Epistle to Marguerite de Navarre and Preface to a Sermon by John Calvin

Renaissance Quarterly, Fall, 2005 by Jane Couchman

Maintenon left a large body of writings: letters, dialogues, talks, and plays. John J. Conley has translated a representative selection of the Dialogues on ethical questions that she wrote for performance by the girls at St.-Cyr, and of her Addresses to the students and to the "Dames de Saint-Louis" who taught them. Conley bases his translations on an early eighteenth-century manuscript copy of her works, to correct the biased selection and editing of earlier compilations.

Conley's translation is lively and accessible. It's not clear, though, why he decided to "use inclusive language to render anthropological terms such as l'homme" (23). Surely non-inclusive language would more accurately reflect the ethical position of the original. Another problem he faced was that the young women at St.-Cyr were encouraged to address each other as Mademoiselle rather than by their proper names. The translation of this word as "Miss" can have the unfortunate effect of suggesting a reprimand, not present in the original: "The virtues don't contradict each other, Miss" (42). And one small slip: the "reasonable" young woman would not be permitted to "assist" at mass (46); she would "attend" mass (assister a la messe).

Conley argues that because of her conservative views on the education and roles of her charges, Madame de Maintenon's works have been unjustly neglected. He highlights her pedagogical innovations, especially her use of dialogues in which the students participated, as a way to teach them both practical ethics and the art of conversation. Conley urges that we acknowledge Maintenon's "apology for the right of women to their own culture" (2), and notes that her dialogues give voice both to conventional wisdom and to contrary views. For example, in the dialogue "On True Wit," Augustina argues: "We belong to the sex with a greater obligation to have our mind well-disciplined rather than to have it broadly cultivated," while Celestine protests: "Why should we waste our time with women who are so preoccupied with housework that they can't tell the difference among an elegy, an ode, or a lyric poem?" (44). Maintenon urges the students and the teachers to guard their reputations, to avoid "the world" and also to avoid "particular friendships" (112) that interfere with life in a community. She also advises the teachers to "get [...] involved in their games, in their discussions, even in their little disputes.... All of this is part of their education" (142).

These volumes bring us two strong "Other Voices": Dentiere's strident yet engaging voice is well worth listening to, for what it tells us about the author's beliefs and about the situation of an articulate and intelligent woman in Calvinist Geneva. Maintenon's Dialogues and the Addresses provide a thoughtful and probably a realistic picture of the situations in which poor young noblewomen would have found themselves in late seventeenth-century France.

JANE COUCHMAN

Glendon College, York University