 207, 215 Adèle de Champagne, 35 Albert, Charles d’ (duc de Luynes), 30 allegory, 30, 37, 42, 43, 44, 64, 105, 106, 147, 148, 149, 155, 165, 166, 167, 169, 170, 172, 173, 174, 176, 177, 202, 214, 215 Angennes, Angélique-Claire d’, 46, 110 Angenoust, Nicolas, 47 Anjou, Geoffrey d’, 69 Anne de France, 35 Anne de Kyiv, 35 Anne of Austria, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39, 47, 76, 77, 78, 128, 187, 193, 196, 197, 201, 209, 212 Arbaud de Porchères, François d’, 41 Arbaux, marquis d’, 42 Aristotle, 10, 11, 26, 212 Auchy, vicomtesse d’, 16, 18 autobiographical pact, 88, 214 Barallis, monsieur, 42 Baurin, monsieur, 42 Beauchamp, Richard, 68 Benserade, Isaac de, 16, 38, 87, 107 Blanche de Castille, 35 Boileau, Nicolas, 16, 46 Boisrobert, François le Métel de, 49 Boscheron, 15, 16, 37, 38, 39, 43, 109, 147, 207 Bourbon, Antoine de, 28 Bourbon, Louis de (prince de Condé), 28 Bourbon, Louis II de (Grand Condé), 32, 33, 86 Bourdelot, Pierre, 16 Bussières, Jean de, 87 Caillet, Paul, 130 Cardinal de Retz, 44, 205 Cardinal Mazarin, 32, 33, 34, 44, 45, 170, 187 Cardinal Richelieu, 13, 14, 15, 19, 31, 38, 39, 41, 50, 77, 78, 105, 195, 211, 214, 216 Caré, monsieur, 42 Casanova, Giacomo Girolamo, 93, 95, 96, 98, 109, 197, 198, 200, 213, 215 Catherine de’ Medici, 27, 28, 29, 35, 36, 212, 213 Caumont de La Force, Charlotte-Rose de, 108 <?page no="220"?> 220 Caussin, Nicolas, 47 Chapelain, Jean, 16, 17, 18, 40, 41, 50, 77, 78, 87, 88, 170, 207 Charles I of England, 70, 71 Charles IV, 25 Charles IX, 27, 28, 29, 36 Charles VIII, 35 Châtelet, marquis du, 42 Chauffepié, Jacques-Georges, 46 Chavigny, comte de, 32 Chilperic I, 24 Claudius I, 79 Clémence de Hongrie, 24 Clément, Jean-Marie-Bernard, 77, 207 Clovis I, 23 Colbert, Jean-Baptiste, 112, 170 Coligny, Gaspard de, 28 Colletet, Guillaume, 16, 38 Concini, Concino, 30 Conrart, Valentin, 16 coquetry, 22, 44, 113, 118, 119, 135, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 154, 155, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 175, 201, 202, 213 Corneille, Pierre, 12, 16, 17, 20, 22, 37, 40, 42, 48, 85, 129, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 203, 205, 206, 207, 208, 210, 213, 215, 216 Costar, Pierre, 87 Desjardins, Marie-Catherine, 49, 182, 207 Desmarets de Saint-Sorlin, Jean, 41, 105, 207, 215 Donneau de Visé, Jean, 17, 42, 128, 129, 183, 184, 187, 191, 208, 215, 216 Du Bosc, Jacques, 47, 130 Du Champ, monsieur, 16 Du Duc, Fronton, 50 Du Lisdam, Henri, 130 Du Perier, monsieur, 42 Edward III of England, 25 Eleanor of Aquitaine, 69 Elizabeth I of England, 70, 71 Épernon, duc d’, 29 epistolary fiction, 82, 213 Erasmus, 47, 117 Eve (biblical), 11, 216 femme forte, 39, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 62, 63 Foucault, Michel, 10, 212 François I, 35 François II, 27, 28, 36 French, John R. P., 10 Fronde, 33, 34, 44, 45, 210, 215 Furetière, Antoine, 16, 147 Galigaï, Leonora Dori, 30 Ganaret, abbé, 42 <?page no="221"?> 221 Gaubertin, Pierre Boitel, sieur de, 107 Gondi, Claude-Marguerite de (marquise de Meignelay), 44 Gondi, Jean-François Paul de, 44 Grignan, François de (duc de Termoli), 110 Guéret, Gabriel, 42, 167 Guise, Charles de, 27 Guise, François de, 27 Guise, Marie de, 28 Harcourt, princesse d’, 128 Hédelin, Anne, 46 Hédelin, Claude, 36, 37 Henri II, 27, 29, 36, 37, 194 Henri III, 28, 29, 30, 36 Henri III de Navarre, 28 Henri IV, 29, 30, 214 Henry II of England, 69 Herodian, 78 Hitchcock, Alfred, 195, 200 Hobbes, Thomas, 9, 104, 208 Holofernes, 62 Homer, 20, 46 homosexuality, 105, 107, 108 honnête homme, 86, 96, 99, 115, 118, 130, 132, 133, 137, 145, 146, 173, 192, 200 Hundred Years’ War, 25, 26, 212, 216 Isabella Clara Eugenia, 25, 194, 216, 217 James V of Scotland, 28 Jean I, 24 Jeanne II (reine de Navarre), 24 Joan of Arc (historical), 23, 211, 212, 217 Judith (biblical), 62, 67 L’Escale, le chevalier de, 208 L’Esclache, Louis de, 16 La Bruyère, Jean de, 151, 162, 163, 208 La Guiche, Jean-François de (maréchal de Saint-Géran), 45 La Mesnardière, Hippolyte Jules-Pilet de, 38, 40, 41 La Mothe Le Vayer, François de, 130 La Rochefoucauld, François de, 150, 151 Laporte, Joseph de, 77, 207 Launay, François de, 16, 42 Le Bouthillier, Claude, 32 Le Journal des savants, 112, 208 Le Mercure Galant, 42, 208, 215, 216 Le Moyne, Pierre, 63 Lejeune, Philippe, 88, 89, 214 Léris, Antoine de, 77, 208 Lévis-Ventadour, abbé de, 45 Loudun possessions, 13, 210 <?page no="222"?> 222 Louis IX, 35 Louis VII, 69 Louis X, 24, 25 Louis XIII, 13, 29, 30, 31, 32, 50, 61, 71, 72, 76, 82, 195, 216 Louis XIV, 32, 33, 34, 45, 112, 115, 170, 194, 198, 209, 211, 212, 214 Lucretius, 76, 217 Maillard, Claude, 130 Maillé-Brézé, Jean Armand de, 13, 45, 165 Mainard, François de, 77 Mairet, Jean de, 186, 208 Malherbe, François de, 110 Manilius, 76, 217 Marie de’ Medici, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 36, 37, 39, 72, 76, 196, 211, 213 Mary, Queen of Scots, 27 Ménage, Gilles, 16, 17 Ménard, François de, 77, 78 Ménier, Honorat de, 208 misogyny, 9, 10, 11, 23, 31, 34, 69, 73, 77, 79, 95, 99, 104, 108, 197, 199, 200, 208, 213 Molière, 157 Montgomery, Gabriel de, 27 Montmor, Henri-Louis Habert de, 16 Montmorency, Charlotte- Marguerite de (princesse de Condé), 15, 44, 86 Montreuil, Jean de, 26 moralistic writing, 47, 48, 63, 126, 130, 151, 202, 214 Morvan de Bellegarde, Jean- Baptiste, 53 Neptune, 51, 60 Nietzsche, Friedrich, 10, 215 Odenathus, Septimius, 54, 78 Ogier, François, 16 Oresme, Nicolas, 26 Orléans, Anne Marie Louise d’, 82 Orléans, Gaston d’, 32, 33, 34, 82 Ovid, 76, 217 Pagan, comte de, 18 Pandora, 11, 117 Paré, Ambroise, 28, 36, 37, 215 Paré, Catherine, 36 Parfaict, François and Claude, 76, 77, 208 Patru, Olivier, 16, 41 Perrachon, Marc, 42 Petit, Pierre, 42 Philippe I, 35 Philippe II, 35 Philippe V, 24, 25 Philippe VI, 25 Plato, 10, 11, 210 Pope Alexander VII, 170 <?page no="223"?> 223 power, 9, 11, 21, 23, 24, 27, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39, 48, 51, 56, 69, 72, 78, 82, 85, 98, 103, 104, 139, 156, 163, 170, 176, 197, 199, 200, 202, 212 préciosité, 15, 37, 113, 149, 157, 162, 214, 215 Pure, abbé de, 16, 17, 181, 182 Querelle de Sophonisbe, 12, 42, 179, 193, 203, 208, 210 Racan, Honorat de Bueil, seigneur de, 110 Racine, Jean, 40, 181, 208 Rambouillet, madame de, 15, 46, 110, 157 Rantzau, Josias de, 15, 44, 206 Raven, Bertram, 10 regency, 24, 28, 29, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 61, 72, 76, 77, 78, 187, 193, 196, 197, 201 Richelet, César-Pierre, 16, 17, 42, 167 Rohaut, Jacques, 16 Rousselet, Gilles, 19 Rubens, Peter Paul, 30, 31, 211, 212, 213 Saint Germain, abbé de, 42 Sainte-Beuve, Charles Augustin, 40 Salic law, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 32, 34, 36, 69, 70, 71, 79, 195, 215, 216, 217 Sallo, Denis de, 112 salon, 15, 16, 18, 38, 43, 46, 104, 110, 148, 149, 157, 158, 200, 201 Sarrasin, Jean-François, 40, 41 Saux, madame de, 128 Savoie, Charles Amadeus de, 86 Savoie, Louis de, 15, 86, 87, 206 Savoie, Louise de, 35 Scudéry, Georges de, 16, 40, 54, 209, 213 Scudéry, Madeleine de, 16, 17, 54, 78, 104, 108, 147, 150, 155, 173, 209, 211, 213, 215 Séguier, Pierre, 32 Sercy, Charles de, 17, 87, 147, 206 Stoicism, 44, 165, 166, 167, 172, 173, 174, 176 Tallemant des Réaux, Gédéon, 18, 20, 54, 167, 182, 209 Tetricas I, 78 transvestism, 57, 58, 62, 74, 75, 195, 196 Treaty of Angoulême, 30 Trémaugon, Evrart de, 26 <?page no="224"?> 224 Trimouille, madame de la, 128 Urfé, Honoré d', 107 Vaballathus, 78 Valladier, André, 47 Valois, Marguerite de, 29 Vaumorière, Pierre d’Ortigue, sieur de, 42, 167 Vergil, 76, 217 Victorinus, 78 Vignerot, Marie-Madeleine de (duchesse d’Aiguillon), 13, 41 Vilaines, marquis de, 42 Vilars, abbé de, 42 Villeserain, abbé de, 42 Virgin Mary, 11, 48, 49, 50, 216 Vitruvia, 78 Vives, Juan Luis, 47 Voiture, Vincent, 87 William the Conqueror, 69 Zenobia (historical), 54, 78, 216 <?page no="225"?> Biblio 17 Suppléments aux Papers on French Seventeenth Century Literature herausgegeben von Rainer Zaiser Aktuelle Bände: www.narr-shop.de/ reihen/ b/ biblio-17.html Band 183 Boulerie, Florence; Favreau, Marc; Francalanza, Eric (éds.) L’Extrême-Orient dans la culture européenne des XVII e et XVIII e siècles Actes du 7 e Colloque du Centre de Recherches sur l ’ Europe classique (XVII e et XVIII e siècles) , Université Michel de Montaigne-Bordeaux 3, 22 et 23 mai 2008 2009, 256 Seiten €[D] 58, 978-3-8233-6513-6 Band 184 Grande, Nathalie; Keller-Rahbé, Edwige (éds.) Madame de Villedieu et le théâtre Actes du colloque de Lyon (11 et 12 septembre 2008) 2009, 244 Seiten €[D] 58,00, 978-3-8233-6532-7 Band 185 Postert, Kirsten Tragédie historique ou Histoire en Tragédie? Les sujets d’histoire moderne dans la tragédie française (1550-1715) 2010, 440 Seiten €[D] 88,00, 978-3-8233-6553-2 Band 186 Lalande, Roxane; Landry, Bertrand (éds.) 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L’île au XVII e siècle Actes du X e Colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVII e siècle , Ajaccio, 3-5 avril 2008 2010, 312 Seiten €[D] 68,00, 978-3-8233-6578-5 Band 191 Wallis, Andrew Traits d’union: L’anti-roman et ses espaces 2011, 142 Seiten €[D] 49,00, 978-3-8233-6605-8 <?page no="226"?> Band 192 Krüger, Annika Charlotte Lecture sartrienne de Racine Visions existentielles de l’homme tragique 2011, 275 Seiten €[D] 74,00, 978-3-8233-6620-1 Band 193 Dufourcet, Marie-Bernadette; Mazouer, Charles; Surgers, Anne (éds.) Spectacles et pouvoirs dans l’Europe de l’Ancien Régime (XVI e - XVIII e siècle) Actes du colloque commun du Centre de recherches sur l ’ Europe classique et du Centre ARTES, Université Michel de Montaigne-Bordeaux 3, 17-19 novembre 2009 2011, 288 Seiten €[D] 68,00, 978-3-8233-6645-4 Band 194 Bolduc, Benoît; Goldwyn, Henriette (éds.) Concordia Discors I Choix de communications présentées lors du 41 e congrès annuel de la North American Society for Seventeenth-Century French Literature New York University, 20-23 May 2009 2011, 252 Seiten €[D] 64,00, 978-3-8233-6650-8 Band 195 Bolduc, Benoît; Goldwyn, Henriette (éds.) Concordia Discors II Choix de communications présentées lors du 41 e congrès annuel de la North American Society for Seventeenth-Century French Literature New York University, 20-23 May 2009 2011, 245 Seiten €[D] 64,00, 978-3-8233-6651-5 Band 196 Garapon, Jean; Zonza, Christian (éds.) Nouveaux regards sur les Mémoires du Cardinal de Retz Actes du colloque organisé par l’Université de Nantes, Château des Ducs de Bretagne, 17 et 18 janvier 2008 2011, 213 Seiten €[D] 58,00, 978-3-8233-6659-1 Band 197 Trinquet, Charlotte Le conte de fées français (1690-1700) Traditions italiennes et origines aristocratiques 2012, 244 Seiten €[D] 58,00, 978-3-8233-6692-8 Band 198 Assaf, Francis (éd.) Antoine Houdar de La Motte: Les Originaux, ou L’Italien 2012, 76 Seiten €[D] 39,00, 978-3-8233-6717-8 Band 199 Mathieu, Francis L’Art d’esthétiser le précepte: L’Exemplarité rhétorique dans le roman d’Ancien Régime 2012, 233 Seiten €[D] 58,00, 978-3-8233-6718-5 Band 200 Lasserre, François Nicolas Gougenot, dramaturge, à l’aube du théâtre classique Etude biographique et littéraire, nouvel examen de l’attribution du ‹‹Discours à Cliton›› 2012, 200 Seiten €[D] 52,00, 978-3-8233-6719-2 Band 201 Bourque, Bernard J. (éd.) Abbé d’Aubignac: Pièces en prose Edition critique 2012, 333 Seiten €[D] 78,00, 978-3-8233-6748-2 Band 202 Venesoen, Constant Madame de Maintenon, sans retouches 2012, 122 Seiten €[D] 49,00, 978-3-8233-6749-9 Band 203 Mazaheri, J.H. Lecture socio-politique de l’épicurisme chez Molière et La Fontaine 2012, 178 Seiten €[D] 58,00, 978-3-8233-6766-6 <?page no="227"?> Band 204 Bung, Stephanie Spiele und Ziele Französische Salonkulturen des 17. Jahrhunderts zwischen Elitendistinktion und belles lettres 2013, 419 Seiten €[D] 88,00, 978-3-8233-6723-9 Band 205 Boulerie, Florence (éd.) La médiatisation du littéraire dans l’Europe des XVII e et XVIII e siècles 2013, 305 Seiten €[D] 58,00, 978-3-8233-6794-9 Band 206 Turcat, Eric La Rochefoucauld par quatre chemins Les Maximes et leurs ambivalences 2013, 221 Seiten €[D] 58,00, 978-3-8233-6803-8 Band 207 Baustert, Raymond (éd.) Un Roi à Luxembourg Édition commentée du Journal du Voyage de sa Majesté à Luxembourg, Mercure Galant , Juin 1687, II (Seconde partie) 2015, 522 Seiten €[D] 98,00, 978-3-8233-6874-8 Band 208 Bourque, Bernard J. (éd.) Jean Donneau de Visé et la querelle de Sophonisbe . Écrits contre l’abbé d’Aubignac Édition critique 2014, 188 Seiten €[D] 58,00, 978-3-8233-6894-6 <?page no="228"?> Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH+Co. KG • Dischingerweg 5 • D-72070 Tübingen Tel. +49 (07071) 9797-0 • Fax +49 (07071) 97 97-11 • info@narr.de • www.narr.de JETZT BES TELLEN! Bernard J. Bourque (éd.) Jean Donneau de Visé et la querelle de Sophonisbe Écrits contre l’abbé d’Aubignac Biblio 17, Vol. 208 2014, 188 Seiten €[D] 58,00 / SFr 74,70 ISBN 978-3-8233-6894-6 Ce travail est la première édition critique des trois Défenses de Jean Donneau de Visé où le jeune écrivain se pose en ardent défenseur de Pierre Corneille contre les quatre dissertations de l’abbé d’Aubignac. La Défense de la Sophonisbe et la Défense du Sertorius, dont quelques exemplaires des éditions originales sont conservés à la BnF, sont reproduits sans notes explicatives dans le Recueil de François Granet, publié en 1739. Le seul exemplaire connu de l’édition originale de la Défense d’Œdipe se trouve à la bibliothèque-musée de la Comédie-Française. Cet écrit n’a jamais été republié depuis sa première parution. La valeur historique des Défenses au grand siècle français du théâtre est incontestable. Notre travail a donc pour fonction de rendre ces ouvrages plus facilement accessibles et d’offrir des explications et des commentaires a n de faciliter leur lecture. De plus, une meilleure connaissance de ces écrits sert à éclaircir notre compréhension du rôle de Donneau de Visé dans la querelle de Sophonisbe. L’édition comporte une introduction et plus de 500 notes. <?page no="229"?> One of the most striking aspects of abbé d’Aubignac’s fictional output is that the principal focus of his work is women. D’Aubignac’s attempt to articulate his philosophy about the female sex is very much an intricate balancing act. While he is clearly interested in women, placing them on a pedestal in many of his writings, the abbé imposes limitations on their perceived innate qualities and often embraces the notion of the female as a societal scapegoat. All the Abbé’s Women explores how these ideas were influenced by the socio-political conditions of d’Aubignac’s time, resulting in a complex interrelationship between the notions of power and misogyny in the author’s fictional and critical works. The study also aims to contribute to the scholarship on d’Aubignac, painting a portrait of the abbé that has not been the focus of previous books. The work will appeal to students of French literature, gender studies and the cultural history of Early Modern France. Suppléments aux Papers on French Seventeenth Century Literature Directeur de la publication: Rainer Zaiser BIBLIO 17