Monsieur D'Eon Is a Woman

Download or read book Monsieur D'Eon Is a Woman written by Gary Kates and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2001-09-21 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A fascinating book. Monsieur d'Eon Is a Woman is instructive and a delight to read all at the same time."—Quentin Crisp Born in 1728, French aristocrat Charles d'Eon de Beaumont had served his country as a diplomat, soldier, and spy for fifteen years when rumors that he was a woman began to circulate in the courts of Europe. D'Eon denied nothing and was finally compelled by Louis XVI to give up male attire and live as a woman, something d'Eon did without complaint for the next three decades. Although celebrated as one of the century's most remarkable women, d'Eon was revealed, after his death in 1810, to have been unambiguously male. Gary Kates's acclaimed biography of d'Eon recreates eighteenth-century European society in brilliant detail and offers a compelling portrait of an individual who challenged its conventions about gender and identity.