ABSTRACT
The social and sexual constrictions placed on women in the nineteenth century suggest that the ending of Monsieur Venus can be read not as a ghastly perversion, but as Rachilde's view of the likely outcome of an already unusual marital relationship. The final scene suggests that widowhood offers Raoule a way to continue her fantasy of complete control over Jacques. In Monsieur Venus, the woman's desire has become so destructive, so all-consuming, that it propels the heroine to murder her husband in order to regain lost control. Raoule's position of control, which is to some extent undermined once she marries Jacques, can only be reinstated in widowhood. The notion of placing Jacques's body on display in order to satisfy Raoule's need for dominance is reminiscent of the Anatomical Venuses used among medical physicians in the eighteenth century. The chapter shows how Raoule's failure to control Jacques in life leads to her intentional widowing.
