LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 25:6 June 2025
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Co-Editors & Publishers: Selvi M. Bunce, M.A., Ph.D. Candidate and Nathan Mulder Bunce, M.A., Ph.D. Candidate
Published monthly in honor of M.S. Thirumalai, Ph.D. (1940-2025)

Celebrate India!
Unity in Diversity!!

HOME PAGE

Click Here for Back Issues of Language in India - From 2001

Poetic Encounter
Available in https://www.amazon.in/dp/B09TT86S4T

Poems
Naked: the honest browsings of two brown women
Available in https://www.amazon.in

Decrees
Available in https://www.amazon.com

BOOKS FOR YOU TO READ AND DOWNLOAD FREE!

REFERENCE MATERIALS

BACK ISSUES

  • E-mail your articles and book-length reports in Microsoft Word to languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.

  • PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES GIVEN IN HOME PAGE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE LIST OF CONTENTS.

  • Your articles and book-length reports should be written following the APA, MLA, LSA, or IJDL Stylesheet.

  • The Editorial Board has the right to accept, reject, or suggest modifications to the articles submitted for publication, and to make suitable stylistic adjustments. High quality, academic integrity, ethics and morals are expected from the authors and discussants.

Copyright © 2025
M. S. Thirumalai

Publisher: Selvi M. Bunce, M.A., Ed.D. Candidate and Nathan Mulder Bunce, M.A., Ph.D. Candidate
11249 Oregon Circle
Bloomington, MN 55438
USA
Custom Search

Mme de Rambouillet - The Aristocratic Woman Who Brought Civility to France

Sravan Kumar, Ph.D.

Abstract

Gender studies are an interdisciplinary field of study that examines the social, cultural and historical context of gender identity, expression, and relations. It analyses the ways in which gender intersects with other social categories such as race, class, sexuality and nationality to shape experiencers of power, privilege and oppression. Gender studies emerged as an academic discipline in the late 20th century growing out of feminist movements and activism and influences are seen in theories propounded by Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan, Julia Kristeva and Bracha L. Ettinger. Seventeenth century France was a time of great social, political and cultural upheaval. This was also a period when the role of women in society began to shift, albeit slowly. The traditional role of women in seventeenth century France was that of a wife and mother with little opportunity for education or professional advancement. However, despite these limitations, women found ways to assert their identities and make their presence felt in a male-dominated society.
One of the most significant ways in which women asserted their identities in seventeenth century France was through literature and fashion. Women used fashion to assert their individuality and to stand out in a society where conformity was expected. Women writers such as Madame de Lafayette and Madame de Sevigne gained recognition for their work which often dealt with themes of love, marriage and personal relationships. Their writings provided a platform for women to express themselves and assert their intellectual capabilities which were often ignored by male contemporaries. This research paper looks in detail one such exemplary noble woman called Mme de Rambouillet who was a pioneer in shaping women?s identity.

Keywords: Gender studies, Salons, Aristocracy, La Fronde, Civility

Introduction

The Regent Queen of France, Anne of Austria, and chief minister Mazarin had to stop the series of revolts waged by the noble class in order to restore their supremacy. Disappointed with the abolition of certain privileges like knighthood and exemption from taxes that they were enjoying till then, the nobility was left with no other choice but to rebel against royal power. It was in this background that the women belonging to the nobility or aristocracy started gathering in various houses usually called salons in Paris and provinces in order to discuss their ideas and exchange political views. These conversations gradually encouraged the nobility to revolt against royal impositions. One woman who stood apart from this world of political intrigues and plots and emphasised more on politesse or civility was Mme de Rambouillet. This paper discusses in detail the life inside her salon and to what extent it has become famous in setting up an example to lead a civilised life. One such example is the salon Blue room of Mme de Rambouillet which, besides being known for its grandiosity and magnificence, is a patronage of the civilised world.

Catherine de Vivonne was born to a noble family in Rome on 2 December 1588. She was married at the age of twelve to Charles d'Angennes, Vidame du Mans and in 1612 to Marquis de Rambouillet. The young, beautiful and witty marquise stayed away from French court from the beginning as she found it unattractive and coarse. In 1620, she began to gather around her in her townhouse, the circle that made her renowned.

Marquise de Rambouillet's townhouse or Blue Room was the wonder of wonders in that era. It had attracted several nobles for its exquisite decor and literary production without any authority to fear. Once, Marquise de Rambouillet received a surprise visit from Cardinal de Richelieu for her help in knowing the intrigues between Mme la Princessse de Conde and Monsieur le Cardinal de la Valette. She refused saying it would not be too well-suited to the business of spying. In fact, Richelieu's request was not outrageous as it was the era of plotting, volte-face, continuous bargaining between the high nobility and the monarchy. It was a time when Louis XIIIs minister was busy recalling the rebellious nobility to order with threats of prison and the executioner's axe. The memoirs of Cardinal de Retz and the Duc de La Rochefoucauld both offer ample testimony to the unscrupulous attitude towards the sovereign and how family interests generally prevailed over those of King and country. It's not that Rambouillet's were not loyal subjects but what she meant was their house was not a place of intrigue and sedition. She was only claiming the right to private freedom. She set a precedent of civil society proclaiming its independence from politics and denied the prevailing powers to interfere in private life. Richelieu, for his part, wanted to be informed of what was happening in the marquise's celebrated Blue Room. Despite his keen political intuitive power, he could not have fathomed the hatching of plot, if there were so as it was of different kind for it did not have any need for ministers, armies or wealth. It depended purely on exchange of ideas or opinion. It was not until a century later that it would threaten the established order. Rambouillet's contemporaries were the first to claim her significance and to realize that a new civilization for a fashionable society of politesse was being born in her home. It constituted a certain courteous, honest, polite way of living, acting and speaking acquired through usage in society. It can only be learned through practise and initiation.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Sravan Kumar, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of French EFL University Regional Centre Umshing, Mawkynroh, Shillong-793022
sravankumark987@gmail.com
Custom Search
  • Click Here to Go to Creative Writing Section

  • Send your articles
    as an attachment
    to your e-mail to
    languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.
  • Please ensure that your name, academic degrees, institutional affiliation and institutional address, and your e-mail address are all given in the first page of your article. Also include a declaration that your article or work submitted for publication in LANGUAGE IN INDIA is an original work by you and that you have duly acknowledged the work or works of others you used in writing your articles, etc. Remember that by maintaining academic integrity we not only do the right thing but also help the growth, development and recognition of Indian/South Asian scholarship.