Incroyable and Merveilleuse: The Politics of Fashion in Balzac’s Les Chouans

Abstract

ABSTRACT In Les Chouans, Balzac casts two central characters – Corentin and Marie de Verneuil – as an Incroyable and a Merveilleuse, extravagantly-dressed figures from the revolutionary era. Analysing the historical and cultural significance of the Incroyable and the Merveilleuse underscores an ambiguity inherent in this novel, as these dandies (here, sent to disable royalist forces) were known for opposing the Revolution. Corentin and Marie de Verneuil, through their remarkable attire, offer an explicit – but ultimately unclear – expression of their political convictions, one that suggests a conflicted attitude towards the historical change they are sent to effect.