The arts and literature thrive on blurring social and sexual boundaries

The venal prostitute was the counterpart to the virtuous wife. However, the established barrier between the two was crumbling, and the maze of rules that governed them was on the verge of collapsing. Traditional guardians of bourgeois morality, such as wives and young girls of marriageable age, were gradually adopting makeup, red hair dye, mirrors, and the art of bathing; how dreadful! Meanwhile, prostitutes were beginning to behave like the bourgeoisie. Mastering the etiquette of this era helps us to better understand the ambiguities in literature and art with which Flaubert, Zola, Manet and the Impressionist painters experimented.