The late Renaissance Humanism of Marie de Gournay

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Over the course of doctoral study, I hope to consider the writings of the philosopher, translator, literary critic, and editor ofMontaigne's 'Essais,' Marie de Gournay. During her prolific career Gournay created a literary salon, published atranslation of Tacitus, a volume of poetry, and two works on female equality. Unlike earlier scholars, who have focusedexclusively upon Gournay's friendship with her intellectual 'father' Montaigne, I hope to use Gournay's later writings toconsider the evolution of her thought in the half-century after the publication of the 'Essais.' Despite the heterogeneityand impressive scope of Gournay's oeuvre, her later writings seem to present two particularly interesting themes for thehistorian of early modern ideas. The first is Gournay's near-dogmatic belief in the authority of ancient texts. Indeed, sheregularly employs classical examples to support her arguments for female equality, as perhaps best illustrated by her1622 treatise 'Egalité des hommes et des femmes.' This final point alludes to the second major theme that emerges fromthe study of Gournay's writings, namely her increasingly powerful arguments for female rationality and her engagementwith the querelle des femmes. During this PhD, I hope to consider the ways in which Gournay was able to use classicalexamples to support her feminist arguments at a time when the authority of the ancients was under siege from bothPyrrhonian sceptics and Cartesian rationalists.