Author: Anne-Marie-Louise d'Orléans, Duchesse de Montpensier Publisher: University of Chicago Press ISBN: 0226534936 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 118
Book Description
In seventeenth-century France, aristocratic women were valued by their families as commodities to be married off in exchange for money, social advantage, or military alliance. Once married, they became legally subservient to their husbands. The duchesse de Montpensier—a first cousin of Louis XIV—was one of very few exceptions, thanks to the vast wealth she inherited from her mother, who died shortly after Montpensier was born. She was also one of the few politically powerful women in France at the time to have been an accomplished writer. In the daring letters presented in this bilingual edition, Montpensier condemns the alliance system of marriage, proposing instead to found a republic that she would govern, "a corner of the world in which . . . women are their own mistresses," and where marriage and even courtship would be outlawed. Her pastoral utopia would provide medical care and vocational training for the poor, and all the homes would have libraries and studies, so that each woman would have a "room of her own" in which to write books. Joan DeJean's lively introduction and accessible translation of Montpensier's letters—four previously unpublished—allow us unprecedented access to the courageous voice of this extraordinary woman.
Author: Sophie Maríñez Publisher: BRILL ISBN: 9004337296 Category : Literary Criticism Languages : en Pages : 229
Book Description
Mademoiselle de Montpensier: Writings, Châteaux, and Female Self-Construction in Early Modern France examines questions of self-construction in the works of Anne-Marie-Louise d’Orléans, Duchesse de Montpensier (1627-1693), the wealthiest unmarried woman in Europe at the time, a pro-women advocate, author of memoirs, letters and novels, and the commissioner of four châteaux and other buildings throughout France, including Saint-Fargeau, Champigny-sur-Veude, Eu, and Choisy-le-roi. An NEH-funded project, this study explores the interplay between writing and the symbolic import of châteaux to examine Montpensier’s strategies to establish herself as a woman with autonomy and power in early modern France.
Author: Vincent Joseph Pitts Publisher: JHU Press ISBN: 9780801864667 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 396
Book Description
Viewed through her writings, the events of Mademoiselle's life offer a unique perspective on several aspects of seventeenth-century France: the evolution of the Bourbon monarchy over the course of the century, the dynamics of aristocratic resistance to the centralizing power of the state, and the debate over the role of women in public and private life.
Author: Charles II (King of England) Publisher: Peter Owen Publishers ISBN: 9780720609912 Category : France Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Charles II was a renowned ladies' man but, arguably his greatest love--though not in the Biblical sense--was his sister Minette. Separated from her in their youth by a royal inter-marriage, his letters reveal a tender and humane side not often seen in biographies of this cunning and calculating monarch.
Author: Patricia Francis Cholakian Publisher: University of Delaware Press ISBN: 9780874137354 Category : Literary Criticism Languages : en Pages : 236
Book Description
"This book is an exploration of six neglected and under-valued self-narratives composed in the period stretching from the reign of Henri IV through that of Louis XIV. Cholakian reads these self-narratives as gestures of political resistance to the marginalization of women during the ancient regime."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Author: Anne-Marie-Louise d'Orléans, Duchesse de Montpensier
Author: Sophie Maríñez
Author: Anne-Marie-Louise d'Orléans Montpensier (duchesse de)
Author: Vincent Joseph Pitts
Author: Victoria Sackville-West
Author: Anne-Marie-Louise d'Orléans Montpensier (duchesse de)
Author: British Museum. Department of Printed Books
Author: Lorna Sage
Author: Charles II (King of England)
Author: Patricia Francis Cholakian