num_pages: 256
description: The establishment of the Parisian salon as a distinctive form of sociability in the mid-seventeenth century was a result of the convergence of three the consolidation of the absolute monarchy after the Fronde , the shift in emphasis from traditional noble values to honnêteté , and the perception of the vital role of women in disseminating these values. Paradoxically, by accepting their role in sustaining honnêteté , women limited, rather than fostered, their own advancement in society. The very existence of a salonnière was founded upon the agreement that the only «public» role allowed for a woman was that of provider of propriety and good manners. The salon emerges as a niche in which society allowed her to function, on the assumption that she would not violate the bienséance considered appropriate for her sex; thus, as an institution deeply rooted in the status quo. The standpoint taken by Parisian salon women in the eighteenth-century quarrels over the French and the Italian opera reflected this traditional salon philosophy.
language: English
title: Conservative Tradition in Pre-Revolutionary France: Parisian Salon Women
titlecomplete: Conservative Tradition in Pre-Revolutionary France: Parisian Salon Women
publisher: Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers