Wendy Gibson – författare

The pains of being a woman in 17th century France spring more readily to the modern eye than the pleasures. This is an account of the public and private life of ladies - and women - in 17th century France from birth until death. Gibson describes a superficially civilized society, beset by social deprivation, ignorance and superstition, in which women were engaged alongside men in a struggle for sheer survival. She looks at women's fight against discriminatory laws, customs and prejudices and how women managed to come through the hardships and handicaps to leave their mark in such a way as to justify the verdict passed upon them by more than one of their male contemporaries: "capable of anything".

If Elizabeth I of England thought to rid herself forever of Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex, by sending him to the scaffold she was very much mistaken, since his name, intertwined with hers, has traversed four centuries. Amongst those who realized the dramatic possibilities of the death of the Queen’s favourite was Thomas Corneille, a Frenchman. His interpretation of the motives and actions of the principal protagonists reflected the taste of his contemporaries in 1678 and helped prolong the popularity of the story into the eighteenth century.This is a volume in the series Textes littéraires/Exeter French Texts. The text, introduction and essential notes are all in French.