Loading...
Writing doctors, body work and body texts in the French Revolution
Broomhall, Susan
Broomhall, Susan
Author
Abstract
This paper explores the construction of the identities of Philippe Curtius and his protégé Marie Grosholtz, known as Madame Tussaud, as providers of medical and health services, body workers, and entrepreneurs in key works that charted their experiences during the volatile period of the French Revolution. As purveyors of entertainment that derived its attraction from perceived close rendering of the likenesses of noteworthy individuals, modellers in wax required attentive discernment of bodies, or at least the capacity for imaginative descriptive skills, establishing a professional language for body work. Moreover, Tussaud's account explicitly foregrounds complex gender dynamics as a young woman interacting with the bodies of male and female clients. This essay explores how important eighteenth-century gendered conceptualizations of body work are revealed in the body texts produced in this period.
Keywords
anatomy, body, Curtius, exhibition, face, gender, Madame Tussaud, moral judgement, physician, publication, skin, waxworks
Date
2023
Type
Journal article
Journal
Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies
Book
Volume
46
Issue
1
Page Range
93-112
Article Number
ACU Department
Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry
Faculty of Theology and Philosophy
Faculty of Theology and Philosophy
Collections
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
License
CC BY 4.0
File Access
Open