Revue Italienne d'Etudes Françaises (Nov 2023)
Les Aventures d’une nouvelle Télémaque
Abstract
The novel Voyages de Mylord Céton dans les sept planètes, ou le Nouveau Mentor (1765-1766) is Marie-Anne Robert's most successful work. Drawing on the literary tradition that preceded her, the author proposes a new female model based on a reflection arising from the Women's Quarrel. The training of her heroine, far from being socially subversive – she is a predestined princess – is nonetheless emblematic, as she demands a woman’s right to a careful education in all areas. This can be seen as a harbinger of a new social order and a literary modernity that other novels would develop over the following centuries.
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