Matchmaking and the Marriage Market in Postrevolutionary France
Book •
Andrea Mansker's book examines how commercial matchmakers shaped urban courtship and marriage in postrevolutionary France, focusing on figures like Claude Viome and Charles de Foix.
It traces how revolutionary legal changes, urbanization, and consumer media produced a commodified marriage market and new public fantasies about love and mobility.
The work analyzes classifieds, letters, plays, and courtroom debates to show how matchmakers marketed anonymity, chance, and social advancement.
Mansker explores legal responses including the 1804 Civil Code and the 1855 Court de Cassation ruling that constrained matchmaker contracts.
The book argues that the matchmaking trade relied on commodified stories of hope and fantasy that both reflected and shaped broader social transformations.
It traces how revolutionary legal changes, urbanization, and consumer media produced a commodified marriage market and new public fantasies about love and mobility.
The work analyzes classifieds, letters, plays, and courtroom debates to show how matchmakers marketed anonymity, chance, and social advancement.
Mansker explores legal responses including the 1804 Civil Code and the 1855 Court de Cassation ruling that constrained matchmaker contracts.
The book argues that the matchmaking trade relied on commodified stories of hope and fantasy that both reflected and shaped broader social transformations.
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Mariam Olugbodi
Andrea Mansker, "Matchmaking and the Marriage Market in Postrevolutionary France" (Cornell UP, 2024)
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Andrea Mansker
Andrea Mansker, "Matchmaking and the Marriage Market in Postrevolutionary France" (Cornell UP, 2024)
