- Am I well-versed in etiquette? Yes, yes I am. Very polite and well-mannered, indeed. When my sister became the etiquette person for her sorority, who did she ask for book recommendations on the subject? That's right....me.
- Am I extraordinarily nice? Almost to a fault.
- In conversations, do I speak just like a baroness? Well, that's always the goal.
- Did my perfume come from Paris? Naturally! (This actually is a factual statement....when I'm not wearing my perfumes from Italy or Spain. Not bragging, I just have expensive taste in perfume and I'm willing to pay for it. I'm the only person I know who wore Chanel Mademoiselle all through high school. It's a character flaw, if you really think about it...)
- Am I fastidious and precise? Yes. Another thing I can't help. It's pathological.
Drop of a hat she's as willing as
Playful as a pussy cat
Then momentarily out of action
Temporarily out of gas
To absolutely drive you wild, wild
She's all out to get you
She's a Killer Queen
Gunpowder, gelatin
Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind
Anytime
Enough about me, on to the real subject of this post, which is - as if you couldn't guess - courtesans. For some reason, I've always had a fascination with courtesans and, as such, I've read a lot about them. Historically, as civilization became more developed, women's role in society became more and more restricted. However, there have been certain select women throughout history who, through their own cunning, have been able to escape the confines of this predetermined life by writing their own rules. Yes, some will point out that they got to where they were through what can loosely be called prostitution. While that may be true, I'd also point out that they have somehow become immortal, when millions of other women have perished in the dust of oblivion. Thus proving one of my favorite Internet quotes: Well-behaved women rarely (if ever) make history. Today, I'm going to discuss three of my favorite historical courtesans and the lessons their lives teach us.
Veronica Franco
Veronica Franco was an Italian courtesan who parlayed her influence in society into becoming a Renaissance poet. Franco was rare in that she is one of the few courtesans who were born into the life a courtesan. Her mother was also a famed courtesan and she taught Veronica the arts and skills required to be successful. Successful, during the Renaissance, still meant married to a wealthy man. Although she did get married young, the marriage did not work out and she had to return to life as a courtesan to support herself and her children. Her success in her profession was largely attributed to her well-educated background and enthusiasm for intellectual discussions. As a notable courtesan in Venice, she published two volumes of poetry and was a patron of other writers of the era. With her wealth, she established a charity for other courtesans and their children. Eventually, she got caught up in the Inquisition (as prostitutes - especially courtesans - were a common target for acquisitions of witchcraft), but she was luckily acquitted of the charges. Lesson #1: What we do to make a living does not define who we are.
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| Portrait of Veronica Franco |
Josephine "Josie" Marcus
Josie Marcus is most famously remembered as Wyatt Earp's common-law wife. However, before she met him in Arizona, she had a whole adventure of a young life. She was the daughter of a Jewish baker but eventually ran away from home in her mid-teens. She worked hard to keep this part of her life private, so the best accounts out there show that she may have joined a theatrical company and traveled throughout the western United States. Eventually, she ended up in Prescott, where she more than likely worked as a prostitute for some time (in between performances, maybe?). At some point, she met the sheriff of Cochise County, who convinced her to move to Tombstone by promising the still quite young Josie marriage. He went back on that promise (of course) but she stayed in Tombstone anyway. As the story goes, she met Wyatt Earp and they fell in love. Never mind that he was living with another woman at the time. However tumultuous their relationship was, though, Marcus and Earp stayed together for 47 years, having adventures until he died. Lesson #2: Sometimes, the adventure is worth the risk.
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| Possible Image of Josephine Marcus |
Kiki de Montparnasse
Alice Prin - or Kiki de Montparnasses as she became known - was a celebrated artist's model in 1920s Paris. She sat for many of the great painters of the day but she is most notably linked to Man Ray, who was her lover for most of the 20s and painted hundreds of portraits of her. Kiki was the epitome of the liberated woman for the Jazz Age. She was audacious, intelligent, fun-loving, and talented in her own right. She painted dozens of pictures herself and starred in several films. Kiki was also affectionately remembered as a music hall singer - a common occupation for courtesans of this time period - and eventually, she was also able to purchase a cabaret of her own. We know much of Kiki's life due to her own self-published memoirs, which - unlike Josephine Marcus - she tried to keep as honest and true-to-life as she could. Unfortunately, Kiki de Montparnasse died relatively young - at age 51 - but she was still well-loved at the time and her funeral was attended by many friends and fans. She also inspired one of my favorite lingerie boutiques, Kiki de Montparnasse - favorite in that - one day, when I can afford it - I am going to buy stuff from there because I love the aesthetic. Lesson #3: Being a muse for others is absolutely a viable career choice, but it's much more fulfilling to be your own muse.
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| Kiki de Montparnasse |
And there you have it. The abbreviated life stories of three women who you may not have known much about but who indelibly shaped their own little corner of the Universe. One more note - while listening to this song on Spotify, I learned that 5SOS did a cover of "Killer Queen." It's not bad but I prefer the original, which is true for most covers.
"Killer Queen" Video
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