Monsieur Vénus

Monsieur Vénus
Author Rachilde
Original title Monsieur Vénus
Country France
Language French
Genre Decadent
Published 1884 (Auguste Brancart), Paris: Flammarion, 1977
Published in English
 1929
ISBN 978-2-080-60969-4 (Flammarion), ISBN 978-0-873-52929-7 (Modern Language Association of America)

Monsieur Vénus (French pronunciation: ​[məsjø venys]) is a 1884 novel by the French writer Rachilde. It was the second work published by the writer and made her a well-known figure in the public eye at the time [1] due to the novel's controversy [2]

The book was published by the Belgian publisher Auguste Brancart with the dedication "We dedicate this book to physical beauty." The first printing was soon banned since the Belgium authorities judged it pornographic and all copies were replaced with a censored version of the novel, upon which all future editions and translated were based until the 2004 publication by The Modern Language Association of America and its companion translation.[3]

Summary

In the novel, noblewoman Raoule de Vénérande falls for the underprivileged flower-maker Jacques Silvert, who shares a garret with his sister. He becomes her mistress and eventually her wife, as Raoule gradually transforms the young man's masculine qualities into feminine ones. An ex-hussar officer and Raoule's suitor, baron de Raittolbe, reluctantly becomes caught up in the plot. The book explores notions of class, sexuality, and gender.

It was notable at the time for its thematic sadomasochism and erotism, as well as for its deconstruction of stringent gender roles [4]

Controversy

Although she published the work under the nom de plume Rachilde, the book became one of the first significant obscenity controversies involving a female writer. At its release, the work inspired outrage, and a Belgian court sentenced its author, in absentia, to two years in prison for its pornographic content.[1] The censored version of the novel leaves the ending of the novel is much less explicit, with the necrophiliac aspects considerably toned down, as well as missing out details in chapter 2 and the whole of chapter 7.[5]

Further reading

References

  1. 1 2 Hawthorne, Melanie C. and Liz Constable (2004) Monsieur Vénus: roman matérialiste, New York: Modern Language Association of America, p. xiv
  2. ↑ Holmes, D. (2001) Rachilde: Decadence, gender and the woman writer, Oxford and New York: Berg, p. 171.
  3. ↑ Hawthorne, Melanie C. and Liz Constable (2004) Monsieur Vénus: roman matérialiste, New York: Modern Language Association of America, p. xli
  4. ↑ Holmes, D. (2001) Rachilde: Decadence, gender and the woman writer, Oxford and New York: Berg, pp. 3, 117, 120.
  5. ↑ Hawthorne, Melanie C. and Liz Constable (2004) Monsieur Vénus: roman matérialiste, New York: Modern Language Association of America, pp. xlii-xliii


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