The Book of the Courtesans: A Catalogue of Their Virtues - Hardcover

Griffin, Susan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0767904508 ISBN 13: 9780767904506

Publisher: Broadway, 2001

Synopsis

From Pulitzer-Prize-nominated author Susan Griffin comes an unprecedented, provocative look at the dazzling world of the West’s first independent women, whose lively liaisons brought them unspoken influence, wealth, and freedom.

While they charmed some of Europe’s most illustrious men honing their social skills as well as their sexual ones, the great courtesans gained riches, power, education, and sexual freedom in a time when other women were denied all of these. From Imperia of sixteenth-century Rome, who personified the Renaissance ideal of beauty; Mme. de Pompadour, the arbiter of all things fashionable in eighteenth-century Paris and Versailles; Liane de Pougy, known in France during the Belle Epoque as “Our National Courtesan”; to Sarah Bernhardt, who, following in her mother’s footsteps, supported herself in her early career with a second profession, The Book of the Courtesans tells the life stories and intricacies of the lavish lifestyles of these women. Unlike their geisha counterparts, courtesans neither lived in brothels nor bent their wills to suit their suitors. They were strong- willed, autonomous, and plucky.

An open secret, their presence can be felt throughout our culture. The muses who enflamed the hearts and imaginations of our most celebrated artists, they were also artists in their own right. They wrote poetry and novels, invented the cancan at the Moulin Rouge, and presented celebrated acts at the Folies Bergères. They helped to influence and shape the sensibility of modern literature, painting, and fashion. When Greek sculptor Praxiteles wanted to depict Venus he used a famous courtesan as a model, as in later centuries Titian, Veronese, Raphael, Giorgione, and Boucher did when they painted goddesses. When Marcel Proust was a young man it was the courtesan Laure Hayman who took him under her wing, introducing him to the right people, and providing inspiration for one of literature’s greatest masterpieces. And they often had considerable political influence too. When King Louis XV needed advice on foreign affairs or appointments of state he turned to Jeanne du Barry as well as Pompadour.

In her witty and insightful prose, as Griffin celebrates these alluring and fascinating women, she restores a lost legacy of women’s history. She gives us the stories of these amazing women who, starting from impoverished or unimpressive beginnings, garnered chateaux, fine coaches, fabulous collections of jewelry, and even aristocratic titles along the way. And through a brilliant exploration of their extraordinary abilities, skills, and talents which Griffin playfully categorizes as their virtues "Timing, Beauty, Cheek, Brilliance, Gaiety, Grace, and Charm" her book explains how, while helping themselves, through their often outrageous, always entertaining examples, the great courtesans not only enriched our cultural heritage but helped to liberate women from the social, sexual, and economic strictures that confined them.

Intensively researched and beautifully crafted, The Book of the Courtesans delves into scintillating but often hidden worlds, telling stories gleaned from many sources, including courtesans’ memoirs, presented along with stunning rare photographs to create memorable portraits of some of the most pivotal figures in women’s history.

About this title

About the Author

The author of more than twenty books (most recently What Her Body Thought), Susan Griffin has won dozens of awards for her work as a poet, feminist writer, essayist, playwright, and filmmaker. Her book A Chorus of Stones was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The recipient of an Emmy, a MacArthur Grant, and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, she is a frequent contributor to Ms. magazine, the New York Times Book Review, and numerous other publications. She lives in Berkeley, California.

From the Back Cover

"Provocative and compelling, filled with Susan Griffin's typically wise and beautiful writing, The Book of The Courtesans rescues from near oblivian some of history's most outrageous and audacious women."
--Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple


From the Trade Paperback edition.

From the Inside Flap

r-Prize-nominated author Susan Griffin comes an unprecedented, provocative look at the dazzling world of the West s first independent women, whose lively liaisons brought them unspoken influence, wealth, and freedom.

While they charmed some of Europe s most illustrious men honing their social skills as well as their sexual ones, the great courtesans gained riches, power, education, and sexual freedom in a time when other women were denied all of these. From Imperia of sixteenth-century Rome, who personified the Renaissance ideal of beauty; Mme. de Pompadour, the arbiter of all things fashionable in eighteenth-century Paris and Versailles; Liane de Pougy, known in France during the Belle Epoque as Our National Courtesan ; to Sarah Bernhardt, who, following in her mother s footsteps, supported herself in her early career with a second profession, The Book of the Courtesans tells the life stories and intricacies of the la

Reviews

Hard on the heels of the film Moulin Rouge comes this idiosyncratic meditation on that 18th- and 19th-century curiosity, the courtesan, the woman who, though usually from limited means, parlayed her beauty, sexuality and talent into a position of luxury and celebrity as the mistress of one or several men of means. Readers looking for a sober social history of the world portrayed in the film will not find it here, for Griffin's approach is almost as kaleidoscopic as the movie's. In a series of brief chapters, each devoted to a particular "virtue," that is, a talent central to the courtesan's success (such as "Gaiety," "Charm," "Cheek"), feminist critic, playwright and poet Griffin (What Her Body Thought; Women and Nature; etc.) mines the memoirs of her subjects for stories illustrating their ability to vault beyond the constraints of their age and gender. Some of her courtesans have slipped into obscurity; some are remembered chiefly for their associations with artists and eminent men; a few, like Colette and Chanel, achieved fame in a different endeavor. At least one, Nijinsky, was not a woman at all. What they all share, however, and what Griffin admires in them, is the daring to transgress the boundaries of a rigid code of prudery and hypocrisy and so exchange the poverty and toil they were condemned to at birth for champagne, diamonds and extraordinary lingerie. Griffin's writing is lively, and her stories are engaging. Agent, Katinka Matson. (Sept. 11)Forecast: An acclaimed writer A Chorus of Stones was a Pulitzer Prize finalist Griffin should garner respectable review coverage for this subject of timeless interest.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Scholars and general readers alike will welcome this fascinating and highly original book by a prolific and award-winning feminist author. Using the insights of women's history, Griffin (What Her Body Thought) creatively demonstrates the interplay between sex and power as she traces the tradition of the courtesan from ancient Greece to its demise early in the 20th century. Rather than adhere to a standard chronological narrative, however, she organizes her tale around key virtues displayed by the famed courtesans of the past beauty, charm, wit, grace, and brilliance among them. She demonstrates how courtesans used their talents to gain more power and independence than women of any class until well into the 20th century. Included here are engrossing biographical details and vignettes about figures well known (Madame de Pompadour, Madame du Barry, Lola Montez) and not so well known (Celeste Venard, Harriet Wilson, Tullia D'Aragona, Ninon de Lenclos). Griffin's tone is one of admiration and respect. Highly recommended. Marie Marmo Mullaney, Caldwell Coll., NJ
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Broadway
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0767904508
• ISBN 13: 9780767904506
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288