Marie le Jars de Gournay
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226305554
- eISBN:
- 9780226305264
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226305264.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Women's Literature
During her lifetime, the gifted writer Marie le Jars de Gournay (1565–1645) was celebrated as one of the “seventy most famous women of all time” in Jean de la Forge's Circle of Learned Women (1663). ...
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During her lifetime, the gifted writer Marie le Jars de Gournay (1565–1645) was celebrated as one of the “seventy most famous women of all time” in Jean de la Forge's Circle of Learned Women (1663). The adopted daughter of Michel de Montaigne, as well as his editor, she was a major literary force and a pioneering feminist voice during a tumultuous period in France. This volume presents translations of four of Gournay's works that address feminist issues. Two of these appear here in English for the first time: The Promenade of Monsieur de Montaigne and The Apology for the Woman Writing. One of the first modern psychological novels, the best-selling Promenade was also the first to explore female sexual feeling. With the autobiographical Apology, Gournay defended every aspect of her life, from her moral conduct to her household management. The book also includes her last revisions (1641) of her two best-known feminist treatises: The Equality of Men and Women and The Ladies' Complaint. The editors provide a general overview of Gournay's career, as well as individual introductions and extensive annotations for each work.Less
During her lifetime, the gifted writer Marie le Jars de Gournay (1565–1645) was celebrated as one of the “seventy most famous women of all time” in Jean de la Forge's Circle of Learned Women (1663). The adopted daughter of Michel de Montaigne, as well as his editor, she was a major literary force and a pioneering feminist voice during a tumultuous period in France. This volume presents translations of four of Gournay's works that address feminist issues. Two of these appear here in English for the first time: The Promenade of Monsieur de Montaigne and The Apology for the Woman Writing. One of the first modern psychological novels, the best-selling Promenade was also the first to explore female sexual feeling. With the autobiographical Apology, Gournay defended every aspect of her life, from her moral conduct to her household management. The book also includes her last revisions (1641) of her two best-known feminist treatises: The Equality of Men and Women and The Ladies' Complaint. The editors provide a general overview of Gournay's career, as well as individual introductions and extensive annotations for each work.
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226305554
- eISBN:
- 9780226305264
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226305264.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, Women's Literature
Marjorie Henry Ilsley terms The Ladies' Complaint “an outburst of temper based on [the author's] own bitter experience,” by contrast with the more deliberative and abstract The Equality of Men and ...
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Marjorie Henry Ilsley terms The Ladies' Complaint “an outburst of temper based on [the author's] own bitter experience,” by contrast with the more deliberative and abstract The Equality of Men and Women. This is certainly true to first impressions, and there is no questioning the personal bitterness behind Marie le Jars de Gournay's treatment of male misogyny—in either essay, for that matter. Still, it is hardly slighting her as an author to recognize the impression of “outburst” as itself a skillfully contrived literary effect. The Complaint thereby complements the forceful but abstract ironies of The Equality with a satirical scorn appropriate to the actual behavior of men in contemporary society—especially of those pretenders to intellectual sophistication who concealed their personal inadequacy behind the mask of male superiority. The Complaint's opening gambit derives from Gournay's jumping-off place for an acerbic depiction of misogynist boorishness in conversation. That account continues to serve as a framework, which she now fills in with rhetorical polish and adapts more insistently to the general condition of women.Less
Marjorie Henry Ilsley terms The Ladies' Complaint “an outburst of temper based on [the author's] own bitter experience,” by contrast with the more deliberative and abstract The Equality of Men and Women. This is certainly true to first impressions, and there is no questioning the personal bitterness behind Marie le Jars de Gournay's treatment of male misogyny—in either essay, for that matter. Still, it is hardly slighting her as an author to recognize the impression of “outburst” as itself a skillfully contrived literary effect. The Complaint thereby complements the forceful but abstract ironies of The Equality with a satirical scorn appropriate to the actual behavior of men in contemporary society—especially of those pretenders to intellectual sophistication who concealed their personal inadequacy behind the mask of male superiority. The Complaint's opening gambit derives from Gournay's jumping-off place for an acerbic depiction of misogynist boorishness in conversation. That account continues to serve as a framework, which she now fills in with rhetorical polish and adapts more insistently to the general condition of women.
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226305554
- eISBN:
- 9780226305264
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226305264.003.0010
- Subject:
- Literature, Women's Literature
“The Ladies' Complaint” is an essay by Marie le Jars de Gournay that talks about the grievances of women, which she argues to be the sex to which one forbids everything of value, thereby depriving it ...
More
“The Ladies' Complaint” is an essay by Marie le Jars de Gournay that talks about the grievances of women, which she argues to be the sex to which one forbids everything of value, thereby depriving it of liberty. The essay is an outburst of temper based on Gournay's own experience, and one can sense the personal bitterness behind her treatment of male misogyny. As the sex to which one also forbids almost all the virtues, Gournay claims that women are denied of public duties, responsibilities, and functions—in other words, they are cut off from power.Less
“The Ladies' Complaint” is an essay by Marie le Jars de Gournay that talks about the grievances of women, which she argues to be the sex to which one forbids everything of value, thereby depriving it of liberty. The essay is an outburst of temper based on Gournay's own experience, and one can sense the personal bitterness behind her treatment of male misogyny. As the sex to which one also forbids almost all the virtues, Gournay claims that women are denied of public duties, responsibilities, and functions—in other words, they are cut off from power.
