Critical edition of "L'Honneste Femme" (The Accomplish'd Woman") of Jacques du Bosc

Écrivain de la première moitié du XVIIe siècle, Le Père Jacques Du Bosc est principalement connu par sa position favorable aux dames et pour sa polémique contre les jansénistes. Sous la protection de Richelieu, Du Bosc rédige, comme Faret et Grenaille, des œuvres concernant l’honnêteté afin d’établir des relations nouvelles entre les individus, à la Cour comme à la Ville. La question de l’honnêteté préoccupe beaucoup l’esprit du XVIIe siècle. Au cours du temps, la société cherche à connaître le « juste milieu » afin de s’approcher de cette qualité mondaine. Dans ce cadre, Du Bosc fut parmi les premiers à proposer un manuel destiné à enseigner aux deux sexes les moyens de parvenir au monde de l’honnêteté.Ce projet se propose d’étudier le contexte historique de l’écriture de Du Bosc, ses positions vis-à-vis de l’honnêteté, et surtout ce que signifie pour lui une honnête femme. Quelles sont les qualités appréciées et quels sont les critères nécessaires pour entrer dans le commerce du monde ? Cette étude vise également à découvrir la culture dont le cordelier est imprégné. Le travail d’annotation nous permet de connaître les sources où il puise pour illustrer son ouvrage.Ce projet vise également à découvrir la vie de Du Bosc, et l’influence de son statut religieux sur l’ensemble de ses ouvrages, et notamment sur L’Honneste femme. Pour cet homme, nourri de l’enseignement de saint François de Sales, quels sont les principes pour « accommoder » la vie dévote à la société mondaine ? Y a-t-il un rapport avec sa position anti-janséniste ?Enfin, l’édition critique rendra compte de l’évolution du texte maintes fois réédité au cours du XVIIe siècle : seront envisagées les différentes étapes de la rédaction et la question des privilèges, puis les textes des premières publications seront confrontés à l’édition corrigée de 1658.At the dawn of the French Renaissance, under Italian influence, Francis I of France creates a brilliant court life by transforming the Louvre palace and relying on the fascination of artistic works to give his courtiers an impressive image of his power. In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century, France continues to refine the culture of her court : progressively, elegant and refined courtiers replace those warriors in old time, valorous for sure, but rough and coarse. The author presented here, Jacques Du Bosc, is a writer of the first half of the seventeenth century. His work, L’Honneste Femme aims to teach women how to behave in a society that attaches so much importance to the art of pleasing, and show them that such a behavior is not inconsistent with Christian life. A religious person of the Cordeliers Franciscan, he is known for his innovative visions for female education, and for his polemical writings against Jansenism. On female education, different from the humanist pedagogue Juan-Luis Vives, who applied concrete precepts to guide women’s behaviors in their daily life, Du Bosc would rather help them reflect and distinguish between good and evil by highlighting his stories of virtuous speech, usually drawn from mythology and antiquity. He is convinced that women, like men, can also consciously lead a virtuous life. Although this work is dedicated to women, the advice it contains could often concern both male and female Christians. Reprinted more than twenty times between 1632 and 1665, L’Honneste Femme can be considered as a bestseller of the salon literature in the seventeenth century. Besides, entering a Franciscan monastery at an early age, Du Bosc left his clerical position during the years of 1630-1640 for some unknown reasons. We could suggest that his life in the world has influenced him deeply when it comes to the practice of Christian life in society. Despite his clerical position, Du Bosc believes that “there is nothing more important than knowing the Art of Pleasing” to succeed in the world. This belief is conspicuous in the first two parts of his L’Honneste Femme, often akin to salon literature. Although Du Bosc relies on Christian teaching for his female education in the third part, his readers areelites in the society who are passionate about the salon culture. Written with Court and salon as a background, L’Honneste Femme proposed to teach Christians - and first Christian women - how to behave in a society where authority was pervasive, and the priority was to take others’ opinion into consideration. Such education may seem far from the concerns of the twenty-first century readers. Yet L’Honneste Femme can still serve as a reflective document guiding us to find the way which allows us to be successful in the society while remaining virtuous and to know the art of pleasing while staying sincere