415:; the court ordered fines and two years of prison time. Belgian officials confiscated and destroyed every copy of the book they could find. While there is little question that the book qualified as obscene under existing statutes, Brancart the publisher was already on their radar for a number of reasons, a situation that likely contributed to the speed and thoroughness of their response. For her part, Rachilde simply avoided returning to Belgium and thereby escaped her sentence. French authorities began to monitor her, however, so Brancart hid most of her personal copies of the book, though no further legal action was taken against her.
346:, Raoule takes on traditionally masculine roles: she pursues the object of her desire and commands the obedience of her lover. She is also his abuser, and a better abuser than the man who had first beaten her lover, essentially asserting herself as a masculine figure. Similarly, in the end, she turns de Raittolbe into her hired assassin, once again proving herself the better man.
204:, explaining that some material from an unnamed collaborator had been removed. (In addition to maintaining the earlier revisions, further passages were cut, described by Rachilde as Talman's contributions.) Brossier went on to say that this edited version of the novel was literature, and had nothing in common with the sort of erotica that was "published and sold clandestinely".
426:
When the 1889 French edition was put together, the rest of the so-called Talman material was removed, primarily the original
Chapter 7. The focus of that chapter was very specifically on gender and the struggle for authority between the two sexes. The excised chapter describes Raoule as establishing
418:
The revised first edition may have been an attempt to forestall what happened in
Belgium, but it is believed that books from all three of the Brancart printings were destroyed. Nevertheless, the changes did soften certain kinds of obscenity. The revisions removed a description of Raoule experiencing
196:
Three printings of the first edition were issued. The second and third printings were based on a revised first edition that changed the front matter and removed some content from the novel itself. Although not much was taken out in terms of overall word count, the effect of the changes was to soften
453:
Beyond the legal problems in
Belgium, the initial reception seems to have been a mixture of titillation at the erotic content, fascination with the scandal, and amusement at the fact that this darkly sexual fantasy was from the mind of a young woman who was only twenty-four years old at the time of
280:
Raoule does not grieve in the expected way. Not long after, she creates a wax dummy version of
Silvert with real hair, teeth, and fingernails from a corpse (presumably Silvert's). In the closing passage of the novel, Raoule puts the grisly mannequin in a shrine and gazes upon it nightly, dressed in
268:
officer. Raoule further flouts the rules of her social class by rejecting
Raittolbe and marrying Silvert, sometimes referred to as her husband but positioned more as her wife. When a furious de Raittolbe beats Silvert, Raoule begins to abuse her spouse even more flagrantly. The spurned de Raittolbe
362:
once remarked of
Rachilde, "A pornographer, yes, she is, but such a distinguished one!" Raoule does not feminize Jacques because she is attracted to women. She has no interest in Marie and she denies being a lesbian to de Raittolbe. She feminizes Jacques because she is using sexuality as an escape
192:
The first edition was attributed to
Rachilde and a co-author credited as "F. T.", supposedly a young man named Francis Talman who appears to have written nothing else before or since. It has been suggested that "Talman" was created to take the blame for the obscenity of the novel, much as Rachilde
379:
Throughout the novel Raoule demonstrates a willingness to push things further and further in pursuit of an ideal experience that she realizes is impossible. In the end, she turns to illusion and artifice and the force of her own will, since reality fails to comply with her wishes. In this, she is
430:
It is worth noting that, contrary to some reports, that chapter was still present in the 1885 Brancart printing of the revised first edition and so was not subject to the original
Belgian censorship of the novel. It was not removed until the Brossiers edition published in 1889, the year Rachilde
325:
Importantly, Raoule does not subvert her social class in the modern way. She follows the model set forth by the
Decadents: not forsaking her wealth and privilege, but using them to her advantage and in defiance of the traditions that gave her that position in the first place. She does not pursue
153:
The novel tells the story of French noblewoman Raoule de Vénérande and her pursuit of sexual pleasure while creating a new and more satisfying identity for herself. In order to escape the ennui and malaise of her tradition-bound upper class existence, she must subvert and transcend social class,
304:
One major theme dominates all the others of the novel. Raoule is not looking for an escape. She is not ultimately looking for sexual pleasure. She is not even looking to "discover" herself. Instead, her quest is to create a new identity, better and more satisfying than the dreary and oppressive
349:
Second, there is a deeper exploration of gender identity. Raoule sees
Silvert as an androgynous figure with some feminine characteristics which she then amplifies. In one sense, through her merciless abuse, she helps him find a more secure gender identity for himself. At times he calls himself
27:
419:
an orgasm as she daydreamed about Silvert (Chapter 2) and abbreviated the moment of implied necrophilia. In the original, after describing how Raoule would kiss the mannequin and its mechanisms would allow it to kiss her back, the text continued by saying it also opened its thighs ("
208:
also lent credibility to the publication with a lengthy preface in which he praised the author and prepared readers for what they were about to experience. The effect was to help legitimize the book for a French public both curious and apprehensive about this banned Belgian novel.
350:"Marie", his sister's name. By the same process, Raoule subverts her own gender; at one point Silvert begs her to just be a man. At the conclusion of the novel, Raoule appears to have no single gender identity, sometimes appearing as feminine and at other times as masculine.
150:(née Marguerite Eymery). Initially published in 1884, it was her second novel and is considered her breakthrough work. Because of its highly erotic content, it was the subject of legal controversy and general scandal, bringing Rachilde into the public eye.
398:
would assert the priority of beautiful illusion over reality. That is the context in which Rachilde's Raoule completes her transformation of Silvert by supplanting him with something of her own making, based on him, but improved through her creativity.
317:
that appears to drive her is the perfect excuse for her to escape the constraining traditions of her social class. Not only does she have an affair with a lower-class man, she pays him for his favors – she is not his mistress; rather, he is her
442:'s "Mademoiselle Zuleika", which describes a man's realization that the only way to resist a woman's natural authority through her sexual appeal was to become more feminine himself in his flirtations and his vanity.
272:
Silvert soon begins trying to seduce de Raittolbe himself. Jealous and frustrated that her project to create a perfect lover has failed, Raoule provokes de Raittolbe into responding by challenging Silvert to a
277:. Most of their acquaintances do not understand why the duel is taking place, nor how Raoule encouraged its escalation from "to the blood" to "to the death". De Raittolbe wins the duel, killing Silvert.
468:
as depraved, perverse, and nasty. He referred to it as a "sensual and mystical frenzy" and the appalling but exciting dream of a young virgin who suffered from the same hysteria as her main character.
438:
In fact, the message of that chapter may have been reinforced in the 1885 printing by the quotation chosen for its cover: "To almost be a woman is a good way to defeat a woman." The quotation is from
363:
from ennui and a tool for shaping her identity. In pursuit of those goals, she explores and takes pleasure in cross-dressing, humiliation, sadomasochism and something that falls somewhere between
394:
suggested that human creations are more beautiful than natural ones, and also that the line between dream and waking reality depends simply on an act of human will. Later, the Czech Decadent
485:
read the book while staying in France in 1889. Not only was he a fan, it is believed he drew inspiration from the novel for his own work, paying it tribute by naming the book that ensnares
454:
initial publication and reportedly not yet twenty when she wrote it. Even among Rachilde's friends and supporters, there was a struggle to offer praise without either a wink or a snicker.
464:'s remark to Rachilde, "Ah! My dear child, if you've invented an extra vice, you'll be a benefactor of humanity!" In his preface to the 1889 Brossiers edition, Maurice Barrès described
170:, she wrote the book when she was still a virgin, not yet twenty years old (that is, before 1880). Rachilde variously reported writing it while in hysterical paralysis after the poet
174:
rejected her amorous overtures; writing it as catharsis for memories of her mother's abuse of her father; and writing it simply to create a scandal and make a name for herself.
342:
is twofold. First, there is the basic gender role reversal that can be observed in the power dynamics of the relationship between Raoule and Silvert. Beyond the act of
313:
It is no accident that bored and stifled Raoule de Vénérande is a member of the upper class, which represented the height of banal conformity for Decadent writers. The
281:
mourning clothes, sometimes as a woman and sometimes as a man. Each night she embraces the dummy and kisses its lips, which are mechanically animated to kiss her back.
445:
Another alteration between the 1885 printing and the 1889 French edition concerns the name of Raoule's aunt, which was changed from Ermengarde to Élisabeth.
297:
suggests the gender subversion that dominates the story. The title also recalls the use in eighteenth-century anatomy classes of wax female dummies called
216:(né Marius Pouget), a former lover. It was the basis for all subsequent editions and translations until the original first edition text was recovered for
213:
1053:
200:
The first French edition was published in 1889. Editor Félix Brossier opened the book by asserting that Rachilde was the sole author of
1048:
510:
257:
named Jacques Silvert, paying him for his favors. Through a process of escalating humiliation, she transforms her lover from a weakly
253:
Noblewoman Raoule de Vénérande becomes bored with her life and her usual suitors. She begins a relationship with an underprivileged
232:
Raoule de Vénérande, a noblewoman and artist, disaffected with her life and trying to create a more satisfying identity for herself.
475:
and its attendant scandal that consolidated Rachilde's position in the Parisian literary scene. Even a winking connection between
289:
The title of the book predicts some of its themes. While "Venus" establishes its erotic tone, the combination of the masculine "
193:
had once tried to convince her parents that earlier obscene content in her work was the fault of a Swedish ghost, "Rachilde".
115:
107:
244:
Ermengarde (1st edition) / Élisabeth (French edition), Raoule's aunt, the voice of the conservative cultural establishment.
692:
Gounaridou, Kiki; Lively, Frazer (1996). Kelly, Katherine E. (ed.). "Rachilde (Marguertie Eymery) The Crystal Spider".
427:
the formula by which women could destroy men: using sexual pleasure to control them and rob them of their masculinity.
479:
and the work of Charles Baudelaire was enough at the time to give Rachilde credibility within avant-garde circles.
831:
Utopia of equality in Monsieur Vénus: Roman Matérialiste: Transgressing Gender Lines or Transgressing Social lines
975:
Bruzelius, Margaret (1993). ""En el profundo espejo del deseo": Delmira Agustini, Rachilde, and the Vampire".
1038:
714:
Hysteria, Hypnotism, the Spirits, and Pornography: Fin-de-siècle Cultural Discourses in the Decadent Rachilde
496:
is also credited with paving the way for other, less extreme, and ultimately more successful writers such as
177:
Whatever the circumstances in which it was written, the book was first released in 1884 by Belgian publisher
322:. When she marries him, she is not only marrying outside her class, but is in effect marrying a prostitute.
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197:
some of the obscenity and may have represented an unsuccessful attempt at forestalling legal prosecution.
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359:
185:", and a warning that any woman might secretly harbor the same desires as the depraved heroine of
486:
189:. As was common at the time, the novel was serialized prior to its publication in one volume.
859:"The Quest for Fictionality: Prostitution and Metatextuality in Rachilde's Monsieur Vénus"
8:
391:
891:
Morphologies of Becoming: Posthuman Dandies in Fin-de-Siècle France (Ph.D. Dissertation)
241:
Baron de Raittolbe, a suitor of Raoule and a soldier, the masculine opposite of Jacques.
238:
Marie Silvert, the sister of Jacques and a prostitute, the feminine opposite of Raoule.
411:. A trial was held on charges of pornography. The author of the book was found guilty
1009:
381:
294:
269:
takes to enjoying the companionship of Marie, Silvert's sister, who is a prostitute.
228:
The following is a brief list of some of the characters most important to the story.
143:
111:
102:
925:
Word and Sense: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Theory and Criticism in Czech Studies
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205:
171:
167:
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139:
69:
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Jacques Silvert, a poor florist, the object of Raoule's desires and manipulations.
162:
Rachilde was often flexible with biographical information; her account of writing
432:
134:
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freedom as a starving artist; she claims freedom by transforming herself into a
395:
343:
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The Belgian authorities were aggressive in pursuing legal action against
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871:
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to explore gender and the complexities of sexuality in their own work.
26:
962:
The Colour of Angels: Cosmology, Gender and the Aesthetic Imagination
258:
254:
638:
Rachilde and French Women's Authorship: From Decadence to Modernism
314:
147:
58:
40:
745:
Barrès, Maurice; Madame Rachilde (1889). "Complications d'Amour".
676:
The Hysteric's Revenge: French Women Writers at the Fin de Siècle
497:
567:
565:
319:
265:
562:
327:
996:
The Picture of Dorian Gray: An Annotated, Uncensored Version
921:"Naked Masks: Arthur Breisky or How to Be a Czech Decadent"
274:
212:
This 1889 edition of the book was dedicated by Rachilde to
792:, New York: Modern Language Association of America, p. xli
575:, New York: Modern Language Association of America, p. xiv
604:
Maternal Fictions: Stendhal, Sand, Rachilde, and Bataille
526:
Maternal Fictions: Stendhal, Sand, Rachilde and Bataille
775:. Paris: Félix Brossier – via Gutenberg Project.
744:
264:
One of Raoule's suitors is Baron de Raittolbe, an ex-
514:
by Rachilde (revised 1st edition – via Google Books)
374:
908:. Lieber & Lewis – via Project Gutenberg.
522:by Rachilde (1889 edition – via Gutenberg Project)
749:. pp. Preface – via Gutenberg Project.
1025:
845:Rachilde: Decadence, gender and the woman writer
691:
557:Rachilde: Decadence, gender and the woman writer
788:Hawthorne, Melanie C. and Liz Constable (2004)
571:Hawthorne, Melanie C. and Liz Constable (2004)
421:en même temps qu'il fait s'écarter les cuisses
994:Wilde, Oscar (2011). Nicholas Frankel (ed.).
847:, Oxford and New York: Berg, pp. 3, 117, 120.
606:. Duke University – via Google Books.
532:Monsieur Vénus: A critique of gender roles
448:
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183:We dedicate this book to physical beauty
118:(Modern Language Association of America)
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884:
882:
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727:Rachilde (1889). "Note de l'Éditeur".
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435:, who had always hated that material.
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1054:Obscenity controversies in literature
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305:social role into which she was born.
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833:. University of Tennessee Knoxville.
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694:Modern Drama by Women, 1880s - 1930s
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559:, Oxford and New York: Berg, p. 171.
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934:– via Word and Sense website.
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301:, anticipating the novel's ending.
154:gender roles, and sexual morality.
138:) is a novel written by the French
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897:
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813:Monsieur Vénus: roman matérialiste
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790:Monsieur Vénus: roman matérialiste
779:
753:
735:
700:
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573:Monsieur Vénus: roman matérialiste
534:by Melanie Hawthorn (published in
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338:The subversion of gender roles in
223:
218:Monsieur Vénus: roman matérialiste
14:
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1049:Works published under a pseudonym
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536:Nineteenth Century French Studies
375:Illusion and the impossible ideal
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731:– via Gutenberg Project.
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636:Hawthorne, Melanie C. (2001).
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166:is no exception. According to
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904:Huysmans, Joris-Karl (1922).
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261:figure into a feminized one.
358:Her contemporary and friend
353:
7:
960:Classen, Constance (2002).
893:. University of Pittsburgh.
602:Lukacher, Maryline (1994).
10:
1075:
471:Even so, it was certainly
977:Revista Hispánica Moderna
716:. University of Delaware.
640:. University of Nebraska.
101:
89:Published in English
87:
79:
64:
54:
46:
36:
24:
945:Mendès, Catulle (1882).
829:Nuila, Ennio A. (2013).
678:. Vanderbilt University.
380:joined by others in the
360:Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly
889:Starik, Marina (2012).
857:Wilson, Steven (2015).
449:Reception and influence
403:Controversy and changes
293:" with the name of the
74:1889 (Brossier, France)
947:Les monstres parisiens
712:Finn, Michael (2009).
674:Mesch, Rachel (2006).
16:1884 novel by Rachilde
1016:. Indiana University.
998:. Harvard University.
919:Bugge, Peter (2006).
863:Modern Languages Open
815:. Brussels: Brancart.
460:was the occasion for
181:with the dedication "
131:French pronunciation:
1039:French erotic novels
528:by Maryline Lukacher
135:[məsjøvenys]
31:First French edition
1059:Covici-Friede books
1034:Decadent literature
872:10.3828/mlo.v0i0.20
392:Joris-Karl Huysmans
158:History of the work
21:
1044:1884 French novels
1010:Jouve, Nicole Ward
949:. Paris: E. Dentu.
843:Holmes, D. (2001)
555:Holmes, D. (2001)
490:Le Secret de Raoul
299:anatomical Venuses
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906:Against the Grain
811:Rachilde (1885).
771:Rachilde (1889).
382:Decadent movement
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116:978-0-873-52929-7
108:978-2-080-60969-4
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385:
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365:Pygmalionism
357:
348:
339:
337:
334:Gender roles
324:
312:
309:Social class
303:
298:
290:
288:
285:Major themes
279:
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249:Plot summary
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930:19 February
487:Dorian Gray
483:Oscar Wilde
413:in absentia
369:necrophilia
259:androgynous
214:Léo d'Orfer
1028:Categories
543:References
72:, Belgium)
384:. In his
354:Sexuality
140:Symbolist
65:Published
1012:(1987).
983:: 51–64.
431:married
315:hysteria
291:Monsieur
220:(2004).
148:Rachilde
144:Decadent
59:Decadent
47:Language
41:Rachilde
1014:Colette
498:Colette
255:florist
146:writer
320:gigolo
266:hussar
114:
93:1929 (
83:France
68:1884 (
50:French
37:Author
328:dandy
55:Genre
932:2017
423:").
367:and
275:duel
142:and
112:ISBN
103:ISBN
867:doi
1030::
981:46
979:.
923:.
881:^
865:.
861:.
821:^
797:^
781:^
755:^
737:^
702:^
684:^
646:^
612:^
580:^
564:^
492:.
390:,
371:.
330:.
875:.
869::
696:.
538:)
129:(
97:)
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