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| Plot Summary of Grandes Horizontales |
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"This is a book about the lives and legends of four courtesans who flourished during the 19th century in Paris. One was Marie Duplessis, La Paiva, Apollonie Sabatier and Cora Pearl. Marie became the prototype of the 'prostitute with a golden heart' and portrayed in the play, La Dame Aux Camélia. La Paiva, who was of Russian/Jewish origins, graduated from being a common prostitute to being one of the most wealthy and ostentatious courtesans of the age; Apollonie was surrounded by a circle of literary and artistic admirers and became the muse of the poet Charles Baudelaire; and Cora, 'the English Beauty of the French Empire' had affairs with, among (many) others, two relatives of the Emperor Napoleon III.
These women were all representatives of the 'demi-monde', that is, of that half-world midway between respectable high society and the low life of the common prostitute. 'Demi-monde' is a term suggestive of twilight, of a world of shifting appearances and shadow, where nothing is quite what it seems, a world between worlds. "
Virginia Rounding, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Grandes Horizontales |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
job/profession:
- prostitute
Job/profession/poverty story
Yes
Period of greatest activity?
- 1800's
Subject of Biography
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- prostitute
Age:
- 20's-30's
Biography of famous person?
Yes
Ethnicity
- White
Nationality
- French
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other people
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 7 ()
Europe
Yes
City?
Yes
City:
- wealthy
Misc setting
- Fancy Mansion
Century:
- 19th century
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Book makes you feel?
- thoughtful
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- main character services as prostitute
Commentary on society?
Yes
Commentary on
- love/sex
- capitalism
Writer's slant towards subject:
- favorable
Story of entire life, or part?
- story of nearly entire life
Is this a biography of several people?
Yes
Pictures/Illustrations?
- More in color 6-10
How much dialogue in bio?
- little dialog
How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life?
- 26-50% of book
How much is philosophy rather than life story?
- 0-25% of book
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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