Essay On Madame De Pompadour

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Madame de Pompadour may have only been chief mistress of the king of France, but she was most definitely a queen. Although she was common born, she could play the clavichord, was well learned in many arts, had a thirst for literature that lasted all her life, and seduced the king. She was admired by many, and thought to be beautiful and charming as well as extremely intelligent. Among her friends were intellectuals such as Voltaire, and the queen of France, despite her being a bourgeois mistress, and a rather different one at that. The great Madame Pompadour was born Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, on December 29, 1721. She was bourgeois, a commoner, and all in all, had a rather happy childhood. Her parents took her to see a fortune teller who told her that she would 'capture the heart of a king'. Her family teased her about her fate for the rest of her life, calling her 'Reinette' which means little queen. As a child she was taught to sing, memorize plays, paint, play the clavichord, and do most ladylike arts. At nineteen she married Charles-Guillaume Le Normant d'Etoiles. It was an arranged marriage, and did not last for very long, despite the fact that he adored her. She had two children with d'Etoiles, a boy who died in childbirth, and a daughter nicknamed 'fan fan'. She founded her own salon at her husband's estate, and was joined by many renowned intellectuals, such as Voltaire. She rose in society at an alarming rate, due to those she associated with, and her friends. After all, that is a fantastic strategy, to befriend the highest class and earn their acquaintances respect. Louis XV, the current king of France at the time, came to know of her in this way. Many knew her name, and rumors were widespread, even at th... ... middle of paper ... ...en in Pompadours family, he created what he believed to be appropriate nicknames for his children. Unfortunately, he did not quite understand how these shortened names worked. His choices were “Locque” and “Coche” which mean “rag” and “coach” in French. This is yet another characteristic that makes them different than most seventeen hundreds couples, being that Louis often tried to incorporate aspects from her bourgeois background into his everyday life. These actions caused many rumors to be spread about the two of them. In fact, many aristocrats and other members of the royal family did not find her common blood and strange customs to be in any way unique or charming. She was gossiped endlessly about. It didn't help that she was extremely interested in democratic philosophy and enlightenment, two concepts that were used by revolutionaries later on in history.

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