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Demimonde
is a French 19th-century term referring to women on the fringes of respectable society, and specifically to courtesans supported by wealthy lovers. The term is French for "half-world", and derives from an 1855 play called , by Alexandre Dumas fils, Alexandre Dumas , dealing with the way that prostitution at that time threatened the institution of marriage. The was the world occupied by elite men and the women who entertained them and whom they kept. History Historically, the height of the was encapsulated by the period known in France as (1871–1914), from the end of the Franco-Prussian War to the beginning of World War I. The twentieth century brought the rise of the New Woman, changing economies and social structures, as well as changing fashions and social mores, particularly in the aftermath of World War I. Prostitution and the keeping of mistresses did not disappear, but the label became obsolete as the 'half-world' changed. Demimondaine became a synonym for a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Courtesan
A courtesan is a prostitute with a courtly, wealthy, or upper-class clientele. Historically, the term referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other powerful person. History In European feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together. Prior to the Renaissance, courtesans served to convey information to visiting dignitaries, when servants could not be trusted. In Renaissance Europe, courtiers played an extremely important role in upper-class society. As it was customary during this time for royal couples to lead separate lives—commonly marrying simply to preserve bloodlines and to secure political alliances—men and women would often seek gratification and companionship from people living at court. In fact, the verb 'to court' originally meant "to be or reside at court", and later came to mean "to behave as a courtier" and then ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Lady Of The Camellias
''The Lady of the Camellias'' (), sometimes called ''Camille'' in English, is a novel by Alexandre Dumas fils, Alexandre Dumas ''fils''. First published in 1848 and subsequently Theatrical adaptation, adapted by Dumas for the Drama, stage, the play premiered at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris, France, on February 2, 1852. It was an instant success. Shortly thereafter, Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi set about putting the story to music in the 1853 opera , with female protagonist Marguerite Gautier renamed Violetta Valéry. In some of the English-speaking world, ''The Lady of the Camellias'' became known as ''Camille'', and sixteen versions have been performed at Broadway theatres alone. The title character is Marguerite Gautier, who is based on Marie Duplessis, the real-life lover of the author. Summary and analysis Written by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' (1824–1895) when he was 23 years old, and first published in 1848, is a semi-autobiographical novel based on the author ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gigi (novella)
''Gigi'' () is a 1944 in literature, 1944 novella by French writer Colette. The plot focuses on a young Parisian girl being groomed for a career as a courtesan and her relationship with the wealthy cultured man named Gaston who falls in love with her and eventually marries her. The novel was translated into English by Roger Senhouse and published (with "The Cat" translated by Antonia White) in 1953. The life story of Yola Letellier, the wife of Henri Letellier (publisher of ''Le Journal (Paris), Le Journal'' and mayor of Deauville (1925–1928)), was the inspiration for the novel. Adaptations The novella was the basis for Gigi (1949 film), a 1949 French film starring Danièle Delorme and Gaby Morlay. In 1951, it was Gigi (play), adapted for the stage by Anita Loos. Colette had personally picked the yet unknown Audrey Hepburn on first sight to play the title role. Her Aunt Alicia was played by stage legend Cathleen Nesbitt, who was to become Hepburn's acting mentor from that t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colette
Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known as Colette or Colette Willy, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a Mime artist, mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaking world for her 1944 novella ''Gigi (novella), Gigi'', which was the basis for the Gigi (1958 film), 1958 film and the Gigi (musical), 1973 stage production of the same name. Her short story collection ''The Tendrils of the Vine'' is also famous in France. Early life Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette was born on 28 January 1873 in the village of Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye in the department of Yonne, Burgundy. Her father, Captain Jules-Joseph Colette (1829–1905) was a war hero. He was a Zouave of the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr, Saint-Cyr military school, who had lost a leg at :fr:Bataille de Melegnano, Melegnano in the Second Italian War of Independence. He was awarded a post as tax collector in the village of Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vanity Fair (novel)
''Vanity Fair'' is a novel by the English author William Makepeace Thackeray, which follows the lives of Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley amid their friends and families during and after the Napoleonic Wars. It was first published as a 19-volume monthly serial novel, serial (the last containing Parts 19 ''and'' 20) from 1847 to 1848, carrying the subtitle ''Pen and Pencil Sketches of English Society'', which reflects both its satire, satirisation of early 19th-century British society and the many illustrations drawn by Thackeray to accompany the text. It was published as a single volume in 1848 with the subtitle ''A Novel without a Hero'', reflecting Thackeray's interest in Deconstruction (literature), deconstructing his era's conventions regarding Hero#Modern fiction, literary heroism.. It is sometimes considered the "principal founder" of the Victorian domestic novel. The story is frame story, framed as a puppet play, and the narrator, despite being an authorial voice, is somewha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray ( ; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was an English novelist and illustrator. He is known for his Satire, satirical works, particularly his 1847–1848 novel ''Vanity Fair (novel), Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and the 1844 novel ''The Luck of Barry Lyndon'', which was Barry Lyndon, adapted for a 1975 film by Stanley Kubrick. Thackeray was born in Calcutta, British India, and was sent to England after his father's death in 1815. He studied at various schools and briefly attended Trinity College, Cambridge, before leaving to travel Europe. Thackeray squandered much of his inheritance on gambling and unsuccessful newspapers. He turned to journalism to support his family, primarily working for ''Fraser's Magazine'', ''The Times'', and ''Punch (magazine), Punch''. His wife Isabella suffered from mental illness. Thackeray gained fame with his novel ''Vanity Fair'' and produced several other notable works. He unsuccessfully ran f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ukiyo
is the Japanese term used to describe the urban lifestyle and culture, especially the pleasure-seeking aspects, of Edo period Japan (1600–1867). Ukiyo culture culture developed in Yoshiwara, the licensed red-light district of Edo (modern-day Tokyo), the site of many brothels frequented by Japan's growing middle class. A prominent author of the genre was Ihara Saikaku, who wrote '' The Life of an Amorous Woman''. culture also arose in other cities, such as Osaka and Kyoto. This middle class, newly rich merchants known as chōnin, were unable to move up the social ladder due to the segregated class system imposed by the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period. Chōnin were the lowest class of four, below warriors, farmers and artisans. Due to being economically powerful but socially confined, their assets were turned to conspicuous consumption, arts and culture. The term in medieval Japan was associated with Buddhism and meant "this transient, unreliable world". ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sally Bowles
Sally Bowles () is a fictional character created by English-American novelist Christopher Isherwood and based upon 19-year-old cabaret singer Jean Ross. The character debuted in Isherwood's 1937 novella ''Sally Bowles'' published by Hogarth Press, and commentators have described the novella as "one of Isherwood's most accomplished pieces of writing." The work was republished in the 1939 novel '' Goodbye to Berlin'' and in the 1945 anthology '' The Berlin Stories''. In the 1937 novella, Sally is a British flapper who moonlights as a cabaret singer in Weimar-era Berlin during the twilight of the Jazz Age. She is depicted by Isherwood as a "self-indulgent upper-middle-class British tourist who could escape Berlin whenever she chose." By day, she is an aspiring film actress hoping to work for the UFA GmbH, the German film production company. By night, she is a mediocre chanteuse at an underground club called ''The Lady Windermere'' located near the Tauentzienstraße. She aspires ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goodbye To Berlin
''Goodbye to Berlin'' is a 1939 novel by Anglo-American writer Christopher Isherwood set during the waning days of the Weimar Republic. The novel recounts Isherwood's 1929–1932 sojourn as a pleasure-seeking British expatriate on the eve of Adolf Hitler's ascension as Chancellor of Germany and consists of a "series of sketches of disintegrating Berlin, its slums and nightclubs and comfortable villas, its odd maladapted types and its complacent burghers." The plot was based on factual events in Isherwood's life, and the novel's characters were based upon actual persons. The insouciant flapper Sally Bowles was based on teenage cabaret singer Jean Ross who became Isherwood's friend during his sojourn. During Isherwood's time abroad in Germany, the young author witnessed extreme "poverty, unemployment, political demonstrations and street fighting between the forces of the extreme left and the extreme right." Following the Enabling Act which cemented Hitler's power in March 1933, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating from conflicts in the Psyche (psychology), psyche, through dialogue between patient and psychoanalyst, and the distinctive theory of mind and human agency derived from it. Freud was born to Galician Jews, Galician Jewish parents in the Moravian town of Příbor, Freiberg, in the Austrian Empire. He qualified as a doctor of medicine in 1881 at the University of Vienna. Upon completing his habilitation in 1885, he was appointed a docent in neuropathology and became an affiliated professor in 1902. Freud lived and worked in Vienna having set up his clinical practice there in 1886. Following the Anschluss, German annexation of Austria in March 1938, Freud left Austria to escape Nazi persecution. He died in exile in the United Kingdom in 1939. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (film)
''The Seven-Per-Cent Solution'' is a 1976 mystery film directed by Herbert Ross and written by Nicholas Meyer. It is based on Meyer's 1974 novel of the same name and stars Nicol Williamson, Robert Duvall, Alan Arkin, and Laurence Olivier. Plot Dr John H. Watson becomes convinced that his friend Sherlock Holmes, the famous private detective, is delusional—particularly in his belief that the renowned mathematician Professor James Moriarty is a criminal mastermind—as a result of his addiction to cocaine. Moriarty visits Watson to complain about being harassed by Holmes. Watson enlists the aid of Sherlock's brother, Mycroft, to trick Holmes into traveling to Vienna, where he will be treated by Sigmund Freud. During the course of his treatment, Holmes investigates a kidnapping case with international implications and Freud uncovers a dark personal secret suppressed in Holmes's subconscious. Cast * Nicol Williamson as Sherlock Holmes * Robert Duvall as Dr. Watson * Alan Ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise"."Noel Coward at 70" ''Time'', 26 December 1969, p. 46 Coward attended a dance academy in London as a child, making his professional stage début at the age of eleven. As a teenager he was introduced into the high society in which most of his plays would be set. Coward achieved enduring success as a playwright, publishing more than 50 plays from his teens onwards. Many of his works, such as ''Hay Fever (play), Hay Fever'', ''Private Lives'', ''Design for Living'', ''Pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
