Courtesan
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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| - | [[Image:Olympia (1863) by Édouard Manet.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''[[Olympia (painting)|Olympia]]'' by [[Édouard Manet]], painted in [[1863]], depicting a [[courtesan]].]] | + | {| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5" |
| + | | style="text-align: left;" | | ||
| + | "History does not tell of a single courtesan, however fêted in her heyday, who died rich. Pregnancy was a constant risk, as was disease. If a courtesan bore a female child, and the child was pretty, she would be introduced to the life as soon as her mother grew too old to attract the best-heeled clientele, and her mother would act as her doorkeeper. Behind the glimmering images of the great courtesans lay the reality of the hundreds of thousands of women who would sell sexual favours if they could, wenches who would do the deed for a dish of coals or a mutton chop." --"[[Artists have always glamorised prostitution. Manet savaged all their delusions]]", [[Germaine Greer]], 2011, see [[Prostitution in Impressionist painting]] | ||
| + | |} | ||
| + | [[Image:Jean-Léon Gérôme, Phryne before the Areopagus 1861.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''[[Phryne before the Areopagus]]'' ([[1861]]) by [[Jean-Léon Gérôme]]]] | ||
| {{Template}} | {{Template}} | ||
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| A '''courtesan''' is a term descendent from French ''[[courtisane]]'', from Italian ''[[cortigiana]]'', feminine of ''[[cortigiano]]'' ‘[[courtier]]’, from ''[[corte]]'' ‘[[court]]’. Literally, the word means "a lady of the court"; since the [[16th century|mid-16th century]] the term has been in usage for a [[high-class]] [[prostitute]] or [[Mistress (lover)|mistress]], especially one associated with rich, powerful, or [[upper-class]] men who provided [[luxuries]] and status in exchange for her services. A French dictionary published in 1873 describes a courtesan as "toute femmes de mauvaise vie qui est au-dessus des simple prostituées." (All women of vice who are above the simple prostitutes.) In [[Renaissance|Renaissance Europe]], courtesans played an important role in upper-class society, sometimes taking the place of wives at social functions. As it was customary during this time for royal couples to lead separate lives—commonly marrying simply to preserve bloodlines and to secure political alliances—men would often seek sexual gratification and companionship from a courtesan. | A '''courtesan''' is a term descendent from French ''[[courtisane]]'', from Italian ''[[cortigiana]]'', feminine of ''[[cortigiano]]'' ‘[[courtier]]’, from ''[[corte]]'' ‘[[court]]’. Literally, the word means "a lady of the court"; since the [[16th century|mid-16th century]] the term has been in usage for a [[high-class]] [[prostitute]] or [[Mistress (lover)|mistress]], especially one associated with rich, powerful, or [[upper-class]] men who provided [[luxuries]] and status in exchange for her services. A French dictionary published in 1873 describes a courtesan as "toute femmes de mauvaise vie qui est au-dessus des simple prostituées." (All women of vice who are above the simple prostitutes.) In [[Renaissance|Renaissance Europe]], courtesans played an important role in upper-class society, sometimes taking the place of wives at social functions. As it was customary during this time for royal couples to lead separate lives—commonly marrying simply to preserve bloodlines and to secure political alliances—men would often seek sexual gratification and companionship from a courtesan. | ||
| Courtesans usually enjoyed more freedoms than was typical of women at the time. For example, they were financially stable and independent. Being in control of their own resources meant that they did not need to rely on their spouses or male relatives to survive, as was the case for the majority of women. | Courtesans usually enjoyed more freedoms than was typical of women at the time. For example, they were financially stable and independent. Being in control of their own resources meant that they did not need to rely on their spouses or male relatives to survive, as was the case for the majority of women. | ||
| == Famous courtesans == | == Famous courtesans == | ||
| - | + | :''[[famous courtesans]]'' | |
| The term "courtesan" has often been used in the political context to damage the reputation of a powerful woman, or disparage her importance. Particularly striking examples of this are when the title was applied to the Byzantine empress [[Theodora (6th century)|Theodora]], who had started life as a burlesque actress but later became the wife of the Emperor [[Justinian]] and, after her death, an [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] [[saint]]; the term "courtesan" has also been disparagingly and inaccurately applied to influential women like [[Anne Boleyn]], [[Madaline Bishop]], [[Diane de Poitiers]], [[Mathilde Kschessinska]], [[Pamela Harriman]] and [[Eva Perón]]. | The term "courtesan" has often been used in the political context to damage the reputation of a powerful woman, or disparage her importance. Particularly striking examples of this are when the title was applied to the Byzantine empress [[Theodora (6th century)|Theodora]], who had started life as a burlesque actress but later became the wife of the Emperor [[Justinian]] and, after her death, an [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] [[saint]]; the term "courtesan" has also been disparagingly and inaccurately applied to influential women like [[Anne Boleyn]], [[Madaline Bishop]], [[Diane de Poitiers]], [[Mathilde Kschessinska]], [[Pamela Harriman]] and [[Eva Perón]]. | ||
| - | ==== 17th century and before ==== | ||
| - | *[[Lais of Corinth]] | ||
| - | *[[Lais of Hyccara]] (killed [[340 BC]]) | ||
| - | *[[Aspasia]] ([[469 BC]]-[[409 BC]]), lover of the Athenian statesman [[Pericles]] | ||
| - | *[[Phryne]] ([[4th century BC]]) | ||
| - | *[[Diaochan]] (born [[169 AD]], the lover of warlord Dong Zhuo and warrior Lü Bu during the Chinese [[Three Kingdoms]]) | ||
| - | *[[Su Xiaoxiao]] (late [[5th century]]) | ||
| - | *[[Agnès Sorel]] ([[1421]]–[[1450]]) - mistress to King [[Charles VII of France]], first official royal mistress in France | ||
| - | *[[Jane Shore]] ([[1445]]–[[1527]]) - mistress of King [[Edward IV of England]], after his death she was forced to perform public penance for her adultery with him | ||
| - | *[[Margaret Drummond (Mistress)]] ([[1475]]–[[1502]]) - mistress to King [[James IV of Scotland]] | ||
| - | *[[Françoise de Foix]] ([[1495]]–[[1537]]) - first official mistress of King [[Francis I of France]] | ||
| - | *[[Diane de Poitiers]] ([[1499]]–[[1566]]) - official mistress of King [[Henry II of France]] | ||
| - | *[[Mary Boleyn]] ([[1499]]–[[1543]]) - mistress of King [[Henry VIII of England]] and (allegedly) lover of King [[Francis I of France]] | ||
| - | *[[Hwang Jin-i]] ([[1550]]) - legendary [[gisaeng]] of the [[Joseon Dynasty]] | ||
| - | *[[Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly]] ([[1508]]–[[1580]]) - last official mistress of King [[Francis I of France]] | ||
| - | * [[Tullia d'Aragona]] | ||
| - | *[[Veronica Franco]] ([[1546]]–[[1591]]) - a Venetian courtesan who was once lover to King [[Henry III of France]] | ||
| - | * [[Marie Touchet]] ([[1549]]–[[1638]]) - the only mistress of King [[Charles IX of France]] | ||
| - | *[[Marion Delorme]] (circa [[1613]]–[[1650]]) - lover of [[George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham]], [[Great Conde|the Prince of Condé]] and [[Cardinal Richelieu]] | ||
| - | *[[Ninon de l'Enclos]] ([[1615]]–[[1705]]) - lover of [[Great Conde|the Prince of Condé]] and [[Gaspard de Coligny]] | ||
| - | *[[Lucy Walter]] ([[1630]]–[[1658]]) - mistress-in-exile to King [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] of [[England]] | ||
| - | *[[Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland]] ([[1640]]–[[1709]]) - first official mistress at the court of King [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] of [[England]] | ||
| - | *[[Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan]] ([[1641]]–[[1707]]) - mistress to King [[Louis XIV of France]] | ||
| - | *[[Louise de la Vallière]] ([[1644]]–[[1710]]) - mistress to King [[Louis XIV]] of [[France]] | ||
| - | *[[Nell Gwynne]] ([[1650]]–[[1687]]) - mistress to King [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] of [[England]] | ||
| - | *[[Barbara Strozzi]]([(1619)])-[([1677)])-Composer | ||
| - | |||
| - | ==== 18th and 19th centuries ==== | ||
| - | |||
| - | *[[Madame de Pompadour]] ([[1721]]–[[1764]]) - the famous mistress and long time favorite of King [[Louis XV]] | ||
| - | *[[Marie-Anne de Mailly-Nesle duchess de Châteauroux]] ([[1717]]–[[1744]]) | ||
| - | *[[Claudine Alexandrine Guérin de Tencin]] ([[1681]]–[[1749]]) | ||
| - | *[[Louise Julie, Comtesse de Mailly]] ([[1710]]–[[1751]]) | ||
| - | *[[Kitty Fisher]] (died [[1767]]) | ||
| - | *[[Sophia Baddeley]] ([[1745]]–[[1786]]) | ||
| - | *[[Madame du Barry]] ([[1743]]–[[1793]]) | ||
| - | *[[Marie-Louise O'Murphy]] ([[1737]]–[[1814]]) | ||
| - | *[[Dorothy Jordan]] ([[1761]]–[[1816]]) | ||
| - | *[[Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey]] ([[1753]]–[[1821]]) | ||
| - | *[[Grace Elliott]] ([[1754]]? – [[1823]]) | ||
| - | *[[Harriette Wilson]] ([[1786]]–[[1846]]) | ||
| - | *[[La Païva]] ([[1819]]-[[1884]]) | ||
| - | *[[Marie Duplessis]] ([[1824]]–[[1847]]) | ||
| - | *[[Lola Montez]] ([[1821]]–[[1861]]) | ||
| - | *[[Cora Pearl]] ([[1835]]–[[1886]]) | ||
| - | *[[Virginia Oldoini|Virginia Oldoini, Countess of Castiglione]] ([[1837]]–[[1899]]) | ||
| - | *[[Catherine Walters]] ([[1839]]–[[1920]]) | ||
| - | *[[Lillie Langtry]] ([[1853]]-[[1929]]) | ||
| - | *[[Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick]] ([[1861]]–[[1938]]) | ||
| - | *[[Alice Keppel]] ([[1869]]–[[1947]]) | ||
| - | *[[Liane de Pougy]] ([[1869]]–[[1950]]) | ||
| - | *[[La Belle Otero]] ([[1868]]–[[1965]]) | ||
| - | *[[Umrao Jaan]] ([[1804]]-[[1875]]) Lucknow, India | ||
| - | *[["Klondike Kate" Rockwell]] ([[1873]]-[[1957]]) | ||
| - | *[[Sarah Bernhardt]] ([[1844]]-[[1923]]) | ||
| - | *[[Blanche d'Antigny]] ([[1840]]-[[1874]]) | ||
| - | |||
| ====In fiction==== | ====In fiction==== | ||
| + | :''[[fictional prostitute]]'' | ||
| [[Pietro Aretino]], an [[Italian Renaissance]] writer, wrote a series of dialogues (''[[Capricciosi ragionamenti]]'') in which a mother teaches her daughter what options are available to women and how to be an effective courtesan. The [[France|French]] novelist [[Balzac]] wrote about a courtesan in his ''[[Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes]]'' (1838–47). [[Emile Zola]] likewise wrote a novel, ''[[Nana (book)|Nana]]'' (1880), about a courtesan in nineteenth-century [[France]]. | [[Pietro Aretino]], an [[Italian Renaissance]] writer, wrote a series of dialogues (''[[Capricciosi ragionamenti]]'') in which a mother teaches her daughter what options are available to women and how to be an effective courtesan. The [[France|French]] novelist [[Balzac]] wrote about a courtesan in his ''[[Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes]]'' (1838–47). [[Emile Zola]] likewise wrote a novel, ''[[Nana (book)|Nana]]'' (1880), about a courtesan in nineteenth-century [[France]]. | ||
| - | |||
| - | *[[Inara Serra]], a 26th century [[Alliance (Firefly)|Alliance]] [[Companion (Firefly)|companion]] in [[Joss Whedon]]'s TV series [[Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]. | ||
| - | *''The Woman of the Camilias'' was a novel about a courtesan by French author [[Alexandre Dumas, fils]] that was turned into the opera [[La Traviata]] by Italian composer [[Giuseppe Verdi]]. In the opera, the courtesan's name is "Violetta". "La Traviata" in Italian translates "The Wayward One". | ||
| - | *Satine played by [[Nicole Kidman]], an actress/courtesan who falls in love with a penniless poet/writer played by [[Ewan McGregor]], in the movie [[Moulin Rouge!]]. | ||
| - | *[[Phèdre nó Delaunay]], the premier courtesan of Terre D'Ange in [[Jacqueline Carey]]'s [[Kushiel's Legacy]] novels | ||
| - | *The movie ''[[Dangerous Beauty]],'' starring [[Catherine McCormack]], tells the story of Veronica Franco, a Venetian courtesan. | ||
| - | * [[Nana]], in [[Emile Zola]]'s famous novel of 1880 should count as a courtesan | ||
| - | *In [[Sarah Dunant]]'s ''In the Company of the Courtesan'', Fiammetta Bianchini, a renowned courtesan of Rome, and her sharp-witted dwarf rise to success among the intrigue and secrets of Renaissance Venice. | ||
| - | *In [[John Cleland]]'s ''Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure'', Fanny goes from poor orphaned country girl to wealthy skilled courtesan eventually finding her one true love and retiring to marriage. Her history is told in the first person through several letters to friends detailing her life as a courtesan.'' | ||
| - | *''[[Gigi]]'' is a [[1944]] novel by the French writer [[Colette]] about a wealthy cultured man of fashion who discovers he is in love with a young Parisian girl being groomed for a career as a ''grande cocotte'' and eventually marries her. | ||
| ==Citations== | ==Citations== | ||
| - | *[[Courtesans : Money, Sex and Fame in the Nineteenth Century]] by [[Katie Hickman]] ([[2003]]). New York: Morrow. ISBN 0-06-620955-2.{{GFDL}} | + | *[[Courtesans : Money, Sex and Fame in the Nineteenth Century]] by [[Katie Hickman]] ([[2003]]). New York: Morrow. ISBN 0-06-620955-2. |
| + | ==See also== | ||
| + | :''[[lady-in-waiting]], [[famous courtesans]], [[court life]]'' | ||
| + | *[[Grisette (French)]] | ||
| + | *[[Hetaera]] | ||
| + | *[[Religious prostitution]] | ||
| + | *[[Kisaeng]] | ||
| + | *[[Nagarvadhu]] | ||
| + | *[[Kanhopatra]]—an Indian courtesan, who is venerated as a saint | ||
| + | *[[Oiran]] | ||
| + | *[[Pilegesh]] | ||
| + | *[[Sing-song girls]] | ||
| + | *[[Sycophant]] | ||
| + | *[[Tawaif]] | ||
| + | *[[Yiji]] | ||
| + | *[[Prostitute]] | ||
| + | {{GFDL}} | ||
Current revision
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"History does not tell of a single courtesan, however fêted in her heyday, who died rich. Pregnancy was a constant risk, as was disease. If a courtesan bore a female child, and the child was pretty, she would be introduced to the life as soon as her mother grew too old to attract the best-heeled clientele, and her mother would act as her doorkeeper. Behind the glimmering images of the great courtesans lay the reality of the hundreds of thousands of women who would sell sexual favours if they could, wenches who would do the deed for a dish of coals or a mutton chop." --"Artists have always glamorised prostitution. Manet savaged all their delusions", Germaine Greer, 2011, see Prostitution in Impressionist painting |
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Related e |
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Featured: |
A courtesan is a term descendent from French courtisane, from Italian cortigiana, feminine of cortigiano ‘courtier’, from corte ‘court’. Literally, the word means "a lady of the court"; since the mid-16th century the term has been in usage for a high-class prostitute or mistress, especially one associated with rich, powerful, or upper-class men who provided luxuries and status in exchange for her services. A French dictionary published in 1873 describes a courtesan as "toute femmes de mauvaise vie qui est au-dessus des simple prostituées." (All women of vice who are above the simple prostitutes.) In Renaissance Europe, courtesans played an important role in upper-class society, sometimes taking the place of wives at social functions. As it was customary during this time for royal couples to lead separate lives—commonly marrying simply to preserve bloodlines and to secure political alliances—men would often seek sexual gratification and companionship from a courtesan.
Courtesans usually enjoyed more freedoms than was typical of women at the time. For example, they were financially stable and independent. Being in control of their own resources meant that they did not need to rely on their spouses or male relatives to survive, as was the case for the majority of women.
Contents |
[edit]
Famous courtesans
The term "courtesan" has often been used in the political context to damage the reputation of a powerful woman, or disparage her importance. Particularly striking examples of this are when the title was applied to the Byzantine empress Theodora, who had started life as a burlesque actress but later became the wife of the Emperor Justinian and, after her death, an Orthodox saint; the term "courtesan" has also been disparagingly and inaccurately applied to influential women like Anne Boleyn, Madaline Bishop, Diane de Poitiers, Mathilde Kschessinska, Pamela Harriman and Eva Perón.
[edit]
In fiction
Pietro Aretino, an Italian Renaissance writer, wrote a series of dialogues (Capricciosi ragionamenti) in which a mother teaches her daughter what options are available to women and how to be an effective courtesan. The French novelist Balzac wrote about a courtesan in his Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes (1838–47). Emile Zola likewise wrote a novel, Nana (1880), about a courtesan in nineteenth-century France.
[edit]
Citations
- Courtesans : Money, Sex and Fame in the Nineteenth Century by Katie Hickman (2003). New York: Morrow. ISBN 0-06-620955-2.
[edit]
See also
- Grisette (French)
- Hetaera
- Religious prostitution
- Kisaeng
- Nagarvadhu
- Kanhopatra—an Indian courtesan, who is venerated as a saint
- Oiran
- Pilegesh
- Sing-song girls
- Sycophant
- Tawaif
- Yiji
- Prostitute
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Courtesan" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
