Marie Jeanne Riccoboni's Original "Abeille": Gender in Early Modern Journalism Page: 925
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modeled after the British Spectator, founded by Addison and Steele, a jour-
nalistic periodical in which the authors wished to "enliven morality with
wit and to temper wit with morality" (Addison). In her version, Riccoboni
encourages reflection on various topics such as love and moralizes specifi-
cally on the unequal treatment of women. L'Abeille arguably constitutes the
author's most overtly feminist creation and has been called "a lens through
which to read Riccoboni's more conventional novels, a preface to her cor-
pus that exposes the economic and sexual politics of literary production"
(Lanser 58) and "a primer on Riccoboni's thought" (Bostic 120). Scholars
have analyzed L'Abeille's feminism from various perspectives. Suzan van
Dijk compares the author's essays to her novels, arguing that "Riccoboni se
conduit 1a en journaliste de femmes. Mais plutbt que de s'adresser aux
femmes, elle donne la parole A des personnages f6minins, qui attaquent les
hommes. Le message des romans est pr6sent6 ici d'une maniere plus ex-
plicite, parce que plus directe" ("Madame Riccoboni" 773). More recently,
Heidi Bostic has advocated that Riccoboni be considered an Enlightenment
thinker:'
Riccoboni's works show that reason is an especially potent remedy
for the social ills that women face. L'Abeille appeared in a self-
consciously "philosophical" publication [...] and introduced the con-
cerns of women-education, marriage, everyday sexism, and so
on-as major themes. By doing so, it elevated these concerns as
worthy of philosophical investigation. (147)
The feminist philosophy Riccoboni espouses in L'Abeille calls for a
rational reaction on the part of readers to the unfair treatment women
receive. She encourages readers to observe the world around them and to
learn from experience: "Jettons les yeux autour de nous! Quel livre que
le Monde! qu'il est facile d'y lire! & combien ii nous instruit si nous
l'examinons! [...] Vivons dans ce monde, n'adoptons point ses erreurs"
(Bastide, Le Monde 24). As Bostic has shown (117-21), L'Abeille's three
embedded stories subsequently illustrate three lessons to be learned from
observing how eighteenth-century French women are treated inequitably:
the education of girls is neglected ("Suite de L'Abeille"), men value a
woman's beauty more than her mind ("Lettre de Madame de **, A Monsieur
le comte de **"), and fathers prefer sons over daughters ("Memoires du
comte de Lipari"). The rational remedies Riccoboni proposes for these
three situations are respectively that "les connoissances [...] & les vertus
[...1 sont le partage legal des deux sexes" (124), "Si les hommes 4toient
senses, les femmes seroient raisonnables" (127), and "la loi de l'humanit6
plus sainte que celle de l'usage doit rendre egalement chIres [des
creatures si semblables (i.e., sons and daughters) aux parents]" (131).
Importantly, the final point is made by a father-narrator and the second
remedy is generated in response to a man suggesting to a woman that
she spend more time in serious pursuits rather than perfecting her beauty.Marie Jeanne Riccoboni
925
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Kaplan, Marijn S. Marie Jeanne Riccoboni's Original "Abeille": Gender in Early Modern Journalism, article, April 2013; [Carbondale, Illinois]. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc228289/m1/3/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT College of Arts and Sciences.