Margaret Cavendish’s Femmes Fortes: The Paradoxes of Female Heroism in Bell in Campo (1662)
This paper proposes to read Margaret Cavendish’s Bell in Campo (1662) in the light of Pierre Le Moyne’s Gallerie des femmes fortes (1647). It shows how this celebration of women’s high deeds sheds an interesting light on the the ambiguous staging of female heroism in Bell in Campo: like the French J...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Société d'Etudes Anglo-Américaines des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles
2016-12-01
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| Series: | XVII-XVIII |
| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/1718/800 |
| _version_ | 1818057882793410560 |
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| author | Claire Gheeraert-Graffeuille |
| author_facet | Claire Gheeraert-Graffeuille |
| author_sort | Claire Gheeraert-Graffeuille |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper proposes to read Margaret Cavendish’s Bell in Campo (1662) in the light of Pierre Le Moyne’s Gallerie des femmes fortes (1647). It shows how this celebration of women’s high deeds sheds an interesting light on the the ambiguous staging of female heroism in Bell in Campo: like the French Jesuit, Cavendish uses female heroism both as a way to explore the possibilities of female emancipation and as a paradigm to express her own political and anthropological views. In order to highlight the Duchess’s double focus on gender and politics, the article looks in turn at the crisis of the heroic ethos, at the making of the female warrior, at different possible interpretations of Lady Victoria’s triumph. It ultimately shows that Lady Victoria’s heroism may be understood in the Civil War uncertain context as a defence of royalist and aristocratic values. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T12:51:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dcd574f639df4598b214489fdd931197 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0291-3798 2117-590X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T12:51:48Z |
| publishDate | 2016-12-01 |
| publisher | Société d'Etudes Anglo-Américaines des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles |
| record_format | Article |
| series | XVII-XVIII |
| spelling | doaj.art-dcd574f639df4598b214489fdd9311972022-12-22T01:48:14ZengSociété d'Etudes Anglo-Américaines des XVIIe et XVIIIe sièclesXVII-XVIII0291-37982117-590X2016-12-017324326510.4000/1718.800Margaret Cavendish’s Femmes Fortes: The Paradoxes of Female Heroism in Bell in Campo (1662)Claire Gheeraert-GraffeuilleThis paper proposes to read Margaret Cavendish’s Bell in Campo (1662) in the light of Pierre Le Moyne’s Gallerie des femmes fortes (1647). It shows how this celebration of women’s high deeds sheds an interesting light on the the ambiguous staging of female heroism in Bell in Campo: like the French Jesuit, Cavendish uses female heroism both as a way to explore the possibilities of female emancipation and as a paradigm to express her own political and anthropological views. In order to highlight the Duchess’s double focus on gender and politics, the article looks in turn at the crisis of the heroic ethos, at the making of the female warrior, at different possible interpretations of Lady Victoria’s triumph. It ultimately shows that Lady Victoria’s heroism may be understood in the Civil War uncertain context as a defence of royalist and aristocratic values.http://journals.openedition.org/1718/800 |
| spellingShingle | Claire Gheeraert-Graffeuille Margaret Cavendish’s Femmes Fortes: The Paradoxes of Female Heroism in Bell in Campo (1662) XVII-XVIII |
| title | Margaret Cavendish’s Femmes Fortes: The Paradoxes of Female Heroism in Bell in Campo (1662) |
| title_full | Margaret Cavendish’s Femmes Fortes: The Paradoxes of Female Heroism in Bell in Campo (1662) |
| title_fullStr | Margaret Cavendish’s Femmes Fortes: The Paradoxes of Female Heroism in Bell in Campo (1662) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Margaret Cavendish’s Femmes Fortes: The Paradoxes of Female Heroism in Bell in Campo (1662) |
| title_short | Margaret Cavendish’s Femmes Fortes: The Paradoxes of Female Heroism in Bell in Campo (1662) |
| title_sort | margaret cavendish s femmes fortes the paradoxes of female heroism in bell in campo 1662 |
| url | http://journals.openedition.org/1718/800 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT clairegheeraertgraffeuille margaretcavendishsfemmesfortestheparadoxesoffemaleheroisminbellincampo1662 |