University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations Fall 11-15-2016 Performance of gender social status: social identity through clothes Fanny M. Hamon University of New Mexico Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/fll_etds Part of the French and Francophone Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Hamon, Fanny M.. "Performance of gender social status: social identity through clothes." (2016). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ fll_etds/116 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. i Fanny Maëlle Yvonne HAMON Candidate Foreign Languages and Literatures Department This thesis is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication: Approved by the Thesis Committee: Dr. Pamela Cheek, Chair and Associate Professor of French, Chairperson Dr. Stephen Bishop, Associate Professor of French Dr. Susanne Baackmann, Associate Professor of German ii PERFORMANCE OF GENDER SOCIAL STATUS: SOCIAL IDENTITY THROUGH CLOTHES BY FANNY MAËLLE YVONNE HAMON LICENCE LANGUES, LITTÉRATURE ET CIVILISATION ÉTRANGÈRE, spécialité ANGLAIS MASTER LINGUISTIQUE ET DIDACTIQUE DES LANGUES, spécialité FLE MASTER OF ARTS, FRENCH, UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO, 2016 THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts FreNch The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico December, 2016 iii DEDICATION “Being a princess isn’t all it’s cracked up to be” Diana, Princess of Wales iv ACKNOWLEDGMENT Once upon a time, in the Foreign Languages and Literatures department at the University of New Mexico, there was a French girl who made her way through the realm of academia and who met her happy ending with a M.A in French. I would like to address my warmest thanks to Dr. Pamela Cheek, who served as my committee chair. From the beginning until the end of my quest, she embodied the qualities of the most inspiring and challenging role model. Eloquent, kind and wise, she is what Perrault would have described as the best queen. I am eternally indebted to Dr. Cheek. My most sincere thanks for the work, patience, wisdom and trust she put in me. I wish to extend a heartfelt thanks to the two other members of my thesis committee Dr. Susanne Baackmann, who introduced me to the realm of Fairy Tales and Dr. Stephen Bishop. Just as fairy godmothers, you offered me the best advice I needed. I would like to thank my other teachers at the University of New Mexico including Pr. Marina Peters-Newell, Dr. Ann Murphy and Dr. Adriana Ramirez de Arellano, who contributed to my intellectual growth and open-mindedness. I would like to acknowledge the work of the underground fairies of the Foreign Languages and Literatures department Eva Sanchez, Elvine Bologa and Evelyn Harris. Thank you to my mother who was also absent from the narrative and to my sister who I have always pictured as Cinderella’s sisters. v I would like to thank the one who became my prince during the writing process. Just like the prince in the fairy tales, he first saw me at court in my pretty clothes, but then unlike them, he continued to love me has I retreated in my souillon clothes to my office cave to research about opulent dresses. I would like to thanks François and Salma for their unconditional support and friendship. vi PERFORMANCE OF GENDER SOCIAL STATUS: SOCIAL IDENTITY THROUGH CLOTHES by FANNY MAËLLE YVONNE HAMON LICENCE LANGUES, LITTÉRATURE ET CIVILISATION ÉTRANGÈRE, spécialité ANGLAIS MASTER LINGUISTIQUE ET DIDACTIQUE DES LANGUES, spécialité FLE MASTER OF ARTS, FRENCH, UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO, 2016 ABSTRACT I focus on the study of the role of the ball gowns in fairy tales, and I argue that Donkey Skin and Cinderella’s civilization process happens through their clothes. I demonstrate that the garments bear considerable historic values in the narratives. The performance they put in place is allowed by the wealth of their dresses. I apply Butler’s performance theory to show that the performance of the two heroines is the inherent necessity to their social ascent and social recognition. For both heroines, the performance is a strategy to overcome the punitive aspects they underwent in their animal state. The two heroines embody the XVII’s century notion of the femme civilisée. They perform the gendered royal social status according to the court expectations and they vii engage in the ostentatious mode of appearance at Court by citing the court, hence, reinforcing the rules of appearance at court. The court society comes to believe in the performance. Hence, Donkey Skin and Cinderella construct their social identity thought the performance of the royal status at court. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS IntrodUctioN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 Chapitre 1 : ComparaisoN des coNtes « Peau d’Âne » et « Cendrillon » ---------------------- 6 I. Comparaison des contes « Peau d’Âne » et « Cendrillon » ----------------------------------- 6 1) La représentatioN de la France à la fiN dU 17e siècle daNs les coNtes ------------------------- 6 a) La société française de l’Ancien Régime sous Louis XIV -------------------------------------------- 6 b) La représentation de la cour de Versailles ------------------------------------------------------------ 9 2) Les persoNNages priNcipaux --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 a) La licence des personnages ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 b) La construction de l’identité sociale ------------------------------------------------------------------ 14 3) Les habits --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 a) L’identité au travers des habits ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 b) Le dialogue entre habits et statut social ------------------------------------------------------------- 20 Chapitre 2 : ANalyse de la foNctioN des habits daNs les coNtes « Peau d’Âne » et « Cendrillon » --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22 I. Le merveilleux dans les contes ------------------------------------------------------------------- 22 1) Le merveilleux dans les coNtes ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 22 a) La fonction symbolique du merveilleux ------------------------------------------------------------- 22 b) Le merveilleux naturel ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23 c) Le merveilleux féérique --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23 2) Les objets de la scène d’essayage comme objets dépoUrvus de magie --------------------- 24 a) La bague et la pantoufle de verre comme objets non-magiques -------------------------------- 24 b) La bague et la pantoufle de verre comme objets de désir ---------------------------------------- 26 3) La remise en qUestioN dU merveilleux par les héroïNes --------------------------------------- 28 a) Le questionnement du merveilleux ------------------------------------------------------------------- 28 II. La place du merveilleux dans les robes ------------------------------------------------------- 29 1) Le rôle des fées dans l’obtentioN des robes ------------------------------------------------------- 29 a) Le pouvoir magique des fées --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29 b) La limite du pouvoir des fées -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30 c) Les robes comme don des fées ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31 2) La magie dans les robes --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 32 a) Les robes issues de la magie --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 32 b) Les robes qui ne sont pas issues de la magie ------------------------------------------------------- 33 3) La descriptioN des robes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 34 a) Le merveilleux dans la description des robes ------------------------------------------------------ 34 b) La perception des robes par les autres personnages --------------------------------------------- 37 III. Les différents habits des héroïnes ------------------------------------------------------------ 39 1) Les deux types de vêtements -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 39 a) Les vêtements de souillon ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 39 b) Les robes de princesse ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 44 2) La foNctioN dU vêtement de soUilloN ---------------------------------------------------------------- 53 a) Le vêtement de souillon comme déguisement pour cacher une identité --------------------- 53 b) Le vêtement de souillon comme résultat de la condition ---------------------------------------- 58 ix 3) Le regard de la société sUr les vêtements ---------------------------------------------------------- 60 a) Sur l’habit