ABSTRACT
In the early 1730s, the publication of novels in France nearly tripled.1 The dramatic rise in popularity of this once marginal genre provoked a backlash by critics who fiercely contested the legitimacy of the novel as well as women’s influence on this popular new genre. Conservative critics dismissed the ‘feminine’ style found in the novel as too natural, too spontaneous, too emotional; it was the antithesis of the rhetorical, artful, and rationalized style that supposedly marked men’s writing. In contrast, progressive writers, both male and female, claimed the supremacy of feminine discernment and sensitivity. For them, women were the ultimate judges of genius; and novelists sought to emulate, even adopt, a feminine sensibility, often figuring women as their narrators as well as their ideal reading public.
