Memoirs of a Courtesan in Nineteenth-Century Paris (European Women Writers) - Softcover

Mogador, Celeste

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0803282737 ISBN 13: 9780803282735

Publisher: Bison Books, 2001

Synopsis

When Céleste Mogador's memoirs were first published in 1854 and again in 1858, they were immediately seized and condemned as immoral and unsuitable for public consumption. For a reader in our more forgiving times, this extraordinary document offers not only a portrait of the early life of an intelligent, courageous, and infinitely intriguing Frenchwoman but also an exceedingly rare inside look at the world of the courtesans and prostitutes of nineteenth-century France. Writing to conciliate judges and creditors, Mogador (born Céleste Venard in 1824) explains how with tenacity, wit, and audacity, she managed to escape a difficult childhood and subsequent life of prostitution to become, successively, a darling of the dance halls, a circus rider, and an actress, all the while attracting wealthy young men who vied for her favor. Although her account gives readers a peek into the rakish demimonde made famous by Verdi's opera La Traviata, its greatest value lies in its candid picture of a spunky, self-educated woman who doggedly transformed herself into an esteemed and prolific novelist and playwright, who fell in love with a count and married him, and who made her name synonymous with the bohemian life of the 1840s and 1850s in Paris.

About this title

About the Author:

Monique Fleury Nagem is a professor of modern languages at McNeese State University. She is the translator of Chantal Chawaf's Mother Love, Mother Earth and Redemption, as well as of Dominique Rolin's The Garden of Delights.

Language Notes:

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

About this edition

• Publisher: Bison Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0803282737
• ISBN 13: 9780803282735
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 325