Writing luxury: Mirrors, silk, lace, and writing desks in French literature, 1660--1715

This dissertation explores the cultural and literary roles of mirrors, silk, lace, and writing furniture in the context of French literature and society between 1660 and 1715. By examining texts from a variety of genres, including letters, memoirs, novels, plays, fairytales, and period dictionaries, this study arrives at conclusions about how certain luxury goods functioned as literary and cultural symbols for more abstract concepts, such as vanity, beauty, virtue, knowledge, and pride. In fictional and historical texts, luxury products assume moral and figurative connotations that illuminate some of the preoccupations of the era. References to mirrors and writing desks provide information about the domestic space and the daily practices of grooming or letter-writing. Nevertheless, these items also speak to concepts of intimacy, privacy, status, and knowledge of the self and others in ways that allow the modern scholar to interpret these ideas through early modern eyes. Likewise, the textual presence of silk and lace are revealing of notions of beauty, social class, and even home décor. Additionally, the social connotations of different varieties of lace and silk make possible a reading of references to these textiles that privileges their value as cultural artifacts. Mirrors, silk, lace, and writing desks all function as items in literary time capsules. Their presence in texts provides a point of entry into the literary culture of the turn of the seventeenth century and allows for the study of texts that have often escaped the notice of modern scholars. In addition, luxury goods in literature offer an opportunity to engage with what these items meant to the people who used them and read about them. This dissertation examines luxury goods from a literary, historical, and cultural perspective with the intention of describing their role in French literary culture from 1660 to 1715.