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Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Modern Library (1934), Hardcover, 294 pages
Description
Chevalier d'Albert fantasizes about his ideal lover, yet every woman he meets falls short of his exacting standards of female perfection. Embarking on an affair with the lovely Rosette to ease his boredom, he is thrown into tumultuous confusion when she receives a dashing young visitor. Exquisitely handsome, Théodore inspires passions d'Albert never believed he could feel for a man - and Rosette also seems to be in thrall to the charms of her guest. Does this bafflingly alluring person have a secret to hide? Subversive and seductive, Mademoiselle de Maupin (1835) draws readers into the bedrooms and boudoirs of a French château in a compelling exploration of desire and sexual intrigue. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member ocgreg34
In a series of letters to his friend Silvio, the Chevalier d'Albert describes what would be the perfect woman for him and why he's in such desperate need to find himself a mistress. Unfortunately, every woman he meets is unable to reach his lofty standards -- not even the young and beautiful
He has all the women aflutter, and apparent to d'Albert, has had some sort of past relationship with Rosette to which she still feels a strong attachment. Much to his own surprise, d'Albert finds that Théodore embodies many of the qualities he's been looking for and hesitantly writes to Silvio, "I am in love with a man!"
But beneath all his charms, is Théodore hiding a dark secret?
"Mademoiselle de Maupin" turns out to be a 19th Century French take on Shakespeare's "As You Like It" so it's filled with cross-dressing and modest sexual intrigue, only set in the French lounges and salons of the wealthy and bored. One the one hand, this comes across as a wonderful way to examine the social mores of the times, the differences between the treatment of men and women, and their pre-conceived roles in society. On the other hand, the story is told in such a boring fashion that it took quite a bit of effort on my part to finish it.
None of the characters particularly captured my interest. Which is a pity as the character of Théodore/Mademoiselle de Maupin was based on an actual swordswoman and opera singer of the 17th Century, Julie d'Albigny. She comes across more manly is her manners and attitudes than I would have expected, though she admits that she finds herself becoming more like a man as time passes. Chevalier d'Albert for his part, thinks himself a poet and describes in much detail and overuse of the extended metaphor. For example, in one paragraph, d'Albert questions where the idea of the perfect woman comes from and goes on the re-ask the same question (in the same paragraph) eight different ways. (Yes, I counted.) And that's a brief example. I found myself disliking d'Albert, the "hero" of the tale from the beginning and was bored reading each paragraph. In fact, I found skipped to the next after two sentences because I knew a long repetitive list awaited me. What's worse is all the characters wrote like that, and because the novel is, for the most part, epistolary, it makes for tedious read.
What I did find interesting was Gautier's openness to discuss homosexuality in his novel. Though d'Albert deplores the idea, calling it depraved, he still accepts that he may have fallen in love with another man. The same goes for Maupin. Disguised as Théodore, she finds herself able to see the attraction to both men and to women, though she also tends to believe that homosexual attraction to be against societal norms. Though she didn't seem to have a problem with it toward the end when she hops into bed with Rosette to reveal her true identity and stays the entire night in her room.
But even that isn't enough to make me whole-heartedly recommend this book.
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Rosette with whom he at first believes that he's found his ideal. She smart, coquettish, knows exactly the right thing to say and knows how to slyly manipulate his moods, but d'Albert soon finds himself back to lamenting his bad luck at trying to find the ideal woman. Finally, when he's convinced himself that he needs to find some way to break things off with Rosette, a young sman named Théodore steps into the picture.He has all the women aflutter, and apparent to d'Albert, has had some sort of past relationship with Rosette to which she still feels a strong attachment. Much to his own surprise, d'Albert finds that Théodore embodies many of the qualities he's been looking for and hesitantly writes to Silvio, "I am in love with a man!"
But beneath all his charms, is Théodore hiding a dark secret?
"Mademoiselle de Maupin" turns out to be a 19th Century French take on Shakespeare's "As You Like It" so it's filled with cross-dressing and modest sexual intrigue, only set in the French lounges and salons of the wealthy and bored. One the one hand, this comes across as a wonderful way to examine the social mores of the times, the differences between the treatment of men and women, and their pre-conceived roles in society. On the other hand, the story is told in such a boring fashion that it took quite a bit of effort on my part to finish it.
None of the characters particularly captured my interest. Which is a pity as the character of Théodore/Mademoiselle de Maupin was based on an actual swordswoman and opera singer of the 17th Century, Julie d'Albigny. She comes across more manly is her manners and attitudes than I would have expected, though she admits that she finds herself becoming more like a man as time passes. Chevalier d'Albert for his part, thinks himself a poet and describes in much detail and overuse of the extended metaphor. For example, in one paragraph, d'Albert questions where the idea of the perfect woman comes from and goes on the re-ask the same question (in the same paragraph) eight different ways. (Yes, I counted.) And that's a brief example. I found myself disliking d'Albert, the "hero" of the tale from the beginning and was bored reading each paragraph. In fact, I found skipped to the next after two sentences because I knew a long repetitive list awaited me. What's worse is all the characters wrote like that, and because the novel is, for the most part, epistolary, it makes for tedious read.
What I did find interesting was Gautier's openness to discuss homosexuality in his novel. Though d'Albert deplores the idea, calling it depraved, he still accepts that he may have fallen in love with another man. The same goes for Maupin. Disguised as Théodore, she finds herself able to see the attraction to both men and to women, though she also tends to believe that homosexual attraction to be against societal norms. Though she didn't seem to have a problem with it toward the end when she hops into bed with Rosette to reveal her true identity and stays the entire night in her room.
But even that isn't enough to make me whole-heartedly recommend this book.
Show Less
LibraryThing member TheIdleWoman
Playful retelling of As You Like it, infused with a good deal of meditation on love and gender. I found the Chevalier d'Albert a bit tedious with his constant assertions that he was terribly debauched; but I found Madeleine a intriguing character as she cheerfully roams about in disguise, breaking
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hearts as she goes. The themes of this book are still fascinating nowadays; one can only wonder how it was received when it was published in the 1830s! Show Less
LibraryThing member ivonapoyntz
The life of the real La Maupin is even more exciting
LibraryThing member amydross
Totally awesome story of the strange love triangle between a man, a woman, and a woman disguised as a man. Gautier indulges altogether too much in endless, elaborate descriptions, but the scenario is a sexy, fun, and fascinating look at 19th century views of gender and sexuality.
LibraryThing member Praj05
Sex is everywhere, except in sexuality.( R. Barthes).Eroticism seduces sex into a passionate euphoria ; the games of seduction upstages the terminating biological process. Sex is limited; seduction is limitless performing aesthetic gestural plays of sensual rituals challenging moralistic
Madelaine de Maupin was far from being a virginal bashful maiden. In a self-revolt to the ritualistic regulations of finding an appropriate suitor, she is determined to find more about men and their world by disguising as a man. Her tomboyish persona and an acute swordsmanship help Theodore(Mlle.Maupin) to explore the chivalrous masquerade of men. The impeccable cover up bequeaths Theodore with his first tryst with potential love as Rosette succumbs to his coquettish charm and passionately falls in love with Theodore. Theo, himself (herself) is romantically inclined to Rosette far enough as to take care not to hurt Rosette’s feelings when the love becomes distant. The love exhibited between the two (also later with D’Albert) is truly in its aesthetic form devoid of any sexual encounters. Chastity was the main element among the three characters when they define their respected love. When Maupin (Theodore) can no longer control the events with Rosette in their bedroom, flees leaving Rosette heartbroken with an unfulfilled love. As the novel progresses into a mesh of passions flying all over the corresponding letters, Theodore finds himself being the object of affection of D’Albert. D’Albert is stunned by the fact that his “true” love is man and desires Theodore to be a woman as he cannot fathom his quandary of deciding the legitimacy of his love. How can he love Theodore so fervently and not Rosette who has been his mistress for months? Maupin does not reveal the true identity of Theodore in favor of genuine love not being tarnished by debauchery.
Gautier was free thinker who looked up to Victor Hugo and Charles Fourier among other iconoclasts emphasizing that justifying an artistic pursuit unvalued the core of its aesthetics. He flirts with the aspects of bisexuality and gender restriction in this proposal of love delineated through letters written by the characters is par above gender restriction, societal prejudices; purely love in its crude form. Gautier did not corrupt the seductive atmosphere of the plot with sexual tryst or any sort of its elaboration and feted the inspiration of wild pleasures that go beyond physical normalization. The offset of bisexuality in Maupin’s life with her unbridled passion for Rosette was marred with the thought of revealing the uncouth reality. I wonder if Rosette would indulge in Maupin’s sensuality if she knew who the real identity.Although my skepticism take a plunge in the concluding chapter when Rosette and Theodore indulge in their last of wild passion with the maid discovering pearls which Maupin was wearing while clearing out the bed clothes. Or for that matter, D’Albert who insisted on calling Theodore by his theatre name- Rosalind in a bid to save himself from accepting the idea of falling in love with a man. Love captures all, is not what people preach and yet we as a society fail to accept the very aspect of enlightened love by negotiating unwanted gender bias laws. We live in a free world with shackled outlook. Gautier based his heroine (Maupin) in a world where lovers were clandestine in their actions and marriages were more of a formal engagement. Similar to Victor Margueritte’s sketch ofMonique Lerbier; Maupin gives me goose bumps. The very idea of a woman revolting against the societal norm is still very appeasing to me. In a culture where the sacredness of arranged marriages is still preserved and casteism many a times becomes a debating factor in conjugal associations, sexually liberation is veiled under sanctimonious hypocrisy; it’s an elation to interpret such an ardent work of sheer romanticism.
Is love virtuous? Fair enough, I believe so. When human emotions integrate within the trance of love, its illusionary beauty penetrates deeper into moralizing vortex of genuine emotions. The heart upstages the eyes; I reckon that must be the sole reason of Theodore vanishing from the lives of Rosette and D’Albert desiring that they share the passion of their love. The life of a lover or a poet may seem rousing to those whose naivety to the melancholic fatigue is reminiscent to a child on a realism threshold. Even though the society has lost of its right to be artless and bashful with its marriage to civilization, there are times when a poem cannot be read solely as a poem for there is a possibility of its artistic consciousness being ruined by the colorless prose of sincere love.
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foundations. Seduction is always more singular and sublime than sex, and it commands the higher price (Baudrillard). Liberation of passion from its didactic shackles, love being embraced with a poetic mirage; the beauty of love in its immoralist exhibit- a virtuous revolt of unattainable love being the ultimate allure. Not that this game is perverse. What is perverse is what perverts the order of the terms; but here there are no longer any terms to pervert, only signs to seduce. (Baudrillard;Seduction). Theophile Gautier’s elaboration of his self-coined phrase,"Art for art’s sake", is a celebration of identifying the splendor of love in it pure form; a bohemian expression of devoted possession that nurture the radicalism in a poet’s despair. Poetry is aesthetically alluring; prose is insipid, clean as water. Dream of love, weep in its agony, clinch its vices and contemplate in its ruins for nothing corrupts like not being loved.Madelaine de Maupin was far from being a virginal bashful maiden. In a self-revolt to the ritualistic regulations of finding an appropriate suitor, she is determined to find more about men and their world by disguising as a man. Her tomboyish persona and an acute swordsmanship help Theodore(Mlle.Maupin) to explore the chivalrous masquerade of men. The impeccable cover up bequeaths Theodore with his first tryst with potential love as Rosette succumbs to his coquettish charm and passionately falls in love with Theodore. Theo, himself (herself) is romantically inclined to Rosette far enough as to take care not to hurt Rosette’s feelings when the love becomes distant. The love exhibited between the two (also later with D’Albert) is truly in its aesthetic form devoid of any sexual encounters. Chastity was the main element among the three characters when they define their respected love. When Maupin (Theodore) can no longer control the events with Rosette in their bedroom, flees leaving Rosette heartbroken with an unfulfilled love. As the novel progresses into a mesh of passions flying all over the corresponding letters, Theodore finds himself being the object of affection of D’Albert. D’Albert is stunned by the fact that his “true” love is man and desires Theodore to be a woman as he cannot fathom his quandary of deciding the legitimacy of his love. How can he love Theodore so fervently and not Rosette who has been his mistress for months? Maupin does not reveal the true identity of Theodore in favor of genuine love not being tarnished by debauchery.
Gautier was free thinker who looked up to Victor Hugo and Charles Fourier among other iconoclasts emphasizing that justifying an artistic pursuit unvalued the core of its aesthetics. He flirts with the aspects of bisexuality and gender restriction in this proposal of love delineated through letters written by the characters is par above gender restriction, societal prejudices; purely love in its crude form. Gautier did not corrupt the seductive atmosphere of the plot with sexual tryst or any sort of its elaboration and feted the inspiration of wild pleasures that go beyond physical normalization. The offset of bisexuality in Maupin’s life with her unbridled passion for Rosette was marred with the thought of revealing the uncouth reality. I wonder if Rosette would indulge in Maupin’s sensuality if she knew who the real identity.Although my skepticism take a plunge in the concluding chapter when Rosette and Theodore indulge in their last of wild passion with the maid discovering pearls which Maupin was wearing while clearing out the bed clothes. Or for that matter, D’Albert who insisted on calling Theodore by his theatre name- Rosalind in a bid to save himself from accepting the idea of falling in love with a man. Love captures all, is not what people preach and yet we as a society fail to accept the very aspect of enlightened love by negotiating unwanted gender bias laws. We live in a free world with shackled outlook. Gautier based his heroine (Maupin) in a world where lovers were clandestine in their actions and marriages were more of a formal engagement. Similar to Victor Margueritte’s sketch ofMonique Lerbier; Maupin gives me goose bumps. The very idea of a woman revolting against the societal norm is still very appeasing to me. In a culture where the sacredness of arranged marriages is still preserved and casteism many a times becomes a debating factor in conjugal associations, sexually liberation is veiled under sanctimonious hypocrisy; it’s an elation to interpret such an ardent work of sheer romanticism.
Is love virtuous? Fair enough, I believe so. When human emotions integrate within the trance of love, its illusionary beauty penetrates deeper into moralizing vortex of genuine emotions. The heart upstages the eyes; I reckon that must be the sole reason of Theodore vanishing from the lives of Rosette and D’Albert desiring that they share the passion of their love. The life of a lover or a poet may seem rousing to those whose naivety to the melancholic fatigue is reminiscent to a child on a realism threshold. Even though the society has lost of its right to be artless and bashful with its marriage to civilization, there are times when a poem cannot be read solely as a poem for there is a possibility of its artistic consciousness being ruined by the colorless prose of sincere love.
Show Less
Language
Original language
French
Original publication date
1835
ISBN
none
Other editions
Mademoiselle de Maupin by Theophile Gautier (Paperback)
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