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The Wit of Women in the French Court

Julia Parker
Women in Modern Europe
Dr. Stephen Auerbach
September 13, 2016
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In the film Ridicule, we receive a glimpse into the prominence of wit in French noble

culture, especially in the French Court under King Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette. In this time,

ones station could rise if one was witty enough. The King enjoyed cleverness and it became a

way to impress noble peers, and also a method of besting them so that one could supersede the

other. These mental tricks created high levels of tension throughout the nobles at court, each one

constantly standing at attention so that they may not be outwitted while also readying their own

arsenal to take jabs when they saw the opportunity. This also led to deception, and while there

were some alliances formed amongst one another, they were not exactly the definition of a

faithful friendship. Although it seems that, considering the time period, this would be a

gentleman’s game and the noblewomen would be of little relevance, Ridicule does not depict a

court that emulates those standards. Two of the main characters of this film were intelligent and

clever women, one who contested men through a status she traditionally attained, and one who

contested the traditions. The former, Madame de Blayac was a seductively witty widow who

commandeered noblemen at court, while the latter, Mathilde, remained away from court but

commandeered men no less.

At the beginning of the film we are introduced to Count de Blayac, a sickly and elderly

noble who is greeted by a man who had obviously befell to the cruel ends of the Count’s wit. The

visitor shows his great appreciation for a nickname he had been dubbed with by urinating on the

dying Count. Shortly after our introduction to the Count, we meet the newly widowed Countess.

The two are sharply contrasted as the first images of the countess include her standing naked

while servants blow powder over her entire body. This contrast provides an idea of the age

difference, and this, coupled with her less than emotional reaction to his passing elude to a

marriage forged only out of politics. As we come to find, the Countess has high ambitions and
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we can only presume that this marriage was a mere method of attaining her goals. While we can

expect that her wedded station was equally as high in the days of her husband’s good health, she

clearly uses her new single status as a way to take herself even further. She keeps herself close to

the men who are the wittiest, beginning with the Abbot. However, we see an example of the

weak alliances at court when she shifts over to an up and coming Ponceludon who is quickly

becoming a clever favor at court. Perhaps her relations are not merely her own pleasures but a

recognition of her need of a man now that she can no longer rely on a husband’s title or escort.

The Countess not only uses wit for success of her own, but as a means to propel her men further.

She uses the connections she herself has made with royalty and her clever demeanor to ensure

that her company is able to rise alongside her. This could also be her means of ensuring that she

is surrounded by capable and successful fellows, as she is quick to abandon the ones who fall, as

she did with the Abbot. However, it is not her wit alone that assists her, she utilizes her prowess

among other traits. As she said to Ponceludon “my bedroom leads directly to the king”1. This

part in the film, along with Ponceludon’s immediate increase in success after sleeping with the

Countess truly emphasizes the power she held with her charms. This demeanor is quite a 180

from the aforementioned Mathilde, whose intellectual energy is harnessed in the direction of

scientific research rather than social climbing.

Mathilde is a vivaciously smart young woman, yet does not have the means to fund her

scientific ventures. It is for this reason that she finds herself in a rather stereotypical situation in

that she is engaged to a much richer and far older widower-to-be. The man has agreed to her

maintaining an essence of her freedoms and also providing her with the tools and money she

1
Barclift, Dawn. Ridicule. DVD. Directed by Patrice Leconte. Epithète films,
1996.
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needs. The one condition of their marital contract is that Mathilde must stay out of court, away

from all of the nobles. After watching this film it could be considered that he wanted his bride to

remain her purer self and not be tainted with the toxic behavior of French nobility. Mathilde has

zero objections to this demand as, unlike the Countess, she has no interest in the activities at

court. Despite the differing level of conniving behavior Mathilde possesses, or lack thereof, there

are some similarities which could be drawn between her and the Countess. For example, it is

rather clear that neither of them had interest in marrying for love, or at least Mathilde did not at

the beginning of the film. They both appear to be rather cold, calculating and interested in

money, although they seem to have had different intentions of where that money might take

them. It could be proposed that the Countess may have once been more similar to Mathilde, and

her existence at court corrupted her and perhaps this coincides with Mathilde’s fiancé wanting to

keep her away from court.

Between the two women, it would seem that the countess is the villain with her deceiving

actions and manipulation, yet in terms of womanhood it could be Mathilde who does not

compare as well. To assess the two, one must consider the time period, when women were

marrying for titles and spending their lives behaving in the ways of appropriateness at court. To

this qualification, the Countess excels in “good” womanhood. Mathilde is independent; she

conducts science experiments herself and goes about her own business. Mathilde also does not

bother with the ways of court, high fashion, or noble behavior and although she begins the film

with an engagement and an agreement to be civil, her story does not end as such. Instead, she

shows adulterous behavior during her engagement and eventually chooses to marry for love, not

finance. These circumstances and decisions lead to Mathilde being cast in “bad” womanhood,

and portrayed less lady-like. There is even some imagery tied to this perception, with Mathilde’s
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lack of makeup and less extravagant gowns. Yet, when evaluating the morality of these women,

the film makes it rather clear that moral ideals do not rank highly with the Countess. She is

cunning and controlling, and uses means that are crude at times as well as vindictive. The movie

establishes her antagonist role mainly in two scenes: firstly when the Abbot falls out of favor

from King Louis XIV and she swiftly abandons him for another, secondly at the end of the

movie when her cruel tricks on Ponceludon leave her standing alone at the masquerade,

weathered and crying. While in terms of moral sexuality Mathilde was not the picture of purity,

she was not quite as wrapped up in the superficiality of French Court, nor did she carry herself in

a way intended to hurt others. The interests of Mathilde were that of true intellect and love, and

for this along with her choice to be with Ponceludon despite his inability to provide as much as

her first fiancé, the movie solidifies her with a happy final scene, seeming to say that following

true love is more fulfilling.