On Topic

Thesis Q&A with Christine Donata de Maupeou, ALM ’05

by Melissa Hale Woodman

Christine Donata de Maupeou

Christine Donata de Maupeou, who received her Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) in humanities this past June, won the Dean’s prize for her thesis, “Henry James and the French Aristocracy under the Napoleonic Code: Madame de Vionnet and a Contextual Reading of The Ambassadors,” as well as an award for academic excellence (see Degree Prize Recipients). In her thesis, de Maupeou investigates the James-era French society, which was governed by a strict and subtle system of rules that both determined and marked the conduct of men and women within their social class.

Her thesis director, Lawrence Buell, Powell M. Cabot Professor of American Literature, says, “This thesis pursues a significant original angle of investigation that demands adjustments in the way the plot and characterization of The Ambassadors are interpreted.

A former fashion model, screenwriter, and published novelist, de Maupeou holds a BA in French from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She lives in France with her husband and two children. In the following interview, she discusses her thesis work.

How did you decide on your topic?

I read Henry James’s The Ambassadors for Professor Shaun O’Connell’s class, Modern American Literature. I increasingly felt the need to reveal the complexity of the main French character Madame de Vionnet’s social and legal situation, as depicted by James, particularly in light of the Napoleonic Code and the late-nineteenth-century French aristocracy.

Explain your characterization of Madame de Vionnet.

James’s character, Marie de Vionnet, is extremely modern, especially for her time, and embraces traits of feminism. As fashioned by James, she is a fighter who does not dawdle in the gender role accorded to her in the France of her time. Instead, she takes, or at least tries to take, the direction of her life into her own hands. . . . Marie de Vionnet believes that as a woman, pleasure is her due as much as a man’s. Hers is hardly popular opinion, judging from the Napoleonic Code.

Your choice of thesis seems to have been guided by a depth of knowledge you already possessed. Where did you learn about the Napoleonic Code and the cultural backdrop of the French aristocracy in the nineteenth century?

Living in France, I couldn’t help but know that the Napoleonic Code left a strong residue in current French law. It is still patriarchal today and, in many points, prejudiced against women. For example, if there is no legal document that specifies that the husband makes a donation to his spouse in the case of his death, a great part of their mutual property and assets will go directly to the children. Until the 1970s, a woman was never allowed to keep her husband’s name in the case of divorce, and few are allowed to even now. She must go back to her maiden name.

So it was obvious to me that Madame de Vionnet’s legal rights would have been far more pitiable over 100 years ago in James’s France, before a number of reforms took place.

How did you approach your research?

I began the research process at Widener Library to perceive how critics had evaluated Madame de Vionnet and the historical setting of the novel. Encouraged by [the fact that] no one [had] touched upon what I was wishing to claim, I continued my research in France. I was very surprised as I continued the same research in French libraries to discover that French critics had not gone into any historical depth whatsoever, as if this time in France were lost forever and the novel was only seen on a contemporary basis.

Were there any particular challenges in researching this topic?

The Napoleonic Code was in three volumes, printed as tiny as a traveling sewing kit, with paper thinner than a pocket Bible. It took so long to go through them all, squinting at the tiny words and sometimes tedious legislation before getting to more interesting parts; then I had to find all the legislation that had been passed since then and go through it, to make sure nothing had changed in those particular years when the novel took place and James had lived in France. Luckily, though sadly in many instances, the biggest changes in the law only occurred in the 1970s.

What are you working on currently?

I’m currently on the first draft of my third novel that I’m hoping to have finished by the spring. Tentatively titled A Can of Sunshine, it takes place in Florida in the 1970s during the turmoil of women’s lib, the Cuban refugee crisis, and the Watergate scandal. After I’ve written several more novels, I’m hoping to work toward a doctorate in English and American literature and language.

How did you find returning to the world of academia after working for so long as a novelist and screenwriter?

After having my first two novels published, it was wonderful returning to the world of academia. I had spent years writing in what felt like solitary confinement, so finding myself among groups of dedicated individuals sharing the same passion for literature and the same value for learning as I have was inspiring. The long period of writing and rewriting had made me feel intellectually and imaginatively spent, as if I’d put the greater part of my undergraduate learning into those novels. The master’s degree level of learning replenished me.

Tell me about some of your professors and their particular impact on you.

In his course The Rise of the English Novel, Dean Michael Shinagel never relented in driving his students to scrutinize the different aspects of a given character, to sift words from deeds, ambitions from self-judgment, morality with conscience. I find his sharp analysis remains with me today not only as I read novels, but also as I observe people in life.

Robert Scanlan, in his Summer School class Contemporary American Drama, provided a fascinating mixture of artistic ambitions, scholastic rigor, and professional realities. And John Hamilton’s Poetic Fury, Madness, Inspiration, and Genius was a whirlwind of creativity, social daring, and intellectual freedom I will endeavor, against all everyday forces, not to let myself forget or relinquish!