The virtues of gallantry

Is gallantry an instrument of female submission? Certainly not, according to Jennifer Tamas, a specialist in 17th-century French literature and author of a recent essay on the subject.

Those who remain attached to the standards of behavior imposed by gallantry are often classed as conservatives or reactionaries. In Peut-on encore être galant? published last year by Seuil, Jennifer Tamas takes a stand against these hasty judgments.

The author sets out to challenge the idea - now widely held - that gallantry was a set of rigid behavioral norms that contributed to the subjugation of women. Using arguments based in part on 17th-century French literature, Tamas argues that, on the contrary, gallantry enabled women to become more independent.