ABSTRACT
Adolescents occupied a particular social space, situated on the threshold that separated a protected space-the home or the convent-from the more open social space of the world. This chapter outlines recurrent topoi concerning girls' conduct in the public eye: the discouragement of the female desir de plaire, the encouragement of a display of virtue and modesty, and the maintenance of a delicate balance between the necessity to cultivate one's mind and the obligation to do it within acceptable limits. Morals and religion were not the only arguments with which to mount an attack against parure. Puisieux, Cerfvol, and Roederer tackled the issue from quite a different angle and used a pragmatic, even utilitarian, approach to convince their readers. Virtue and modesty played the role of prized adornments and were advertised as legitimate means to be found appealing. Learning was proposed as yet another tool to withstand the temptations offered by the perilous social world that girls were bound to enter.
