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When I first began to read Madame de Maintenon, I thought I had discovered the Miss Jean Brodie of French literature. Here was a dedicated teacher, but an overwhelming one. She orders us to sit up straight, to close doors quietly, and to speak proper French. She hands us precise rules on everything from writing a letter to praying the Pater Noster. She is a determined tutor, but how much moral improvement can we take?
Only further reading unveiled another Madame de Maintenon. She not only wants us to be virtuous; she systematically redefines the virtues to conform with the experience of women. She counsels us to endure the duties of our state in life, but she warns us of the stony edges of these duties, especially for impoverished women. Even as she hectors us on our moral obligations, she advises us to be reasonable in trying to live the good life on a tight budget. This Maintenon, with her taste for virtue theory and her tragic sense of freedom's limits, differs from the pious martinet of first impressions. It is my hope that this translation of her dialogues and addresses will introduce this philosophical Maintenon to an Anglophone public.
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