Deshoulières, Antoinette de Ligier de la Garde, Mme

(1637-1694)

   poet

   Born in Paris, Antoinette de Ligier de la Garde, or Mme Deshoulières as she is known, was married in her youth to a nobleman who was a supporter of the Grand condé. She was an admirer of pierre corneille and joined in the cabal against jean racine by writing a famous epigram about his play Phèdre (1677). Having followed the ideas of pierre gassendi, she held a salon in which she had the originality to "mingle the precious and the audacious with beautiful strong minds" (sainte-beuve). There, she received the Corneille brothers and many of the other leading artistic and intellectual personages of the time. Beginning her own literary career in 1672, Mme Deshoulières wrote in various genres (tragedy, comedy, opera), but above all she was known for her poetry (Poésie, 2 volumes, collected in 1688 and 1695), in which she shows, in both idyll and elegy, a grace and style that can already be considered romantic.