L’argent du libertinage. Actes de la journée d’étude virtuelle du 31 juillet 2021 ed. par Éric Turcat

Abstract

Reviewed by: L’argent du libertinage. Actes de la journée d’étude virtuelle du 31 juillet 2021 ed. par Éric Turcat Theresa Varney Kennedy Turcat, Éric, éd. L’argent du libertinage. Actes de la journée d’étude virtuelle du 31 juillet 2021. L’Harmattan, 2021. ISBN 978-2-343-2-4677-2. Pp. 188. This book is a fascinating collection of essays that examine the relationship between libertine culture and money over time. The first three essays, by Kathryn A. Hoffman, Alice Brown, and Claire Quaglia, show how aristocrats struck the right balance between lavish spending and prudent budgeting. Hoffman’s intriguing essay, “Le libertinage doré: la culture matérielle de l’inclination au XVIIe siècle,” broadens our understanding of the “honest” man or woman in the seventeenth century, and the kinds of expenses that propelled one’s social standing. Brown’s “L’avare de Molière: richesse et ascension sociale face au libertinage” explains how Molière’s play demonstrated that greed was incompatible with social advancement. Quaglia’s essay, “L’argent du libertinage dans Les mémoires de Brienne le Jeune,” shows how libertinism could go overboard—that the pursuit of pleasure could become obsessive and quickly lead to one’s downfall. Other contributions explore how bourgeois female libertinism affected eighteenth-century France. Julia Abramson undertakes a broad analysis of the protagonist’s relationship to the new economy in Marivaux’s Le paysan parvenu and Prévost’s Manon Lescaut. Éric Turcat’s essay, cleverly titled “Manon des ressources? Le roman de Prévost comme livre de raison,” debunks the idea that Manon is an excellent businesswoman by blaming her bankruptcy on her inability to effectively manage her resources and maintain a budget. By contrast, Denis Grélé depicts Fougeret de Montbron’s Margot la ravadeuse as a more successful heroine who reaches personal financial independence. That said, as the final essays show, money does not always lead to satisfaction. Encarnación Medina Arjona’s essay, “Zola ou le libertinage des Rougon sous le Second Empire,” warns how social corruption, materialism, and obsession with power and wealth can lead to sexual perversion. Similarly, Giovanni Dotoli’s piece on Léon Bloy shows how the author uses money as an allegory for the world’s tendency toward evil, and its need for God’s redemption. Covering a wide period, this collection of essays is a welcome addition to students and scholars of French literature. Each piece stands on its own and adds to our knowledge of early modern France. But the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Taken together, Turcat’s edited volume not only provides scintillating detail about libertine culture, it also delves into contemporary advice and admonishments about the limits and perils of that culture. The book should be equally praised for its thought-provoking analyses of the literature. Furthermore, it admirably engages a variety of sources. It alludes to some of the best-known authors and works (e.g., Molière’s L’avare and Prévost’s Manon Lescaut) as well as lesser known, yet still important, authors (e.g., Brienne le Jeune and Fougeret de Montbron). The book is both a series of stand-alone essays and a comprehensive contribution. It is both engaging and delightful. [End Page 275] Theresa Varney Kennedy Baylor University (TX) Copyright © 2022 American Association of Teachers of French