Poignant Relations

"To trace the origins of feminist consciousness in France, James Smith Allen explores the lives and words of three nineteenth-century women: Marie-Sophie Leroyer, Genevieve Breton-Vaudoyer, and Celine Renooz-Muro. Though not identifying themselves with any specific group of feminists - indeed, even rejecting the label "feminist" - these women wrote extensively about important feminist issues: marriage, sexuality, education, religion, and politics.

Theirs was a discreet, relational feminism, which they expressed by considering their relationships to themselves and to others. Because they were less political (and thus less well known) than other feminists, these three women have been neglected by historians and literary theorists. But they are thus more representative of a generation of women who often wrote about, but did not necessarily act on, their independent ideas. For them, writing was transgression enough."--BOOK JACKET.