ROBERT GREENE : THE ART OF SEDUCTION : ON CORA PEARL

BOOK EXERPT FROM "THE ART OF SEDUCTION" by ROBERT GREENE

pages 59-60-61

"Born Emma Crouch in 1842 in England, from a respectable middle class family but her father abandoned the family in 1849 for immigration to America. " One day in 1856, when Emma was walking home from church, a well dressed gentleman invited her home for some cakes. She followed him to his house, where he proceeded to take advantage of her. The next morning this man, a diamond merchant, promised to set her up in a house of her own, treat her well, and give her plenty of money. She took the money but left him, determined to do what she had always wanted: never see her family again, never depend on anyone, and lead the grand life that her father had promised her.

With the money the diamond merchant had given her, Emma bought nice clothes and rented a cheap flat. Adopting the flamboyant name of CORA PEARL, she began to frequent London's Argyll Rooms, a fancy place where harlots and gentlemen rubbed elbows. The proprietor, a Mr. Gignell, took note of this newcomer to his establishment - she was so brazen for a young girl. At forty-five he was much older than she was, bu he decided to be her lover and protector, lavishing her with money and attention...

"Frequenting all the right places, Cora soon ca me to the attention of wealthy French gentlemen. ...As money began to pour in from her various conquests (the Duc de Mornay, heir to the Dutch throne; Prince Napoleon, cousin to the Emperor), Cora spent it on the most outrageous things - a multicolored carriage pulled by a team of cream-colored horses, a rose marbled bath tub... But money could not buy Cora's loyalty; she would leave a man on the slightest whim...

Antics like this made Cora the toast of Paris, and she reigned as the city's supreme courtesan for over a decade, until the Franco-Prussian War of 1879 put an end to the Second Empire."

Penguin Books Publisher
C Robert Greene and Joost Elffers 2001

CORA PEARL : THE ENGLISH ROSE OF PARIS

The English Rose of Paris had a series of rich patrons.

CORA PEARL SUITE AT THE GROSVENOR HOTEL IN LONDON : KATIE HICKMAN, BIOGRAPHER, ON CORA

Katie Hickman says Cora Pearl reinvented herself and was "good at the theatre of life." Cora dyed her hair blue and dyed her dog's hair blue too. (Think Madonna!) Linking to an article by Kickman, Cora's biographer, says "Sexiness and availability were never enough to succeed as a courtesan. Cora was also an extremely good business woman. At the height of her success she was said to have earned over 50,000 francs a month (£90,000). She owned several houses in Paris, a chateau, a world-famous stable; her jewels alone were worth over a million francs. Cora was one of the first women in Paris to wear couture (she was an early patron of Worth); make-up; lingerie. Best of all - and I speak as an Englishwoman - she bested the French at their own game."

AN ARTICLE ABOUT CONTEMPORARY MISTRESS VICTORIA GRIFFIN AND CORA PEARL

A very well written and thought out article on Victoria Griffin which mentions Cora Pearl, also a serial mistress, and the differences between the Courtesans of the 19th century and the mistresses of today. Linking to a 1999 article in The Independent.

CORA PEARL : READ HER MEMOIR HERE! : MISTRESS OF THE MONTH

photo from GOOGLE IMAGES

This month we celebrate the 19th century prostitute?/ courtesan/? mistress? CORA PEARL, born Emma Elizabeth Crouch.


Cora has been the subject of a number of blogs and articles on the net, and because she's so popular and so covered, I hesitated. Finding Cora's own memoir, which she wrote herself, on Google Books convinced me to go ahead and elect Cora. I'm linking to this book, which you can read on line. Cora's memoir was published in London but I think it was translated from French.

So click on the title or at the bottom of this post to the link, and you'll soon be reading it and learn not only about her life and her world view but the way women who started out poor lived in the 19th century!  

Cora tells the story that she was 15 when she was taken to bed by a man who could have been 35, who she first saw in a market. Later, though she started out curious, she was disgusted. In Cora's day many poor women were considered to be unmarriageable because they didn't have a dowry or, out of innocence or hunger, they found sex to be the only way to resolve their destitution and couldn't marry because they had lost their virginity before marriage, even if they were molested or raped.

Today women, especially in Western Countries, have so many more opportunities to become educated, have businesses, or make their own way in life. Many women today have no need or desire for marriage. In those days even a honorably married woman, who became a widow and who didn't find another husband quickly, unless they inherited money, went to the street. (There were probably more loveless marriages in those situations than there are today.)


Cora was a serial mistress known for her dinner parties.  She would have herself brought out on a large silver dish, naked and reclining on a bed of violets, as "desert." That Cora captures our imagination a century later says something about her appeal.

This month we'll read what other authors have also said of Cora.

GOOGLE BOOKS - CORA PEARL's OWN MEMOIR  updated January 2016

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