Démasquer la femme au XVIIème siècle: remise en cause de la personne féminine dans les nouvelles historiques Balguerie, Valentine F creator 2015 vi, 204 p. born digital Thesis (Ph.D. -- Brown University (2015) Seifert, Lewis Director Krause, Virginia Reader Beasley, Faith Reader Brown University. French Studies sponsor theses Démasquer la femme au XVIIème siècle: remise en cause de la personne féminine dans les nouvelles historiques examines the unexpected reconceptualization of personhood in feminine terms by authors of historical novellas in late seventeenth-century France. By investigating the literary transformation of a notion that was deeply rooted in theological, legal, philosophical and social traditions, I contend that Saint-Réal's Dom Carlos, Villedieu's Les Désordres de l'amour, Lafayette's La Princesse de Clèves and Bernard's Les Malheurs de l'amour sought to overcome the strictures of exemplarity and typecasting inherent in the contemporary discourse on women. While women were generally held as socially, morally and naturally inferior beings, these authors offer a new perspective on femininity by choosing to define female characters as "persons" rather than the more common "femmes", "maîtresses" or "filles." Conceiving of their sense of self as intricately tied to an interpersonal and gendered social network, the women in these texts challenged existing power relations and demonstrated increased social agency. In Les Désordres de l'amour, for instance, parallel to the official day-to-day decision-making -- overwhelmingly dominated by men -- female characters form a network of influence behind the scene that threatens the social status quo. My research locates the role of historical novellas in the long-standing debate over the Querelle des femmes (which redefined social gender roles) by turning to a new form of communal feminine agency. Personhood Novel Gender Early Modern WomenSexFrance RPB 20150601 freFrench10.7301/Z07W69M8In CopyrightCollection is open for research.dissertations