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A review by godsgayearth
La femme abbé by Pierre Sylvain Maréchal
3.0
I only gave it three stars because the epistolary format threw me off and moderately diminished my enjoyment of it.
Some messy thoughts:
The decisive passion of Agatha for Saint-Almont. Religion and gender play, my two favourite topics. Interesting to see how Agatha exists as a product of her times, both religious and into the crossdressing “deviancy” popular in France during the 18th century. The historical background of the Introduction attests to that.
I am basically Sylvain Maréchal. A classics-loving atheist. It is perhaps to discredit him by saying, “he wrote such a pious character!” Agatha’s complex character and conditions for love breaks the boundaries of patriarchy by situating herself within it, and that’s what I liked the most. Maybe it’s some way of breaking it down, in a minute way?
The terms with which she fell for Saint-Almont more so. Pity, a small step, and then love. I wonder if this is true? Or if so, how true is it?
The descension of Agatha’s moral character reflected a form of toxicity in unrequited love. The fervour of her affection seemed to mutate into something unholy despite her near-constant reassurances to Zoé that no, this is the purest, most edifying love! But near the end, it showed far from it. Maybe it was the constancy of her nearness to him that made her greedy. But how pure can it be? This is not equating romantic notions with carnality, but the lack of boundary Agatha possesses, her sado-masochistic ways of dealing with her feelings, perhaps is what propelled her to the end of the novella.
Some messy thoughts:
The decisive passion of Agatha for Saint-Almont. Religion and gender play, my two favourite topics. Interesting to see how Agatha exists as a product of her times, both religious and into the crossdressing “deviancy” popular in France during the 18th century. The historical background of the Introduction attests to that.
I am basically Sylvain Maréchal. A classics-loving atheist. It is perhaps to discredit him by saying, “he wrote such a pious character!” Agatha’s complex character and conditions for love breaks the boundaries of patriarchy by situating herself within it, and that’s what I liked the most. Maybe it’s some way of breaking it down, in a minute way?
The terms with which she fell for Saint-Almont more so. Pity, a small step, and then love. I wonder if this is true? Or if so, how true is it?
The descension of Agatha’s moral character reflected a form of toxicity in unrequited love. The fervour of her affection seemed to mutate into something unholy despite her near-constant reassurances to Zoé that no, this is the purest, most edifying love! But near the end, it showed far from it. Maybe it was the constancy of her nearness to him that made her greedy. But how pure can it be? This is not equating romantic notions with carnality, but the lack of boundary Agatha possesses, her sado-masochistic ways of dealing with her feelings, perhaps is what propelled her to the end of the novella.