The Juggler: Rachilde

Vallette-Eymery Rachilde (1860-1953), Ma

ISBN 10: 0813516250 / ISBN 13: 9780813516257

Published by Rutgers University Press, 1990

May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0813516250I4N00

Synopsis:

The Juggler (La Jongleuse) is a "decadent" novel that was first published in 1900. Its author, Marguerite Vallette-Eymery (1860-1953), who used the pseudonym Rachilde, was a prolific novelist (over sixty works of fiction), playwright, literary critic and reviewer, and a forceful presence in French literary society of her time.

The protagonist of the novel, Eliante Donalger, is in some sense an exaggerated double for her creator--bizarre in appearance, clothing, and interests. Instinctively grasping a medical and psychological truth that the turn-of-the-century scientific world was only beginning to understand, Eliante maintains that there is nothing "natural" about human sexual expression. She claims to be in love with an inanimate (though anthropomorphic and sexually ambiguous) object, a Greek amphora, and the novel traces the rivalry between this faithful partner and an ardent human suitor, a young medical student. It is only through juggling, both literally and metaphorically, that Eliante is able to use her seductive power to maintain desire. The surprise ending challenges the limits of such power in a controversial and surprising twist.

Although Rachilde's work has been neglected in the past, the women's movement and feminist criticism have stimulated renewed interest in her fiction. The Juggler is a major rediscovery.

About the Author: RACHILDE was the pen name and preferred identity of novelist and playwright MARGUERITE VALLETTE-EYMERY (February 11, 1860 – April 4, 1953). Born near Périgueux, Dordogne, Aquitaine, France during the Second French Empire, Rachilde went on to become a symbolist author and the most prominent woman in literature associated with the Decadent Movement of fin de siècle France.

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Juggler: Rachilde
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Publication Date: 1990
Binding: Paperback
Illustrator: Gustav Alaux
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket