Friday, May 13, 2022

LADY WALKER THE COURTESAN and EXCERPT from THE MISTRESS - HISTORIES MYTHS and INTERPRETATIONS of the OTHER WOMAN by VICTORIA GRIFFIN


posted on Find A Grave, this photo shows Lady in her glorious bed
with what looks to be fur pillows.  
She's in the style of one of the Grand Horizontals of France.



Victoria Griffin
's book THE MISTRESS - Histories, Myths, and Interpretations of "The Other Woman" strives to define the word "Mistress" as well as other labels for women such as Concubine. 

Excerpt: The word 'mistress', it was suggested on a radio program recently, carries risque connotations in a way that the more modern, neutral word 'partner' doesn't.  Partner tends in any case to refer to the other half of a couple, and not usually to the extra third of a threesome.  Likewise 'lover' or girlfriend' though they could denote the possibility of an extant wife, do not necessarily do so. 'Mistress', on the other hand, always sounds illicit, as well as rather luxurious.  There are those who think of the word as old-fashioned, though I don't see why it should be considered to be any more out of date than 'wife' or 'husband'.  In all three cases, the roles may have been modified in recent years, while the names remain the same.  It has also been pointed out that there is no male equivalent of 'mistress."

***
I note that while there is a search for that equivalent, I have used the term mantress here at Mistress Manifesto...


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