Dialogues and addresses / Madame de Maintenon ; edited and translated by John J. Conley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Maintenon, Madame de, 1635-1719.

Contributor:

Conley, John J.

Series:

Other voice in early modern Europe.

The other voice in early modern Europe

Standardized Title:

Selections. English. 2004

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women--Education--Europe--Early works to 1800.

Women.

Women--Europe--Conduct of life--Early works to 1800.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (213 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Born Françoise d'Aubigné, a criminal's daughter reduced to street begging as a child, Madame de Maintenon (1653-1719) made an improbable rise from impoverished beginnings to the summit of power as the second, secret wife of Louis XIV. An educational reformer, Maintenon founded and directed the celebrated academy for aristocratic women at Saint-Cyr. This volume presents the dialogues and addresses in which Maintenon explains her controversial philosophy of education for women. Denounced by her contemporaries as a political schemer and religious fanatic, Maintenon has long been criticized as an opponent of gender equality. The writings in this volume faithfully reflect Maintenon's respect for social hierarchy and her stoic call for women to accept the duties of their state in life. But the writings also echo Maintenon's more feminist concerns: the need to redefine the virtues in the light of women's experience, the importance of naming the constraints on women's freedom, and the urgent need to remedy the scandalous neglect of the education of women. In her writings as well as in her own model school at Saint-Cyr, Maintenon embodies the demand for educational reform as the key to the empowerment of women at the dawn of modernity.

Contents:

Front matter

CONTENTS

PREFACE

THE OTHER VOICE IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE: INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES

ABBREVIATIONS

VOLUME EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION

VOLUME EDITOR'S BIBLIOGRAPHY

DIALOGUES

ADDRESSES TO STUDENTS

ADDRESSES TO FACULTY

SERIES EDITOR'S BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 155-167) and index.

ISBN:

9786611125868

9781281125866

1281125865

9780226502403

0226502406

OCLC:

476228101