Conservative tradition in pre-revolutionary France

The establishment of the Parisian salon as a distinctive form of sociability in the mid-seventeenth century was a result of the convergence of three elements: the consolidation of the absolute monarchy after the Frande, the shift in emphasis from traditional noble values to honnetete, and the perception of the vital role of women in disseminating these values. Paradoxically, by accepting their role in sustaining honnetete, women limited, rather than fostered, their own advancement in society. The very existence of a salonniere was founded upon the agreement that the only "public" role allowed for a woman was that of provider of propriety and good manners. The salon emerges as a niche in which society allowed her to function, on the assumption that she would not violate the bienseance considered appropriate for her sex; thus, as an institution deeply rooted in the status quo. The standpoint taken by Parisian salon women in the eighteenth-century quarrels over the French and the Italian opera reflected this traditional salon philosophy.