The Mistress of Paris: the 19Th-Century Courtesan Who Built an Empire on a Secret Free

FREE THE MISTRESS OF PARIS: THE 19TH-CENTURY COURTESAN WHO BUILT AN EMPIRE ON A SECRET PDF

By C atherine H ewitt. London: Icon Books, InValtesse de La Bigne, one of Paris's pre-eminent courtesans, attended a performance of the stage adaptation of Zola's Nana despite her profound objections: as the supposed inspiration for the eponymous character, the sophisticated Valtesse felt as though Zola had betrayed her — she sensed little kinship with his vulgar creation. However, like Anna Wintour at the premiere of The Devil Wears PradaValtesse — a fashion icon in her own right — attended the play The Mistress of Paris: The 19th-Century Courtesan Who Built an Empire on a Secret order to reassert control of her own image and claim superiority over her literary double. Zola's unmitigated failure that night proved to be her absolute triumph. These questions of identity and aesthetic The Mistress of Paris: The 19th- Century Courtesan Who Built an Empire on a Secret are at the heart of Catherine Hewitt's captivating new biography, a portrait of a fascinating woman who became one of the best-known grandes horizontales of her day. The daughter of an impoverished laundress turned prostitute, Louise Delabigne rechristened herself Valtesse a portmanteau of 'Votre Altesse' de La Bigne in at the age of eighteen. In adopting a royal address and the aristocratic particuleValtesse laid bare the social ambitions that belied her humble origins — the 'secret' of the book's title. While many of Valtesse's contemporaries chose similarly colourful monikers, Hewitt convincingly shows that Valtesse's name was as much a nom de plume as a nom de guerre : Valtesse was an author as well as a muse, and her life was her greatest work of fiction. A model for painters such as Manet, Detaille, and Gervex, Valtesse took up the brush for her own cheeky painting in an avant-garde gallery, and even commissioned portraits of fake aristocratic ancestors, thereby reverse-engineering a pedigree to justify her assumed title of Countess. Publishing under the pen name 'Ego', Valtesse also authored a highly circulated and highly autobiographical novel called Isola Paris: Dentu, Hewitt's adept synthesis of diverse media — literature, correspondence, newspapers — shows how Valtesse was an expert manipulator of her public image. Although Hewitt deftly transforms primary materials into an engaging narrative, the reader may wonder if she occasionally overreaches in describing the mental or emotional states of her subjects. About whether Valtesse would accord Zola a sexual favour during his visit: 'There was no predicting how she would react, and Valtesse knew it. She relished the power that brought' p. On a stylistic note, Hewitt's repeated references to women as 'females' enacts a subtle dehumanization that is at odds with the book's attempt to explore the complicated humanity of its protagonist. All things considered, Hewitt's monograph is a [End Page ] valuable contribution to our understanding of the complex lives of the great nineteenth-century courtesans, and proves to be a textual encounter much like, according to the rapturous descriptions in Hewitt's book, an evening spent with Valtesse herself — both pleasurable and edifying. Project MUSE promotes the creation and dissemination of essential humanities and social science resources through collaboration with libraries, publishers, and scholars worldwide. Forged from a partnership between a university press and a library, Project MUSE is a trusted part of the academic and scholarly community it serves. Built on the Johns Hopkins University Campus. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Without cookies your experience may not be seamless. Institutional Login. LOG IN. French Studies: A Quarterly Review. In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by:. If you would like to authenticate using a different subscribed institution or have your own login and password to Project MUSE. Additional Information. Project MUSE Mission Project MUSE promotes the creation and dissemination of essential humanities The Mistress of Paris: The 19th-Century Courtesan Who Built an Empire on a Secret social science resources through collaboration with libraries, publishers, and scholars worldwide. Eliot Prose. Contact Contact Us Help.

However, like Anna Wintour at the premiere The Mistress of Paris: The 19th-Century Courtesan Who Built an Empire on a Secret The Devil Wears PradaValtesse — a fashion icon in her own right — attended the play in order to reassert control of her own image and claim superiority over her literary double. A model for painters such as Manet, Detaille, and Gervex, Valtesse took up the brush for her own cheeky painting in an avant-garde gallery, and even commissioned portraits of fake aristocratic ancestors, thereby reverse-engineering a pedigree to justify her assumed title of Countess. Although Hewitt deftly transforms primary materials into an engaging narrative, the reader may wonder if she occasionally overreaches in describing the mental or emotional states of her subjects. Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Sign In or Create an Account. Joongbu University. Sign In. Advanced Search. Search Menu. Article Navigation. Close mobile search navigation Article Navigation. Volume Article Contents. Sara Phenix Sara Phenix. Oxford Academic. Google Scholar. Select Format Select format. Permissions Icon Permissions. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals. Issue Section:. Download all slides. View Metrics. Email alerts Article activity alert. New issue alert. Receive exclusive offers and updates from Oxford Academic. Citing articles via Google Scholar. Gustave FlaubertTrois contes.

It would still have been dark when the young peasant girl, Emilie Delabigne, boarded the diligence or stagecoach which was to carry her from Normandy to Paris early one morning in Having loaded a small bundle of possessions on to the roof, diligence passengers took their seats among the strangers who would become their travelling companions over the next three days. The coach must set off before sunrise if they were to maximise the daytime travelling hours — diligences were not as costly as the faster mail coaches, but they would not drive through the night. Passengers were obliged to stop at one of the post stations dotted along the route to Paris where they would rest and eat. Eight people, sometimes more, could be packed into a diligence; at 24, Emilie might well have been the youngest woman of the party setting out that morning. Country folk travelled to the capital for all sorts of reasons: perhaps some pressing business matter to attend to, or an illness in the family that would demand an extended stay with relatives. But it was too far for a humble peasant to travel simply for leisure. Emilie had a more serious reason for taking the coach to Paris. Diligences were a notoriously uncomfortable mode of transport, particularly when the roads were rough, as they were in Normandy. Slowly, steadily, the vehicle would pick up pace, creaking as it went, swaying precariously from side to side. Passengers frequently complained of being thrown this way and that. Emilie had to steady herself to watch her childhood home gradually disappearing from view through the carriage's tiny windows. It was a sight charged with poignancy, anticipation and trepidation. For at this moment, only one thing was certain: she was unlikely ever to see her home again. Emilie was not the only young peasant moving to Paris at this time. Migration from country to city had always occurred, but the momentum increased from the mid-century as industrial and commercial development heightened the demand for labour. With improved communication, news of Paris's wonders and delights began to reach the ears of the countryside's impressionable young. Everything which comes from Paris seems magnificent to him,' lamented one female commentator. Paris dazzled and entranced, enticing the young with the promise of well-paid jobs, better standards of living, opportunities and adventure. For many, communication with townsfolk was to be viewed with suspicion. The disappearance of the countryside's female population caused particular alarm. Worse, they were developing a taste for independence. The most dangerous influence of all was felt to be the idealised figure of la Parisienne. Elegant, fashionably dressed, turning heads wherever she went, la Parisienne cast a spell over impressionable young peasant girls. Home, family and friends would be forgotten as girls set out eagerly to transform themselves into this revered — and reviled — model of femininity. But not all youngsters migrated with such fanciful notions. The capital boasted very real practical advantages, too. Jobs were not only more numerous; they were more secure. Agriculture was a notoriously unpredictable business. Many peasant children leaving for Paris had watched incredulously as their parents struggled in vain to maintain paltry little farms. The young were realising that such suffering was futile. Marriage remained a peasant's principal means of securing his or her property and future, but in ever-shrinking village populations, opportunities for prosperous partnerships were few and far between. A country girl who could only ever hope to become a farmer's wife might realistically aspire to marry an artisan or even a bourgeois if she moved to Paris. And many girls whose families were unable to supply the all-important trousseau, so vital to securing a good marriage, found that a temporary job in Paris increased their value on the marriage market when they returned to the countryside as well. But Emilie did not set off to Paris that morning with the idea of one day returning. There was no previously arranged marriage to fund. Her departure was to be permanent. Emilie's parents were approvingly described as an 'honest' family, a term generally understood in 19th-century France to mean 'of modest income' but 'hard-working'. Unlike the children of many of the poorest labourers, Emilie had learned to read and write though she would always struggle with her spelling. Her literacy casts her father not as a labourer, but rather a member of the 'middle' peasantry, involved in commerce and thus part of a social community. Still, Emilie's departure suggests that M. Delabigne was not affluent enough to support a daughter of working or marrying age, or to secure her an advantageous betrothal to the son of a local farmer. In the absence of secure, well-paid jobs, many parents encouraged their children's departure for the city. But even with her parents' support, once she left Calvados, Emilie would be utterly alone, probably for the first time in her life. She would need to be resourceful and resilient. Fortunately, these were qualities that the young Normandy girl had in abundance. A female diligence passenger like Emilie would have arrived in Paris exhausted, her skirts crumpled and her limbs aching from three long days on an unforgiving road, broken only by snatched hours of sleep in strange beds. But as the vast city of Paris came into view, even the weariest of travellers would be inclined to forget their fatigue. After the quiet backwaters of the provinces, Paris's splendour could not fail to dazzle and amaze. When Emilie arrived in the s, the capital was slowly waking up to industrialisation. New buildings were being constructed to accommodate the growing industries, and Paris had seen its first railway open seven years earlier, turning the capital into a hub of activity and cultural interchange. On the surface, Paris was transforming itself into a lavish metropolis which impressed foreign visitors with France's prowess. As industry swelled, the promise of jobs saw the city's population double in size in the first half of the 19th century. Hopeful migrants flocked to the city from all corners of France. In the year Emilie arrived, Paris's population was nudging 1 million. Career opportunities for women were limited for most of the 19th century. There was no state secondary education for girls until the s, meaning that the options were restricted to shop work, dressmaking, laundering or repairing clothes, cleaning, and waitressing or bar tending. There was industrial work, but this was often less well paid than these domestic tasks. A more fortunate young girl might secure a live-in post as a domestic servant. She might be The Mistress of Paris: The 19th-Century Courtesan Who Built an Empire on a Secret as a maid or, if she were educated, a governess. In all cases, the hours were long and the work demanding. A marriage, even if it were loveless, was often a more attractive alternative. For an unmarried country girl like Emilie, determined or obliged to find work, a move to the city was her best chance of finding employment. Even then, women's wages were meagre compared to men's. But this did not deter Emilie. Calvados was a department that relied heavily on the The Mistress of Paris: The 19th-Century Courtesan Who Built an Empire on a Secret industry of agriculture; any regular paid employment was to be celebrated. Emilie was lucky. To secure such a position so quickly, a young girl would need to have some familiarity with the textile industry and the work of a domestic servant. If she were skilled and had contacts, a country girl like Emilie could even be offered a post before leaving and have her travel expenses paid by her employer. Emilie was in The Mistress of Paris: The 19th-Century Courtesan Who Built an Empire on a Secret of checking in and distributing the soiled and clean laundry for the whole school. She had to ensure that all the linen was in good repair and stored appropriately. She would make minor repairs and occasionally be expected to make curtains or other soft furnishings for the school. Above all, she had to be cleanly, meticulous and physically strong. The work was laborious and the hours long. She would rise early, work relentlessly and retire late, exhausted, her body aching and her mind numbed. And at the end of each day, she would have barely 1 franc to show for her labours. It was a punishing existence that left little time for pleasure, and in any case, The Mistress of Paris: The 19th-Century Courtesan Who Built an Empire on a Secret manuals advised employers to limit the number of social excursions enjoyed by their staff. Still, Emilie's board and lodgings were paid for, and a school was a social community in itself. As a newcomer to the city where she was yet to make friends, Emilie no doubt welcomed the company of her colleagues. These were people with whom she could share her new experiences and exchange gossip as the day passed. However, for a girl of Emilie's age, much of the colour and interest of her job came from the men she was now working closely alongside. And as a new face with a fresh, country complexion and an earthy, natural beauty uncommon in Paris, she soon attracted the attention of one of the male teachers, a Monsieur T. By chance, Emilie's new admirer was also of Normandy extraction. Separated from family and friends, in a city where everything was strange and unfamiliar, Emilie was easily seduced. A romance The Mistress of Paris: The 19th-Century Courtesan Who Built an Empire on a Secret blossomed. The period that followed marked a parenthesis in Emilie's life, during which the monotonous routine of the working week was punctuated by romantic interludes and stolen moments of intimacy. But then one day towards the end ofEmilie made a terrifying discovery: she was pregnant. Some accounts claim that Monsieur T. Either way, he never married Emilie. Still in her twenties, Emilie had become the figure that 19th-century society most reviled: the unmarried mother. She knew that both she and her illegitimate child would be social outcasts and she would need to seek alternative lodgings. Her story was only too familiar. In The Mistress of Paris: The 19th-Century Courtesan Who Built an Empire on a Secret Paris, single mothers were almost always poor and without family, and frequently drawn from the textile and domestic industries. Emilie knew her options to be severely limited. She could hardly return to Calvados, where she would face unemployment as well as contempt. Her wisest move was to see out her pregnancy in Paris. There, she could at least work for most of the term and then make childcare arrangements afterwards. Perhaps the baby's father would even assist her financially. It was not so much a chance worth taking — it was her only choice.