Espaces du féminin dans le roman français du dixhuitième siècle by Christophe Martin (review)

Abstract

1 22Women in French Studies Reviews PRE-REVOLUTIONARY FRENCH LITERATURE AND CULTURE Martin, Christophe. Espaces duféminin dans le romanfrançais du dixhuiti ème siècle. Oxford: Voltaire Foundation, 2004. Pp [i]-viii; 527. ISBN 0729408345. $120.00. Christophe Martin's Espaces duféminin undertakes the analysis offeminized space within the eighteenth-century novel in France; over seventy novels are included in his research. The author's goal of identifying the diverse ways in which space is feminized in narrative fiction brings to the fore the connection between women and the places in which they are inscribed. Breaking his study into three areas—geography, politics, and economics—Martin shows theféminocentrisme ofthe texts as part of a larger trend ofthe period, apparent in the increasing proliferation of objects and the ornamentation of space within the novels. The section entitled "Géographie" traces the contours offeminized space as the territory to be explored. Within this area, we see themes of confinement of women, either by social convention or by the women's choice. Taking La Vie de Marianne and Manon Lescaut as primary texts, Martin elucidates what seems to be an inevitable imprisonment for women who do not have a socially acceptable space to occupy: "Pour les personnages féminins du dix-huitième siècle, n'appartenir à aucun espace socialement défini équivaut presque ... à leur relégation dans une prison élargie aux dimensions de l'univers" (23). Further analysis makes clear the tight connection between women and their surroundings via the décor and objects (boxes, windows) that surround them. Whether by choice or not, female characters are restricted by their environs, left with no means of existing outside of these pre-determined spaces. "Politique" discusses power relations and how feminized space serves to cloister women in order to experiment on or manage their bodies. Martin's explanation of sequestering women relies on the motifs of the harem and the convent as seen in Les Lettres persanes and La Religieuse, among other novels. These spaces facilitate male intrusion: from voyeurism to rape, such spaces enable men to uncover the riddle of femininity. In an intricate examination of Les Lettres persanes, Martin describes the harem as a space symbolizing the softening of women such that men can enjoy them at their leisure . The décor, the warm temperature, and the colors of the harem are designed to enhance women's desire and their sexual availability. At the same time, the confines of the harem and the omnipresent eunuchs control female desire. In a similar though less overtly sexual vein, the convent serves mul- Book Reviews123 tiple functions: to protect women, to experiment on them or simply to eliminate them from society's view. The final section, "Economies," investigates the circulation, exchange, and division ofwomen in the novel in the restricted spaces like the harem and the more "open" space of society or le monde. These patterns of circulation lead to the new domestic economy as seen in Rousseau, in which women are excluded from public life, existing only within in the family realm. Espaces duféminin, with its exceeding detail and thorough documentation , is a systematic investigation of feminized space that goes beyond a surface examination ofthe boudoir, the kitchen, or the convent. Martin convincingly extrapolates the shifting perspectives on women's place in society and female sexuality that evolved during the eighteenth century. This study, while perhaps less accessible for undergraduates, is an excellent resource for graduate -level research. Susie HennessyMissouri Western State University Wolfgang, Aurora. Gender and Voice in the French Novel, 1730-1782. Aldershot and Burlington: Ashgate Publishing. Pp 209. ISBN 0-7546-37026 . $89.95. As early as 1715, the social space of the French salon began to evolve from its seventeenth-century function as an extension of court society, dominated by aristocratic men and women who followed explicit rules of behavior , language and "honnêteté." Eighteenth-century "salonnières" were wealthy, influential and well-educated women who attracted intellectuals and "philosophes," as well as a cross-section of aristocratic and bourgeois society , to their weekly gatherings. In her recent study, Aurora Wolfgang clearly links the influence of this female-dominated social and intellectual space to the...