Madame Geoffrin

Discussion questions

1. Madam Geoffrin ran the most influential salon during the mid 1700’s. The documents allude to her personality as having the desire to associate with only high society. It also pointed out that she was an active member of the community, but restless, obstinate, and vain. She as a young woman showed charity to others to a degree of being not responsible. But the article also pointed out that she only wanted to surround herself with people that she loved and worried about them a lot and wanted them to have happiness. She even went as far as associating with other people to make them friends so that if needed they would be able to return a need for her or her friends at a later time. The document also indicated that although she may very well be virtuous in character that many of her personality traits that were negative were enhanced with the aging process.

The time frame of enlightenment was an intellectual and cultural movement dominated by the middle /upper class people. It was from 1740-1789 and influenced the thinking of Europe and British North America. Their viewpoints included the concern about human advancement in the areas of truth, liberty and justice. Madame Geoffrin actively participated in this movement through the use of her high society and most influential salon of that era. The goals at that time were to break down the barriers to religious intolerance, old fashioned economics and outdated judicial practices. She wrote a letter to King Stanislow of Poland and pointed out to him that he had a very “bad government” that probably had no hope for improvement. This letter was a result, as indicated in her letter, that Poland and its ruler had been thoroughly discussed at her salon and she was expressing to him her feelings about enlightenment views.

2) Madame Geoffrin was a high society woman who enjoyed her likeness to come to her salon to discuss the issues of the day. She welcomed many visitors and actively participated in the debates and discussions about the issues that she felt were enlightenment principles.

3) Madame Geoffrin wrote a letter King Stanislaw of Poland because of her active involvement in the enlightenment movement. She felt that she was influential enough to make recommendations to other countries about how they should conduct business. She even showed disapproval of their government in her letter. She indicated in the letter that she was sending a person with like viewpoints to King Stanislaw with a printing machine. This was a machine that could print enlightenment materials at a faster and more efficient manner. She was proactive and showed her range of interests. She felt that she was making the way for breaking down barriers of mankind’s weakness and vanity. She was a typical enlightenment thinker. A typical enlightenment thinker sought human advancement through logic, reason, and criticism. Her salon was a place where such topics were discussed and what action would be beneficial for the cause.





Salons were popular in the 1700’s in France. Salons were a place to discuss art, philosophy, and literature. High autocratic women would host discussions in their homes. Even though the salons located within private homes eventually died out the influence is still prominent today. Corning Community College offers round table discussions about different topics throughout the year. A roundtable discussion is when a group of people talk and debate issues about interesting topics that affect them personally. Some of the past topics have been on transportation buses and the occupy Wall Street protest. The upcoming discussion is on Monday February 27, 2012. The discussion will be about the Blueprint for Justice: The Enduring Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. The discussions are addressing and debating in the same format as the 1700’s salons were; only the meetings are not in someone’s personal home. People of all walks in life are welcome to participate, not just high society. The impact of people discussing and debating about topics is still practiced and popular today.