tered on the figure of femininity as women are traditionally seen as the softer, gentler sex. The court life revolved around social games and flirtations and at the core of this was the woman. Men strove to impress and women gained importance because of this. With the fall of wars and brutality and the emergence of a close knit, flamboyant nobility living close to one and other and at the critique of others, the role of women in France was dramatically heightened. The absolute monarchy that existed in France under Louis XIV and others allowed for the woman to flourish and blossom, liberating her from the previous cruelties that the Middle Ages embodied. The creation of court life and the refinements it offered such as poetry, emotion, and beauty brought females into the public eye which gave them a greater form of power in society. ...
