莫梭服伯爵夫人的有罪貞操

The countess of Mortsauf and Her Guilty Virginity (La comtesse de Mortsauf ou la vertu condamn'ee)

本報告擬試圖批判長久以來被看作為女性最高度之美德 ：忠貞。報告循兩方向進行：「超凡入聖之危機」與「背叛愛情之緣由」。本報告強調必須重視慾望需求，並透過巴爾札克作品、理論，探究柏拉圖式愛情招致必然悲劇。莫梭服伯爵夫人信賴純潔愛情，認為可在其情慾及宗教渴求之間尋得協調；這是空想。小說最後伯爵夫人背棄其信仰與希望。本報告同時闡述男性於性方面的需求。費立斯對伯爵夫人表明：『未曾佔有的愛情透過慾望的激增得以支撐；但接著十分痛苦的時刻將來臨。我們男人具有某一不能被放棄的能力，違者就不能算是男人。喪失應該養活心臟的養料，心臟只得吞食自己，它感覺到一股平息，這股平息不是死亡，但是是死亡前兆。』本報告最後則揭露伯爵夫人拒絕費立斯的決定性原因：根深蒂固悲觀的伯爵夫人在愛情中看到的只有緊隨於它的負面之事：嫉妒、背叛和拋棄，而終走在棄絕塵世利益的道路上。

The paper intends to bring up a critique of the concept of virginity, a quality long held as a supreme virtue of feminity. The paper is divided in two sections : (i) the crisis of utmost virtuousness; ii) the reason to rebuff love. I assert the necessity of sensual desire, exploring through Balzac’s works and theories that platonic love readily leads to tragedy. The countess of Mortsauf believes in “pure love” and the possibility to acquire accordance between physical aspiration and religious yearning; this is vain hope, and in the end the countess turns her back on religious belief and hope. The paper also demonstrates the sexual need of the male. Félix declares to the countess, “unpossessing love sustains itself through the surging of desire, but then comes an extremely painful moment. Men as we are are equipped with an ability that cannot be given up, or they should be men no more. As deprived of the nutrition that sustains itself, the heart can only devours itself; the heart shall feel a kind of tranquility, which is not death, but the prelude to death.” The paper lastly expounds what induces decisively the countess to reject Félix. The countess, an ingrained pessimist, finds in love only its despondent facets : jealousy, betrayal, and desertion, and eventually forsakes the worldly path.