Gender In The Work Of Perrault

10 Pages 2465 Words

Gender in the Work of Perrault

The fairy tales of Charles Perrault exhibit an inherent set of gender specific social values instilled in his major characters. These values are what set the guidelines for the creation of his morality tale; they define the attributes that his characters are designed to exemplify. Perrault’s leading female characters, specifically, seem to be held under the rigid societal construct that is “model female behavior” as defined by civilité.
Civilité is the institution that defined 17th century France. Civilité is the code of behavior developed by Louis XIV and the French aristocracy as an attempt to give the people of France a uniform set of social norms that would be consistent with the standards of Louis XIV’s court. This code consisted of social guidelines to which the model citizen would adhere. Civilité as it pertained to women stressed beauty, grace, politeness, obedience, docility, and purity (virginity). A woman that adheres to the code of civilité is perfectly groomed, an artful conversationalist, and completely reserved (in control of any urges).
17th century France saw the women of the aristocracy abide strongly by the principles set forth by civilité. Perrault was influential to these women as he was a strong purveyor of the code of civilité through his fairy tales. Every day women of the aristocracy would convene in literary salons to recite fairy tales, and in doing so reinforce the principles of civilité that these tales conveyed. These tales did not function only to entertain, they were full of underlying social values (civilité) and implied political commentary. The setting alone of these meetings was overtly laced with civilité; women would adorn themselves in expensive garments, prime themselves to physical perfection (or as close to perfection as possible), and use their superior conversation skills to convey their fairy tales as artfully as possible. No...