- 325 pages
- English
- PDF
- Only available on web
Memoirs of a Courtesan in Nineteenth-Century Paris
About This Book
When CĂ©leste 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. Writing to conciliate judges and creditors, Mogador (born CĂ©leste 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.
Frequently asked questions
Information
Table of contents
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Translatorâs Introduction
- 1. My Stepfather
- 2. The Hunter and the Hunted
- 3. The Lyon Insurrection
- 4. M. Vincent
- 5. ThérÚse
- 6. Denise
- 7. The Fall
- 8. Effects of a Hospital Stay
- 9. The Bal Mabille
- 10. A ââQueenâsââ Destiny
- 11. The Hippodrome
- 12. Liseâs Yellow Dress
- 13. A Chariot Race
- 14. Travel Impressions
- 15. Acts of Desperation
- 16. Liseâs Return
- 17. Dinner at the Café Anglais
- 18. Lionel
- 19. In the Country
- 20. Gust of Wind at Le Havre and Masked Ball at the Opera
- 21. Hooray for Reform!
- 22. Roulette
- 23. La PĂ©pine
- 24. The June Insurrection
- 25. ChĂąteau Life
- 26. Richard
- 27. Cholera Gives Me a Godchild
- 28. Dramatic Follies and Folies-Dramatiques
- 29. Proud Women, Passionate Men
- 30. London
- 31. Unfortunate Encounter
- 32. The Girl from the Provinces
- 33. Death Throes of a Fortune
- 34. To the Antipodes
- 35. My Law Lesson
- 36. The Variétés Theater
- 37. A Dead Woman and a Ghost
- 38. A Minerâs Diary
- 39. Let My Destiny Be Done!
- Notes
- Works by CĂ©leste de Chabrillan