Status Updates From The Maiden of Tonnerre: The...

The major significance of Rose Bertin (dressmaker for Marie Antoinette, grandmother of haute couture) to D'Eon's narrative up to this point has been largely downplayed by scholars. Though otherwise subtle, this is in many ways a book about fashion.

"Under the laudable pretext of wanting to put things in order, we usually make a mess of everything. For us a beautiful disorder gives the impression of art. Why do men want to be more knowledgeable than nature?"

Definitely impossible to square d'Eon's autobiography with her autopsy report in any conceivable sense. She makes too many references vaginal inspections and fear of pregnancy: "If I had the bad luck to have a bulge in the wrong place, you would straightaway cause me to have a miscarriage."

pg. 11: "I concluded that it would be foolish to submit to rules established by men."

pg. 17: "...in reality I am only a zero in the pecking order of the Court, and I would rather be on the outside than on the inside."