Female Pygmalion Figures in French Literature

Ovid’s Pygmalion in Metamorphoses X creates a lover without the faults of the women of his society. Throughout French literature, female Pygmalion figures have sought to do the same. Antoine de la Sale’s Petit Jehan de Saintre, Marguerite de Navarre’s Heptameron 26, Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Confessions, Honore de Balzac’s Lys dans la Vallee, George Sand’s Frangois le Champi, Rachilde’s Monsieur Venus, and Colette’s Cheri and Fin de Cheri examine gender-reversed Pygmalion-Galatea relationships. The problems to be circumvented and the lover’s consequent form vary as the story moves from one historical setting to another. Because these female sculptors are working not in marble but in the medium of another human being, French and Raven’s seminal 1959 study on the bases of power in interpersonal relationships serves as a valuable tool for critical analysis of these texts. Antoine de la Sale’s Madame des Belles Cousines profits from her status as a wealthy widow to exercise an impressive array of bases of power to turn a naive page into one of France’s greatest knights. However, as he gains experience and prestige, he counterbalances his mentor’s power, prompting her to reject him in favor of an abbot who cannot threaten her independence. Marguerite de Navarre and Honore de Balzac tell tales of virtuous women who attempt to form lovers who will adore them without the expectation of physical intimacy. The success of these projects would enable them to pursue relationships with men they love while preserving their chastity. Both the lady of Pamplona and Henriette de Mortsauf make significant progress in their undertakings, but the final transformation is completed only through their deaths. Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Madame de Warens and George Sand’s Madeleine Blanchet represent maternal Pygmalion figures and focus attention on the question of incest in such relationships. The power imbalance in Rousseau’s relationship with his Maman renders it exploitative, while George Sand’s careful differentiation of the mother-son relationship from the love between a woman and a man permits the only happy resolution in this study. Rachilde and Colette portray female Pygmalion figures who create and destroy their Galateas. Raoule de Venerande attempts the formation of a beautiful, gender- flexible lover who mirrors her own androgynous tendencies, but kills him when he attempts a homosexual infidelity. Lea de Lonval maintains her physically perfect lover in a state of perpetual adolescence, reflecting back her own desirability even as she approaches the age of fifty. Once Lea recognizes and accepts her aging, demonstrated to her by Cheri’s gaze, she releases him, successfully negotiating the transition to old age. However, Cheri cannot find happiness without her, finally committing suicide. These female Pygmalion figures wrestle with many of the same issues despite the differences in period and the author’s gender. A comparison of texts by male and female authors demonstrates a shift from male adolescent fantasizing to a real attempt to confront the issues women face in their relationships with men. The application of French and Raven’s theory demonstrates the important of the balance of power in any successful relationship.