Monsieur Vénus

The high number of female protagonists demonstrates that modern writers were aware of how, through their otherness, women could personify an alternative to the contemporary rationalist visions. For that reason, a woman was more than once depicted as a destructive force (e.g., Marten's prostitute Ysotta). However, female characters, while allegorically commenting on the present day, were also - paradoxically - depicted as men’s creations or inventions (e.g., Villiers' The Future Eve). This ambiguity was explored by some female artists in their works as well: Rachilde created Mr. Venus: a being of dual gender – a woman dressed in a man's clothes, treating a man as a woman and turning him into a work of art.

Subject: Others
Author: Rachilde
Title: Monsieur Vénus
Date: 1884
Place of publication: Bruxelles
Publisher: Auguste Brancart
Origin: Library of the Karásek Gallery
Licence: Free license

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