Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive All Theses and Dissertations 2016-12-01 James Tissot's and Emile Zola's Shopgirl:The Working Girl as La Parisienne Elizabeth Pusey Brigham Young University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Classics Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Pusey, Elizabeth, "James Tissot's and Emile Zola's Shopgirl:The orkW ing Girl as La Parisienne" (2016). All Theses and Dissertations. 6119. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6119 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. James Tissot’s and Emile Zola’s Shopgirl: The Working Girl as La Parisienne Elizabeth Pusey A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Heather Belnap Jensen, Chair Francesca Lawson Daryl Lee Department of Comparative Arts and Letters Brigham Young University Copyright © 2016 Elizabeth Pusey All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT James Tissot’s and Emile Zola’s Shopgirl: The Working Girl as La Parisienne Elizabeth Pusey Department of Comparative Arts and Letters, BYU Master of Arts This thesis argues for the cultural space of late nineteenth-century Parisian shopgirls as a position of power. The shopgirls’ role in society is an ambiguous position connecting fashion consumer culture, class divides, gender and identity perceptions, and the workspace. Using James Tissot’s Femme à Paris series, specifically the image Demoiselles de Magasin, and Emile Zola’s novel Au Bonheur des Dames as primary sources, I examine the role of the shopgirl as a liminal position within the definition of the iconic ‘La Parisienne’ woman. By looking at women’s work and the role of shopgirls in the boutique and department store world of fashion and consumerism, we can see how shopgirls’ unique position gives historical significance to this kind of work. By looking at painting and literature as primary media, we can see how pervasive the shopgirl and La Parisienne imagery really at this time. Using a feminist approach, this thesis shows how the shopgirl occupies a particular social space for women in nineteenth-century France, perhaps even a somewhat influential position in Parisian culture, as she is a primary facilitator in the fashion world for transmitting ‘taste’— a marketable branding tool of French fashion that permeates the iconic ideals of French fashion. Keywords: James Tissot, Emile Zola, la parisienne, shopgirl, Paris, Au Bonheur des Dames TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE ................................................................................................................................................. i ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................................. ii Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 1 The Department Store and Women ............................................................................................................... 2 La Parisienne ................................................................................................................................................ 7 Zola’s Shopgirl............................................................................................................................................ 11 Tissot’s Shopgirl ......................................................................................................................................... 23 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................. 35 FIGURES .................................................................................................................................................... 37 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................................... 46 iii Introduction One facet of the elusive La Parisienne is her ability to negotiate the public sphere as a modern woman. La Parisienne is complicated and has various personas to be sure, but the shopgirl, the working middle-class young women who staffed boutiques and department stores, is often forgotten and not given the proper attention in discussions of nineteenth-century French art. The bourgeois woman in this context has been rehashed countless times, as will be discussed in subsequent sections, but the shopgirl remains to be explored as a viable position for women during this historical period. In this thesis, I argue that shopgirls exercised agency and freedom in the public domain. These women worked and participated in the fashion world of Paris, which in turn shaped the entire world’s view of fashion and shopping. Shopgirls occupy a liminal space—meaning they are at a boundary between classes and genders and fill an initial role in the fashion consumer process. These exceptional women facilitate in the consumer world, having a place in society unlike other women of their day. This thesis adopts a feminist perspective on the shopgirl and her power in the fashion world, and also highlights the possible misperception or exaggeration of the sexualized nature of shopping and consumer culture. Because of this simplification of the history of shopping, working women like the shopgirl have lacked the proper credit in their contribution to shaping culture and society. In both Emile Zola’s novel Au Bonheur des Dames (or The Ladies Paradise) and James Tissot’s painting Demoiselles de Magasin (figure 1), part of his Femme à Paris painting series (figures 2-8), the shopgirl represents one part of the broader modern women—La Parisienne. Zola’s main character Denise Baudu is an exceptional example of a woman who knows her value in both business and romantic relationships. She learns to adopt the characteristics of a modern woman, gaining power in the department store world. Tissot’s paintings show a similar chutzpah with figures that reflect the social ambiguity, power, and ascendency available to shopgirls. Both show what was perhaps the unachievable ideal or rare exception for women at that time, contributing to the repetition of La Parisienne in artistic and literary expression. Thus the shopgirl is part of the broader definition of La Parisienne, and despite being 1 often overlooked and over-sexualized in past studies, the shopgirl contributes in a liminal position of power as a modern working woman in the fashion and consumer world of fin-de-siècle France. The Department Store and Women This section discusses various scholarship around women and department store consumptive practices, highlighting what has been covered in their analyses, and more importantly identifying gaps in the studies. Ruth Iskin’s book Modern Woman and Parisian Consumer Culture in Impressionist Paintings re- evaluates and examines the cultural context of Impressionist paintings in Parisian consumer culture.1 In argument and form, Iskin’s work is foundational for this thesis; however, she lacks focused attention on the department store and the shopgirls. She looks at paintings showing women as consumers, sellers, and producers in various sites such as the millinery boutique, theater, opera, cafe, concert, and market. By revising the women represented in these spaces, Iskin clarifies women’s roles in modernity and public spaces. This is very important as she corrects and adds upon older scholarship with a feminist lens. She pays particular interest to the multiplicity of gazes and the privilege of the male gaze. Iskin’s feminist approach shows women in these paintings as more active subjects and delves into the relationship between these represented women and the broader French national identity with the fashion of the day. She analyzes the consumer culture by looking at advertising, commodity displays, and shop front views of Paris. Iskin includes over ninety illustrations of Impressionist paintings and supports her arguments with ample visual, literary, feminist, and historical sources. Iskin’s chapter “The Chic Parisienne: A National Brand of French Fashion and Femininity” speaks to the breadth of representations of this iconic woman.2 Les Parisiennes were the makers of fashionability and taste. The countless images of this ideal woman are found not just in paintings, but in the fashion plates, illustrations of sales catalogs, photographs, posters and shop displays, and sculptures 1Ruth Iskin, Modern Women and Parisian Consumer Culture in Impressionist Painting (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 200). 2Iskin, Modern Women, 184-224. 2 (see figures 9-12). These representations reflect the pervasive power of this branding and nationalist ideal. Iskin argues that these images of women marked an important transition for femininity and modernity and between national and gender identity. This in turn supported the French fashion industry and promoted colonial ambitions. Iskin’s argument connects La Parisienne to the larger French and world consumer fashion market, giving women a greater space in cultural history. Her book discusses the shopgirls’ involvement in the fashion consumer culture, but