ABSTRACT
J. Pierrot reminds us that Rachilde's literary career was built, to a large extent, on descriptions of monstrous and deviant sexual behaviour, primarily meant to shock her literary audience. In the specific case of Monsieur Venus, D. Kelly, among others, has referred to the text as a clear example of "monstrous" writing due to its representation of the "deformation of the natural" and, more specifically, the perverse actions of the text's heroine. Judith Butler's theory of sex and gender suggests that both of the main protagonists in Monsieur Venus would be deemed "inhuman" or unnatural. During the course of the novel, one of the most startling ways in which Rachilde manages to destroy sex conventions is through her constant switching of grammatical genders. Raoule as "teacher" breaks many linguistic rules, adding to the gender disorder which grows progressively more intense as the narrative advances.
