Debauchery and homosexuality in Petrus Borel’s Madame Putiphar (1839)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5433/1678-2054.2010v18p100Keywords:
Madame Putiphar, Frenetic Romanticism, Erotic literature, LesbianismAbstract
Pétrus Borel, leading figure of the frenetic romanticism of 1830, writes the novel Madame Putiphar (1839) aiming to uncover the corruption and debauchery of the French court of the eighteenth century during the reign of Louis XV, at which time the story takes place. Among the characters in the narrative, the royal maid, homosexual, has a great relevance to the story since her function is to teach libertine practices to the King’s mistresses, becoming a key player in the dissolute dynamic of power. Finally, it is worthy of mention that the representation of the lesbian character as a sex instructor is the resumption of a character-type of the eighteenth century’s erotic literature, going back to the works of Sade and the Marquis d’Argens.Downloads
References
BOREL, Pétrus. 1999. Madame Putiphar. Ed. de Jean-Luc Steinmetz. Paris: Phébus.
CUSSET, Catherine. 1998. Les romanciers du plaisir. Paris: Honoré Champion.
DARNTON, Robert. 1989, Boemia literária e revolução: o submundo das Letras no Antigo Regime. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras.
MAINGUENEAU, Dominique. 2007. La littérature pornographique. Paris: Armand Colin.
SADE. 1967. Histoire de Juliette. Paris: Éditions du cercle du livre précieux.
TROUSSON, Raymond, org. 1993. Romans libertins du XVIIIe
siècle. Paris: Robert Laffont.
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