Marguerite de Navarre

 Marguerite de Navarre

 

 

Marguerite de Navarre was an integral figure of the French Renaissance. As a noblewoman her devout patronage of the arts as well as her firm support of intellectual pursuits defined her as “one of the most influential members of French courtly society” and a key player in shaping sixteenth century societal values (1637). During the Reformation de Navarre’s influence and diplomacy protected many French Protestants from persecution despite accusations of “heresy” and her own Roman Catholic based beliefs (1638). Marguerite de Navarre was also an important literary figure in her own right. Her literary legacy involves an important counter-discourse on subjects of gender and sexuality and she was an influential voice in support of religious tolerance and reform.

    Considered de Navarre’s greatest literary achievement, the Heptameron is a complex narrative that uses a multi-story framework (frame narrative) to address themes of spirituality, sexuality, gender, status, political power, morality, and human fallibility. Each of the stories centers on a particular perspective and in doing so provides an understanding of both aristocratic and common life. de Navarre’s value on perspective also functions as a social commentary on societal inequities that emerge due to gender/class power discrepancies. Marguerite de Navarre’s important literary contributions, as well as her diplomatic political influence define her status as an important early feminist and, as the famous scholar Samuel Putnam asserted, “the first modern woman” (Putnam, 1936).  

 

Works Cited

 

de Navarre, Marguerite. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin Puchner, et al. Third Edition. New York:  W.W. Norton and Company, 2013. 1637-1647. Print.

Putnam, Samuel. Marguerite of Navarre, Grosset & Dunlap, New York, 1936.