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The Utopian Mayeux: Henri De Saint-Simon Meets The Bossu A La Mode, Elizabeth Mix

Scholarship and Professional Work – Arts

MonsieurMayeux was a fictional hunchback dwarf found in visual and literary media during and after the period of the July Monarchy (1830-1848) in France. Many artists, among them Honoré Daumier, and writers, including Victor Hugo and Alfred de Musset, popularized the hunchback. Mayeux was a unique "type " capable ofaddressing a diverse public on several simultaneous levels. The ambiguities inherent in his physical and psychological characteristics aided individuals who "used" him to sell a product or advocate a political position. With Saint-Simonism we can witness Mayeux being used to address both sides of the same argument. Although he was an …