Madame de Maintenon's Proverbes inédits: Words to live by

Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, best known as King Louis XIV's mistress, was a woman whom many loved to hate. As a result, her contribution to female education and to theater has regretfully been forgotten. As the institutrice of Saint-Cyr, a boarding school for young girls from impoverished noble families, Maintenon was strikingly ahead of her time with the emphasis she placed on speaking and discussion, an approach that sharply opposed traditional seventeenth century convent education. For Maintenon, theater represented a useful pedagogical tool to be used in the classroom environment. Madame de Maintenon's proverbes inédits (1690-1710), short skits intended for her students at Saint-Cyr, are in actuality quite progressive for the seventeenth century in terms of moral instruction for young women. Her dramatic plays teach young women how to respect themselves and how to avoid becoming victims in a man's world.

Although Maintenon does not propose that women should attempt to reverse the patriarchal system, she demonstrates that women may create a harmonious existence for themselves within the private sphere. My study will suggest that Maintenon's own personal experiences inspire her to speak through her dramatic plays and warn her pupils about the kinds of obstacles they might encounter in their future lives, particularly as females. Thus, through the staging of her own experiences, Maintenon takes on the role of protector and spokeswoman ofthe female sex.