Marie-Catherine Desjardins, who would later call herself Mme de Villedieu (1640-1683), was one of the best-selling and most versatile novelists (and playwrights) of the latter part of the seventeenth century. One of the leading pioneers of both the historical novel and the psychological novel, she is finally receiving credit for making the French novel and novella into serious works of art, and not just entertainment. She arguably went further than her female counterparts in presenting a fictional world in which strong women assert their rights and play a significant role in both the amorous and political spheres. Part of the first generation to see a substantial number of professional women writers, she stands out as the most commercially successful and the most critically acclaimed.…
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Citation: Gethner, Perry. "Marie-Catherine de Villedieu". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 January 2016 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13389, accessed 18 April 2024.]
