Madame du Barry: The Wages of Beauty

by Joan Haslip

Born the illegitimate daughter of a monk and a seamstress, Madame du Barry rose from poverty to become one of the most powerful and wealthy women of France. A courtesan, she became Louis XV's official mistress and was fêted as one of France's most beautiful women. On Louis XV's death she became vulnerable to those secretly longing for her downfall. Marie Antoinette had her imprisoned for a year, and in 1793 she was executed by the Revolutionary Tribunal for her aristocratic associations. Joan Haslip's classic biography shares the extraordinary and ultimately tragic story of du Barry's life and, in turn, illustrates the dazzling world of the eighteenth century royal court of France and the horrors of the Revolution.

Genres: History, Biography, France, Nonfiction, 18th Century, Biography Memoir, Royalty

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Joan Haslip was an author of historical books, often focusing on European royalty. She was born in London and educated in London, Paris and Florence. Her first book, Out of Focus, appeared in 1931; among her other notable publications are Lady Hester Stanhope (1934) and Parnell (1937). She also wrote for the London Mercury, the Daily Mail and Evening News, and the Illustrated London News.
She also worked for the Italian section of the BBC from 1940 to 1944. Her books were generally regarded as accurate and fairly complete although at times falling prey to "outdated interpretations".

Reviews

[Margie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who doesn't love a story involving a rags to riches, a makeover segment, sex, rich people, and decorating.

[Brandy]

While I found the content and writing enjoyable, my studies in history have made me wary of authors who do not cite within their work. Although there was a bibliography, the author did not cite quotes throughout the text. She appears to have used many primary sources, but without citations it's hard to evaluate objectivity.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Haslip started writing historical biographies in the 1930s and 1940s, and though this one came out in 1991, just a few years before her death, it reads like a book written decades before. Certainly the changes in the study and writing of history that were in place by the early '90s are invisible here; she writes about gender, race, slavery, politics, class, for example, in ways that evoke earlier decades--and not in a good way. For example, I cringed every time she wrote about Zamor, an enslaved Indian boy in du Barry's service for years, whom Haslip repeatedly calls things like "her little blackamoor." That would have been nasty in 1941, but it's appalling in 1991. And when she laments his betrayal of du Barry after her arrest during the Terror, wondering what on earth such a sweet woman could have done to make him so vindictive, my first thought was "owning him? that would do it." And Haslip is weirdly essentialist about gender and class, referring repeatedly to du Barry's natural femininity that makes her delight in long baths and pretty underthings, wondering how someone born to the peasantry could be so bad at negotiation (because peasants are naturally shrewd, of course), and crediting du Barry's sturdy peasant blood with protecting her from contracting smallpox and venereal disease. Yeah, that's not how infectious diseases work.

All of which makes it sound like I really disliked this book, and I didn't. It's just very, very old-fashioned. So if you want readable, pleasant narrative historical biography that's long on emotion and short (very short) on documentation, then this is exactly the kind of thing you will like. It's well-done for what it is; it just astonishes me that it was still being done so recently.

[Hutch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Following my current interest with the time just before and just after the French Revolution, I chose this book, because Madame du Barry was not a noble, and didn't actually influence history that much, so I was hoping for a fresh perspective on the epoque.

The book is written in a dry narrative style with little reference to source material. Jeanne's early life is spent as that of the daughter of a rich man's second mistress. Her mother eventually sells her into sexual bondage to a well-placed pimp, du Barry, who takes her as his own mistress as well as selling her favors to high placed courtiers. This part of her life is glossed over by Haslip, most likely because Haslip has great sympathy for her subject and wants to keep readers from forming a distasteful, prudish opinion of Jeanne.

Once Jeanne makes the leap to Versailles as the mistress of Louis XV, she is portrayed as a naive child, at the mercy of courtiers who look down on her for her lower class origins and former time as a professional courtesan. While Haslip may feel the need to "protect" Jeanne, she neglects to put Madame du Barry into context, particularly speaking about the intricate ritual and etiquette that ruled Versailles, and which Mme. du Barry often flouted.

In the end, Mme. du Barry's selfishness and lack of forethought led to a disastrous end at the guillotine. Unfortunately, as the blade ended her life, Haslip ended the book. There is no mention of what happened to Mme. du Barry's extensive estate, or what popular opinion thought of her end, or even if she simply faded into obscurity. That lack of conclusion made the ending supremely frustrating.

[MichelleCH · Rating 4 out of 5]

I became intrigued by the persona of Madame du Barry after watching the movie Marie Antoinette (the one with Kirsten Dunst), where she was portrayed as crass, uncultured and completely unlikeable. Joan Haslip has done an excellent job of dispelling that mischaracterization for me. The book is a quick read and is in the end a rather tragic story of a woman who was able to use her natural beauty to eventually achieve incredible wealth.

Although du Barry was manipulated by the men in her life and basically given over to forward her family's fortunes; she was still able to remain somewhat naive and quite charming. It is also amusing to imagine du Barry using her affected lisp to draw in men, even as her beauty began to fade. Joan Haslip really brings the reader into the world of court life and all of the customs, traditions and etiquette that so ruled each courtier. It was also startling to see how difficult it was for women such as du Barry to realize that their world had been turned upside down by the Revolution until it was much too late.

[Louise Culmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating biography of the woman who, as Joan Haslip writes “had nothing to inherit other than her beauty.” Jeanne was the illegitimate daughter of Anne Becu, a poor seamstress, and it is uncertain wh0 her father was. Jeanne was sent to a convent school when she was six by her mother’s lover, and received a good education. At 19 she was taken on as an apprentice at the most exclusive fashion house in Paris, and in 1763 she met Jean du Barry, who was to have a major influence on her life. The story of her rise to becoming the mistress of Louis Xv is an intriguing one, and described so vividly you almost feel you are living the lavish lifestyle Jeanne enjoyed during those heady years when she was adored by the King. She inspired equal devotion in the lover of her later years, the Duc de Brissac, and this book makes you see what a charming and beguiling woman she was. Although a highly enjoyable book, it would have been nice if the author had quoted her sources more, and also translations for the passages quoted in French would have been helpful.

[Liza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just started reading the book a few days ago but what got me a bit confused about the facts is the D.O.B. In the book, it says she was baptized on April 1743 but when I do a search on the internet about Madame Du Barry, its seems that her D.O.B. was recorded on August 1743.
At first I thought it was just a mistake Wikipedia made but after reading several websites with details on Du Barry, I came to the conclusion that maybe the author made a mistake...? Please correct me if I am wrong. I know Du Barry never really told anyone her real D.O.B. so maybe there has been a confusion on a few small details of her life?

All in all, I enjoy the book. Its very informative and I recommend this book to anyone wanting to read about La Du Barry.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I went into reading this biography hoping to learn more about Madame du Barry, and while I did, I must admit that it was not a particularly pleasant experience. I know a bit about this period of French history, yet I was frequently looking up information because the author referenced people, places and events without much context or explanation. (The affair of the queen's necklace being just one such example.) The author also was overly reliant on certain polysyllabic vocabulary words, and she failed to provide translations for entire passages of French. Given that this book was written prior to Google translate, the error is even less forgivable.

[Zosi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had been looking for a book on Du Barry as a person of interest in the French Revolution who was (at least not during the reign of Louis XVI) directly involved at Versailles. I did not know much about her outside of her being Louis XV’s mistress and her ‘feud’ with Marie Antoinette and I thought Haslip did a good job crafting a biography that is compulsively readable and interesting. There were parts where the author’s views seemed a bit outdated but as this book was written a few decades ago it’s not that surprising.

[Jessica Ann Calfee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have had a long admiration for Marie Antoinette, so my dislike of Jeanne Bécu ran deep. But after reading Joan Haslip’s book about the last maitresse-en-titre, Madame Du Barry… wow, my views have changed!! Fabulous read!

[Sylvia Zedler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sehr unterhaltsam

[Liz M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well done, but the author has an exasperating attachment to her subject. I often questioned the veracity of her statements, which I rarely do when reading historical biographies. Her description of the revolution is very one sided, with bread shortages and ill-will toward the monarchy all due to the scheming of villians like the Duc D'Orleans. She often describes the people as monarchists at heart, and of course all of the people on Du Barry's estate loved her and were loyal to her. The author also takes liberties with perspective- we know how specific people felt in situations that were unlikely to be recorded.

[Christine Cazeneuve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book very much. As my only opinion of Madame du Barry has been from Hollywood movies, she never comes to be anything but a despised woman. She was born in undesirable circumstances and did what she had to do to survive and then achieved a position that was envied and hated by many. She was always kind to those in need and to those she called friends. Through this book I certainly have a different opinion of her. Easy reading and quick too!

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Madame du Barry (1792-1793) was the royal mistress to King Louis XV. Smashing (apocryphal?) details make it an animated, fast read. Explains the atmosphere of french court and the logistics of Versailles and later the early stages of the Revolution: the September riots and later Reign of Terror.

[Mary Newcomb]

Anyone reading this is familiar with how difficult it is to be beautiful. This was especially true in the time of Mme DuBarry. I knew she was a courtesan but had no idea how lengthy and infamous her career was. What a sad end to an ornamental and kind woman.

[Rebecca]

First American Edition 1992

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not nearly as good as the other biographies I have read lately. The writing style was too dry; too many generalizations.

[Lois · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Really rounded out the story of La du Barry

[Mandy Moody]

Purchased, but haven't yet read.

[Heather McKay Guillemot · Rating 4 out of 5]

This quick read was a largely sympathetic telling of Madame du Barrys life . I do wish , as other reviewers have mentioned, that Haslip had cited more of her research within the body of the book, rather than a general bibliography only, it seemed a bit lazy.

I must admit I had no idea that the French Revolution took her life ( this is no spoiler, it is revealed on the back cover). She was an interesting individual, valued for her beauty and ease of company by the King then later viewed almost as a stalker by a later lover. She seemed to contain a kindness and generosity I would not have expected from someone in her position.

In hindsight, I wish I had read my copy of Madame de Pompadours biography first, as a point of comparison. This was the sort of book that makes me realize I need more knowledge about the French Revolution, any recommendations on books on that topic?

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderfully rich biography of a woman who was partially responsible for plunging France into the revolution. A must read for anyone interested in learning more about the loves of Louis XV.