Madame de Villedieu's <em>Le Portefeuille</em>: Toward a New Esthetics of <em>La Coquette</em> and <em>La Prude</em>
Abstract
A popular and prolific writer at the time of Louis XIV, Mme de Villedieu wrote Le Portefeuille in 1674. In this short narrative told in ten letters, the female protagonists differ from the stereotyped mid-century images of coquette and prude that structure the conventional dichotomy of moral opposites - coquettish permissiveness and prudish abstinence. Exploiting an appearance of the inherited female roles, they place themselves in a position of control over their love lives. In essence, the narrative represents a condemnation of the esthetics of "fausse galanterie" and exposes the shallowness of an "art de vivre" based on the practice of pretence.Metrics
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