PFSCL XLIII, 84 (2016) Writing the Self: The Theatrics of Transvestism in Choisy’s Memoirs N ANCY A RENBERG (University of Arkansas, Fayetteville) One of the most intriguing figures in Louis XIV’s court, François-Timoléon de Choisy composed a variety of literary productions, including the Sun King’s memoirs, his own personal memoirs, and an ambitious elevenvolume work entitled Histoire de l’Église. Although he had a respectable ecclesiastic career, his writing and political interests extended well beyond the Church. Most notably, he was chosen by Louis XIV as part of his official embassy to travel to the exotic land of Siam, an experience that he later documented in a travel narrative. In 1687, Choisy’s numerous accomplishments were further recognized when he was chosen to become a member of the Académie Française, where he served along with Racine and Boileau. But in many seventeenth-century circles, it was no secret that he was renowned for his penchant for cross-dressing, which began with his mother’s encouragement at a young age. Madame de Choisy dressed her son in feminine garments to bolster her social aspirations at court, mainly by pursuing the friendship of Louis’s brother, Philippe d’Orléans, who also enjoyed wearing women’s attire. Together, the two childhood friends would play dress-up, which, in turn, reinforced Madame de Choisy’s narcissism. 1 The Abbé’s fascinating text, Mémoires de l’abbé de Choisy habillé en femme, describes Choisy’s experiences dressed as a woman, while allowing the contemporary reader to study the complexity of his self-representation within the intimate structure of his own domestic theater. This essay will initially examine how the private memoir, as a malleable form, enables Choisy to textually stray from the more traditional historical form of 1 Gretchen Van Slyke, “Ad-Dressing the Self: Costume, Gender and Autobiographical Discourse in l’Abbé de Choisy and Rosa Bonheur,” Autobiography, Historiography, Rhetoric. Eds. Mary E. Donaldson, Lucienne Frappier & Gerald Prince. (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1994) 290-291. Also see Patricia F. Cholakian, “Gender, Genre, and Cross- Dressing in Choisy’s Mémoires,” Genre 26 2.3 (1993) 178-183. Nancy Arenberg 22 memoir composition with the intention of writing for his own pleasure. The analysis will then turn to Choisy’s cross-dressing adventures in his text entitled Histoire de Madame de Sancy, with limited references to his memoir, Histoire de Madame La Comtesse des Barres. Although many scholars have already offered psychoanalytic readings on Choisy’s narcissism and a Molièresque interpretation of gender confusion, particular attention will be placed on theatrical role-playing and illusion as it relates specifically to gender bending through the lens of queer theory. 2 As will be shown, Choisy’s role-playing is an acquired skill which assures his successful appropriation of the feminine, while revealing a subversive space within the narrative, a third one—that of the transvestite. Above all, the fluid, wandering form of the memoir allows Choisy to engage in an ongoing performance of scripting the self in which the transvestite’s body becomes a slippery, and, at times, experimental site, destabilizing the traditional categories of gender polarization, and, at the same time, veiling the eroticized body in sustained ambiguity. It is useful to begin our study by examining some theories pertaining to seventeenth-century memoir composition, the predecessor of the modern autobiographical genre. Derek Watts explains that personal memoirs were considered as “a kind of unofficial literary genre, with an unwritten and somewhat unstable code of rules and conventions.” 3 Nevertheless lifewriters did subscribe to some general guidelines to create a sense of cohesiveness in the art of scripting the self. On a structural level, the reader can observe that life experiences are organized chronologically with the goal of conveying historically accurate facts in a truthful manner, placing the emphasis on recording individual greatness for posterity. Another key characteristic of the genre is that it is inherently polarized, consisting of a clear distinction between public and private memoirs. In his memoirs of the 2 See Nancy Arenberg’s article, “Mirrors, Cross-dressing and Narcissism in Choisy’s Histoire de Madame la Comtesse des Barres,” Cahiers du Dix-Septième: An Interdisciplinary Journal X.1 (2005) 11-30; Isabelle Billaud, “Masculin ou féminin? La représentation du travesti et la question des savoirs au XVII e siècle,” Savoirs et fins de la représentation sous l’ancien régime. Eds. Annie Cloutier, Catherine Dubeau & Pierre-Marc Gendron. (Quebec: Laval, 2005) 205-219; Nicolas Hammond, “All Dressed Up. L’Abbé de Choisy and the Theatricality of Subversion,” Seventeenth- Century French Studies 21 (1999) 165-172; Joseph Harris, “Stealing Beauty: The Abbé de Choisy’s Appropriation of the Feminine,” Possessions: Essays in French Literature, Cinema, and Theory. Eds. Julia Horn & Lynsey Russell-Watts. (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2003) 121-134. 3 Derek Watts, “Self-Portrayal in Seventeenth-Century Memoirs,” Australian Journal of French Studies 12 (1975) 284. Writing the Self: The Theatrics of Transvestism in Choisy’s Memoirs 23 king, Choisy set out with the intention of capturing the heroic and political accomplishments of Louis, thus conforming to the loose rules of the memoir genre in which the writer documents historical greatness. However, Choisy does not sustain the textual concentration on the public and virile feats of the king. On the contrary, he deviates from observing the separation between public and private spheres, blurring the boundaries by interweaving anecdotes about his own life into his memoirs of Louis. As Patricia Cholakian puts it, “as he weaves his unheroic life into the king’s story, Choisy disrupts and deconstructs the master narrative he seems to be promoting” (183). It is important to clarify that he initially interpolates his own private adventures into the main thread of the public memoir devoted to Louis. He later separated the two, writing a brief volume, containing two personal memoirs, and one fairy tale also dealing with transvestism. Nevertheless, by straying from the dominant masculine narrative, he seems to favor the more “feminine” entertaining story to be recounted in his own memoirs. Faith Beasley offers further insight on gender differences in memoir composition. As she explains, women’s life narratives were categorized as “particular memoirs” because they were more personal than men’s state memoirs. 4 In Choisy’s memoirs, he seems to align his writing with this more introspective and intimate quality identified with women’s “particular memoirs.” Choisy alludes to this private aspect of his writing in the opening pages of his memoirs of Louis XIV: “J’avertis le lecteur qu’en écrivant la vie du Roi j’écrirai aussi la mienne, à mesure que je me souviendrai de ce qui m’est arrivé. Ce sera un beau contraste, mais cela me réjouira; et je veux bien courre le risque qu’on dise: Il joint à tous propos les louanges d’un fat à celles d’un héros.” 5 In essence, this collusion of public and private life-writing subverts the imprecise conventions of the genre, as he is no longer writing for the glorification of Louis but solely for his own pleasure. He further wanders away from more traditional memoir writing by eliminating the use of chronology, revising it with fragments and an episodic structure to create the frame for his pleasurable, erotic experiences dressed as a woman. This lighter focus is shown in his remarks to a friend on the first page of the Histoire de Madame de Sancy: “Vous n’y verrez assurément ni villes prises ni 4 Faith Beasley, Revising Memory: Women’s Fiction and Memoirs in Seventeenth-Century France. (New Brunswick & London: Rutgers UP, 1990) 35-41. 5 François-Timoléon Choisy, Mémoires de l’Abbé de Choisy. Ed. Georges Mongrédien. (Paris: Mercure de France, 1966) 25. Nancy Arenberg 24 batailles gagnées; la politique n’y brillera pas plus que la guerre. Bagatelles, petits plaisirs, enfantillages, ne vous attendez pas à autre chose” (HMS 81). 6 To establish the setting for his adventures garbed as Madame de Sancy, Choisy chooses the bourgeois neighborhood of Saint-Marceau, a quiet suburban area away from the probing eyes of the court. The movement away from court is pivotal, as it enables him to direct his attention to his home décor, representing the interior stage, to create his own personal theater. Choisy sets up house and describes the unusual aspect of his household: “notre maison était bien reglée; à la réserve de la petite faiblesse que j’avais de vouloir passer pour femme, on ne pouvait rien reprocher” (HMS 106). In his preliminary descriptions of his accessories and outfits, Choisy places particular emphasis on his diamond earrings, which he inherited from his mother’s estate. He decides to have his ears pierced again because the holes were no longer viable. Although this modification may seem insignificant, it has gender implications for the transvestite’s physical ritual of slipping into female drag. Here, he is preparing his body to be able to receive the gift, the dangling diamond earrings, a precious talisman which harks back to Madame de Choisy’s influential role in his preference for cross-dressing. According to Mitchell Greenberg’s reading, the earrings “slipped into and dangling from the hole in the earlobe, substitute for the penis, the penis that covers the castration wound, compliments its absence, and presents to the world a symbol of perfect, heterosexual, plenitude.” 7 It is important to place this psychoanalytic interpretation into dialogue with some of the overarching facts about transvestites and for the purpose of our analysis, a cultural approach to cross-dressing. Robert Stoller defines “male transvestism as completely pleasurable; it is fetishistic, intermittent cross-dressing in a biologically normal man who does not question that he is a male—that is, the possessor of a penis.” 8 As will be shown in forthcoming scenes, the ritual of inserting the lustrous diamond earrings assures Choisy’s power to seduce and to assert his control over his own private “master” scenario, eliciting sexual pleasure in his interactions with the girls in his tutelage. As he settles into his new home, Choisy gradually introduces his neighbors and the local clergy to his cross-dressing fetish, which begins conservatively in one of his outings dressed in feminine attire: “D’abord j’avais 6 All of the quotes from the primary text are taken from François-Timoléon’s Mémoires de l’Abbé de Choisy habillée en femme. (Toulouse: Petite Bibliothèque Ombres, 1995). 7 Mitchell Greenberg, Baroque Bodies: Psychoanalysis and the Culture of French Absolutism. (Ithaca & London: Cornell UP, 2001) 141. 8 Robert Stoller, Sex and Gender Vol. I: The Development of Masculinity and Femininity. (New York: Jason Aronson, 1974) 176. Writing the Self: The Theatrics of Transvestism in Choisy’s Memoirs 25 seulement une robe de chambre de drap noir, fermée par-devant avec des boutonnières noires qui allaient jusques en bas, et une queue d’une demiaune, qu’un laquais me portait, une petite perruque peu poudrée, des boucles d’oreilles fort simples, et deux grandes mouches de velours aux tempes” (HMS 83). One of the more noteworthy aspects is the absence of color, which, in this instance, is restricted to black. At first glance, the dress does not attract much interest from the townspeople. But when Choisy ventures out with the intention of doing charitable work for the poor, he opens some of the top buttons to reveal a shimmering silver bodice underneath the drab dress. In addition, he also wears more elaborate diamond earrings, selects a longer wig, and adds several beauty-marks. As he gradually embellishes his costume, displaying a black satin dress, he daringly undoes five or six buttons at the bottom of his dress, unveiling a white skirt underneath and a glimpse of his bare legs. Here, Choisy plays with the contrast between white and black, while directing the spectator’s focus to his bare shoulders and exposed neck area, which he treated daily with softening beauty creams. Underneath the somber exterior of the clerical style of these garments, the inner layers of the soft fabrics conceal his cross-dressing secret. At the same time, this gradual transition to more feminine apparel transgresses the illusion of sacerdotal attire and points to gender bending. To read this from a cultural perspective, Marjorie Garber posits that traditional ecclesiastical attire creates a visible boundary, a border between repression and sexual fantasy. For Choisy, the costume is more aligned with eroticism, as it dissimulates the appearance of his smooth neck and the contours of his breasts beneath the folds of the fabric. 9 Garber also maintains that ecclesiastical dress was very common in eighteenthcentury masquerades, as it offered a perfect opportunity for inversion. 10 In this case, this particular outfit offers Choisy the occasion, as will be shown in selected episodes, to subvert and displace gender roles. To look at this from another angle, the dark color and shapeless contour of the fabric conceal the master signifier, thus creating an erotic experience in blurring the boundaries to engage in gender travesty. As the town becomes more accustomed to his costumes, Choisy experiences social triumph at one of his intimate dinner gatherings at his home. Some of his female neighbors address him as Madame, thus affirming his success in convincing them that his female masquerade passes as vraisemblable. Choisy, garbed as Madame de Sancy, even wins the approval of the 9 For detailed information on Choisy’s physical modifications, see Greenberg 134- 137. 10 Marjorie Garber, Vested Interests: Cross-Dressing & Cultural Anxiety (New York: HarperCollins, 1993) 219. Nancy Arenberg 26 local parish priest who says after some initial hesitation: “j’avoue, madame, que vous êtes fort bien” (HMS 86). Here again, Choisy’s cross-dressing smacks of subversion, as he undermines the local patriarchal representative of the Church to seek his approval for this transition into drag. Moreover, he alters the sacred space of the church by transforming it into another personal theater in which he can test the reaction of the townspeople to his impersonation act. In one episode in which he is collecting money, he strays from the religious nature of participating in a charitable task. Rather, the good deed provides a legitimate circumstance to receive personal satisfaction. In this episode, the parishioners become his secular audience as he endeavors to promote and perfect his masquerade: Je me retournai de leur côté, et fis semblant de demander à quelqu’un, afin de leur donner le plaisir de me voir. On peut juger cela me confirma étrangement dans le goût d’être traité comme une femme. Ces louanges me paraissaient des vérités qui n’étaient point mendiées; ces gens là ne m’avaient jamais vu, et ne songeaient point à me faire plaisir (HMS 94). It is the success of these limited social experiences out in public that motivates Choisy to engage in more daring cross-dressing adventures dressed as Madame de Sancy. As he pursues a love interest attired as Madame de Sancy, he actively constructs a third space for his transvestite scenarios, containing the domestic stage upon which he will attempt to seduce and lure an unsuspecting bourgeois girl into his elegant surroundings. Since this type of drag performance is unusual, it is worth examining it through a cultural perspective. According to Garber, “the cultural effect of transvestism is to destabilize all such binaries: not only “male” and “female”, but also “gay and “straight”, and “sex” and “gender.” This is the sense—the radical sense—in which transvestism is a “third.” 11 Not only is there instability in respecting assigned gender roles, but Choisy, with formidable finesse, manipulates several roles at once in acting and directing his own domestic play. According to Mora Lloyd’s interpretation of Butler’s complex notion of performativity (from a queer perspective), gender is not fixed; one performs it: It is “the stylized repetition of acts through time.” 12 Lloyd explains that performance can be considered as a form of theatricality and is inherently mimetic. Here, the emphasis is on impersonation, repeating and perfecting the drag role in order to achieve agency, which can be defined as having the spectators believe what they 11 Garber 133. 12 Moya Lloyd, “Performativity, Parody, Politics,” Theory, Culture & Society 16.2 (1999) 196. Writing the Self: The Theatrics of Transvestism in Choisy’s Memoirs 27 see. 13 Choisy’s success in promoting the illusion of “passing” as a woman is shown by the idea of multiple masks adhering to his body and face, the experimental surface for his masquerade. It is through continuous repetition of his role adorned as Madame de Sancy that he destabilizes Butler’s notion of such binary categories as “male” and “female.” 14 For Choisy, he, once again, blurs, subverts, and steps beyond the boundaries separating the sexes, revealing a most intricate game of gender reversals. To engage in this entertaining and erotic game, the core of the memoir focuses on his amorous adventures with two young girls. The first one, Charlotte, attends dinner parties at Choisy’s house often accompanied by her aunt. It is not long before Choisy invites Charlotte to a masked ball in which he reprises his role as Madame de Sancy but plays with gender reversal by placing Charlotte in masculine clothes, thus radically dismantling and, at the same time, straying from biologically assigned gender roles. The ritual of putting Charlotte in male garments demonstrates Choisy’s flair for transforming Charlotte’s body, as it becomes an experimental site upon which he will create the illusion of her passing as a fashionable young man. Here, Choisy, staring, is directing this performance, which, again, tests the reaction of the local townspeople. When the masks are lifted, no one is surprised to see Choisy dressed as Madame de Sancy, but Choisy, as the director of this production, is quite pleased with his own beautiful creation. With pride, he says to the hostess, “ Voilà Madame, lui dis-je, mon petit amant: n’est-il pas bien joli? ” (HMS 99). The success of convincing the guests at the masked ball of Charlotte’s travesty empowers Choisy to move to the next level of his theatrical scenario, the seduction of the object of his desire. He puts together a series of masculine outfits for Charlotte to wear with the intention of creating the illusion of a married couple, which is predicated on role reversals. As Choisy describes it, “j’eus le plaisir de l’avoir souvent garçon, et comme j’étais femme, cela faisait le véritable mariage” (HMS 100). To set the stage for the next part of their amorous adventure, the domestic theater becomes the focus again but with a spatial modification, here an intimate area, as he entices Charlotte to come to a cabinet with a private entrance located in the garden. Upon her arrival at his cabinet, Choisy would ritualistically place a wig on Charlotte, a prop enabling her to slip into the masculine role for this private performance. In this scene, there is also emphasis placed on pictorial represen-tation, as Choisy insists on having their portraits painted dressed in their respective roles as Madame de Sancy and Charlotte garbed as a knight. Interestingly, 13 Greenberg 145. 14 Lloyd 196-200. Nancy Arenberg 28 the finished portraits do not remain private, for they are displayed in the cabinet and unveiled in front of guests. Once again, Choisy requires an audience to not only win their approval for this credible performance as a happy couple captured on canvas, but also to obtain their consent so he can pursue his master plan, the artifice of a marriage ceremony. To prepare their nuptials, Choisy decides to intensify the rules of the game by giving Charlotte a new identity; she will play the part of Monsieur de Maulny and acquiesce to cross-dress indefinitely in her new role as Madame de Sancy’s husband. The hidden subtext to this illusion of marriage is to create the semblance of a legitimate social context so that the two can partake in sexual play in Choisy’s bed. As Choisy puts it, “Ma chère Charlotte, si tu pouvais toujours être habillée en garçon; je t’en aimerais bien mieux, et nous nous marierions; il faut que nous trouvions le moyen de coucher ensemble sans que Dieu y soit offensé” (HMS 102). Choisy subverts the Church by attempting to respect God’s idea of a traditional union, while redefining the idea of marriage within this third space, the transvestite’s own domestic theater. 15 As a director, Choisy establishes the rules of the game, convincing Charlotte to even cut her hair to facilitate her gender reversal. The significance of cutting Charlotte’s hair points to Choisy’s sexual mastery over the young girl who loses a salient part of her femininity. In this transvestite scenario, Choisy demonstrates gender slippage here by reverting to a more masculine role by refashioning her body to offer him more pleasure in their nightly bedroom encounters, as he gains control of the erotic narrative. When Charlotte eventually legitimately marries, Choisy replaces her with another innocent girl, a lower-class orphan. Choisy attempts to elevate Babet, a laundress, to a higher social station by hiring her as an apprentice personal maid who comes to live with him several days a week. As seen with Charlotte, Choisy creates a new identity for her as Mademoiselle Dany, transforming her from a plain girl to a stunning beauty clad in elegant fabrics and elaborate accessories. With this new name, she also consents to become an actress in Choisy’s domestic theater. It is not too long before she, too, shares his bed, but in this scenario Choisy chooses a friend to view the alluring body of Mlle Dany, his dazzling masterpiece. The bed becomes an alternative domestic stage for their amorous play, as Mademoiselle Dupuis watches them in the bedroom. Once again, Choisy relies on illusion, predicated on the girl’s semblance of innocent gestures, to derive pleasure from their sensual interaction. Moreover, there is a double travesty in this scene, as Mlle Dany says she prefers to call Choisy her “petit mari” instead 15 For a socio-political discussion on Choisy’s subversion, see Greenberg 147-150. Writing the Self: The Theatrics of Transvestism in Choisy’s Memoirs 29 of wife, the inner subtext pointing to the progression and enjoyment of her sexual education under his tutelage. This idea is further buttressed by the fact that Choisy had given her some of his expensive earrings, thereby branding her his own personal object of his desire in their domestic play. Mlle Dany succumbs to the veiled but nonetheless master signifier, his hidden “penis,” under the sumptuous layers of silk trains. There is a similar intimate scene with Mlle de La Grise in Histoire de la Comtesse des Barres, but the context of the erotic narrative is more audacious than the previous episode with Mlle de Dany. Above all, the domestic stage, the third space in which the transvestite engages in theatrical scenarios, is much more developed in this memoir. To initially foster interest in visiting his home, Choisy invents a clever premise to mentor Mlle de La Grise by persuading her mother to let her stay with him for several weeks to learn how to style her hair and perfect her toilette. It is important to note here that Choisy came to Bourges dressed as a woman, a masquerade that he successfully carries off, since his friends and neighbors believe he is the Comtesse des Barres. Consequently, it is easier for the Abbé to maintain the façade of honorable intentions, as he takes Mlle de La Grise under his tutelage. Like Charlotte and Mlle Dany, Mlle de La Grise, too, shares his bed, and the domestic stage becomes the focus again, as he trains her to sexually perform, with artistic dissimulation, in front of unsuspecting friends who engage in the pleasure of observing them in his private boudoir. In comparison to the previous scene described above with Mlle Dany (with one spectator), Choisy’s audience is amplified, which, in turn, enhances his pleasure in directing and acting in this production. He describes the staging of the scene: Je la fis remettre à sa place, et repris, sous prétexte de la baiser, l’attitude convenable à nos véritables plaisirs. Les personnes qui les regardaient les augmentaient encore; il est bien doux de tromper les yeux du public (HMCB 54). Although the two appear to be exchanging kisses, the deliberate staging of the position of their bodies veils Choisy’s true intentions, as he subtly introduces Mlle de La Grise to more intimate carnal pleasures. At the same time, he invites her to participate in a game of role play, which reveals another intertextual similarity to an episode with Charlotte in Histoire de Madame de Sancy. Once again, the scene revolves around illusion, mainly because the audience gathered in his bedroom believe that they are watching an affectionate scene between the maternal Comtesse and her eager young pupil. In this instance, there is a variation on the scene with the local parish priest as seen in the Sancy memoir. Here, the parish priest expresses his approval, thereby believing what appears to be an honest display of Nancy Arenberg 30 affection: “Moi, madame? Et qu’y a-t-il de plus innocent? C’est une sœur aînée qui baise sa cadette (HMCB 55). After a prolonged kiss performed in front of the local priest and friends, generating avid interest amongst the spectators, Choisy initiates a game of gender switching or role reversals by informing the priest that Mlle de La Grise is his petite femme. Interestingly, he reverts back to his biological gender assignment, as she becomes the object of the master signifier. Mlle de La Grise’s reaction mirrors Mlle Dany’s who also referred to Choisy as her petit mari. Like Mlle Dany, Mlle de La Grise’s acknowledgment of Choisy as her petit mari points to her concealed sexual pleasure in performing amorous scenarios in Choisy’s domestic theater. As the director of this seductive scenario, Choisy dictates the roles, and in so doing, once again, transgresses the morals of the Church and the societal values of the day. As he writes, “J’y consens, lui dis-je, je serai ton petit mari, et tu seras ma petite femme; voilà M. le curé qui y consentira aussi” (HMCB 56). There is another scene that also reveals a striking resemblance to Choisy’s gender switching with Charlotte in Histoire de Madame de Sancy. After Mlle de La Grise marries, he pursues a young actress named Roselie whom he meets in Bourges during the celebration of carnaval. Choisy quickly invites her to come and perform theatrical roles at his home. As his fascination with her develops and she accompanies him all around town, there is a scene in which he dresses Roselie as a knight for a hunting outing, referring to her as “mon petit mari,” which mirrors Charlotte’s gender reversal episode in the previous memoir. Like Charlotte, he accessorizes her masculine outfit with a wig and a hat. For this entertaining game, Choisy, too, modifies his masquerade; he deviates from the extravagant style of the Comtesse des Barres to don the less flamboyant garb of an amazon. At the same time, he boldly decides to change Roselie’s name to le petit comte or M. comtin. As noted with Charlotte, the body becomes, once again, an experimental site, a blank canvas, upon which Choisy freely modifies Roselie’s biological gender assignment for his own amusement, as she, too, becomes his own personal work of art. As shown in this analysis, the unstable form of the memoir genre provides a medium and a space for Choisy to textually engage in the performance of gender reversals. It is the fluidity of the memoir form which enables the reader to identify a subversive space within Choisy’s memoirs, a third one—that of the transvestite. Within this alternative space, Choisy stages his own private play in which he repeatedly indulges his petite faiblesse for slipping into feminine attire, casting himself in the role as the “queen” of his productions. At the same time, his body is not the only site for radical gender bending, as he shrouds the secret of his masculinity under Writing the Self: The Theatrics of Transvestism in Choisy’s Memoirs 31 luxurious fabrics to attract innocent girls to participate in the pleasurable game of gender travesty. His penchant for transvestism also reveals that the body is a blank canvas, a malleable surface lending itself to experimentation. For the cross-dresser and his fellow actors, the masquerade will play on within the parameters of the private theater where the body knows no boundaries and is eternally empowered by the cloak of ambiguity. 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