Elys, The Lacemaker

Soumis par NT2 le mer, 10/24/2007 - 16:12

Auteur·e·s:

Elys, The Lacemaker est un hypertexte de M. D. Coverley inspiré du roman de Mme de LaFayette, La Princesse de Clèves. Il s'agit de l'histoire d'une des soubrettes de Mme de Clèves, Elys, fille illégitime du Vicomte de Chartres. Le récit fait aussi référence au conte Le petit chaperon rouge.

Elys, The Lacemaker fait partie du projet d'écriture collaborative The Book of Hours of Madame de Lafayette initié par Christy Sheffield Sanford.

L'oeuvre, anciennement hébergée au http://gnv.fdt.net/~christys/Coverley/elys_1.html, demeure partiellement accessible sur Internet Archive.

Infos

Site d'hébergement:

Florida Digital Turnpike

URL du site d'hébergement:

http://www.fdt.net

Date de dernière consultation de l'oeuvre:

30 Août 2006

Coordonnées de l'artiste:

luesebr1@ix.netcom.com

Groupe de recherche:
Chaire de recherche du Canada en littérature contemporaine

Taxonomies

Citation(s)

My name is called Elys. I was born to the household of Chartres. My father was the young Viscount of Chartres and my mother, Elle, was his fantine. When it was discovered that my mother was with child, her betrothed, a groom in the service of Savoy, refused her. She also incurred the displeasure of the Madame de Chartres. My mother was only too glad to leave this world, bathed in the blood of childbirth. So, noble blood brought me no good fortune; I came into the world an orphan. Julie, the nurse in the household, who cared also for the Mademoiselle, took me to suckle. When I was but four years old, the Viscount died, and the household removed to the country. I was left behind in Paris and attached in service to the Palace lacemakers. There, I grew and learned the skill of the pins and needles.

Discours (notes)

The story of Elys, the Lacemaker to the Princess of Cleves is a double-true fiction. First, a lacemaker is not mentioned in the text of Madame de Lafayette's Princess of Cleves. However, the Princess surely had both seamstresses and personal fitters for her couture. It was not uncommon for a proper trousseau to be many years in preparation. Elegant ladies were sewn into their gowns before setting off to the ball. Also, no record attests that the Viscount of Chartres had a natural child--or certainly not one named Elys. But it was customary to donate unwanted souls to the service of the many needs of the Court. As a fictional lacemaker, Elys would certainly have heard the folktale, "Little Red Riding Hood." Early, oral versions of the tale include the wolf asking Riding Hood if she planned to take the "path of pins" or the "path of needles." The Grandmother, too, is blind--attesting to the fate of the real lacemakers who worked from age four until their sight failed in adolescence. I have adapted the Cinderella story for Elys' mother, Elle. In this version, cinder-Elle is not allowed to go to the ball, and the Prince does not, therefore, bring a glass slipper.

Biographie(s)

Coverley, M. D.

M. D. Coverley est le pseudonyme de Marjorie Coverley Luesebrink. Elle détient un Master of Fine Arts (MFA) de l'Université de Californie à Irvine et enseigne actuellement la littérature et l'écriture au English Department du Irvine Valley College.

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Elys, The Lacemaker

Coverley, M. D.