Lives Of The Courtesans
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Lives Of The Courtesans
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Author : Lynne Lawner
language : en
Publisher: Rizzoli International Publications
Release Date : 1987
Lives Of The Courtesans written by Lynne Lawner and has been published by Rizzoli International Publications this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 1987 with Art categories.
The Book Of The Courtesans
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Author : Susan Griffin
language : en
Publisher: Crown
Release Date : 2002-02-06
The Book Of The Courtesans written by Susan Griffin and has been published by Crown this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2002-02-06 with History categories.
From Pulitzer-Prize-nominated author Susan Griffin comes an unprecedented, provocative look at the dazzling world of the West’s first independent women, whose lively liaisons brought them unspoken influence, wealth, and freedom. While they charmed some of Europe’s most illustrious men honing their social skills as well as their sexual ones, the great courtesans gained riches, power, education, and sexual freedom in a time when other women were denied all of these. From Imperia of sixteenth-century Rome, who personified the Renaissance ideal of beauty; Mme. de Pompadour, the arbiter of all things fashionable in eighteenth-century Paris and Versailles; Liane de Pougy, known in France during the Belle Epoque as “Our National Courtesan”; to Sarah Bernhardt, who, following in her mother’s footsteps, supported herself in her early career with a second profession, The Book of the Courtesans tells the life stories and intricacies of the lavish lifestyles of these women. Unlike their geisha counterparts, courtesans neither lived in brothels nor bent their wills to suit their suitors. They were strong- willed, autonomous, and plucky. An open secret, their presence can be felt throughout our culture. The muses who enflamed the hearts and imaginations of our most celebrated artists, they were also artists in their own right. They wrote poetry and novels, invented the cancan at the Moulin Rouge, and presented celebrated acts at the Folies Bergères. They helped to influence and shape the sensibility of modern literature, painting, and fashion. When Greek sculptor Praxiteles wanted to depict Venus he used a famous courtesan as a model, as in later centuries Titian, Veronese, Raphael, Giorgione, and Boucher did when they painted goddesses. When Marcel Proust was a young man it was the courtesan Laure Hayman who took him under her wing, introducing him to the right people, and providing inspiration for one of literature’s greatest masterpieces. And they often had considerable political influence too. When King Louis XV needed advice on foreign affairs or appointments of state he turned to Jeanne du Barry as well as Pompadour. In her witty and insightful prose, as Griffin celebrates these alluring and fascinating women, she restores a lost legacy of women’s history. She gives us the stories of these amazing women who, starting from impoverished or unimpressive beginnings, garnered chateaux, fine coaches, fabulous collections of jewelry, and even aristocratic titles along the way. And through a brilliant exploration of their extraordinary abilities, skills, and talents which Griffin playfully categorizes as their virtues "Timing, Beauty, Cheek, Brilliance, Gaiety, Grace, and Charm" her book explains how, while helping themselves, through their often outrageous, always entertaining examples, the great courtesans not only enriched our cultural heritage but helped to liberate women from the social, sexual, and economic strictures that confined them. Intensively researched and beautifully crafted, The Book of the Courtesans delves into scintillating but often hidden worlds, telling stories gleaned from many sources, including courtesans’ memoirs, presented along with stunning rare photographs to create memorable portraits of some of the most pivotal figures in women’s history.
Scarlet Women
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Author : Ian Graham
language : en
Publisher: Macmillan
Release Date : 2016-01-26
Scarlet Women written by Ian Graham and has been published by Macmillan this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2016-01-26 with History categories.
In 1965, an impoverished elderly woman was found dead in Nice, France. Her death marked the end of an era; she was the last of the great courtesans. Known as La Belle Otero, she was a volcanic Spanish beauty whose patrons included Kaiser Wilhelm II, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) and Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia. She accumulated an enormous fortune, but gambled it all away. Scarlet Women tells her story and many more, including: Marie Duplessis, who inspired characters by both Dumas and Verdi; Clara Ward, a rare American courtesan who hunted for a European aristocrat, but having married a Belgian prince, ran away with a gypsy violinist; Ninon de L'Enclos, who was offered 50,000 crowns by Cardinal Richelieu for one night. Money left in her will paid for Voltaire's education. Courtesans were an elite group of talented, professional mistresses. The most successful became wealthy and famous in their own right. While they led charmed lives, they occupied a curious position: they enjoyed freedom and political power unknown to most women, but they were ostracised by polite society. From the hetaerae of ancient Greece to the cortigiani onesti of 16th century Venice, the oiran of Edo-period Japan to the demimondaines of 19th century France, this captivating book--perfect for readers of A Treasury of Royal Scandals--uncovers the rich, colorful lives of these women who dared to pursue fortunes outside their societies' norms.
Grandes Horizontales
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Author : Virginia Rounding
language : en
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Release Date : 2003-07-07
Grandes Horizontales written by Virginia Rounding and has been published by Bloomsbury USA this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2003-07-07 with History categories.
A fascinating portrayal of the lives of the great nineteenth-century courtesans. Marie Duplessis, Cora Pearl, La Païva and La Présidente, the four women whose lives and legends are examined in this fascinating book, were all representatives of the golden age of the French courtesan. In the reign of Emperor Napoleon III the opulent and pampered demimonde became almost indistinguishable from the haut-monde, with mythical reputations growing up around its most glittering and favored celebrities. Marie Duplessis became the prototype of the virtuous courtesan when Alexandre Dumas Fils portrayed her as Marguerite Gautier in La dame aux Camélias. Apollonie Sabatier, known as La Présidente, put men of letters and other arts at ease amidst the gracious manners and bawdy talk of her salon and was immortalized by sculptor August Clésinger and poet Charles Baudelaire. To prejudiced eyes, the Russian Jew La Païva appeared intent on exploiting the rich young men of Paris. Covetous onlookers resented her ability to amass and display great wealth, most notably in the design and building of her opulent hotel in the Avenue of the Champs Elysées. The English beauty who called herself Cora Pearl was another "foreign threat", with her athletic physique, sixty horses and ability "to make bored men laugh", including Prince Napoleon. Virginia Rounding disentangles myth from reality in her lively, thought-provoking study. Nineteenth-century Paris comes to life and so do its most distinguished and déclassé inhabitants.
Scarlet Women
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Author : Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine Ian Graham
language : en
Publisher: Thistle Publishing
Release Date : 2015-05-06
Scarlet Women written by Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine Ian Graham and has been published by Thistle Publishing this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2015-05-06 with categories.
Scarlet Women tells the stories of the most notorious courtesans, concubines and royal mistresses. Its contents range from the ancient world to the present day, and from Europe and America to the Far East. The extraordinary women featured in the book include: Cora Pearl, who served herself naked on a platter at her legendary parties; Harriette Wilson, who blackmailed her clients; Clara Ward, an American woman who married a Belgian prince and then ran away with a gypsy violinist; Klondike Kate, queen of the Yukon during the Klondike gold rush; Veronica Franco, the leading sixteenth century Venetian courtesan; Mesdames de Pompadour and du Barry, two of Louis XV's many mistresses; Nell Gwyn, the saucy orange-seller who captivated King Charles II; Marie Walewska, Napoleon Bonaparte's reluctant mistress; Cixi, a concubine who rose from obscurity to rule China; La Belle Otero, the last of the great European courtesans."
Memoirs Of A Courtesan In Nineteenth Century Paris
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Author : comtesse Cäleste Vänard de Chabrillan
language : en
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Release Date : 2001-01-01
Memoirs Of A Courtesan In Nineteenth Century Paris written by comtesse Cäleste Vänard de Chabrillan and has been published by U of Nebraska Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2001-01-01 with Literary Collections categories.
When Cäleste Mogador's memoirs were first published in 1854 and again in 1858, they were immediately seized and condemned as immoral and unsuitable for public consumption. For a reader in our more forgiving times, this extraordinary document offers not only a portrait of the early life of an intelligent, courageous, and infinitely intriguing Frenchwoman but also an exceedingly rare inside look at the world of the courtesans and prostitutes of nineteenth-century France. ø Writing to conciliate judges and creditors, Mogador (born Cäleste Venard in 1824) explains how with tenacity, wit, and audacity, she managed to escape a difficult childhood and subsequent life of prostitution to become, successively, a darling of the dance halls, a circus rider, and an actress, all the while attracting wealthy young men who vied for her favor. Although her account gives readers a peek into the rakish demimonde made famous by Verdi's opera La Traviata, its greatest value lies in its candid picture of a spunky, self-educated woman who doggedly transformed herself into an esteemed and prolific novelist and playwright, who fell in love with a count and married him, and who made her name synonymous with the bohemian life of the 1840s and 1850s in Paris.
Shakespeare Among The Courtesans
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Author : Dr Duncan Salkeld
language : en
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Release Date : 2012-11-01
Shakespeare Among The Courtesans written by Dr Duncan Salkeld and has been published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2012-11-01 with Literary Criticism categories.
Courtesans-women who achieve wealth, status, or power through sexual transgression-have played both a central and contradictory role in literature: they have been admired, celebrated, feared, and vilified. This study of the courtesan in Renaissance English drama focuses not only on the moral ambivalence of these women, but with special attention to Anglo-Italian relations, illuminates little known aspects of their lives. It traces the courtesan from a wry comedic character in the plays of Terence and Plautus to its literary exhaustion in the seventeenth-century dramatic works of Dekker, Marston, Webster, Middleton, Shirley and Brome. The author focuses especially on the presentation of the courtesan in the sixteenth century - dramas by Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Lyly view the courtesan as a symbol of social disease and decay, transforming classical conventions into English prejudices. Renaissance Anglo-Italian cultural and sexual relations are also investigated through comparisons of travel narratives, original source materials, and analysis of Aretino's representations of celebrated Italian courtesans. Amid these fascinating tales of aspiration, desire and despair lingers the intriguing question of who was the 'dark lady' of Shakespeare's sonnets.
In The Company Of The Courtesan
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Author : Sarah Dunant
language : en
Publisher: Hachette UK
Release Date : 2009-07-02
In The Company Of The Courtesan written by Sarah Dunant and has been published by Hachette UK this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2009-07-02 with Fiction categories.
With their stomachs churning on the jewels they have swallowed, the courtesan Fiammetta and her companion dwarf Bucino escape the sack of Rome. It's 1527. They head for the shimmering, decadent city of Venice. Sarah Dunant's epic novel of sixteenth-century Renaissance Italy is a story about the sins of pleasure and the pleasures of sin, an intoxicating mix of fact and fiction, and a dazzling portait of one of the worlds greatest cities at its most potent moment in history.
Courtesans
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Author : Katie Hickman
language : en
Publisher: Harper Collins
Release Date : 2004-11-02
Courtesans written by Katie Hickman and has been published by Harper Collins this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2004-11-02 with History categories.
During the course of the nineteenth century, a small group of women rose from impoverished obscurity to positions of great power, independence, and wealth. In doing so they took control of their lives -- and those of other people -- and made the world do their will. Extremely accomplished, well-educated, and unusually literate, courtesans exerted an incredible influence as leaders of society. They were not received at court, but inhabited their own parallel world -- the demimonde -- complete with its own hierarchies, etiquette, and protocol. They were queens of fashion, linguists, musicians, accomplished at political intrigue, and, of course, possessors of great erotic gifts. Even to be seen in public with one of the great courtesans was a much-envied achievement.
The Courtesan S Revenge
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Author : Frances Wilson
language : en
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Release Date : 2014-04-17
The Courtesan S Revenge written by Frances Wilson and has been published by Faber & Faber this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2014-04-17 with History categories.
Harriette Wilson was the most desired and the most dangerous woman in Regency London. This highly acclaimed biography reveals for the first time the true story behind her sensational life and scandalous 'Memoirs'. When her former lovers - including much of the British aristocracy - turned against her, she knew exactly how to take revenge . . . 'A wonderful book. Much more than a biography of one attractive, witty woman, it offers a deft analysis of how Britain dealt with celebrity, sex, power and popular journalism in an age that bears remarkable similarities to our own . . . Frances Wilson is not only a first-rate scholar but also a wonderful storyteller who manages to get inside her namesake's famously creamy skin and tell her story with wit and understanding.' Kathryn Hughes, Mail on Sunday 'Lively and stylish . . . Reveals how dangerous the courtesan who operated at the heart of the political world was thought to be.' Anne Sebba, Spectator 'Harriette's story is deftly and stylishly told. It beats most novels with its rich ingredients.' Frances Spalding, Daily Mail