La prostitution au dix-huitième siècle
Prostitution in the Eighteenth Century

Summary/Abstract: La femme entretenue has got an important place in the French novel and, especially, in the libertine novel of the eighteenth century. Les femmes entretenues were: privileged girls possessing furnished houses and servants; girls having a rich apartment, their own servants and horses; girls without servants; girls kept in rooms paid by their lovers; girls living together with their lovers; governesses. There is an important difference between the courtesan and the mere prostitute. Maintained by a powerful protector or located in a high-ranking brothel, the courtesan is also a well-educated woman who masters dance and other specific activities to perfect body and mind, such as languages and poetry.

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