Monsieur Vénus

Monsieur Vénus (French pronunciation: ​[məsjø venys]) is a novel written by the French symbolist and decadent writer Rachilde (née Marguerite Eymery). Initially published in 1884, it was her second novel and is considered her break-through work. Because of its highly erotic content, it was the subject of legal controversy and general scandal, bringing Rachilde into the public eye.

The novel is the story of a French noblewoman Raoule de Vénérande and her pursuit of sexual pleasure in the course of creating a new and more satisfying identity for herself. In order to escape the ennui and malaise of her tradition-bound upper class existence, she must subvert and transcend social class, gender roles, and sexual morality.

Rachilde was often flexible with biographical information. Her explanations of writing of Monsieur Vénus are no exception. According to Maurice Barrès, she wrote the book when she was still a virgin, not yet twenty years-old. (That would put it before 1880.) Rachilde variously reported writing it while in hysterical paralysis after Catulle Mendès rejected her amorous desires; writing it as catharsis for memories of her mother's abuse of her father; and writing it just plain to create a scandal and make a name for herself.

Whatever the circumstances in which it was written, the book was first released in 1884 by Belgian publisher Auguste Brancart with the dedication, "We dedicate this book to physical beauty," and a warning that essentially implied that any woman on the street might secretly be just like the depraved heroine of Monsieur Vénus. It was only ever published as a monograph; there was serialization prior to release as was common at the time, for at least excerpts of the final product.

The first edition was attributed to Rachilde and a co-author credited as F. T., who was supposedly a young man named Francis Talman who appears to have written nothing else before or since. It has been suggested that Talman was created to take the blame for the obscenity of the novel, much as Rachilde had once tried to convince her parents that earlier obscenities were the fault of a Swedish ghost, "Rachilde."

There were three printings of this first edition. The second and third printing were of a revised first edition that changed some front work and removed some content from the novel itself. Not much was taken out in terms of word count, but the effect of the changes did soften some of the obscenity and may have been an unsuccessful attempt to forestall looming legal problems.

The first French edition was published 1889. Editor Felix Brossier opened the book with an assertion first that Rachilde was the sole author of Monsieur Vénus, explaining that some material from an unnamed collaborator had been removed. (In addition to maintaining the earlier revisions, some more material was removed, described by Rachilde as Talman's contributions.) Brossier went on to say that this edited version of the novel was literature and had nothing in common with the sort of erotic literature that was "published and sold clandestinely."Maurice Barrès also lent his credible voice to publication with a length preface in which he praised the author and prepared the readers for what they were about to experience. The effect was, perhaps, to help legitimize the book for a French public that was both curious and apprehensive of this banned Belgian novel.