Civilité, littérature, et différences sexuelles

How did "politeness" shape gender identities in 17th-century France? What role did la civilité play in the period's conceptions of the body, sexuality, and relations between the sexes? How did literature both implement and contest the norms of civility? These questions are explored by examining conduct literature, salons and the art of conversation, "galant" poetry, male melancholy, and female cross-dressing.