Monsters in the Village? Incest in Nineteenth Century France

Abstract

This essay examines the understanding of the incest by the rural community and the judicial system in the nineteenth century France. Traditionally presented as the taboo of mankind and likened to monstrosity and horror, incest is prone to several glances and attitudes within the promiscuity of the French villages. Thus, this analysis intends to understand the behavior towards the crime, but also the opinion that surrounded it in the distant villages of France. Based on an analysis of 163 trials and the expert literature on the incest, this paper explores the complex attitudes of the family, the neighborhood and the magistrates during an incest case. Far from the image of the taboo, incest is an ordinary crime. These cases tell us the story of an ordinary rural community: the feeling of protection, the fear of change that transcends the crime's construction. Undoubtedly, incest is a crime in nineteenth century France, but, until the 1880s, it didn't appear like a strong prohibition or a taboo.