Memoirs of a Courtesan in Nineteenth-century Paris
Title | Memoirs of a Courtesan in Nineteenth-century Paris PDF eBook |
Author | comtesse Cäleste Vänard de Chabrillan |
Publisher | U of Nebraska Press |
Total Pages | 358 |
Release | 2001-01-01 |
Genre | Literary Collections |
ISBN | 9780803282735 |
When Cäleste Mogador's memoirs were first published in 1854 and again in 1858, they were immediately seized and condemned as immoral and unsuitable for public consumption. For a reader in our more forgiving times, this extraordinary document offers not only a portrait of the early life of an intelligent, courageous, and infinitely intriguing Frenchwoman but also an exceedingly rare inside look at the world of the courtesans and prostitutes of nineteenth-century France. ø Writing to conciliate judges and creditors, Mogador (born Cäleste Venard in 1824) explains how with tenacity, wit, and audacity, she managed to escape a difficult childhood and subsequent life of prostitution to become, successively, a darling of the dance halls, a circus rider, and an actress, all the while attracting wealthy young men who vied for her favor. Although her account gives readers a peek into the rakish demimonde made famous by Verdi's opera La Traviata, its greatest value lies in its candid picture of a spunky, self-educated woman who doggedly transformed herself into an esteemed and prolific novelist and playwright, who fell in love with a count and married him, and who made her name synonymous with the bohemian life of the 1840s and 1850s in Paris.
Memoirs of a Courtesan in Nineteenth-century Paris
Title | Memoirs of a Courtesan in Nineteenth-century Paris PDF eBook |
Author | comtesse Cäleste Vänard de Chabrillan |
Publisher | U of Nebraska Press |
Total Pages | 370 |
Release | 2001-01-01 |
Genre | Literary Collections |
ISBN | 9780803232082 |
When Cäleste Mogador's memoirs were first published in 1854 and again in 1858, they were immediately seized and condemned as immoral and unsuitable for public consumption. For a reader in our more forgiving times, this extraordinary document offers not only a portrait of the early life of an intelligent, courageous, and infinitely intriguing Frenchwoman but also an exceedingly rare inside look at the world of the courtesans and prostitutes of nineteenth-century France. ø Writing to conciliate judges and creditors, Mogador (born Cäleste Venard in 1824) explains how with tenacity, wit, and audacity, she managed to escape a difficult childhood and subsequent life of prostitution to become, successively, a darling of the dance halls, a circus rider, and an actress, all the while attracting wealthy young men who vied for her favor. Although her account gives readers a peek into the rakish demimonde made famous by Verdi's opera La Traviata, its greatest value lies in its candid picture of a spunky, self-educated woman who doggedly transformed herself into an esteemed and prolific novelist and playwright, who fell in love with a count and married him, and who made her name synonymous with the bohemian life of the 1840s and 1850s in Paris.
The Evolution of the French Courtesan Novel
Title | The Evolution of the French Courtesan Novel PDF eBook |
Author | Courtney Sullivan |
Publisher | Springer |
Total Pages | 135 |
Release | 2016-06-07 |
Genre | Literary Criticism |
ISBN | 1137597097 |
‘Sullivan’s outstanding book is the first to show how French courtesans were fully-fledged masters of the pen as well as proverbial ladies of the night. We learn how their rewriting of classics such as The Lady of the Camellias and their response to a male “backlash” inspire Colette in previously unseen ways.’ — Nicholas White, University of Cambridge, UK This book is about the autobiographical fictions of nineteenth-century French courtesans. In response to damaging representations of their kind in Zola and Alexandre Dumas' novels, Céleste de Chabrillan, Valtesse de la Bigne, and Liane de Pougy crafted fictions recounting their triumphs as celebrities of the demi-monde and their outcries against the social injustices that pushed them into prostitution. Although their works enjoyed huge success in the second half of the nineteenth century, male writers penned faux-memoirs mocking courtesan novels, and successfully sowed doubt about their authorship in a backlash against the profitable notoriety the novels earned these courtesans. Colette, who did not write from personal experience but rather out of sympathy for the courtesans with whom she socialized, innovated the genre when she wrote three novels exploring the demi-mondaine’s life beyond prostitution and youth.
Courtesan and Countess
Title | Courtesan and Countess PDF eBook |
Author | Jana Verhoeven |
Publisher | Melbourne Univ. Publishing |
Total Pages | |
Release | 2015-12-01 |
Genre | Biography & Autobiography |
ISBN | 0522868851 |
Cleste de Chabrillan, former courtesan and widow of the first French Consul to Melbourne, became the most prolific female stage writer in nineteenth-century France. Forever haunted by her scandalous past, Cleste fought to hold her place in an artistic world dominated by men. Courtesan and Countess tells the story not only of her struggle as a creative artist to survive and earn a living, but also of her fascinating life at the centre of the bohemian circles of Paris, surrounded by friends such as Alexandre Dumas pre, Georges Bizet and Prince Napolon. Courtesan and Countess paints a portrait of a remarkable woman and of the turbulent world of Paris during the Belle Epoque. Lost for more than eighty years until discovered by the authors in the attic of a French country manor, these are the unpublished and final set of memoirs from Cleste de Chabrillan.
The Mistress of Paris
Title | The Mistress of Paris PDF eBook |
Author | Catherine Hewitt |
Publisher | Macmillan |
Total Pages | 377 |
Release | 2017-01-24 |
Genre | Biography & Autobiography |
ISBN | 1250120667 |
"First published in the United Kingdom by Icon Books Ltd"--Title page verso.
The Courtesans
Title | The Courtesans PDF eBook |
Author | Joanna Richardson |
Publisher | Orion |
Total Pages | 212 |
Release | 2000 |
Genre | Courtesans |
ISBN | 9781898799689 |
In Second Empire Paris, there were a dozen courtesans who were generally known as 'la garde' - they were the finest of their profession, the women with whom visiting princes thought it essential to be seen. This book presents Parisien courtesans during their golden age, when their profession was held in high regard.
Courtesans
Title | Courtesans PDF eBook |
Author | Katie Hickman |
Publisher | Harper Collins |
Total Pages | 388 |
Release | 2004-11-02 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 0060935146 |
During the course of the nineteenth century, a small group of women rose from impoverished obscurity to positions of great power, independence, and wealth. In doing so they took control of their lives -- and those of other people -- and made the world do their will. Extremely accomplished, well-educated, and unusually literate, courtesans exerted an incredible influence as leaders of society. They were not received at court, but inhabited their own parallel world -- the demimonde -- complete with its own hierarchies, etiquette, and protocol. They were queens of fashion, linguists, musicians, accomplished at political intrigue, and, of course, possessors of great erotic gifts. Even to be seen in public with one of the great courtesans was a much-envied achievement.