The Assumption and Reorganization of Sex in the Prologue to the Heptaméron

Discussions of gender and gender fluidity in Marguerite de Navarre's Heptaméron generally assume a stable notion of sex. In this article, I argue that instead of taking sex for granted, the opening scene of Marguerite's prologue allegorizes the creation of sex in a non-sexist mold. The text then reiterates its brand of sex by carving out sexual symmetry amongst the devisants. At the end of the prologue, sex is hidden, thus assumed, as the text hands the narrative over to gender so that the subsequent nouvelles can focus on gender and relations between the sexes. Cultural and literary sources such as Renaissance bath imagery, Calvin, and Ovid are taken into account.